The number of people signing on the Live Register fell by 10.8 per cent in the year to the end of February, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office.
The standardised unemployment rate stood at 10.1 per cent at the end of last month, compared to 10.3 per cent in January and 12 per cent for the same month last year. In Feburary 2012, the unemployment rate reached a high of 15.1 per cent.
The data show there were 355,124 people signing on the register at the end of last month. This marks an annual decrease of 42,945 or 10.8 per cent and is the lowest level since February 2009.
On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register total recorded a monthly decrease of 1.2 per cent or 4,300 people in February, reducing the seasonally adjusted total to 355,600.
The number of male claimants declined by 12.7 per cent to 31,496 in the year to February, while female claimants decreased by 7.6 per cent to 139,239. This compares with a fall of 29.3 per cent to 247,381 for males, while female claimants showed a decrease of 3.4 per cent to 150,688 in the year to February 2014.
According to the figures, the number of long-term claimants on the Live Register totalled 162,776, down 9.8 per cent or 17.720.
The number of male long-term claimants decreased by 13. 6 per cent or 16,836, while female claimants were down 1.6 per cent or 884.
There were 72,155 casual and part-time workers on the register in February equivalent to 20.3 per cent of the total Live Register.
The number of people aged 25 and under on the register fell by 11,709 or 19.4 per cent in the year to February while the number of people aged 25 and over was down 9.2 per cent.
Annual decreases in persons aged under 25 on the register have occurred in all months since July 2010, while the number of persons aged 25 and over have fallen annually in all months since July 2012.
Davy said the latest figures reinforce the belief that the econmy is still expanding at a rapid pace and said it expects the unemployment rate to fall into single-digit territory by April and close to 9 per cent by the end of 2015.
Alan McQuaid of Merrion also forecast unemployment to continue to decline to around 9 per cent come December.
“The unemployment rate remains the key indicator as far as the economy is concerned and steady progress is being made in terms of bringing it down. Taoiseach Enda Kenny has targeted getting it down below 10 per cent this year and if the positive momentum seen in 2014 is maintained then that goal should be soon realised,” he said.
