New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January fell to 7.1% from a rate of 7.2% in December.

The unemployment rate had stood at 8.5% in January of last year.

The CSO said the seasonally adjusted number of people who were without a job in January stood at 154,800, down from 157,700 in December.

It also marked a decrease of 29,800 when compared to January 2016.

Today's figures show that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.9% for males in January, down from 10.2% in January of last year.

Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for females in January 2017 was 6%, down from 6.6% in January 2016.

The country's employment levels have grown consistently amid a broadening of the recovery since the jobless rate hit a high of 15.1% five years ago.

The jobless rate here compares with a current euro zone average of 9.6%.

Commenting on today's figures, Merrion economist Alan McQuaid said there was an average rise in the numbers at work in 2015 of 49,700, up from 32,700 in 2014.

Mr McQuaid said that based on the data up to the third quarter it looks like there was an overall jobs increase last year of 53,000.

"But the outlook from 2017 on is more uncertain in light of Brexit. Still, we expect the downward trend in unemployment to continue over the next twelve months, albeit at a slower pace than before," the economist added.