The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for December stood at 8.8%, the lowest it has been since the end of 2008, when the rate was 8.6%.

December's figure remained unchanged from the revised November rate, and was down from 10.2% in December 2014.

The figures from the Central Statistics Office show the number of people unemployed last month was 190,600, a decrease of 700 when compared to the November figure, and it is 29,200 lower than the same period last year.

119,500 (10%) men were without a job last month, representing a decrease of 1,000 when compared to the November figure of 120,500.

Meanwhile, the unemployment figure for women in December stood at 71,100 (7.3%), an increase of 300 from November.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for people aged 15-24 was 19.2% in December, down from 19.4% in November.

Ireland’s jobless rate compares with a current Eurozone average of 10.7%.

Commenting on the figures, Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton said: “We are now creating 1,000 jobs a week, and are close to having two million people at work. We want to continue this momentum towards full employment.

"One such measure on this front is the Pathways to Work 2016, which I will bring forward later this month. The new Pathways strategy will focus on making sure jobseekers can get access to good quality work, training and education opportunities," she added.

Alan McQuaid from Merrion Economics said: "Although emigration has been a factor to some degree in keeping unemployment down, the labour market has improved dramatically over the past few years, reflecting the strengthening of the economic recovery.

"Employment rose in twelve of the fourteen economic sectors on an annual basis and fell in the other two in the third quarter of 2015, according to the most recent published figures. The greatest rate of increase was posted in the Construction (+13.3% or 15,000) sector. The pick-up in this sector is particularly encouraging given that it was the one that suffered the worst job losses in the economic downturn."

ISME, the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association, welcomed the reduction in the monthly unemployment figures for December, while warning the Government that its continued failure to address rising business costs is slowing jobs growth in the SME sector.

The association expressed concern at the reduction in the rate of decline in unemployment in the last year.