The number of people in employment has increased by 29,100 over the past year.

The Quarterly National Household Survey from the CSO shows the numbers in employment at 1,938,900, and increase of 1.5% in 2014. This compares with an increase of 3.3% in 2013.

The level of employment is at its highest level since the third quarter of 2009 and this is the ninth consecutive quarter in which the number of people in work has increased.

Full time employment increased by 39,600 or 1.8%, while part time jobs fell by 10,500 or 2.3%

Today's figures from the CSO show that the biggest gains in employment came in the construction and financial sectors.

The biggest decline in employment in the fourth quarter came in agriculture.

The number of unemployed people fell 39,600 - or 15.6% - to stand at 213,600.

The number of public sector employees fell by 0.4% or 1,500 over the year, while private sector employee numbers were up 3.7% or 37,400.

The unemployment rate at the end of the fourth quarter stood at 10.4%.

This is the eleventh consecutive quarter in which unemployment has fallen.

The long term unemployment rate fell over the course of 2014 from 7.2% to 5.7%. Long term unemployed make up 57.8% of all unemployed, compared with 61.4% a year earlier.

The labour force declined by 10,500 or 0.5% to stand at 2,152,500.