Number people employed up 2.3%

The number of people in employment increased by 42,700 in the last 12 months.

According to the CSO's National Household Quarterly Survey, there are currently 1,888,200 people working in Ireland, 2.3% more than this time last year.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased from 12.2% to 12% over the quarter.

There are now over 33,000 fewer people on the dole compared to this time last year. The total number of people signing on is now at 258,100.

The long-term unemployment rate decreased from 8.4% to 7.3% over the year to Q1 2014.

Long-term unemployment accounted for 60.5% of total unemployment in Q1 2014 compared with 61.8% a year earlier and 63.5% in the first quarter of 2012.

"In terms of the actual trend itself, obviously there was a number of years of decline through 2009 to 2010, when employment was falling," said CSO statistician Brian Ring.

"The first increase was in Q4 2012.

"The annual increase in employment in Q1 2014 is slightly less than the annual increases recorded in Q4 and Q3 2013, but there is an annual increase recorded, nonetheless."