Irish jobless rate lowest in EU

THE economy continues to steam ahead with a record total of almost two million people in employment in the first quarter of 2006 — an increase of almost 90,000 over the same period last year.

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show the number of people at work has grown by 4.7% in the past 12 months. Based on the latest figures from all 25 EU member states, employment levels here are growing at a rate over three times faster than the EU average.

Job figures show there are now 1,998,100 people at work — with 14,400 people taking up employment alone in the first quarter of 2006.