Employment at highest level in six years

The number of people in work is now at its highest level in six years.

According to the Central Statistics Office, the rate of unemployment has fallen from 10% to 9.6% in the second quarter.

It is the 12th quarter in a row in which the jobless rate has fallen - this time by 43,300 people. The biggest gains in employment in the past year came in the construction (+18.5%) and financial (+5.7%) sectors.

Only three sectors - accommodation and food service, education, and administration - fell since Q2 2014, and those only fell by marginal amounts.

The figures come from the Quarterly National Household Survey for the second quarter. Employment numbers increased by 57,100, putting a total of 1,958,700 in work.

The growth in employment rate was accompanied by an increase of 0.6% in the number of people in the labour force. On a seasonally-adjusted basis, employment was up 1% on the previous three months.