Rise of 20,500 in Republic of Ireland employment figures

The number of people out of full-time employment in the Republic of Ireland now stands at 292,000

The number of people employed in the Republic of Ireland has risen by 20,500 (1.1%) to the first quarter of 2013, according the figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The figures also show that unemployment rate now stands at 13.7%.

It is the first time is has fallen below 14% in over two years.

The figures show there was a fall in full-time employment of 3,700 over the year, which was offset by a rise in part-time employment of 24,200.

The number of people in work increased by 7,700 in the first quarter of this year, following on from an increase of 12,100 in the final quarter of 2012.

The number of people unemployed fell by 29,900 over the same period, bringing the number of full-time unemployed to 292,000 - the first time it has dropped below 300,000 since 2010.

The CSO said the long-term unemployment rate fell over the year from 9.5% to 8.4%.

The long-term unemployed account for 61.8% of all those out of work.