Those claiming benefits fell 3,300 to a seasonally adjusted 363,900, the central statistics office said on Wednesday, down from 450,000 shortly before Ireland entered a three-year international bailout that it completed just over a year ago. The unemployment rate fell from November's 10.7 percent.
Growth in employment has come with a recovery that probably saw Ireland's economy grow faster than any other country in the European Union last year. Spending minister Brendan Howlin told Newstalk radio on Wednesday the government hoped to see unemployment in single digits by the end of 2015.