A total of 12,500 jobs were created in the first three months of the year as the official unemployment rate fell below 10 per cent for the first time since the crash.

Data from the Central Statistics Office indicates that the unemployment rate dropped to 9.9 per cent in the first quarter from 10.4 per cent in the final three months of 2014.

The number of people at work in the State rose to 1.93 million in the quarter as the number of unemployed people fell by 10,000.

Employment rose by 41,300 in the year to March, an annual increase of 2.2 per cent. This represents an increase in full-time employment of 52,100 or 3.6 per cent and a decrease in part-time employment of 10,800 or 2.4 per cent.

The annual increase in employment in the quarter compared with a 1.5 per cent annaul rise in the previous quarter and a 2.3 per cent advance in the year to March 2014.

Unemployment decreased by 45,300 or 17.5 per cent in the year to March, bringing the total number of people unemployed to 212,800. “This is the eleventh quarter in succession where unemployment has declined on an annual basis,”the CSO said .