3.9% Employment Growth very encouraging says Minister KittGovernment Chief Whip and Minister of State, Mr. Tom Kitt, T.D., commentedthat the latest CSO figures, showing an employment increase of over 70,000(3.9%) in the year to the first quarter, are very encouraging. This is thehighest quarterly increase in nearly five years.The Minister remarked: "The employment growth figures alone provide arobust endorsement of the Government's pro-jobs policies. That they wereaccompanied by a fall in long-term unemployment of nearly 3,000 representsa quite remarkable outturn. Overall, Ireland's standardised unemploymentrate now stands at only 4.2%."The Minister added that every planning region experienced employment growthover the twelve months period, a clear indication that Government policy toexpand both the distribution and quality of opportunity throughout thecountry is bearing fruit.Minister Kitt concluded, "The Irish economy continues to perform remarkablywell, notwithstanding some considerable uncertainty on the internationalscene. The challenge ahead is to maintain vigilance on the competitivenessfront in order to secure the major gains of recent years and create newadvantages for this economy and our society."ENDS