The number of people at work has reached the highest level recorded in the history of the State, according to official figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO)
There are now more than 1.3 million people working in the Republic, compared to 1.1 million five years ago, says the annual Labour Force Survey, the most accurate published measurement of employment trends.
This year's survey shows an increase of 41,000 in people at work on last year and a fall of 12,000 in the level of unemployment, which now stands at 179,000.
The fall in unemployment has moved the Republic below the average EU rate for the first time in at least a decade.
The employment growth, according to the CSO, is being driven by the private sector which accounts for the vast majority of the new jobs created in the last year. The survey shows a large decline in long-term unemployment over the year, from 103,300 to 86,300, this is one of the largest decreases in recent years.
The Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney, welcoming the figures and said the jobs created by the private sector would "assist the Government in lessening the tax burden for everyone in the December budget".
"The second piece of good news is the drop in the number of people who are long-term unemployed," she said.
"These figures suggest that people who are long-term unemployed are gaining from the boom in the economy," she added. The Irish National Organisation for the Unemployed (INOU) said the figures showed that "when people who have been out of work for extended periods are given the proper supports, they will and can work". The INOU general secretary, Mr Mike Allen, said the survey showed that the Back-to-Work allowance scheme and other similar initiatives were working.
Mr Allen warned that the drop in the unemployment rate below the EU average was "more a product of the failure of other states, than a success on the part of the Republic".
The Republic's unemployment rate now stands at 10.3 per cent, compared to the EU average of 10.8 per cent.
IBEC said the figures showed the need for more "active administration of social welfare benefits, improved training for the long-term unemployed and lower taxes".
Of those at work, more than 800,000 are engaged in some kind of service industry, with 386,000 working in industry.
The survey shows an increase in the numbers employed in the manufacturing, construction, insurance, finance, transport and communications sectors. However, there is a long-term fall in the numbers working in agriculture, forestry and fishing.
The Labour Force Survey is regarded as the most accurate measurement of unemployment. The number of people unemployed is always recorded as lower in the survey compared to the figures in the Live Register.
There is now a gap of 76,600 in the level of unemployment between the two.
This is partly explained by the large amount of people who claim unemployment assistance on a temporary basis, but who are not unemployed for a sustained period and therefore not included in the Labour Force Survey.