The number of people at work has climbed back above one-point-nine million - the highest it's been in nearly five years.
The Central Statistics Office says it's latest quarterly national household survey from April to June puts the unemployment rate at 11.5% - down from 12% in the first quarter.
New CSO figures also show emigration is falling - but that one Irish person is still leaving the country every 13 minutes.
Meanwhile immigration has risen by 8 per cent, with 11,600 Irish people returning to the country last year.
