The number of people claiming unemployment benefit fell by 2,700 to 156,400 in September, according to the latest Live Register figures.
The buoyant state of the labour market was borne out by the fall in the number of claimants which has dropped by 7,131 since the start of the year.
When adjusted for seasonal factors the standardised unemployment rate in September was 4.4 per cent down from 4.5 per cent in August.
Recent labour market surveys reveal the level of job creation is at record levels but heavily skewed towards construction and service industries.
Employment growth reached 5.1 per cent in the second quarter, the highest annual expansion recorded since 2000. In absolute terms, the number of persons employed grew by 93,000 in the year to the second quarter, bringing the total number employed to 1,929,200.
The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment as it includes part-time workers, seasonal and casual workers entitled to unemployment benefit.
In the month, the estimated number of casual and part-time workers on the Live Register was 7,466 males and 11,934 females. In September the number of casual and part-time workers on the register was estimated at around 19,000 people.
Unemployment is measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey and the latest seasonally adjusted figure, for March to May 2005, is 88,900 persons unemployed.