Official figures for April show a sharp drop in the number of people claiming unemployment benefit.
The seasonally adjusted Live Register fell 4,800 to 154,200 in April compared to an increase of 3,100 in March, to bring the unemployment rate down to 4.2 per cent
But this year's early Easter make year-on-year comparisons tricky, according to the Central Statistics Office.
The longer-term trend still indicates a fall in the claimant count as between February and April the seasonally adjusted Live Register fell by 1,700.
The standardised unemployment rate in April was 4.2 per cent compared with 4.4 per cent in October 2004, based on the Quarterly National Household Survey.
The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment. It includes part-time workers, seasonal and casual workers entitled to unemployment assistance or benefit.
Unemployment is best measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey; the latest seasonally adjusted figure, for September to November 2004, is 86,900 unemployed.