The number of people on the Live Register fell by 1,100 to 156,600 in December to leave the standardised unemployment rate at 4.3 per cent.
Figures released by the Central Statistics Office show that after an increase in November the Live Register fell in December as shops hired workers to cope with the Christmas rush.
The standardised unemployment rate in December was 4.3 per cent, the same rate as recorded in July 2005, based on the Quarterly National Household Survey.