The rate of unemployment in the Mid-West has dropped below 10 per cent for the first time in seven years.
Despite an increase in the number of people working, however, the latest CSO figures show the area is continuing to lag behind many other parts of the country.
An extra 5,000 people entered the work force in the third quarter of the year in Clare, Limerick and N. Tipperary.
This comes at a time of the year when the busy summer season sees more workers hired in some sectors, but the total number of people in work was 1,800 higher than the same time last year.
Most notably, perhaps, is that the unemployment rate here now stands at 9.8%, the lowest figure seen since the third quarter of 2008.
People here are still more likely to be out of work, as the unemployment rate is 0.5% higher than the rest of the country and nearly 2 points higher than Dublin.
Just under 17,000 people are unemployed in this region.
