There has been an exceptionally strong increase of nearly 100,000 in the number of people at work over the past year, according to figures from the Central Statistics Office.

They show that the economy is continuing to growth rapidly, with an increase of 36,000 in total employment in the three months to April this year alone, bringing the total number of people at work to 1.59 million.

The CSO's latest quarterly national household survey, taken between March and May, shows a rise of 96,600 in total employment compared to the same period last year. It is the second most rapid annual increase in total job numbers since records began, following the 115,000 rise in the year to April, 1998. The survey also found that the numbers unemployed fell by almost 30,000 in the year to 96,900, yielding an unemployment rate or 5.7 per cent, compared to 7.8 per cent in the same period last year. Unemployment, however, rose slightly compared to the end of 1998.

The unemployment figure shown by the household survey is almost 100,000 below the numbers registered as unemployed on a live register basis. Most of the difference can be accounted for by part-time workers who are on the live register but are deemed to be employed by the labour force survey. The CSO says that a broader measure of unemployment, which takes into account everyone who indicated any interest in obtaining work, fell from 12.7 per cent in the second quarter of 1998 to 10.3 per cent in 1998.

Long-term unemployment fell by 21,900 to 41,600.

According to the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed, the CSO figures seriously underestimate the level of long-term unemployment. and has called on the CSO to establish a measure for "repeatedly unemployed" to measure this phenomenon.

The figures point to an exceptionally strong jobs market. Most of the new jobs over the past year were full-time - where the total rose by 79,700 - while the numbers in part-time employment increased by 16,900. Overall, there were 1,591,100 in work compared with 1,494,500 in the same quarter in 1998.

The availability of jobs attracted some 40,000 additional people into the labour market last year, mainly students working part-time, married women and those aged over 60.

Most of the jobs growth has been in the services sector particularly in transport, communications and storage. Hotels, restaurants, the retail trade, building and construction have also proved buoyant.

For the first time, the CSO has included information on working hours. It found that the number of people working between 35 and 44 hours a week increased by over 90,000, while the numbers who worked more than 45 hours fell by 26,000, probably due to the introduction of maximum working hours legislation.