DUBLIN, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Ireland's employment has continued to increase and unemployment is now at 6.8 percent, according to official figures on Tuesday.
The figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed that approximately 1,300 jobs a week were created in 2016.
There are now over 2 million people working in Ireland, the highest number of people at work since 2008, the CSO said, adding that this is the 18th quarter in succession where unemployment has declined on an annual basis.
The CSO figures also showed that the numbers in employment increased in all regions during 2016 and 70 percent of the new jobs added in 2016 were outside Dublin.
The fastest growing regions in terms of employment during 2016 were the Midwest, up 7.4 percent.
Employment grew in all 14 economic sectors during 2016, the largest increase was recorded in construction, according to the CSO.