Ireland has recorded the largest drop in European unemployment levels in the last year, according to figure compiled by Eurostat.

From March 2014 to March 2015, it fell from 12 per cent to 9.8 per cent.

This was ahead of Spain, who came second in its efforts to cut back unemployment lines, falling from 25.1 per cent to 23 per cent. Poland dropped from 9.6 per cent to 7.7 per cent.

The figures will be a fillip to the Government who continue to place job creation at the centre of its economic recovery strategy.

However, they also reflect less welcome news for the EU with unemployment levels rising in some member states.

Croatia witnessed a jump from 17.3 per cent to 18.2 per cent; Finland from 8.4 per cent to 9.1 per cent; Italy from 12.4 per cent to 13 per cent; France from 10.1 per cent to 10.6 per cent and Belgium from 8.4 per cent to 8.5 per cent.

The lowest unemployment rate last March was recorded in Germany (4.7 per cent), and the highest in Greece (25.7 per cent in January 2015). The Euro Area unemployment rate currently stands at 11.3 per cent while the EU unemployment rate is 9.8 per cent.

Ireland’s youth unemployment rate dropped from 25.9 per cent in March 2014 to 21.1 per cent in 2015. The EU youth unemployment rate fell from 22.8 per cent to 20.9 per cent and the Euro Area decrease was from 24.2 per cent to 22.7 per cent during the same period.