The number of people at work in the Republic grew by 72,400 to more than 1.908 million in the year to the end of February, the latest figures show.

The Quarterly National Household Survey carried out by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) concludes that this was the highest level of employment growth recorded since the final three months of 2000, the height of the recent economic boom.

The buoyant building and financial services industries drove much of the growth. Figures for the construction sector show that job numbers grew by more than 30,800 or 15 per cent to 233,100. This was double the rate of jobs growth in the sector during the previous 12 months.

There were 18,500 more people working in financial services at the end of February than there were a year previously. The industry total was almost 253,000 at the end of the period.

General services all show varying levels of growth during the year.

The wholesale and retail trades had 4,000 extra workers, at 267,600, transport had more than 2,000 new jobs at 115,700, while other services added 9,000 employees to 115,400.

All three public service-related activities - health, education, and defence and administration - added a total of 14,200 workers to 291,700. At 4 per cent, this was the fastest rate of growth in State employment since the end of 2003.

The decline in numbers working in agriculture, fisheries and forestry continued unabated over the 12-month period. At the end of February, these activities employed 6,400 fewer people than they had a year earlier.

The number working in manufacturing, where employment has also been on the wane, was level at 297,300.

But senior CSO statistician Pádraig Dalton warned that it was too early to predict if the decline in this sector had levelled off.

"You'd need to wait for another few quarters before making any deduction," Mr Dalton said.

Hotels and restaurants had a decline of 800 in their workforce to 112,300.

The survey also shows that there were 82,100 unemployed during the December 2004 to February 2005 period. This was a decrease of 1,500 on the same period last year.

Overall, the labour force stood at 1.99 million, an increase of 71,000 over the year. The CSO stated that an increase of 49,000 in the number of people of working age in the State, and increased participation rates, which added another 22,000, were responsible for this.

An estimated 25,000 migrants accounted for just over half the increase in the numbers of those of working age in the Republic. However, CSO director Gerry O'Hanlon warned that this calculation was based on a number of assumptions and was not definitive.

He and his colleagues said it was likely that most of the migrants came from eastern and central Europe.

Reacting to the figures yesterday, analysts said that the data reflected the continued strength of the Irish economy.

Both Austin Hughes, chief economist with IIB Bank, and Robbie Kelleher, who holds the same position with Davy Stockbrokers, pointed out that they contrasted favourably with recent data from the UK and the rest of Europe.

Alan McQuaid of Bloxham Stockbrokers said that talk of the numbers at work reaching two million was overly optimistic.

"Still, the outlook for this year and next remains extremely positive," he said.

"A net employment increase of 50,000 is now projected for 2006," he concluded.