Growth in the number of people at work continues to moderate from its peak of a year ago. New figures published yesterday show the number of people in jobs grew by just under 67,000 in the 12 months to August 2000. In the previous 12-month period, the number at work grew by 109,500, the highest figure ever recorded.

Female participation in the labour force has grown from 46.8 per cent in the last quarter of 1999 - when the Government announced the individualisation of tax allowances in the Budget - to 49.7 per cent.

Although more married women were returning to the labour force it was not possible to draw conclusions from the data as to how effective the controversial measure had been, according to Mr Gerry O'Hanlon, the director of the Central Statistics Office. Further moves on individualisation are expected in the Budget.

The Quarterly National Household Survey is carried out on 39,000 households across the State. It is considered a more accurate measure of employment patterns than the monthly live register figure.

The number of people in work in the third quarter (June to August) was 1.737 million, representing an increase of 67,100. The number unemployed increased from 74,900 to 77,700 between the quarters, reflecting the entry of school leavers into the labour force, according to Mr O'Hanlon.

On a 12-month basis the number of people unemployed has fallen by 23,300. The seasonally unadjusted rate for the number of people out of work is 4.3 per cent. When the figure is adjusted it would be close to 4 per cent, said Mr O'Hanlon.

Unemployment remains significantly lower in Dublin than in the regions. The rate in the capital was 3.4 per cent compared to 5.9 per cent in the Border region and 5.7 per cent in the midlands. Most of the increase in the numbers at work was accounted for by growth in full-time jobs. However, the number of women in part-time jobs grew by 7,200 while the number of men in this category fell by 6,500.

Net migration into the State is running at around 20,000 a year, but only 12,000 of these enter the workforce.

There were 1,815,600 people in the labour force during the period, an increase of 45,400. This represents 61 per cent of all persons over 15. The rate of increase in the labour force is also slowing, representing the changing demographics of the population and lower growth in participation rates.

The Government chief whip, Mr Seamus Brennan pointed out that long-term unemployment had dropped 1.4 per cent. "Today's positive figures demonstrate further that the economy is moving into a mature phase of more moderate sustainable growth," he said.