230,400 people are now receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment - a drop of 2,000 over the last seven days, according to the latest figures from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.
However, there has been a slight increase in claimants in Kildare, Laois and Offaly where renewed Covid-19 restrictions were imposed two weeks ago.
The number of claimants rose from 11,200 to 11,400 in Kildare, and from 3,300 to 3,400 in both Laois and Offaly. The figures for all other counties either remained static or fell.
Minister Heather Humphreys acknowledged that while it was positive that people were continuing to return to work, "...it is clear that the rate of decrease has slowed in recent weeks".