Unemployment in Ireland is falling faster than almost everywhere else in the European Union.

New figures from Eurostat show only two EU member states - Hungary and Portugal - have seen larger falls in the number of people out of work.

The highest increases in unemployment were found in Cyprus which saw rates go from 15.6% to 16.4% and the Netherlands from 6.5% to 7.2%.

The Irish unemployment rate stood at 11.9% at the end of April which is down from 13.7% a year previously.

That is compared to 11.7% in the Eurozone, and 10.4% across the entire EU.

Among the EU Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.9%), Germany (5.2%) and Luxembourg (6.1%).

While the highest was seen in Greece (26.5%) and Spain (25.1%).

However, unemployment among under-25s stands at 24.3% - higher than the average in either the Eurozone or the EU as a whole.