The Social Protection Minister says Ireland is now "firmly in recovery mode" after a dramatic drop in jobless numbers last week.

Joan Burton has revealed she informed the Cabinet earlier that 7,700 people left the Live Register last week alone.

Normally such weekly figures would not be made public but Minister Burton decided to do so at a press conference this afternoon.

Earlier figures show that the number of people on the Register fell in August. Unemployment figures showed a monthly decrease in the numbers signing on of 3,400.

The overall unemployment rate is now 13.4% which down from 13.5% compared to July.

Overall 400,000 people are still officially unemployed.