Unemployment Rate Falls

The latest Labour Market figures released yesterday for Northern Ireland have shown that the unemployment rate has fallen since the last quarter, meaning employment has risen.

The unemployment rate was estimated at 6.8% for the period September – November 2011, measured by the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The rate remained below the UK average rate (8.4%) as well as being lower than that of the European Union (9.8%) and Republic of Ireland (14.3%).

Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster commented that; “It was encouraging to note the latest labour market figures for Northern Ireland, which showed a rise in employment and a fall in unemployment during the latest quarter.”

The LFS have estimated for September – November 2011 of those who are unemployed, 37.0% have been unemployed for one year or more. This statistic is down by 12.8% from the previous year.
Encouragingly the unemployment rate for 18-24 year olds, which has been a cause for concern recently, has been estimated at 18.4% - down 2.5% over the year.

In addition the number of people claiming unemployment related benefits in December 2011 stood at 60,700. This number has risen by 100 (0.2%) from the revised figure for the previous month.  Over the year the N.I claimant count  has increased by 4.1%, compared to the increase of 9.8% in the UK.  With Northern Ireland having the second lowest annual increase among the UK regions.

Combined with the fall in unemployment, there is more good news as the estimates for the period September – November 2011 showed that there was a rise in Employment with figures showing 803,000 people currently in work throughout NI. These figures were up 0.5% on the previous quarter and up 4.6% on last year’s statistics. 

Minister Foster also urged companies to take advantage of export markets noting that, “businesses not be constrained by demand in local markets, but to speak to trade experts in Invest NI and consider expanding your business into new export markets.”

Taylor Hamill 19/01/2012