16/11/2005

Employment figures at a record high

The latest labour market figures have reported the lowest ever unemployment rate in Northern Ireland with employment at a record high.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the period July – September 2005 was 4.3%, the lowest ever recorded in Northern Ireland. This is a drop of 5%, which was recorded in both the previous quarter and in the same period last year.

Seasonally adjusted figures estimate that there were 760,000 people in employment for the period July – September 2005, an increase of 2.2% over the quarter and 5.5% over the year. It is now estimated that 70% of the working age population in Northern Ireland are in employment.

Commenting on the figures, Enterprise Minister, Angela Smith, said: "With employment at a record high and unemployment at its lowest level this is an ideal environment to build a sustainable and thriving economy for Northern Ireland.”

The latest NI unemployment rate (4.3%) is below the UK average (4.7%) and is also considerably lower than the EU25 average (8.7%) for August 2005.

Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted claimant count figure for October 2005 stands at 28,200. The number of people claiming unemployment related benefits has increased by 100 during the last three months, but is down 1,600 over the year.

(MB/SP)

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