Northern Ireland's unemployment rate remains low

Northern Ireland's unemployment rate remains below the UK average and service sector output levels have increased over the last year.

The Northern Ireland seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.2% for the period March – May 2007. This represents a slight fall from the rates of 4.6% and 4.5%, which were recorded in the previous quarter and previous year respectively. The latest Northern Ireland rate remains below the UK average (5.4%) and is also considerably lower than the EU27 rate (7.1%) for April 2007.

Seasonally adjusted figures for the same period estimate that there were 786,000 people in employment in Northern Ireland. The new figures represent an estimated increase of 2.4% in employment levels over the quarter and an increase of 3.4% over the year.

The number of people claiming unemployment related benefits stands at 24,400. This shows a decrease of 500 from the previous month and is down 3,500 over the year.

The latest seasonally adjusted working age economic inactivity rate in Northern Ireland (25.8%) has fallen from a figure of 26.9% recorded for the previous quarter. However, the Northern Ireland rate (25.8%) remains significantly higher than the UK average (21.2%) and is the highest among the UK regions.

Commenting on the figures, Economy Minister, Nigel Dodds said: "These figures highlight the strengthening of the Northern Ireland labour market over recent years. Employment levels continue to rise while unemployment levels are consistently low. The Northern Ireland unemployment rate has remained below the 5.0% mark for over two years and the current rate is the second lowest among the UK regions. "

Provisional seasonally adjusted results from the experimental Index of Services (IOS) for the first quarter of 2007, estimate that the service sector has increased by 1.4% over the quarter and by an estimated 2.5% compared to the same quarter one year earlier. The increase in Northern Ireland services over the last four quarters (3.9%) is broadly in line with that for the UK as a whole (3.7%).

Over the year the largest contribution to the positive change in the Index was driven by the following sub sectors: the Distribution - Wholesale & Retail sector (+6.5%), Transport, Storage & Communication (+4.2%), Business Services & Finance (+1.9%) sectors. The “Other Services” (-9.1%) and the Hotels & Restaurants sectors (-2.0%) both reported decreases when compared against the same quarter one year earlier.

Results from the Index of Production (IOP) for the first quarter of 2007 show that Northern Ireland Production output decreased by 1.4% over the quarter and decreased by 2.2% over the year. The equivalent UK figures showed a decrease of 0.1% over both the quarter and the year.

Mr Dodds said: “Northern Ireland companies continue to operate in fiercely competitive markets and our manufacturing sector in particular has been subject to the effects of low cost overseas competition.

“It is encouraging to note that this is the fourteenth consecutive quarter in which the Index of Services has shown an annual increase and growth is broadly in line with the UK as a whole over the last four quarters.

“Northern Ireland businesses need to stay ahead of the competition and maintain this growth by seeking ways of improving the quality of their products and services. I would urge businesses to invest in R&D and innovation, to seize business opportunities as they arise and to become more focussed on export markets.”

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

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