Unemployment rates continue to remain low

Northern Ireland’s unemployment rates remains below the UK average, whilst the service sector output levels increased over the year.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Northern Ireland was 3.6% for the period June - August 2007. This represents a slight fall from the rates of 4.2% and 4.3%, 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 (6.8%) for July 2007.

Seasonally adjusted figures for the same period estimate that there were 767,000 people in employment in Northern Ireland. The new figures represent an estimated fall of 2.4% in employment levels over the quarter and a decrease of 0.2% over the year.

The number of people claiming unemployment related benefits stands at 23,100. This shows a decrease of 200 from the previous month and is down 4,500 over the year.

The latest seasonally adjusted working age economic inactivity rate in Northern Ireland (27.8%) has increased from a figure of 25.8% recorded for the previous quarter. The Northern Ireland rate (27.8%) continues to be significantly higher than the UK average (21.3%) and is the highest among the UK regions.

Commenting on the figures, Economy Minister, Nigel Dodds said: "It is very encouraging to see that unemployment in Northern Ireland is being maintained at such low levels. Our unemployment rate has been below the UK average for the past two years and compares favourably with most of Europe.

“There is great opportunity for our labour market to grow further, as the economically inactive population represent a potentially valuable un-tapped labour supply. Our aim is to promote the economic conditions that will encourage increased labour market participation and continued economic growth in Northern Ireland."

Provisional seasonally adjusted results from the experimental Index of Services (IOS) for the second quarter of 2007, estimate that the service sector has decreased by 0.1% over the quarter and increased by an estimated 2.7% compared to the same quarter one year earlier. The increase in Northern Ireland services over the last four quarters (3.6%) is broadly in line with that for the UK as a whole (3.8%).

Over the year the largest contribution to the positive change in the Index was driven by the following sub sectors: Business Services & Finance sector (+8.7%), Transport, Storage & Communication (+6.8%), the Hotels & Restaurants sectors (+9.5%) and the Distribution - Wholesale & Retail sector (+0.6%). The “Other Services” (-16.2%) reported a decrease when compared against the same quarter one year earlier.

Results from the Index of Production (IOP) for the second quarter of 2007 show that Northern Ireland Production output increased by 0.2% over the quarter and decreased by 1.9% over the year. The equivalent UK figures showed an increase of 0.7% over both the quarter and the year.

Nigel Dodds continued: “The annual growth in output levels from the Northern Ireland service sector remains encouraging and is broadly in line with that recorded for the UK. Northern Ireland companies continue to operate in a challenging marketplace, as rapid technological change and newly industrialised economies increase global competition.

“In an increasingly knowledge based global economy, Northern Ireland’s future economic success depends on our ability to translate innovative ideas into high value added products and services. To succeed we also need to release our full labour market and economic potential and I would encourage businesses to focus on export growth to this end.”

Notes to Editors:

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