14/05/2014

NI Unemployment Falls, Yet Slower Than UK

Unemployment in Northern Ireland continues to fall, albeit slower than the rest of the UK, according to the latest figures released by the Labour Force Survey (LFS).

The unemployment figure for the period January - March 2014 was 7.2%, down 0.1% from the rate recorded in the previous quarter and down 0.9% from the rate recorded one year ago.

Estimates for January - March 2014 show 47.4% of those unemployed in Northern Ireland have been unemployed for one year or more. This is down 13% from one year ago.The unemployment rate for 18-24 year olds was 18.6%, down 2.5% over the year.

However, the Northern Ireland unemployment rate was above the UK average rate (6.8%), which has decreased by 0.4% over the quarter and by 1.0% over the year. The NI rate was also lower than the European Union (10.6%) and Republic of Ireland (11.9%) rates for February 2014.

Figures for the three months December - February 2014 estimated the NI unemployment rate for 18-24 year olds at 23.1%, compared to the UK average rate of 16.7%.

The number of people claiming unemployment related benefits stood at 56,100 in April 2014, indicating a fall of 800 from the previous month’s revised figure. This is the fifteen consecutive month in which there has been a fall in this measure of unemployment.

The Northern Ireland claimant count rate (6.2%) in April 2014 was the highest among the twelve UK regions. The UK rate was 3.3%. This is now the 49th consecutive month that NI has had the highest or second highest UK regional unemployment rate, on this measure.

Further, the latest monthly decrease in Northern Ireland claimants (1.4%) was lower than the UK decrease (2.2%). Over the year, the Northern Ireland claimant count has decreased by 12.8% (8,200), compared to a decrease of 26.4% in the UK. The annual decrease in Northern Ireland was the lowest among the 12 UK regions.

(IT)

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