Unemployment rises by 5,000 over last quarter

Unemployment in Northern Ireland is up by around 5,000 in the last quarter according to Labour Force Survey (LFS) figures released today.

The total number of unemployed now stands at 47,000 for the period from June to August, or around 6.1% of the population according to International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. The rise marks a 0.4% rise on last quarter and Northern Ireland is now ahead of the UK national average by 0.9%.

However, the figures do not include recently announced job cuts at Nortel (200), Harland and Wolff (265), Shorts (461), Solectron (80), and Getty Connections (135). The companies have gone into 90-day consultation with unions to attempt to limit the effects of the jobs cull – but the overall total currently stands at 1,141.

The trade department say that it may be some time before these proposed job losses are reflected in the unemployment figures.

Whilst the employment news of late has been dismal, Northern Ireland remains ahead of the average within the EU's 15 member states. The ILO unemployment rate in the north stands 1.6 percentage points lower than the EU's 7.7%.

In the UK, the seasonally adjusted ILO unemployment rate is lower than three other regions - London (7.0%), Scotland (6.5%), and the North East (6.3%).

Over the year, LFS figures show an increase of 4,000 in total employment and an increase of 1,000 in unemployment, leading to an increase of 5,000 in the economically active. The number economically inactive has increased 6,000 over the year.

There was some positive news coming from the survey, as manufacturing figures for the second quarter of 2002 show a turnaround in the trend so far this year.

A comparison with the figures for the same period last year reveals a marked decrease of 3.1%, however, output rose by 3.6% on the previous quarter.

Northern Ireland’s manufacturing output still compares reasonably well to the UK as a whole, where manufacturing output has decreased by 0.7% over the quarter and by 5.3% over the year.

The number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) has remained unchanged from last month at 35,400 JSA claimants or 4.5% of the workforce. This represents a decrease of 3,300 over the year.

(GMcG)