Employment in Northern Ireland rises to an all time high

Employment in Northern Ireland has risen to an all time high according to the latest figures released from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Development.

According to the government figures for the period of December 2005 to February 2006, 763,000 people in employment in Northern Ireland, an estimated increase of 1.2% in employment levels over the quarter and an increase of 3.1% over the year.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Northern Ireland was 4.1% for the period December – February 2006. This is down from a rate of 4.6% for the previous quarter and has also decreased from a rate of 4.8% for the same period last year.

These figures also show that the rate of unemployment in the province remains below the UK average, which is at 5.1% and is also considerably lower than the EU25 rate, which is at 8.5% for January 2006.

The latest seasonally adjusted claimant count figure stands at 28,400, down 500 over the year.

However, the figures revealed that over the last month, the number of people claiming unemployment related benefits has increased by 100.

Commenting on the figures, Enterprise, Minister, Angela Smith said: "These figures underline a strong performance by the Northern Ireland labour market.

"Employment levels are at a record high and the unemployment rate remains below the UK average and is the second lowest among the UK regions."

(EF/SP)