Borough is ranked sixth lowest for unemployment

There are currently 2,115 men (3.1% of the workforce) and 1,800 women (2.7%) deemed unemployed locally, totalling 3,915 claimants in the borough.

This is the fifth lowest unemployment rate out of 11 NI local authorities.

Lisburn & Castlereagh (2%), Mid Ulster (2.3%), Fermanagh & Omagh (2.5%) and Antrim & Newtownabbey (2.6%) all have lower unemployment rates.

Belfast (4.3%) and Derry City & Strabane (5%) are top of the NI unemployment league.

The unemployment rate in the borough has gone up by 8.3% month on month (300 additional claimants), and by 12.9% year on year (445 new claimants).

In April 2023, the seasonally adjusted number of people on the claimant count was 37,500 at NI level (3.9% of the workforce), an increase of 3.8% from the previous month’s revised figure.

The April NI claimant count remains higher than the pre-pandemic count in March 2020 by 25.6%.

The latest labour market release generally shows improvements over the year, with payrolled employee numbers and earnings having both increased.

The unemployment rate for January-March 2023 is slightly above the pre-pandemic position, while measures of total employment (e.g. employment rate and hours worked) and economic inactivity continue to move towards parity with pre-pandemic rates.

However, there has been little change over the quarter in most measures.