Dole claimant rate dips again

THE number of dole claimants in Londonderry dipped slightly in November but the city remains Northern Ireland's worst dependency blackspot, while things are at a standstill in Limavady.

The latest data show the city posted the highest rate of dole claimants at 7.4 per cent of the resident working age population in November - representing a moderate improvement of 0.1 percentage points from the previous month.

There was no improvement in Limavady and Strabane, however, with the latest figures from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETINI) showing the claimant count rate remained static at 6.8 per cent in Limavady and 6.9 per cent in Strabane.

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The report states: "The highest rates at November 2010 were in Derry (7.4 per cent), Strabane (6.9 per cent) and Limavady (6.8 per cent).

"Those that showed the highest percentage increase in levels over the year to November 2010 were Newry & Mourne (20.6 per cent), Banbridge (19.1 per cent) and North Down (15.7 per cent)."

Figures released for the period August – October 2010 showed that the Northern Ireland unemployment rate increased over the quarter to reach 7.6 per cent.

More recent figures for November 2010 showed that the number of unemployment benefit claimants increased by 100 from the previous month's revised figure.

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The total number of employee jobs in Northern Ireland was estimated at 697,630 for September 2010, representing a fall of 940 over the quarter. However, after eight consecutive quarterly decreases, the number of private sector jobs increased by 430 during the latest quarter.

Commenting on the figures, Enterprise Minister, Arlene Foster said:

"It was disappointing to note the latest increase in the unemployment rate for Northern Ireland.

Nevertheless, our unemployment rate (7.6 per cent) is still lower than the corresponding rate for the United Kingdom (7.9 per cent) and it also compares favourably to the latest European Union (9.6 per cent) and Republic of Ireland (14.1 per cent) figures.

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"Although the figures for November 2010 show a marginal increase of 100 in the number of people claiming unemployment benefits, over recent months there has been a notable slowing in the rate of increase, with the latest monthly increase much less marked than last year.

The Minister continued:

"The Quarterly Employment Survey results for September 2010 also indicated a slow down in the rate of job losses in Northern Ireland.

"The latest quarterly decrease in jobs was approximately one quarter of the average fall in jobs since the start of the downturn.

"The industry driving this quarter's job losses was once again the construction sector, as firms continue to find economic conditions difficult.