Dole queues stretch again

DOLE queues in Londonderry lengthened in August once again earning the city the as the worst unemployment blackspot in Northern Ireland.

The city posted the highest rate of dole claimants at 7.6 per cent of the resident working age population. This was up 0.3 percentage points from the previous month.

The latest figures from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETINI) show the highest claimant count rates at August 2010 were in Londonderry (7.6 per cent), Limavady (7.1 per cent) and Belfast (6.8 per cent).

Those that showed the highest percentage increase in levels over the year to August 2010 were Newry & Mourne (28.9 per cent), Ards (18.5 per cent), Banbridge (18.5 per cent) and North Down (18.5 per cent).

Figures released for August 2010 showed an increase of 900 over the month in the number of unemployment benefit claimants across Northern Ireland as a whole.

The total number of employee jobs in Northern Ireland was estimated at 699,230 for June 2010, representing a fall of 1,120 over the quarter.

Commenting on the figures, Enterprise Minister, Arlene Foster said: “The latest labour market figures show that Northern Ireland is continuing to experience the impact of the economic downturn.

“Although the rate of job losses has slowed this year, compared to last, there was still an increase of 900 in the unemployment register in August.

“The only notable increase in the number of employee jobs, during the second quarter of this year, was in the manufacturing sector. This is a small but welcome sign of progress which demonstrates the value of exporting innovative, quality products.”

The Minister continued: “It is clear that the recovery is going to take some time. The October Spending Review will present further challenges and we need to take these fully into account as the Executive shapes its economic strategy to help deliver sustainable economic growth and prosperity. I believe that the economy must remain the number one priority for the Executive.

“While overall public expenditure is set to decline, we must continue to focus on building the right foundations to enable sustainable growth in the private sector.

“Rebalancing the economy to foster the growth of the private sector will also be the subject of Treasury proposals later in the autumn. This will further inform the Executive’s economic strategy.”