Fall in number of people out of work locally

New figures reveal that the numbner of claimants has decreased by 1,273 (27.5%).

In November the total number of claimants was 3,364 (2275 males and 1089 females.

Enterprise, Trade and Investment Minister Jonathan Bell welcomed labour market statistics, which show an increase in the number of jobs in Northern Ireland and a decrease in the unemployment rate.

In November 2015, the number of claimants in receipt of unemployment related benefits stood at 39,100, a decrease of 800 over the month. There has been a fall of 11,600 in the unemployment claimant figures over the last 12 months.

The total number of employee jobs in Northern Ireland was estimated at 729,740 for September 2015, representing an increase of 2,690 (0.4%) over the quarter, and an increase of 8,480 (1.2%) over the year.

Figures for the period August - October 2015 show that the Northern Ireland Labour Force Survey unemployment rate was 6.1% - a decrease of 0.2 percentage points over the quarter and over the year.

ing, legal, business and financial services, and across every council area.

The figures published today contain positive messages across a range of key labour market indicators. Unemployment has fallen, both over the quarter and the year, while the number of employee jobs has continued to increase.

“At 6.1%, the Northern Ireland unemployment rate continues to compare very favourably to the August 2015 rates for the European Union (9.3%) and the Republic of Ireland (9.4%).”

Provisional results from the seasonally adjusted Index of Production (IOP) showed that output levels in Northern Ireland decreased by 2.1% over the quarter to July – September 2015 but increased by 0.6% over the year.