More Londonderry lay offs this winter than in the whole of 2014 and 2015

That’s more officially registered redundancies here than were registered during the whole of 2014 (107) and 2015 (101).

Meanwhile, six point two per cent of working age people in Londonderry and Strabane were claiming unemployment-related benefits last month, according to the latest statistics.

The Northern Ireland claimant count was higher than the United Kingdom average and the highest rate among the twelve UK regions, whilst the claimant count in Londonderry and Strabane was the highest in Northern Ireland.

More men (8.8 per cent) than women (3.8 per cent) were claiming jobseekers here.

All eleven Council Areas showed a decrease over the year, with the largest decreases in Mid Ulster (25.2 per cent), and Newry, Mourne and Down (20.6 per cent). The claimant count was down by 13.7 per cent in Londonderry and Strabane over the year.

According to the Department of Enterpise, Trade and Investment (DETINI): “The Labour Force Survey (LFS) indicated that the NI unemployment rate (16+) increased by 0.4 percentage points (pps) over the quarter and 0.3 pps over the year, to 6.3 per cent. This is slightly above the averages for 2014 (6.2 per cent) and 2015 (6.1 per cent).

“The UK unemployment rate (5.1 per cent) increased slightly over the quarter (to December to February 2016) but fell over the year.

“The number of people claiming unemployment related benefits (from NI Jobs and Benefits Offices) increased by 200 over the month, to 38,600 in March.

“This is the second consecutive month that the number of persons on the claimant count has increased but only the third occasion an increase was recorded in the last 37 months.”