Unemployment figures down

According to the latest statistics the new supercouncil zone saw 1,381 less people on the dole.

The figures show that there were 3,560 people in the borough claiming unemployment related benefit.

This included 2,360 men and 1,200 men.

The statistics show that 2.7% of the local population are on the dole.

However, there were no statistics available to break the figures down into the former district council areas, so it is difficult to compare the figures from last year.

The figures were published this week by the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency.

The key findings are that the Labour Force Survey (LFS) measure of unemployment in Northern Ireland showed a decrease over the quarter (August – October 2015) and year. The number of people claiming unemployment related benefits in NI decreased in November.

And over quarter and the year, the employment rate increased and the economic inactivity rate decreased.

The LFS indicated that the NI unemployment rate (16+) decreased by 0.2 percentage points (pps) over the quarter and year, to 6.1%. The UK unemployment rate (5.2%) also decreased over the quarter and year.

The number of people claiming unemployment related benefits (from NI Jobs and Benefits Offices) decreased by 800 over the month and decreased by 11,600 over the year, to 39,100 in November 2015 across the north.

However, the rate has remained relatively constant over the last four quarters, centred on an average of 6.1%. The long term unemployment rate (LFS) was 54%, a decrease of 1.5 percentage points (pps) on the previous year.

Businesses reported (in the Quarterly Employment Survey) that the number of employee jobs increased over the quarter to September 2015 (+2,690) and over the year (+8,480) to 729,740.