Unemployment rate is slowing

THE unemployment rate in Craigavon has continued to slow.

Last month the number of claimants rose by just 0.2 per cent.

Overall in the past year there were 1,050 extra people claiming benefits.

The total number of people receiving unemployment benefit currently stands at 2,741, which accounts for 5% of men and women of working age.

Furthermore Craigavon accounted for 206 of the 4,541 jobs lost in Northern Ireland in 2009.

The Northern Ireland seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was estimated at 6.8% for the period September - November 2009. This represented a decrease from the rate of 7.1% recorded in the previous quarter, but was up from the rate of 4.3% recorded in the same period one year ago.

The Northern Ireland unemployment rate was below the UK average (7.8%) and was the fourth lowest rate among the UK regions. It also remained lower than the European Union (9.3%) and Republic of Ireland (12.8%) rates for October 2009.

The seasonally adjusted number of people claiming unemployment related benefits stood at 54,500 (6.3% of the workforce) in December 2009 – an increase of 500 (0.9%) over the month.

Northern Ireland was one of only two UK regions to record an increase in claimant levels in December 2009 - the UK as a whole recorded a decrease of 0.9%.

Over the year, the Northern Ireland claimant count has increased by 48.5% (17,800). The equivalent increase in the UK was 36.6%, with the Northern Ireland annual increase ranking highest of the UK regions.