Figures released this week show a decrease in the Northern Ireland unemployment rate.
The Northern Ireland Labour Force Survey unemployment rate for the period from November 2014-January 2015 was 6.0% — a decrease of 1.5% over the year. The current total number of people in employment is an estimated 815,00.
More recent figures for February 2015 show that the number of claimants in receipt of unemployment related benefits has fallen for the 26th consecutive month.
That figure now stands at 46,200 showing a decrease of 11,400 claimants over the last 12 months.
The total number of employee jobs in Northern Ireland was estimated at 720,130 for December 2014, representing an increase of 11,990 (1.7%) over the year. This is now the 11th consecutive quarterly increase in employee jobs.
The figures did however show that the long-term unemployment figure now stands at 63.1% — up 14.2% over the year. They also showed that the number of people who are economically inactive in Northern Ireland has increase to 27.8%. This statistic refers to people aged 16-64 who have been out of employment for more than a year and is significantly higher than the UK average of 22%.
Commenting on the figures, Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster said: “The decrease in the unemployment rate and the number of unemployment related benefit claimants, alongside the sustained increase in employee jobs are all positive signals of growth in the labour market.
“My aim is to ensure the Executive collectively supports a business environment that is both attractive to inward investors and encourages locally owned companies to grow. This is clearly bearing fruit, with significant announcements within the past month.
“These are positive indicators for our local economy and, together with colleagues in Invest NI, I will continue to do all I can to ensure this trend continues.”