15 March 2000
UNEMPLOYMENT CONTINUES TO FALL
Adam Ingram MP, Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office, responsible for the economy, this morning welcomed a further fall in both unemployment and in the number claiming job seekers allowance.
Commenting on the latest Labour Market Statistics, Mr Ingram said: "The figures for November 1999 to January 2000 show that unemployment, as measured by the International Labour Organisation definition, has fallen by 3,000 over the year and now stands at 47,000 or 6.3% of the workforce.
"This represents the lowest number unemployed and the lowest unemployment rate since the international definition of unemployment was first introduced in 1984.
"Although this is particularly encouraging news, we must recognise the difficulties currently being experienced in some of our traditional sectors and the effect this will undoubtedly have in the coming months."
The Minister said that the business community had faced many pressures in the past. He added: "However, it has shown itself to be highly resilient, innovative and committed despite 30 years of political instability. I am confident that it will continue to rise to whatever challenges it is faced with.
"Northern Ireland is a high quality environment for investors and Government will continue to work in partnership to develop the economy and build on the gains which have been made over the last decade.
"The growing number of blue-chip investors such as Fujitsu, Nortel, Seagate and Du Pont and the regeneration of cities and towns across Northern Ireland are testimony of this effort," he added.
Returning to the unemployment figures, Mr Ingram revealed that the number of people who are long-term unemployed (those out of work for 12 months or more) has fallen by a further 2,000 over the year and currently stands at 22,000.
He said there was also good news in relation to the numbers claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA). "There are now 43,700 JSA claimants, the lowest since April 1976. Between January and February 2000, the Northern Ireland seasonally adjusted total fell by 600, representing 5.6% of the Northern Ireland workforce, the lowest proportion for over 24 years."
At December 1999, the Quarterly Employment Survey recorded 625,030 employee jobs, the highest figure on record. Between September and December 1999 there have been employee job increases in all sectors of the economy with a total rise over the quarter of 7,740.
Click here for this month's figures.
NOTE TO EDITORS:
There are 738,000 people in Northern Ireland who are economically active, ie they are either in employment or unemployed. There are a further 503,000 individuals aged 16+ defined as ‘economically inactive’, 61,000 of whom want employment but do not satisfy the full International Labour Organisation (ILO) job search criteria.
ILO DEFINITIONS
The definition of unemployment used in the Labour Force Survey (LFS) is in accordance with that promulgated by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The ILO unemployed include those without a job who are able to start work in the two weeks following their LFS interview and had either looked for work in the four weeks prior to interview or were waiting to start a job they had already obtained.
The definition of ILO employed applies to anyone (aged 16 or over) who has done at least one hour’s paid work in the week prior to interview, or has a job they are temporarily away from (eg on holiday). Also included are people who do unpaid work in a family business and people on Government-supported employment training schemes.
The ILO measures are particularly useful for examining trends over time. However, as the estimates are not (yet) seasonally adjusted, care should be taken when considering short term comparisons. The most appropriate comparisons to make, at present, are for a particular quarter in relation to the same quarter in previous years, eg October to December 1999 versus October to December 1998, 1997 etc. In addition, robust disaggregated estimates are not available below the Northern Ireland level from the quarterly survey.
Key Facts From The Northern Ireland Labour Force Survey
CLAIMANT COUNT DEFINITION
Claimant Count unemployment figures are derived from records of claimants held at social security offices (SSOs). The term ‘claimants’ in the claimant count is used to include those who claim Jobseekers Allowance and national insurance credits. The figures include the severely disabled unemployed, but exclude students seeking vacation work and the temporarily stopped. The Claimant Count is a very up to date measure of those eligible to claim a specific unemployment related benefit and data are available for a range of geographical sub-regions (eg, district council areas (DCA’s), parliamentary constituency areas (PCA’s), wards and travel to work areas (TTWA’s). It also provides seasonally adjusted and unadjusted data and as a result it is a useful measure for examining both short terms and long term trends.
Media enquiries should be directed to Press Office, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) on telephone: 028 9052 9604. General information can be obtained from Helen Shilliday, DETI’s Statistics Research Branch on Telephone: 028 9052 9437. Detailed statistical information is also available on the DETI website: www.detini.gov.uk/statsres/index.htm