17 May 2000

 

UNEMPLOYMENT CONTINUES TO FALL - INGRAM

The Northern Ireland Labour Force Survey figures published today for the period January - March 2000 show that there are now 49,000 persons unemployed, a fall of 5,000 compared to the same period last year, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition.

Welcoming the news this morning, Adam Ingram, Minister of State, said:

"Northern Ireland is steadily working its way from the bottom of the unemployment league table. The rate of 6.6% is identical to that of Yorkshire and the Humber and lower than the North East (9.2%), Scotland (7.7%),

London (7.5%) and Wales (6.9%).

"There is also a significant drop in the number claiming Jobseekers Allowance. At 41,700, the seasonally adjusted figure is the lowest level since January 1976. Over the month to April 2000, the Northern Ireland seasonally adjusted total fell by 1,500 and is now 5.4% of the workforce.

"The overall employment figures are also good news with the figures for the January - March period showing an increase of 1,000 over the year to 695,000.

"However, while much of the data published this month presents a positive picture of the local economy, there have been a considerable number of job

losses announced recently, particularly in Northern Ireland's traditional industries.

"While it will be some time before the effect of these feed through to the statistics, we must be realistic and face the fact that the world economy is fiercely competitive and changing rapidly. We must constantly examine the way we do business, what we manufacture and our methods of production.

"Once again we are on the threshold of having devolved government. There is no doubt in my mind that political stability is the single most important contributory factor which would attract new investment, create new jobs and build business confidence."

NOTE TO EDITORS:

There are 744,000 people in Northern Ireland who are economically active i.e. they are either in employment or unemployed. There are a further 518,000 individuals aged 16+ defined as 'economically inactive', 64,000 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 were 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 (e.g. 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 e.g. Oct-Dec 1999 versus Oct-Dec 1998, 1997 etc. In addition, robust disaggregated estimates are not available below NI level from the quarterly 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 (e.g. 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 term 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

Click here to view Key Facts from the Northern Ireland Labour Force Survey.

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