Fall followed by rise in the jobless total
The number of people out of work in Northern Ireland fell in the period October to December 2009 but there was a sharp rise last month, according to statistics released yesterday.
The unemployment rate fell to 6 per cent at the end of last year. However, there were 1,400 more claimants in January.
The rate of six per cent for October to December was down from 7.1 per cent in the previous quarter.
However, the unemployment rate for the same quarter of 2008 was 5.3 per cent.
Commenting on the figures Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster said: “Most economic commentators believe that unemployment will continue to rise during the first half of 2010, before a sustained economic recovery is translated into jobs growth.
“The latest claimant count and redundancy figures indicate that this may indeed be the case.
“Our aim remains the same - to provide practical help and support to Northern Ireland businesses to ensure that job losses are minimised.”
She said the unemployment rate of 6 per cent for the last quarter of 2009, compared to 7.8 per cent across the UK and 12.9 per cent in the Irish Republic.
Angela McGowan, Northern Bank chief economist said the January rise was “disappointing.”
“The weak economic recovery is clearly putting further downward pressure on the local labour market.
“Wage flexibility and reduced hours may have contributed to limited job losses so far, but the economy needs a sustained period of good economic growth before labour market conditions start to improve.”
She also warned that a combination of slow recovery and public sector job cuts suggests that over the medium and long run, “"local unemployment will most probably remain relatively high, above 55,000, with no return to the exceptionally low levels experienced earlier in the decade.”
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Tuesday 14 February 2012
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