Unemployment in NI doubles in two months as coronavirus hits economy

The number of people claiming unemployment benefit has more than doubled in Northern Ireland in just two months.

By Jonathan McCambridge

Published 16th Jun 2020, 08:06 BST

Newly released figures show that the number claiming the benefit in May was 65,200 - 7% of the total workforce.

The total has risen from 59,500 in April and 29,700 in March and demonstrates the impact that Covid-19 has had on the local economy.

According to the figures from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, this brings the total above the most recent peak of 64,800 in February 2013.

Claimant count includes Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants and those people on Universal Credit who were claiming principally for the reason of being unemployed.

The figures also reveal a total of 342 redundancies were proposed in May 2020, a decrease on the previous month’s total of 783; and a further 1,427 were proposed in the current month to June 15.