Increase in number of NI unemployment claimants as UK sickness rates grow

The latest Labour Force Survey statistics, published by the Department for the Economy at Stormont on Tuesday morning, show that 35,900 people or an estimated 3.8% of the total workforce were claiming unemployment benefits in September.

The survey also shows that the number of employees in Northern Ireland - those on company payrolls - has also fallen slightly. It is the first decrease recorded by the survey in more than a year. There were 780,800 employees in Northern Ireland in September, a drop of 0.1% since August.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for the UK as a whole dropped to its lowest for almost half a decade as more Britons left the labour market completely due to illness, according to official figures.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the unemployment rate fell to 3.5% over the three months to August – the lowest since February 1974.

Economists had predicted that the unemployment rate would stay steady at 3.6%, the rate it hit during the previous quarter. It came after a joint-record rise in the number of people considered “economically inactive” – not in work or searching for work – due to long-term sickness. The figures showed that 377,681 more adults have become economically inactive because of long-term sickness since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

David Pye, director at consultants Broadstone, said: “Businesses are suffering immense financial and productivity damage as employees struggle to access the healthcare they need.”