Business Register and Employment Survey 2018

Employee job figures derived from the 2018 Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES) were released on Thursday 27 June 2019. Corresponding figures for the whole of the UK will be released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on 26 September 2019.

Statistical Press Release

BRES is an annual survey of businesses requesting information on the number of employee jobs and business activity. In 2018, approximately 12,000 businesses (17% of all VAT and/or PAYE registered businesses in Northern Ireland) were surveyed and an effective response rate of 79% was achieved.

BRES counts the number of jobs rather than the number of persons with a job.  As a result, a person holding both a full-time job and a part-time job, or someone with two part-time jobs, will be counted twice.  BRES does not include the self-employed in its employee job estimates.  Employee job estimates for Northern Ireland, split by gender and working pattern are presented in the bulletin. Key facts from the bulletin are presented below.

Employee jobs increased by 2% over the year to September 2018

• BRES 2018 indicated that the total number of employee jobs in Northern Ireland in September 2018 was 771,379.  This represents an increase in employee jobs of 15,014 (2%) from September 2017.

Employee jobs increased in each of the four headline industries

• BRES 2018 saw an increase in employee jobs across all of the four headline industries.  The services industry had the largest increase in the number of employee jobs (10,405 or 1.7%) over the year to September 2018.  While construction jobs increased by 891 or 2.6% over the period in question, the largest proportional growth was experienced in the manufacturing industry (3.8% corresponding to 3,146 jobs).  The ‘other’(1) industry also saw an increase of 2.5% (573 jobs) over the year to September 2018.
• The employee job profile in Northern Ireland remains dominated by the services industry with 81% of employee jobs in this sector.  Manufacturing jobs account for 11% of the total with 5% of jobs in the construction industry and the remaining 3% of jobs classified as ‘other’.  The proportion of jobs in each of the four headline industries has remained relatively unchanged from 2017.

Employee jobs increased in both the private and public sector

• BRES 2018 estimated the number of public sector jobs and private sector jobs at 206,461 and 564,918, respectively. 
• Public sector jobs increased by 2.1% over the period.  The growth in the public sector can largely be attributed to an increase in female full-time jobs of 3,448 (4.6%). Employee jobs in the private sector also increased over the period rising by 10,780 jobs or 1.9%.

Employee job changes at District Council Area (DCA) level were mostly driven by increases in the services industry

• All DCAs in Northern Ireland saw an increase in employee jobs with the exception of Antrim and Newtownabbey, where a small decrease of 1% was observed over the year to September 2018. 
• Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon saw the largest increase in the number of employee jobs of all the DCAs, growing by 3.7% or 2,814 jobs.  In contrast, Mid Ulster saw the largest proportional increase in employee jobs at 4.8% or 2,679 jobs.

Local unit results from the 2017 Annual Business Inquiry have also been published today

• The Annual Business Inquiry (ABI) is an annual survey of businesses requesting financial information and business activity. The ABI is a key resource for measuring the size, performance and structure of the Northern Ireland non-financial business economy. It is a survey of businesses covering the Production, Construction, Distribution and Service industries and covers roughly two thirds of the total NI economy.  Public sector bodies are excluded from the survey.
• In 2017, approximately 9,300 businesses were surveyed. The ABI is a key resource for measuring the size, performance and structure of the Northern Ireland non-financial business economy.  
• In 2017, the income generated by non-financial businesses in Northern Ireland (NI), less the cost of goods and services used to create this income, was estimated to be £22.0 billion. This amount represents the approximate Gross Value Added (aGVA) at basic prices of the NI non-financial business economy.
• Turnover in the NI non-financial business economy as a whole decreased by £1.0 billion (-1.5%) over the year. Purchases of goods, materials, energy, water and services increased year on year by £1.5 billion (3.5%). 

Upcoming Releases

The Economic and Labour Market Statistics Branch will release the following publications in July 2019:

• Labour Market Report on 16 July,
• Northern Ireland Composite Economic Index on 18 July, and
• Construction Output Statistics on 18 July.

A separate briefing will be issued, on the day of publication, for each of these releases.

(1) The ‘other’ industry includes Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing; Mining and Quarrying; Electricity, Gas, Stem and Air Conditioning Supply; and Water Supply, Sewerage, Waste Management and Remediation Activities.

Notes to editors: 

1. BRES is an annual survey of businesses requesting information on the number of employee jobs and business activity.  In 2018, approximately 12,000 businesses (17% of all VAT and/or PAYE registered businesses in Northern Ireland) were surveyed and an effective response rate of 79% was achieved. 
2. BRES provides employee job estimates for Northern Ireland, split by gender and working pattern.  BRES counts the number of jobs rather than the number of persons with a job.  As a result, a person holding both a full-time job and a part-time job, or someone with two part-time jobs, will be counted twice. The BRES employee job estimates do not include those that are self-employed.
3. The BRES data is disaggregated at sub-Northern Ireland geographical levels. The geographical information is, for the most part, based on the location of the jobs at a local unit level.  Businesses often relocate employee jobs from one area to another. This causes changes in employee job counts at geographical levels. The relocation or change of reporting procedures by large employers can therefore affect BRES sub-NI analysis when making annual comparisons. 
4. The Annual Business Inquiry (ABI) is an annual survey of businesses requesting financial information and business activity. The ABI is a key resource for measuring the size, performance and structure of the Northern Ireland non-financial business economy. It is a survey of businesses covering the Production, Construction, Distribution and Service industries and covers roughly two thirds of the total NI economy. Public sector bodies are excluded from the survey.
5. The BRES 2018 report is available on the NISRA website at the Annual Employee Jobs Surveys page. 
6. The full ABI 2017 report is available on the NISRA website at the Annual Business Inquiry page.
7. For media enquiries, please contact DfE Press Office on 028 9052 9604. Outside office hours, please contact the Duty Press Officer on 028 9037 8110.
8. Feedback is welcomed and should be addressed to: Responsible statisticians, Arlene Connolly (BRES) Ross Hume (ABI), Economic & Labour Market Statistics Branch (ELMS),arlene.connolly@nisra.gov.uk or Tel: 028 90529606 ross.hume@nisra.gov.uk or Tel: 028 90555173.
9. Follow ELMS on Twitter - @ELMSNISRA 

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