Economy Minister welcomes another decrease in the unemployment rate

Date published: 19 October 2016

Figures released today for the period June - August 2016 show that the Northern Ireland Labour Force Survey unemployment rate was 5.5% - a decrease of 0.4 percentage points over the quarter and 0.5 percentage points over the year.

Minister Hamilton said: “This is good news for our economy. Our unemployment rate is now the lowest it has been since September - November 2008. In addition, the figures in relation to the number of claimants in receipt of unemployment related benefits for September 2016 stand at 34,900. This is another positive decrease of 400 over the month and a fall of 5,800 over the year.

I also welcome the increase in the employment rate to 70.1%, up over the year by 2.2 percentage points to June - August 2016. This was the highest employment rate since the series began in 1995. We have also witnessed the lowest economic inactivity rate in these latest statistics since the series began, at a rate of 25.7% and down 1.9 percentage points over the year.

Bringing more and better jobs to Northern Ireland is my main priority. I have just returned from a series of meetings with existing and potential investors in Chicago where my very clear message is Northern Ireland is a great place to do business. With our local economy continuing to strengthen and perform well, I am committed to building on this progress to achieve the overall aim of creating a globally competitive economy.”