Employment unchanged but manufacturing suffers says LFS survey

The Northern Ireland seasonally adjusted employment figures for May to July, compiled by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), has recorded no change in unemployment levels on the previous quarter.

Overall, the Labour Force Survey (LFS) found that 44,000 were unemployed – an increase of 2,000 on August's report. But over the year, LFS figures show an increase of 3,000 in total employment with a decrease of 3,000 in unemployment, and so cancelling out the rise.

However, the biggest swing was found in the manufacturing sector. Whilst output estimates reveal a small decrease of 1% on the previous quarter (compared with a decrease of 1.2% for the UK), manufacturing output over the year decreased by 11.4% compared with a decrease of 6.6% in the UK as a whole.

Another significant rise was in the number of people written off as 'economically inactive' (i.e. those who do not want a job) which has jumped by 17,000 on the number recorded for last year. There are now 465,000 people in Northern Ireland who are deemed to be 'economically inactive'.

The unemployment trends across the year as a whole, however, indicates a 0.2% dip in numbers, but Northern Ireland still registers higher unemployment levels than the rest of the UK, which averages 5.2%.

Trade Minister Sir Reg Empey was buoyed by the figures saying the economy remains "reasonably healthy," however, he was mindful of recent job losses - particularly at Shorts.

He said: "I am conscious that there are redundancies in the pipeline, particularly at Shorts Bombardier. The proposed job losses are regrettable and my department, together with Department for Employment and Learning, will do all that is within its power to minimise their impact.

“We should not allow ourselves to be despondent. Last week Northern Ireland business and academia received a positive reception in Washington at the US/Ireland Business Summit."

Sir Reg then pointed to the £80 million investment in R & D centres and the US-Ireland Research Partnership as signs that the economy is in a lively state.

However, Sinn Féin's economy spokesperson, Dara O'Hagan MLA, said the figures revealed a "lack of progress with long-term unemployment".

Dr O'Hagan said: "What the figures hide is the continuing problem of long-term unemployment. Forty-four per cent of people who are registered as unemployed are unemployed for 12 months or more. In many cases the period of unemployment is over two years. This is unacceptable and there has been a real lack of progress in tackling this problem."

(GMcG)