NI unemployment figures show slight improvement

Unemployment figures published on Wednesday April 17, for the period December 2001 – February 2002, have fallen slightly to 46,000, compared with 47,000 for the previous quarter, September to November 2001, according to the Labour Force Survey published by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

While welcoming the latest figures, the Enterprise, Trade and Investment Minister, Sir Reg Empey, also warned against complacency. He said: “There has been a fall in manufacturing output that is greater than for the UK as a whole (over the last year manufacturing in NI was down 8.8 per cent compared with 5.7 per cent nationally.) This is due to the fallout from the telecoms sector and the continuing problems being faced by our traditional industries.

“There are over 3,000 redundancies still in the pipeline which may compound the problem in future figures.

“However, news on the long-term unemployed is brighter. A drop of 6,000 over the year brings the total to 14,000 the lowest level since the ILO definition was introduced in 1984.

“Also, between February and March 2002, the seasonally adjusted total claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) fell by 200. There are now 37,500 JSA claimants in Northern Ireland, the lowest level since September 1975, representing 4.8 per cent of the workforce and a fall of 2,700 over the year.”

The Minister also said that the seasonally adjusted total for the number in employment in Northern Ireland standing at 707,000 in the period December 2001 – February 2002, showed a fall of 3,000 over the quarter, but represented a rise of 3,000 over the year. (MB)