North's unemployment 'to rise above 70,000'

The number of unemployed people in the North is expected to rise above 70,000 over the next 18 months, it was revealed today.

Ulster Bank chief economist Richard Ramsey also warned that the North would continue to have a worse out of work record than the rest of the UK.

The North recorded the highest unemployment increase in the UK last month, with an extra 800 people claiming benefits in July, leaving a total of 56,800 people out of work.

Over the year, the claimant count increased by 11.8% (6,000) compared with a decrease of 7.6% in the whole of the UK.

Mr Ramsey said: “The latest rise in unemployment comes as no surprise and confirms the beginning of the secondary surge in unemployment that we have been flagging for some time.

“The unemployment register now stands at 56,800 and this is anticipated to rise above 70,000 over the next 18 months or so.”

The North’s claimant count unemployment rate now stands at 6.4% - compared with a UK rate of 4.5% – which is its highest rate since June 1999.

Mr Ramsey added: “It is also noted that the gap in the Northern Ireland and UK unemployment rates continues to widen at 1.9 percentage points. It represents the largest differential since September 1999. This trend is set to continue.”

The record peak for the number of benefit claimants in the North was in 1986 with 123,500. In February 1993 it hit 105,700 and the most recent time it was above the current level of 56,800 was in August 1998 at 57,000.

The Labour Force Survey, another measure used by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, showed a slight drop last month.

The estimated unemployment rate for April to June this year was 6.6%, down from 6.8% in the previous quarter. For the same period there were 777,000 people in employment.

Those who were economically inactive decreased by an estimated 3,000 over the quarter. However the North's inactivity rate remains considerably higher than the UK average rate of 23.4% and was the highest of the 12 regions.

Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster said: “Trading conditions remain extremely challenging for our businesses and the impending public sector spending cuts will add further negative pressure on the labour market.

“It is therefore imperative that we as an Executive make the right decisions and put in place the correct policies that will help the Northern Ireland private sector maximise growth.

“I am currently chairing an Executive sub-committee tasked with developing an economic strategy that will deliver on this goal.”