Northern Ireland labour market continues to grow

The good recent performance of the Northern Ireland labour market is continuing, according to a report published today.

Employment is at a record high level and unemployment at a record low.  The latest figures show that annual economic growth is above the UK average, with wage levels also rising. At the same time, Northern Ireland is experiencing record levels of in-migration.

These findings are amongst those discussed in issue 20 of the Labour Market Bulletin, which was published today by the Department for Employment and Learning.  The Bulletin brings together a range of information and commentary on the Northern Ireland labour market.  

Included in the research findings are a range of indicators demonstrating that progress is being made in a number of important areas including;

  • The labour market in Northern Ireland has performed well in recent years with strong growth in employment and commensurate falls in unemployment.  In mid 2006 there were more than three-quarters of a million people in work in Northern Ireland, with 70% of working age people in a job.
  • The NI unemployment rate has been below 5% for the past two years despite rises elsewhere in the UK. The current rate of around 4.5% is lower than both the UK and EU averages.
  • In 2004, the most recent year for which whole economy figures are available, real growth in the NI economy as measured by Gross Value Added was 2.1%, above the UK rate of 1.7%.
  • Median private sector earnings rose more strongly in Northern Ireland in 2005/2006 (+7%) than in the UK as a whole (+4.5%).  
  • Migration into Northern Ireland increased sharply in 2004/2005 – up from just over 18,000 in 2002/2003 to Ireland nearly 27,000 in 2004/2005. In this latter year some 6,700 more people came into Northern Ireland than left it: this represents the biggest annual net in-migration into Northern Ireland on record.

The Bulletin also discusses some of the challenges that face Northern Ireland. These include:

  • Although more people are in work and fewer people are unemployed, economic inactivity (those out of the labour force altogether) remains high in Northern Ireland with inactivity rates of around 27%. This is some 6% higher than the UK rate.
  • Private sector wages, though increasing, remain depressed compared to UK levels. Median private sector wages are some 16% lower than in the UK as a whole and this is indicative of a still relatively weak private sector here.

Dave Rogers, Head of Research and Evaluation Branch at the Department for Employment and Learning and Editor of the Labour Market Bulletin says that the information published in the Bulletin shows how successful we have been and points out the challenges ahead:

“Over the past decade Northern Ireland has achieved unprecedented rates of employment growth with more than an additional 100,000 jobs in the economy than 10 years ago. At the same time, we have record low unemployment. Northern Ireland is now a low unemployment economy.

“We face a number of challenges, not least how we can make inroads into reducing inactivity and also helping to drive up skill levels in general. The articles in the Bulletin are intended to contribute to the debate on the issues that face us.

“For example the Department for Employment and Learning has this year published its Skills Strategy which outlines how it plans to increase the skills of the Northern Ireland workforce. The Bulletin includes a number of articles to underpin this, including the results of the 2005 Skills Monitoring Survey and indications of the likely future occupational structure of Northern Ireland. The bulletin also brings together our current understanding of the position of migrant workers in the Northern Ireland economy. ”

The Labour Market Bulletin, published by the Department for Employment and Learning disseminates analysis and commentary from a wide range of sources, both inside and outside Government, to a wide audience. The Bulletin also contains the results of some of the research that Department for Employment and Learning has commissioned to better inform its policy development and service delivery.

The Bulletin covers a range of topics such as the state of the Northern Ireland labour market; skills; education and training including Higher and Further Education and welfare reform.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

  1. The Labour Market Bulletin aims to raise awareness and knowledge of the sector by publishing summaries of research and evaluation projects carried out by the Department and others.
  2. The Labour Market Bulletin is available to download on the Department’s website on http://www.delni.gov.uk/labourmarketbulletinnumber20
  3. Media queries to the Department for Employment and Learning Press Office on 028 9025 7872.