Labour Force Survey - Annual Report 2019

Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates released at 9:30am today are for the year ending 31 December 2019. Employment, unemployment and economic inactivity rates, disaggregated by local government district (LGD) are included. In addition, the report provides employment analyses in relation to industry, occupation and qualifications. Further, the report contains updates for six Outcomes Delivery Plan indicators (14, 16, 17, 32, 33 & 34) for Northern Ireland.

Key points:

• In 2019, there were 839,000 people of working age (16-64) in employment in Northern Ireland (NI). This accounted for 71.9% of the working age population (the employment rate) and was the highest annual employment rate on record.
• The highest employment rate for a council area was recorded in Lisburn and Castlereagh (81.1%) and was 16.1 percentage points (pps) above the lowest rate, which was recorded in Fermanagh and Omagh (65.0%).
• In 2019, there were 306,000 economically inactive people of working age in NI, equivalent to 26.2% of the working age population (the economic inactivity rate).
• The highest inactivity rate for a council area was in Fermanagh and Omagh (33.1%) and was 15.6pps above the lowest rate, which was in Lisburn and Castlereagh (17.4%).
• In 2019, there were 23,000 people who were unemployed. This accounted for 2.6% of the economically active 16+ population, the lowest annual unemployment rate on record.
• The highest unemployment rate for a council area was in Causeway Coast and Glens (3.5%) and was 1.7pps above the lowest rate, which was in Lisburn and Castlereagh (1.7%).
• The full report is available on the Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2019 page 

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