Labour Market Report March 2019

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) results released at 9.30am today indicated that the unemployment rate for November-January 2019 was unchanged over the quarter at 3.5%. The inactivity rate (26.4%) decreased over the quarter by 1.4 percentage points and the employment rate (70.9%) increased over the quarter by 1.4 percentage points to a record high.
Private sector employee jobs increased over the quarter (to December) to their highest level on record; public sector jobs also increased over the quarter.

Key Points

• The latest Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates for the period November-January 2019 indicate that over the quarter, the unemployment rate was unchanged while the employment rate increased and the inactivity rate decreased.
• The LFS indicated that the NI unemployment rate (16+) was unchanged over the quarter and increased over the year by 0.3pps to 3.5% in November-January 2019. Although the recent changes were not statistically significant, the unemployment rate was significantly below rates in 2017. The NI unemployment rate was below the UK rate (3.9%), the Republic of Ireland rate (5.3%) and the EU rate (6.6%).
• The proportion of people aged 16 to 64 in work (the employment rate) increased over the quarter (1.4pps) and increased over the year (1.4pps) to a record high of 70.9%. The quarterly change was statistically significant. The latest employment rate recorded for the whole of the UK was 76.1%.
• The NI economic inactivity rate (the proportion of people aged from 16 to 64 who were not working and not seeking or available to work) decreased by 1.4pps over the quarter and 1.6pps over the year to 26.4%. The recent quarterly change in the economic inactivity rate was statistically significant. The latest inactivity rate recorded for the whole of the UK was 20.7%.
• The number of employee jobs increased over the quarter and the year to a high of 773,750 in December 2018.
• The number of confirmed redundancies (2,354) in the most recent 12 months was 30% higher than in the previous 12 months (1,815).
• Full report available here

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