Labour Market Report July 2021

The latest Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates relate to March-May 2021 and indicate that, over the quarter, the employment rate increased, the economic inactivity rate decreased and the unemployment rate was unchanged.

• The number of people on the NI claimant count (experimental) decreased over the month to 51,200 in June 2021.  The experimental Claimant Count includes Jobseeker’s Allowance Claimants and those claimants of Universal Credit who were claiming principally for the reason of being unemployed.
• During June 2021, 490 redundancies were proposed and 850 were proposed in July to date.  Over the year from 1^st July 2020 to 30^th June 2021, 7,180 redundancies were proposed, similar to the previous 12 months (6,940).  The department was notified of 300 confirmed redundancies in June, taking the annual total to 6,180, the highest since 2001.
• The number of employees receiving pay through HMRC PAYE in NI in June 2021 was 757,200, an increase of 1.4% over the month and 2.6% over the year.  Employee numbers are now above the total recorded in March 2020.
• Earnings from the HMRC PAYE indicated that NI employees had a median monthly pay of £1,822 in June 2021, an increase of £8 (0.4%) over the month and an increase of £97 (5.6%) over the year.  The median monthly pay in June 2021 was 4.4% above the value in March 2020.
• The NI unemployment rate (16+) was unchanged over the quarter and increased over the year (1.1pps) to 3.6% in March-May 2021.  The NI unemployment rate was below the UK rate (4.8%).  The annual change was statistically significant and is likely to reflect real change.
• The proportion of people aged 16 to 64 in work (the employment rate) increased over the quarter (0.4pps) and decreased over the year (0.7pps) to 70.3%.  The latest employment rate recorded for the whole of the UK was 74.8%.  Neither the quarterly nor annual changes were statistically significant.
• 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 over the quarter (0.4pps) and over the year (0.1pps) to 27.1%.  The NI economic inactivity rate remained above the UK rate (21.3%).  Neither the quarterly nor annual changes were statistically significant.
• The total number of weekly hours worked (26.6 million) increased by 5% over the quarter and 13% over the year, but remains 7% below the pre-pandemic value (December-February 2020).
• The statistical bulletin and associated tables are available on the Labour Market Report - July 2021 page.

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