Jobless increase by 75% in a year
The amount of people claiming unemployment benefits in Northern Ireland
has risen by 75.7% over the last 12 months.
The increase over the year was 18,100. There are currently 42,000 people
without a job in Northern Ireland.
Nearly 80% of the increase in claimants occurred in the last six months.
In February alone, the number claiming benefits rose by 3,000, one of
the highest increases of the last 12 months, second only to November
2008.
The annual percentage increase of 75.7% was marginally higher than the
figure recorded for the rest of the United Kingdom, 74.9%.
While the number of those looking for work increased, the number of jobs
available decreased, said the Department of Enterprise, Trade and
Investment.
There were 710,920 employee jobs filled in December 2008. This
represented an estimated net decrease of 5,370 over the quarter and a
fall of 14,200 over the year.
'Disappointing'
This was the third successive quarterly decrease.
Commenting on the figures Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster said the
figures were "disappointing, but not unexpected".
"Most of the increases have occurred in the last six months and it is
clear that employers are increasingly feeling the impact of the economic
downturn. It is equally clear that there are no quick fixes available to
turn around the global economy," she said.
"The executive will continue to do what it can to assist businesses
through this difficult period."
Unemployment for the whole of the UK has risen to more than two million
for the first time in 12 years.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.
Published: 2009/03/18 10:37:32 GMT
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
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