Northern Ireland Unemployment Figures on the Rise

The latest official Government figures show that the number of unemployed people in Northern Ireland is still on the rise.  The number of people claiming unemployment benefit has risen to 58,600, an increase of 400 in October. 

It is particularly worrying that Northern Ireland showed the highest monthly rise in the number claiming unemployment benefits in 12 UK regions.  These figures show that over the year the Northern Ireland claimant count has increased by almost 9% compared to a fall of 10% across the whole of the UK.  However the latest Northern Ireland unemployment rate of 7% still remains below that of the UK average which currently stands at 7.7%.

These figures are a sign of the current economic times and reflect increases in enquiries to Citizens Advice across a range of areas.  Figures show that in the seven months between April and October this year enquiries to Citizens Advice on benefits and tax credits issues have increased by 1.58% and in particular queries on employment issues have increased by 10.9% on the previous year.  Specifically, enquiries on redundancy issues have risen by 21.7% on the same period last year.

These are worrying figures given that the forthcoming round of spending cuts may well exacerbate an already difficult situation for many people in Northern Ireland and the future remains uncertain.