Labour Market Report July 2019

Date published: 16 July 2019

Latest labour market results

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) results released at 9.30am today indicated that the unemployment rate for March-May 2019 (3.1%) increased over the quarter by 0.1 percentage points. The inactivity rate (25.9%) decreased over the quarter by 0.6 percentage points and the employment rate (71.7%) increased over the quarter by 0.5 percentage points to a record high.

Key Points

• The latest Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates for the period March-May 2019 indicate that, over the quarter, economic inactivity rate decreased while the unemployment rate and employment rate increased.
• The LFS indicated that the NI unemployment rate (16+) increased over the quarter (0.1pps) and decreased over the year (0.3pps) to 3.1% in March-May 2019. Although the recent changes were not statistically significant, the unemployment rate was significantly below rates in late-2017. The NI unemployment rate was below the joint record low UK rate (3.8%), the Republic of Ireland rate(4.6%) and the EU rate (6.4%).
• The proportion of people aged 16 to 64 in work (the employment rate) increased over the quarter (0.5pps) and the year (1.7pps) to a record high of 71.7%. Although the recent changes were not statistically significant, the employment rate was significantly above rates in mid-2018. The latest employment rate recorded for the whole of the UK (76.0%) was the second highest rate on record.
• 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 0.6pps over the quarter and by 1.5pps over the year to 25.9%, one of the lowest on record. Although the recent changes were not statistically significant, the inactivity rate was significantly below rates in late-2017. The latest economic inactivity rate recorded for the whole of the UK was 20.9%.
• The number of confirmed redundancies (1,812) in the most recent 12 months was lower than the previous 12 months (2,848).
• There were 101 confirmed redundancies notified to the Department in June 2019, a decrease from the revised total of 582 notified in May 2019.
• Full report available here