Payrolled employees and median earnings increase over the year
Date published:
The latest labour market statistics were published today (19th March 2026) by the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency.
Payrolled employees and median earnings increased over the year
The number of employees receiving pay through HMRC PAYE in NI in February 2026 was 820,800, an increase of 0.2% over the month and an increase 1.4% over the year.
Earnings data from HMRC PAYE indicated that NI employees had a median monthly pay of £2,493 in February 2026, an increase of £43 (1.8%) over the month and an increase of £189 (8.2%) over the year.
The estimates from HMRC PAYE for the latest period are based on early data and, therefore, are more likely to be subject to larger revisions.
Labour Force Survey headline measures
The latest NI seasonally adjusted unemployment rate (the proportion of economically active people aged 16 and over who were unemployed) for the period November-January 2026 was estimated from the Labour Force Survey at 2.2%. This represents a decrease of 0.2 percentage points (pps) over the quarter and an increase of 0.6pps over the year.
The proportion of people aged 16 to 64 in work (the employment rate) increased by 0.9pps over the quarter and decreased by 0.6pps over the year to 71.6%. The number of employed people (age 16 and over) in NI was estimated at 895,000, an increase of 15,000 from the last quarter and a decrease of 4,000 from the same period last year.
The total number of weekly hours worked in NI was estimated at 28.9 million hours, a decrease of 0.9% on the previous quarter and a decrease of 0.9% on the equivalent period last year.
The economic inactivity rate (the proportion of people aged 16 to 64 who were not working and not seeking or available to work) decreased by 0.8pps over the quarter and increased by 0.1pps over the year to 26.7%.
Seasonally adjusted claimant count rate remains relatively stable over the month
In February 2026, the seasonally adjusted number of people on the claimant count was 35,600 (3.6% of the workforce), a decrease of 0.6% from the previous month’s revised figure. The February 2026 claimant count remains 19.1% higher than the pre-pandemic count in March 2020.
Latest annual total of confirmed redundancies higher than previous year
NISRA, acting on behalf of the Department for the Economy, received confirmation that 140 redundancies occurred in February 2026. Over the year, March 2025 to February 2026, 2,360 redundancies were confirmed, which was over twenty five percent higher than the figure for the previous year (1,880).
There were 190 proposed redundancies in February 2026, taking the annual total to 2,930, which was around four percent less than the previous year (3,060). • Businesses reported that employee jobs increased over the quarter (0.3%) and increased over the year (1.3%) to 843,860 jobs in December 2025.
Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) headline measures
Businesses reported that employee jobs increased over the quarter (0.3%) and increased over the year (1.3%) to 843,860 jobs in December 2025.
The statistical bulletin and associated tables are available on the Labour Market Report - March 2026 page.