Quarterly Supplement to the Labour Market Report

Date published: 30 August 2018

Latest detailed results from the Labour Force Survey

The Quarterly Supplement provides a more detailed range of statistics from the Labour Force Survey than is available from the monthly Labour Market Report including information disaggregated by gender, age and by Local Government District.

Key Points

• In April-June 2018, unemployment was similar to rates recorded in 2008, with the April-June 2018 rate at 3.6% (5.0% for males and 2.1% for females), down from a high of 7.7% in the same quarter in 2012. 
• There were an estimated 811,000 persons aged 16-64 in employment in NI in April-June 2018. The number of those in employment increased by approximately 44,000 in the last five years.  
• At 76%, the 16-64 economic activity rate for males in April-June 2018 was 8 percentage points higher than that for females (68%). The current differential between the activity rates of males and females has decreased from a 15 percentage point gap ten years ago.
• The April-June 2018 economic inactivity rate (16-64) was 28%.  
• In April-June 2018, there were 25,000 young people (aged from 16 to 24) in NI who were NEET. This is equivalent to 12.2% of all aged 16-24.  
• Persons who were economically active aged 16-64 were more likely to be educated to a higher level than the economically inactive. 
• Just under one in five persons (19%) of working age in Northern Ireland had a disability. 
• The number of self-employed people increased by 1,000 (1%) in the period 2008 to 2018, this compared with an increase in employees of 8%.  
• The number of Northern Ireland graduates has increased by 17% in the last five years, to 271,000 in April-June 2018.
• Full report.