Northern Ireland Labor Market Statistics

Labor market statistics were released today by the Northern Ireland Bureau of Statistics and Research.

Payroll Employees and Monthly Earnings Record Month-to-Month Increases

Claimant count rate remained constant for 10 consecutive months

• The number of seasonally adjusted claimants in February 2023 was 35,600, down 0.1% from the previous month’s revision and remaining at 3.8% of the workforce for the 10th straight month. The number of plaintiffs in February remains 19.5% higher than the pre-pandemic number in March 2020.

The number of confirmed redundancies remains low

Statistically Significant Annual Changes in Labor Force Survey (LFS) Employment and Economic Inactivity Rates

• The latest NI seasonally adjusted unemployment rate (percentage of economically active people aged 16 and over who were unemployed) for the period November-January 2023 is 2.4% from the Labor Force Survey. was estimated. This was a decrease of 0.4 percentage points (pps) for the quarter and a decrease of 0.8 percentage points (pps) for the year.
• The share of workers aged 16 to 64 (employment rate) rose 0.5 percentage points in the fourth quarter and rose 3.1 percentage points for the year to 71.8%. The annual change was statistically significant.
• Total weekly hours worked (27.7 million hours) at NI grew 0.1% quarter-on-quarter and 5.9% year-on-year.
• The economic inactivity rate (percentage of people aged 16 to 64 who are not working, looking for work or unable to work) decreased by 0.3 percentage points in the quarter and 2.5 percentage points in the year to 26.4%. became. The annual change was statistically significant.

Key measures of the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES)

• The company reported that NI employee hiring increased both quarterly (0.6%) and yearly (3.5%), reaching a series high of 810,210 jobs in December 2022. The annual change was statistically significant.

Commentary

• The latest labor market release shows unemployment has returned to pre-pandemic levels and employee employment has reached record highs, while both headcount and earnings have increased throughout the year, showing an improvement. can be seen. Total employment (e.g. employment rates and working hours) and low economic activity have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, but continue to show improvement.
• According to the latest HMRC salary data, the number of employees increased by 0.4% month-on-month and 2.2% for the year. Payroll income also increased by 0.5% month-on-month and 7.0% for the year.
• Through its quarterly employment survey, companies reported that NI employee employment increased to 810,210 jobs in December 2022 for both the quarter and the year, reaching a series high. The quarterly and annual increase in employee hiring numbers in December 2022 was primarily driven by the services sector. Construction, manufacturing and other sectors also increased year-on-year.
• Further positive results were seen through the Labor Force Survey (LFS) as households reported a statistically significant increase in the employment rate of 71.8% in the year from November to January 2023. rice field. The economic inactivity rate from November to January 2023 will be 26.4%, a statistically significant decrease throughout the year. The unemployment rate also fell in the year from November to January 2023, and now stands at 2.4%, the same as the pre-pandemic rate from November to January 2020.
• The employment rate remains 0.5pps below pre-pandemic levels recorded in November-January 2020, while the economic suspension rate remains 0.5pps above pre-pandemic levels. Total hours worked in November-January 2023 were 3.9% below the pre-pandemic situation recorded in November-January 2020.
• Additionally, claimant count estimates decreased slightly in the month to February 2023 from revised estimates in January 2023. The percentage of claimants remains at 3.8% for the 10th straight month going back to May 2022.
• Finally, in February 2023, 20 redundancies were confirmed with the station, bringing the rolling 12-month total to 940. This is the 5th consecutive month that the total 12-month rolling confirmed redundancy has been below 1,000. 440 proposed job cuts were notified to the Ministry in February 2023, bringing the total of proposed job cuts over the 12 months to 2,180. This is up from his recent 12-month total and is the highest total reported since April 2022, but still well below long-term trends.