THE number of self-employed people in the north has fallen to its lowest level in more than two decades, according to the latest official data.
The August report from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) confirmed that the labour market here continued its recovery during July, with the number of people on HMRC payrolls hitting a record high of 762,592, almost 8,000 more than in June.
But the figures confirm that the Covid-19 pandemic has decimated the north’s self-employed sector, with many transitioning to payroll jobs over the past 18 months.
NISRA estimated the number of self-employed workers has dropped by 46,000 or 34 per cent since the start of the pandemic, leaving a total of 91,000, the lowest in 22.5 years.
Ulster Bank’s chief economist Richard Ramsey said: “Many self-employed have switched status or jobs and become employees.”
He said while the HMRC PAYE data is hitting record highs, the north’s workforce as a whole, including self-employed people, is three per cent smaller than it stood before the pandemic.
He said it equates to 26,000 fewer people in work.
The payroll figure also includes furloughed workers, which stood at 44,000 at the end of June 2021.
The result is that the total number of hours worked in the north during the second quarter of 2021 remained 5.5 per cent below pre-pandemic levels.
“That means just over two-thirds of the decline in total hours worked following the pandemic has been recovered so far,” said the economist.
“Only when this statistic returns to pre-pandemic levels can we be more authoritative that the labour market has truly recovered in a meaningful way.”
The latest labour market report also revealed 850 redundancies were proposed by employers during July 2021, as the wind-down of the furlough scheme commenced.
Some 250 redundancies were confirmed in July. Employers are only required to notify government when laying off at least 20 workers.
The Northern Ireland claimant count fell again during July to 50,000, down 22 per cent on the May 2020 peak, but still 64 per cent higher than than the pre-pandemic count in March 2020.
The latest official unemployment rate for Northern Ireland now stands at 3.8 per cent.
