Business

Dole count falls in north but economic inactivity figures remain high

<span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: sans-serif, Arial, Verdana, &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;; ">The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Northern Ireland has fallen for the 16th consecutive month.</span>
The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Northern Ireland has fallen for the 16th consecutive month. The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Northern Ireland has fallen for the 16th consecutive month.

The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Northern Ireland fell in June to just under 3.3 per cent of the workforce.

Official government statistics show claimant count was down by 600 over the month to 30,500.

However, the figures also suggest that economic inactivity remained well above the UK average

Economic inactivity, the number of people not in employment, or who have not been seeking work, remained at 27.4%. This is above the UK average of 21.5%.

Just under a third of the estimated 321,000 economically inactive people in the north were long-term sick or disabled.

Just over a quarter were students, 23% were looking after the family/home, 10% were retired and 8% cited another reason for inactivity.

In 2015, the Northern Ireland Executive unveiled a strategy for address economic inactivity. The strategy is on hold due to budget pressures.

Across the UK as a whole the jobless rate reduced by 0.2% to 4.5%, meaning the number of those unemployed in the country fell to 1.49m.

REGIONAL BREAKDOWN OF LATEST SET OF UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES

Unemployment in the regions in the three months to May was (region, total unemployed, change on quarter, unemployment rate).

North East 78,000, minus 5,000, 6%

North West 154,000, minus 6,000, 4.3%

Yorkshire and Humber 130,000, minus 9,000, 4.8%

East Midlands 90,000, minus 6,000, 3.8%

West Midlands 166,000, plus 6,000, 5.9%

East 127,000, minus 8,000, 4%

London 271,000, minus 16,000, 5.5%

South East 158,000, no change, 3.4%

South West 101,000, plus 1,000, 3.5%

Wales 70,000, minus 4,000, 4.6%

Scotland 104,000, minus 19,000, 3.8%

Northern Ireland 46,000, no change, 5.3%