Slight increase in local unemployment levels

The number of people registering as out of work in Coleraine has seen a slight increase, latest figures have revealed.
Coleraine Jobs and Benefits office.  Picture: GoogleColeraine Jobs and Benefits office.  Picture: Google
Coleraine Jobs and Benefits office. Picture: Google

According to the latest Labour Force Survey figures published for the month of June, the local claimant count now stands at 1,025 claimants, compared to 1,020 in May.

Wards in the Coleraine district registering the most claimants for unemployment were Ballysally with 115 (110 in May); Cross Glebe with 85 (no change from May); Central with 65 (no change); and Royal Portrush with 65 (no change).

The Coleraine ward with the lowest claimant counts was Strand with 15 (no change from May).

Meanwhile, in the Ballymoney district, the number of people registering as out of work has seen a decline with 440 claimants in June compared to 465 in May.

The wards with the most claimants were Carnany with 55 (55 in May); Newhill with 55 (55 in May); and Seacon with 45 (45 in May).

The Ballymoney ward with the lowest claimant count was Killoquin upper with 10 claimants.

In Moyle there were 310 people registered as out of work compared to 340 in May.

The ward with the highest amount of claimants was Glentaisie with 45 people registered (55 in May).

Dunseverick, Glendun and Glenshesk had the the lowest amount of claimants with five registered in each area.

Across the Causeway Coast and Glens area, there were2,515 people registering as claimants, compared to 2,555 the previous month.

Of the registered claimants in the borough, 1,545 were male and 965 were female.

In June, the number of people on the claimant count in Northern Ireland (which includes some out-of-work claimants of Universal Credit) was was 28,600 (3.1% of the workforce).

This represents a decrease of 200 from the previous month’s revised figure.

The Labour Market Report is a monthly overview of key labour market statistics.

It includes figures from the Labour Force Survey, the claimant count (people claiming unemployment related benefits), the Quarterly Employment Survey, the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings and official redundancy data.

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed redundancies (2,848) in the most recent 12 months is 23% higher than in the previous 12 months.

The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, acting on behalf of the Department for the Economy, received confirmation that 792 redundancies took place in June 2018; approximately two fifths of which occurred in the manufacturing sector.

Figures for Mar-May 2018 estimated that 59.0% of those unemployed in NI were long-term unemployed (i.e. unemployed for one year or more), compared to 27.1% in the UK.