Redundancies in Northern Ireland almost doubled in the 12 months to June 2024 compared to the previous year, a government report said.
The latest labour force statistics released by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) show that were 2,560 confirmed redundancies in NI in the 12 months leading up to the end of June.
This was an almost twice the 1,340 that were confirmed in the previous 12 month period.
However, Nisra said the Labour Force Survey showed unemployment in Northern Ireland had fallen to a record low with 2% of people recorded as jobless. In addition, 27.4% of people are recorded as being economically inactive.
The employment rate for Northern Ireland is 71%, a figure that is higher than the last number of years, but below the pre-pandemic high of 72.6% recorded in December 2019-Feburary 2020.
Elizabeth Colvin, associate in the employment team at legal and business services provider DWF, said that the latest figures show “continued resilience against a difficult economic climate.”
“The figures show that over the year both payrolled employee numbers and earnings have increased.
“Further, all the Labour Force Survey headline measures have improved over the year, with unemployment and economic inactivity rates both decreasing and the employment rate increasing.
“The number of employees receiving pay through HMRC PAYE in Northern Ireland in June 2024 was 808,000, an increase of 0.4% over the month and an increase of 2.4% over the year.
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“Earnings from HMRC PAYE indicated that Northern Ireland employees had a median monthly pay of £2,329 in June 2024, an increase of £83 over the month and an increase of £235 over the year.
“The unemployment rate for the period March to May 2024 was estimated from the Labour Force Survey at 2%.
“This was a decrease of 0.2% over the quarter and a decrease of 0.3% over the year. The proportion of people in work decreased by 0.6% over the quarter and increased by 0.3% over the year to 71.1%.
“With the much anticipated consultation published on the “Good Jobs” Employment Rights Bill we can expect further change in the Northern Ireland employment market.”
The consultation covers terms of employment, pay and benefits, voice and representation and work-life balance and runs until September 30.
The economic inactivity rate in has consistently higher in Northern Ireland than in the UK as a whole. For example, Northern Ireland’s current figure of 27.4% is over 5% higher than the UK figure of 22.1%.
Nisra noted that economic inactivity rates have increased since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The most commonly given reason for being economically inactive is long-term sickness, with 130,000 people in NI giving it as their reason for economic inactivity.
The Department for the Economy has been asked for comment on the increase in redundancies.