THE NUMBER of people out of work in Northern Ireland rose to 36,000 over the period from May to July, according to the government's latest jobless figures.
The new data shows that despite the gloomy economic environment in the North, there has also been some job growth.
In the second quarter of this year there were a record 786,000 people in employment. The increase in job numbers over the second quarter was driven by the growth of the service sector.
But behind what appears to be a positive picture is the fact that the workforce lost an estimated 8,000 jobs over the same quarter, according to the government's own research. This means jobs in the North are being lost faster than they are being created, as the sharp rise in the unemployment rate underlines.
According to the monthly labour market report, the unemployment rate for the period May to July increased from 3.9 per cent to 4.4 per cent. The rate has been driven up by unrelenting redundancies being enforced by firms across the North.
The construction sector alone officially shed 900 jobs over the second quarter, but industry sources say the actual number of redundancies in this sector is much higher than recorded.
The North's official unemployment rate still remains below the UK average of 5.5 per cent. Government research suggests the unemployment total for the UK rose by 81,000 people in the second quarter of this year to 1.72 million. The latest figures also reveal that more and more people across the UK are claiming unemployment related benefits.
Last month the total UK claimant count rose to 904,900. In the North, 800 extra people signed on in August to bring the total claimant count to 27,600.
The rise in numbers seeking benefits highlights a worrying trend in Northern Ireland. The claimant count total now represents 3.2 per cent of the workforce and shows that over the past six months there has been an average rise of 617 people per month.
The North's Economy Minister Arlene Foster says it is clear that trading conditions have become increasingly difficult for Northern Ireland firms. "The latest figures show that jobs growth had slowed and unemployment was rising. As expected, the construction industry was worst affected.
"We have to be realistic about the difficulties facing the economy, as recent events in the wider world have so dramatically shown. But there is still an opportunity to get the fundamentals right," the Minister said.
