Unemployment in Northern Ireland has risen by another half per cent as an extra 1,600 people joined the dole queues, Government figures revealed today.
Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster said the scale of the recession was unprecedented in the post-war era and its effect on Northern Ireland had been stark.
The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate, as measured by the Labour Force Survey, was estimated at 6.7 per cent for the period May to July — up from the 6.2 per cent of the previous quarter and 4.4 per cent of a year ago.
The number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits hit 52,700 in August, up by 1,600 on the month and 24,400 on a year ago.
The annual increase of 86.2 per cent was well ahead of the UK rise of 75.9 per cent, suggesting the recession is hitting harder in the province than elsewhere.
But the Northern Ireland unemployment rate remains below the UK average of 7.9 per cent and was joint second lowest among the regions. It was well below the 8.9 per cent of the EU and the 12.2 per cent of the Republic of Ireland.
The Quarterly Employment Survey showed 709,040 employee jobs filled, a drop of 5,470 over the quarter and 25,450 over the past year.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment said there had been a 184 per cent leap in confirmed redundancies in the past year.
The manufacturing sector bore the brunt of the job reductions over the quarter - 2,190. It was followed by the service sector, down 1,600, and construction, down 1,580.