LISTEN: Over 10,000 redundancies proposed in NI since March as economic output falls

By Q Radio News

Latest figures show over 10,000 redundancies have been proposed by businesses in Northern Ireland since March 2020. 

It's the highest ever figure to be recorded, according to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. 

NISRA reported 10,720 collective redundancies were proposed in the twelve months to the of November, more than double the number recorded in the previous 12 months.

It comes as Ulster Bank chief economist Richard Ramsay warns that output is falling at a faster pace amid the coronavirus restrictions. 

“2020 has been characterised by imposing and lifting lockdown restrictions," he said. 

"As a result, private sector activity has been switched off and on to a greater or lesser degree.

"Not surprisingly, renewed containment measures in November saw local private sector output contract at a significant rate, albeit not on the scale witnessed between March and June.

"New orders are signalling that no meaningful improvement in activity is anticipated in the near-term, with the pace of decline accelerating in November."

Mr Ramsey says the most of the UK regions reported a fall in both output and new orders last month with all 12 regions reducing their staffing levels for the ninth month running.

"Northern Ireland’s rate of decline in employment levels was not as steep as the UK average. However, output and orders amongst local firms fell at the fastest and joint-fastest rates of all the UK regions," he added. 

"Demand from export markets (notably the Republic of Ireland) continues to weaken at a much faster pace than the domestic market.

"Meanwhile mounting cost pressures is another challenge facing the business community. Rising wage, raw material and shipping costs saw input cost inflation accelerate to a 15-month high".

According to the latest Nisra stats, November alone saw 1,370 redundancies proposed, which has risen from 820 in October. 

420 of the redundancies were confirmed, a decrease from the total of 1,240 confirmed last month. 

A further 340 were proposed in the current month to 11th December.

Northern Ireland's unemployment rate is now 3.9%. 

It increased over the quarter by 0.9 percentage points (pps) and by 1.6pps over the year.

NISRA reported the quarterly and annual changes were statistically significant, i.e. the recorded change exceeded the variability expected from a sample survey of this size and was likely to reflect real change.

• The proportion of people aged 16 to 64 in work (the employment rate) increased over the quarter by 0.2pps and decreased over the year by 1.8pps to 70.6%. Although recent changes were not statistically significant, the employment rate was significantly above rates in 2017.

• The economic inactivity rate (the proportion of people aged 16 to 64 who were not working and not seeking or available to work) decreased over the quarter by 0.9pps and increased over the year by 0.6pps to 26.4%. Although recent changes were not statistically significant, the economic inactivity rate was significantly below rates in 2017.

• Put into the context of the UK, NI had the joint lowest unemployment rate (with the South East), the lowest employment and the highest economic inactivity rate of all the UK regions.

Overall, the latest labour market data shows employment and jobs are below pre-covid levels, while measures of unemployment are higher than pre-covid levels.