[Northern Ireland] Jobs market figures remain steady despite pending NIC increase

Northern Ireland’s jobs market has yet to show a downturn despite concerns among businesses about the impact of the pending increase in National Insurance employers’ contributions, Business Eye reports.

Official data has revealed that companies continued adding staff in January and February. There were just 150 redundancies announced in February, less than the monthly averages for 2023 and 2024.

According to figures from the latest Labour Market Report, the employment rate for the period from November to January was 72.2 per cent.

That was reportedly unchanged from the previous quarter but down slightly compared to the same period in 2024.

Responding to the Labour Market Report released on March 20, Mark McAllister - Chief Executive of the Labour Relations Agency - said,

“Today’s figures suggest anything from ‘as you were’ to encouraging signs of Northern Ireland being a positive outlier with businesses reporting, via the Quarterly Employment Survey, an increase in employee jobs in NI over the quarter and the year, reaching a new series high of 832,180 in December 2024. 

“When combined with the fact that there has been no seismic shift in the number of redundancies reported, the picture may not be as glum as some might suggest. Indeed, both the twelve-month totals of proposed and confirmed redundancies are similar to the levels seen in the decade preceding the pandemic. As we hurtle towards the end of the fiscal year you could be forgiven for being upbeat, but then again April changes are literally around the corner.”

Source: Business Eye

(Quotes via original reporting)

Northern Ireland’s jobs market has yet to show a downturn despite concerns among businesses about the impact of the pending increase in National Insurance employers’ contributions, Business Eye reports.

Official data has revealed that companies continued adding staff in January and February. There were just 150 redundancies announced in February, less than the monthly averages for 2023 and 2024.

According to figures from the latest Labour Market Report, the employment rate for the period from November to January was 72.2 per cent.

That was reportedly unchanged from the previous quarter but down slightly compared to the same period in 2024.

Responding to the Labour Market Report released on March 20, Mark McAllister - Chief Executive of the Labour Relations Agency - said,

“Today’s figures suggest anything from ‘as you were’ to encouraging signs of Northern Ireland being a positive outlier with businesses reporting, via the Quarterly Employment Survey, an increase in employee jobs in NI over the quarter and the year, reaching a new series high of 832,180 in December 2024. 

“When combined with the fact that there has been no seismic shift in the number of redundancies reported, the picture may not be as glum as some might suggest. Indeed, both the twelve-month totals of proposed and confirmed redundancies are similar to the levels seen in the decade preceding the pandemic. As we hurtle towards the end of the fiscal year you could be forgiven for being upbeat, but then again April changes are literally around the corner.”

Source: Business Eye

(Quotes via original reporting)