All tables associated with this report can be downloaded from the NISRA website.

1. Overview

1.1 Key points

The number of employees receiving pay through HMRC PAYE in NI in June 2025 was 809,200, a decrease of 0.3% over the month and an increase of 0.5% over the year.

Employment section 3.3
Earnings from HMRC PAYE indicated that NI employees had a median monthly pay of £2,344 in June 2025, a decrease of £28 (1.2%) over the month and an increase of £26 (1.1%) over the year.

Employment section 3.4
In June 2025, the seasonally adjusted number of people on the claimant count was 38,500 (3.9% of the workforce), an increase of 1.0% from the previous month’s revised figure. The June 2025 claimant count remains 28.8% higher than the pre-pandemic count in March 2020.

Unemployment section 2.2
NISRA, acting on behalf of the Department for the Economy, received confirmation that 300 redundancies occurred in June 2025. Over the year, July 2024 to June 2025, 2,160 redundancies were confirmed. There were 210 proposed redundancies in June 2025, taking the annual total to 3,030.

Unemployment section 2.3
The latest NI seasonally adjusted unemployment rate (the proportion of economically active people aged 16 and over who were unemployed) for the period March-May 2025 was estimated from the Labour Force Survey at 2.1%. This represents an increase of 0.6 percentage points (pps) over the quarter and an increase of 0.3pps over the year. The quarterly change was statistically significant.

Unemployment section 2.1
Line chart of seasonally adjusted unemployment rate (Age 16 and over) in NI. More detail on the trends is included in the text directly beside the charts and later in the report.
The proportion of people aged 16 to 64 in work (the employment rate) increased by 0.7pps over the quarter and decreased by 0.7pps over the year to 72.1%.

Employment section 3.1
Line chart of seasonally adjusted employment rate (Aged 16 to 64) in NI. More detail on the trends is included in the text directly beside the charts and later in the report.
The economic inactivity rate (the proportion of people aged 16 to 64 who were not working and not seeking or available to work) decreased by 1.2pps over the quarter and increased by 0.4pps over the year to 26.3%.

Economic inactivity section 4.1
Line chart of seasonally adjusted economic inactivity rates (Aged 16 to 64) in NI. More detail on the trends is included in the text directly beside the charts and later in the report.
The total number of weekly hours worked in NI was estimated at 30.2 million hours, an increase of 4.2% on the previous quarter and an increase of 2.9% on the equivalent period last year.

Employment section 3.2

1.2 Commentary

The latest Labour Market release shows that over the year both payrolled employee numbers and earnings have increased. However, from the Labour Force Survey, the unemployment rate and economic inactivity rate both saw an increase, while the employment rate decreased.

The latest HMRC payroll data shows that payrolled employees decreased by 0.3% over the month and increased by 0.5% over the year. Payrolled earnings decreased by 1.2% over the month and were 1.1% higher than June 2024.

Households reported, via the Labour Force Survey (LFS), over the year to March-May 2025, increases in both the unemployment rate (by 0.3pps to 2.1%) and the economic inactivity rate (by 0.4pps to 26.3%), while the employment rate decreased by 0.7pps to 72.1%. None of these annual changes were statistically significant, however the unemployment rate showed a statistically significant increase over the quarter (by 0.6pps).

The total number of hours worked in March-May 2025 increased by 2.9% over the year, to 30.2 million hours per week. This figure is 4.2% above the pre-pandemic position recorded in December-February 2020 and was similar to the highest level recorded in this time series (30.5 million hours per week, recorded in September-November 2019).

In June 2025, the Department was notified of 300 confirmed redundancies, bringing the rolling twelve-month total of confirmed redundancies to 2,160, approximately eighty-five percent of the figure for the previous year (2,560). In addition, 210 proposed redundancies were notified to the Department in June 2025. The annual total of proposed redundancies was 3,030, almost five percent higher than the figure for the previous year (2,890). Both the twelve-month totals of proposed and confirmed redundancies are similar to the levels seen in the decade preceding the pandemic.

Finally, there was an increase of 1.0% in the claimant count estimate over the month to June 2025 from the revised figure for May 2025. The claimant count rate for June 2025 was unchanged from the revised rate for May 2025 of 3.9%.

1.3 Things users need to know

Labour Market Statistics – Transformation in Northern Ireland

The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) is currently in the process of transforming the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and associated labour market statistics for Northern Ireland. This work is being advanced alongside work by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to transform the LFS in Great Britain.

The latest update on the transformation in NI can be found in the Labour Market Survey update - April 2025 published on the 10th April 2025.

The previous update on the transformation in NI was published as part of the Labour Market Statistics – Newsletter on the 24th January 2025.

Prior to this, on 10th April 2024, NISRA published The Transformation of Labour Market Statistics in Northern Ireland – NISRA User Information Paper April 2024. This paper provided background on the current LFS together with an overview of NISRA’s Social Surveys, outlining both the potential and necessity to change how such surveys are conducted in the future. The paper also details how the new Labour Market Survey (LMS) follows an online first approach, highlighting how both the content of the questionnaire and the supporting field operation have been tailored to meet local needs.

Alongside this update, an LMS & LFS Mapping Document - April 2024 was published. This document compared all of the questionnaire variables in the LMS to the equivalent in the LFS and highlights the differences and similarities between the two surveys.

More information on the Transformation of the Labour Market Statistics in NI can be found at Labour Force Survey Transformation.

If, on reading the information paper and associated documentation, you have any queries regarding NISRA’s work in this space we would love to hear from you. All queries should be sent to: Labourmarketstatistics@nisra.gov.uk.

1.4 Context

The Labour Market Report is a monthly overview of key labour market statistics for NI.

The Use of Economic and Labour Market Business and Household Surveys page provides recent examples of how data collected from the Labour Force Survey is used to inform, develop and monitor evidence-based policies. A Labour Market Outputs consultation in summer 2019 (Labour Market Statistics User Engagement page) showed labour market statistics are also used in academic and private sector research. Significant non-governmental users of labour market statistics include the media, banks, academics, private consultants, and the general public. User requested analysis is published on the NISRA website.


2. Unemployment

2.1 Labour Force Survey unemployment

LFS unemployment: The International Labour Organisation (ILO) defines unemployed as those aged 16 and over without a job who were able to start work in the two weeks following their LFS interview and had either looked for work in the four weeks prior to interview or were waiting to start a job they had already obtained.

Key findings

  • The NI unemployment rate for March-May 2025 increased over both the quarter and the year to 2.1%.
  • The most recent UK unemployment rate for March-May 2025 was estimated at 4.7%.

Figure 1: The latest NI unemployment rate shows statistically significant increase over the quarter

Seasonally adjusted unemployment rate (Age 16 and over), Mar-May 2010 to Mar-May 2025
Chart
Table
Date Northern Ireland United Kingdom
Mar-May 2010 7.1 7.9
Jun-Aug 2010 6.9 7.8
Sep-Nov 2010 7.8 7.9
Dec-Feb 2011 7.3 7.8
Mar-May 2011 7.1 7.8
Jun-Aug 2011 7.5 8.2
Sep-Nov 2011 6.7 8.5
Dec-Feb 2012 6.6 8.3
Mar-May 2012 6.9 8.1
Jun-Aug 2012 8.2 7.9
Sep-Nov 2012 7.8 7.8
Dec-Feb 2013 8.1 8.0
Mar-May 2013 7.7 7.7
Jun-Aug 2013 7.4 7.7
Sep-Nov 2013 7.3 7.2
Dec-Feb 2014 7.6 6.9
Mar-May 2014 6.6 6.4
Jun-Aug 2014 6.3 6.0
Sep-Nov 2014 5.9 5.9
Dec-Feb 2015 6.0 5.6
Mar-May 2015 6.2 5.6
Jun-Aug 2015 6.0 5.4
Sep-Nov 2015 6.0 5.1
Dec-Feb 2016 6.3 5.1
Mar-May 2016 5.7 4.9
Jun-Aug 2016 5.4 5.0
Sep-Nov 2016 5.8 4.8
Dec-Feb 2017 5.2 4.6
Mar-May 2017 5.1 4.4
Jun-Aug 2017 4.6 4.3
Sep-Nov 2017 4.0 4.3
Dec-Feb 2018 3.4 4.2
Mar-May 2018 3.4 4.2
Jun-Aug 2018 4.0 4.0
Sep-Nov 2018 3.5 4.0
Dec-Feb 2019 3.0 4.0
Mar-May 2019 3.0 3.8
Jun-Aug 2019 2.9 3.9
Sep-Nov 2019 2.3 3.8
Dec-Feb 2020 2.5 3.9
Mar-May 2020 2.9 4.1
Jun-Aug 2020 3.7 4.6
Sep-Nov 2020 3.6 5.2
Dec-Feb 2021 3.9 5.0
Mar-May 2021 4.0 4.8
Jun-Aug 2021 4.3 4.5
Sep-Nov 2021 3.5 4.2
Dec-Feb 2022 2.9 3.9
Mar-May 2022 2.5 3.7
Jun-Aug 2022 3.1 3.6
Sep-Nov 2022 2.6 3.9
Dec-Feb 2023 2.3 4.0
Mar-May 2023 2.2 4.0
Jun-Aug 2023 2.2 4.3
Sep-Nov 2023 2.4 4.0
Dec-Feb 2024 2.2 4.2
Mar-May 2024 1.8 4.4
Jun-Aug 2024 1.8 4.1
Sep-Nov 2024 1.7 4.4
Dec-Feb 2025 1.5 4.4
Mar-May 2025 2.1 4.7


Figure 1 shows the unemployment rates for NI and the UK over the last 15 years. During this period, the UK unemployment rate peaked at 8.5% in late-2011, while the NI unemployment rate peaked at 8.2% in mid-2012. Following these peaks, both unemployment rates showed a downward trend until the end of 2019. After rises during the early part of the pandemic, both rates then decreased. Over the most recent year to March-May 2025, the NI unemployment rate increased by 0.3pps to 2.1%, while the UK unemployment rate increased by 0.2pps to 4.7%.

The NI unemployment rate (age 16 and over) for the period March-May 2025 was estimated at 2.1%. This was:

  • an increase of 0.6pps over the quarter (statistically significant); and
  • an increase of 0.3pps over the year (not statistically significant).

The number of unemployed people (age 16 and over) in NI was estimated at 19,000, which was:

  • up 5,000 over the quarter; and
  • up 3,000 from the same period last year.

UK regional comparison:

  • The NI unemployment rate (age 16 and over) of 2.1% was 2.6pps below the most recent UK rate of 4.7%.
  • the lowest of the twelve UK regions.

2.2 Claimant count (experimental)

Claimant Count (experimental) consists of all people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) plus those Universal Credit (UC) claimants who were claiming principally for the reason of being unemployed. Some claimants are wholly unemployed and seeking work, while others may be employed but with low earnings that make them eligible for unemployment related benefit support.

Key findings

  • Over the month to June 2025, the NI claimant count increased by 1.0% to 38,500.
  • In June 2025, 3.9% of the NI workforce were recorded on the claimant count.

Figure 2: Seasonally adjusted claimant count rate remains stable over the month

NI seasonally adjusted claimant count (experimental) monthly rates, June 2010 to June 2025
Chart

Note: graph has a non-zero axis

Table
Date Undercount Rate
Jun 2010 6.2
Jul 2010 6.2
Aug 2010 6.3
Sep 2010 6.4
Oct 2010 6.4
Nov 2010 6.4
Dec 2010 6.4
Jan 2011 6.4
Feb 2011 6.5
Mar 2011 6.5
Apr 2011 6.5
May 2011 6.5
Jun 2011 6.6
Jul 2011 6.7
Aug 2011 6.7
Sep 2011 6.7
Oct 2011 6.7
Nov 2011 6.7
Dec 2011 6.7
Jan 2012 6.9
Feb 2012 6.9
Mar 2012 6.9
Apr 2012 7.0
May 2012 7.0
Jun 2012 7.1
Jul 2012 7.2
Aug 2012 7.1
Sep 2012 7.2
Oct 2012 7.2
Nov 2012 7.2
Dec 2012 7.3
Jan 2013 7.2
Feb 2013 7.2
Mar 2013 7.2
Apr 2013 7.2
May 2013 7.1
Jun 2013 7.0
Jul 2013 7.0
Aug 2013 7.0
Sep 2013 6.9
Oct 2013 6.8
Nov 2013 6.7
Dec 2013 6.6
Jan 2014 6.5
Feb 2014 6.4
Mar 2014 6.3
Apr 2014 6.2
May 2014 6.1
Jun 2014 6.0
Jul 2014 5.8
Aug 2014 5.8
Sep 2014 5.8
Oct 2014 5.7
Nov 2014 5.6
Dec 2014 5.5
Jan 2015 5.4
Feb 2015 5.2
Mar 2015 5.0
Apr 2015 4.9
May 2015 4.8
Jun 2015 4.8
Jul 2015 4.7
Aug 2015 4.6
Sep 2015 4.5
Oct 2015 4.4
Nov 2015 4.4
Dec 2015 4.3
Jan 2016 4.2
Feb 2016 4.2
Mar 2016 4.2
Apr 2016 4.1
May 2016 4.0
Jun 2016 4.0
Jul 2016 3.9
Aug 2016 3.8
Sep 2016 3.8
Oct 2016 3.7
Nov 2016 3.6
Dec 2016 3.6
Jan 2017 3.5
Feb 2017 3.5
Mar 2017 3.4
Apr 2017 3.4
May 2017 3.4
Jun 2017 3.3
Jul 2017 3.3
Aug 2017 3.3
Sep 2017 3.2
Oct 2017 3.2
Nov 2017 3.1
Dec 2017 3.2
Jan 2018 3.1
Feb 2018 3.2
Mar 2018 3.1
Apr 2018 3.1
May 2018 3.1
Jun 2018 3.1
Jul 2018 3.0
Aug 2018 3.0
Sep 2018 3.1
Oct 2018 3.1
Nov 2018 3.2
Dec 2018 3.2
Jan 2019 3.1
Feb 2019 3.1
Mar 2019 3.1
Apr 2019 3.1
May 2019 3.1
Jun 2019 3.1
Jul 2019 3.1
Aug 2019 3.0
Sep 2019 3.1
Oct 2019 3.2
Nov 2019 3.2
Dec 2019 3.2
Jan 2020 3.0
Feb 2020 3.0
Mar 2020 3.0
Apr 2020 5.7
May 2020 6.5
Jun 2020 6.3
Jul 2020 6.3
Aug 2020 6.3
Sep 2020 6.1
Oct 2020 6.0
Nov 2020 6.0
Dec 2020 5.9
Jan 2021 5.9
Feb 2021 6.1
Mar 2021 6.0
Apr 2021 5.9
May 2021 5.7
Jun 2021 5.4
Jul 2021 5.3
Aug 2021 5.1
Sep 2021 5.0
Oct 2021 4.8
Nov 2021 4.6
Dec 2021 4.4
Jan 2022 4.1
Feb 2022 4.0
Mar 2022 3.9
Apr 2022 3.8
May 2022 3.7
Jun 2022 3.7
Jul 2022 3.7
Aug 2022 3.6
Sep 2022 3.6
Oct 2022 3.6
Nov 2022 3.7
Dec 2022 3.7
Jan 2023 3.7
Feb 2023 3.6
Mar 2023 3.7
Apr 2023 3.9
May 2023 3.7
Jun 2023 3.7
Jul 2023 3.7
Aug 2023 3.7
Sep 2023 3.7
Oct 2023 3.7
Nov 2023 3.6
Dec 2023 3.7
Jan 2024 3.7
Feb 2024 3.7
Mar 2024 3.7
Apr 2024 3.8
May 2024 3.8
Jun 2024 3.9
Jul 2024 4.1
Aug 2024 4.1
Sep 2024 4.2
Oct 2024 4.2
Nov 2024 4.1
Dec 2024 4.0
Jan 2025 4.0
Feb 2025 4.1
Mar 2025 4.0
Apr 2025 4.0
May 2025 3.9
Jun 2025 3.9


In June 2025, 38,500 people were recorded on the NI Claimant Count. This is 40% less than the recent peak in May 2020 and 28.8% more than the pre-pandemic count in March 2020.

The increases in the claimant count between March 2020 and May 2020 can largely be attributed to the increase in the numbers of people becoming unemployed or having their hours reduced due to COVID, resulting in very low earnings below the administrative earnings threshold. The increases seen between May 2024 and September 2024 are largely due to the increase in the administrative earnings threshold for Universal Credit. More information on this change can be found in the Press Statement released by the Department for Work and Pensions on 13 May 2024.

The NI seasonally adjusted claimant count was 38,500 (3.9% of the workforce) in June 2025, representing:

  • an increase of 400 (1.0%) over the month
  • a decrease of 200 (0.5%) over the year, and
  • an increase of 8,600 (28.8%) since March 2020.

Changes by sex:

  • an increase of 1.0% in males and an increase of 1.1% in females over the month, and
  • a decrease of 5.3% in males and an increase of 5.4% in females over the year.

Changes by age:

  • Over the year, there has been a 1.4% increase in claimants aged 16 to 24, while there were decreases in claimants aged 25 to 49 (-0.3%) and those aged 50 and over (-1.0%).
  • Compared to the pre-pandemic counts in March 2020, there has been a decrease in the number of claimants in the 16-24 age-band (-5.4%), with increases for the 25 to 49 (38.6%) and the 50 and over (18.3%) age-bands.

Changes by Local Government District:

  • Over the year the largest increases were seen in Belfast (4.2%) and Lisburn and Castlereagh (1.2%).
  • The largest decreases over the year were seen in Mid Ulster (-6.4%) and Antrim and Newtownabbey (-3.9%).

UK regional comparison:

  • The UK seasonally adjusted claimant count increased by 1.5% over the month to 1,743,000 (4.5% of the workforce).
  • The UK count is 35.4% below the recent peak in August 2020 and 41.7% above the pre-pandemic count in March 2020.

2.3 Redundancies

Redundancies: Companies must inform the Department of (a) impending redundancies of 20 or more employees and (b) subsequent confirmed redundancies. Since all proposed redundancies do not actually take place, the confirmed total provides a better indication of real job losses.

Key findings

  • 300 redundancies were confirmed in June 2025, taking the annual total to 2,160, which was approximately eighty-five percent of the figure for the previous year (2,560).
  • There were 210 proposed redundancies in June 2025, taking the annual total to 3,030, which was almost five percent higher than the figure for the previous year (2,890).

Figure 3: Latest annual total of confirmed redundancies lower than previous year

NI confirmed and proposed redundancies, Annual totals, Jul 2009-Jun 2010 to Jul 2024-Jun 2025
Chart
Table
Year Proposed Confirmed
2009/10 3,390 3,000
2010/11 2,610 1,940
2011/12 3,360 2,140
2012/13 3,280 3,180
2013/14 3,090 2,130
2014/15 3,470 1,940
2015/16 4,920 3,220
2016/17 2,950 2,310
2017/18 3,680 2,850
2018/19 3,450 1,810
2019/20 6,940 2,610
2020/21 7,180 6,190
2021/22 2,080 1,400
2022/23 3,730 1,340
2023/24 2,890 2,560
2024/25 3,030 2,160


Redundancy notification data generally shows a high degree of correlation between proposed and confirmed redundancies when grouped by year. The graph above shows that, generally the number of proposed redundancies is higher than confirmed redundancies, indicating that not all proposed redundancies take place.

The June 2025 total of confirmed redundancies (300) was double the monthly average in 2024 (150). The rolling twelve-month total (2,160) was above 2,000 for the second consecutive month, having been below this figure for the remainder of the first half of 2025.

The number of proposed redundancies in June 2025 (210) is below the monthly average for 2024 (250) and the rolling twelve-month total of 3,030 remains similar to the trend seen before the pandemic.

Confirmed redundancies

During June 2025, the Department was notified of:

  • 300 confirmed redundancies, double the monthly average for 2024 (150).

Over the last twelve months, to the end of June 2025, there were:

  • 2,160 confirmed redundancies, approximately eighty-five percent of the figure for the previous year (2,560).
  • 1,030 confirmed redundancies (47.5%) in the manufacturing sector.
  • 310 confirmed redundancies (14.1%) in the financial and insurance activities sector.
  • 250 confirmed redundancies (11.5%) in the information and communication sector.

Proposed redundancies

During June 2025, the Department was notified of:

  • 210 proposed redundancies, less than the monthly average (250) during 2024.

Over the last twelve months, to the end of June 2025, there were:

  • 3,030 proposed redundancies, almost five percent higher than the figure for the previous year (2,890).
  • 1,170 proposed redundancies (38.6%) in the manufacturing sector.
  • 380 proposed redundancies (12.7%) in the information and communication sector.
  • 190 proposed redundancies (6.1%) in the financial and insurance activities sector.


3. Employment

3.1 LFS employment

LFS employed: people aged 16 or over who did at least one hour of paid work in the reference week (whether as an employee or self-employed); those who had a paid job that they were temporarily away from; those on government-supported training and employee programmes and those doing unpaid family work.

Key findings

  • The NI employment rate for March-May 2025 increased over the quarter and decreased over the year to 72.1%.
  • The most recent UK employment rate for March-May 2025 was estimated at 75.2%.

Figure 4: Similar trend in NI and UK employment rates over the last 15 years

Seasonally adjusted employment rate (Aged 16 to 64), Mar-May 2010 to Mar-May 2025
Chart

Note: graph has a non-zero axis

Table
Date Northern Ireland United Kingdom
Mar-May 2010 66.0 70.4
Jun-Aug 2010 66.4 70.6
Sep-Nov 2010 65.2 70.3
Dec-Feb 2011 66.6 70.6
Mar-May 2011 67.9 70.5
Jun-Aug 2011 67.3 70.2
Sep-Nov 2011 67.8 70.1
Dec-Feb 2012 67.7 70.3
Mar-May 2012 67.5 70.7
Jun-Aug 2012 66.7 71.2
Sep-Nov 2012 67.2 71.3
Dec-Feb 2013 66.1 71.2
Mar-May 2013 66.6 71.2
Jun-Aug 2013 66.6 71.5
Sep-Nov 2013 67.4 72.0
Dec-Feb 2014 67.5 72.4
Mar-May 2014 68.1 72.9
Jun-Aug 2014 68.2 73.0
Sep-Nov 2014 67.8 73.0
Dec-Feb 2015 68.4 73.4
Mar-May 2015 67.7 73.3
Jun-Aug 2015 67.9 73.5
Sep-Nov 2015 68.8 74.0
Dec-Feb 2016 68.8 74.1
Mar-May 2016 69.0 74.3
Jun-Aug 2016 70.1 74.4
Sep-Nov 2016 69.2 74.4
Dec-Feb 2017 68.7 74.6
Mar-May 2017 68.8 74.8
Jun-Aug 2017 68.4 75.1
Sep-Nov 2017 69.0 75.2
Dec-Feb 2018 69.4 75.3
Mar-May 2018 70.0 75.5
Jun-Aug 2018 69.8 75.4
Sep-Nov 2018 69.8 75.6
Dec-Feb 2019 71.2 76.0
Mar-May 2019 71.9 76.0
Jun-Aug 2019 71.3 75.9
Sep-Nov 2019 72.7 76.2
Dec-Feb 2020 72.4 76.5
Mar-May 2020 70.2 75.5
Jun-Aug 2020 69.5 75.0
Sep-Nov 2020 69.0 74.5
Dec-Feb 2021 68.6 74.5
Mar-May 2021 68.6 74.5
Jun-Aug 2021 69.2 74.9
Sep-Nov 2021 68.2 75.0
Dec-Feb 2022 69.4 75.0
Mar-May 2022 70.1 75.4
Jun-Aug 2022 70.1 75.0
Sep-Nov 2022 71.3 75.0
Dec-Feb 2023 71.9 75.2
Mar-May 2023 71.9 75.4
Jun-Aug 2023 72.1 74.7
Sep-Nov 2023 72.4 74.9
Dec-Feb 2024 72.8 74.6
Mar-May 2024 72.7 74.4
Jun-Aug 2024 72.3 75.0
Sep-Nov 2024 72.6 74.9
Dec-Feb 2025 71.3 75.1
Mar-May 2025 72.1 75.2


Figure 4 shows that, over the last 15 years, the NI employment rate has been consistently below the UK rate. Although showing a similar trend, the fall in the employment rate in NI between 2019 and 2021 was steeper than the fall in the UK rate. When compared to the pre-pandemic rates recorded in December-February 2020, the most recent NI employment rate was 0.3pps below the NI pre-pandemic rate of 72.4%, while the UK rate was 1.2pps below the UK pre-pandemic rate of 76.5%.

The most recent NI employment rate (aged 16 to 64) for the period March-May 2025 was estimated at 72.1%. This was:

  • an increase of 0.7pps over the quarter (not statistically significant); and
  • a decrease of 0.7pps over the year (not statistically significant);

The number of employed people (age 16 and over) in NI was estimated at 902,000, which was:

  • up 12,000 from last quarter; and
  • up 2,000 from the same period last year.

Annual changes by sex (for those aged 16 to 64) showed that:

  • the male employment rate (76.7%) increased by 1.3pps over the year; and
  • the female employment rate (67.5%) decreased by 2.5pps over the year.

UK regional comparison:

  • The NI employment rate (aged 16 to 64) of 72.1% was 3.2pps below the most recent UK rate of 75.2%.
  • the second lowest of the twelve UK regions.

Please note that the following estimates are not adjusted for seasonality.

Self-employment:

  • In March-May 2025, there were 116,000 self-employed, a decrease of 7,000 (5.6%) over the year, and 22,000 lower (15.8%) than the pre-pandemic figure in December-February 2020.
  • The proportion who were self-employed (12.9%) remains below the pre-pandemic proportion (15.5% recorded in December-February 2020).

Employment by Age:

  • In March-May 2025, those aged 25 to 34 had the highest employment rate (83.1%), whilst those aged 16 to 24 had the lowest (51.5%).
  • Compared to the pre-pandemic rates in December-February 2020, the employment rate for those aged 50 to 64 saw the largest increase (by +0.7pps, from 64.6% to 65.3%), whilst the rate for those aged 16 to 24 saw the largest decrease (by -3.4pps, from 54.8% to 51.5%).

3.2 Total weekly hours

Please note that the following estimates are not adjusted for seasonality.

Key findings

  • The total number of weekly hours worked in March-May 2025 was estimated at 30.2 million hours per week.
  • This was an increase of 4.2% on the previous quarter and an increase of 2.9% on the same period last year.

Figure 5: Total hours worked similar to series high

Total weekly hours worked (Age 16 and over), Mar-May 2010 to Mar-May 2025
Chart

Note: graph has a non-zero axis

Table
Date Total weekly hours
Mar-May 2010 26.0
Jun-Aug 2010 24.6
Sep-Nov 2010 26.2
Dec-Feb 2011 25.3
Mar-May 2011 26.4
Jun-Aug 2011 25.1
Sep-Nov 2011 26.9
Dec-Feb 2012 25.6
Mar-May 2012 26.6
Jun-Aug 2012 25.7
Sep-Nov 2012 27.5
Dec-Feb 2013 25.5
Mar-May 2013 26.7
Jun-Aug 2013 26.0
Sep-Nov 2013 27.3
Dec-Feb 2014 26.3
Mar-May 2014 27.7
Jun-Aug 2014 26.7
Sep-Nov 2014 27.9
Dec-Feb 2015 27.5
Mar-May 2015 27.0
Jun-Aug 2015 25.8
Sep-Nov 2015 28.1
Dec-Feb 2016 26.4
Mar-May 2016 27.3
Jun-Aug 2016 26.6
Sep-Nov 2016 27.9
Dec-Feb 2017 27.1
Mar-May 2017 27.6
Jun-Aug 2017 26.6
Sep-Nov 2017 28.6
Dec-Feb 2018 28.0
Mar-May 2018 28.6
Jun-Aug 2018 27.9
Sep-Nov 2018 28.7
Dec-Feb 2019 28.6
Mar-May 2019 29.9
Jun-Aug 2019 29.0
Sep-Nov 2019 30.5
Dec-Feb 2020 29.0
Mar-May 2020 23.2
Jun-Aug 2020 24.9
Sep-Nov 2020 26.9
Dec-Feb 2021 25.4
Mar-May 2021 26.3
Jun-Aug 2021 26.4
Sep-Nov 2021 27.8
Dec-Feb 2022 26.9
Mar-May 2022 28.3
Jun-Aug 2022 26.9
Sep-Nov 2022 28.9
Dec-Feb 2023 28.3
Mar-May 2023 28.9
Jun-Aug 2023 28.1
Sep-Nov 2023 29.5
Dec-Feb 2024 28.5
Mar-May 2024 29.4
Jun-Aug 2024 28.8
Sep-Nov 2024 30.3
Dec-Feb 2025 29.0
Mar-May 2025 30.2


Figure 5 illustrates that, like many labour market indicators, total weekly hours worked shows a seasonal pattern. Outside of these seasonal variations, a trend of increasing weekly hours worked can be seen between 2009 and the end of 2019, prior to a sharp fall between December-February 2020 and March-May 2020. From early-2021 onwards, the increasing trend returned at a steeper rate than before the pandemic. Hours worked in March-May 2025 remained 0.8% below the peak in this series of 30.5 million hours in September-November 2019.

The total number of weekly hours worked in NI in March-May 2025 was estimated at 30.2 million hours, this was:

  • an increase of 1.2 million hours (4.2%) on the previous quarter;
  • an increase of 0.8 million hours (2.9%) from the same period last year; and
  • 1.2 million hours, or 4.2%, above the pre-pandemic (December-February 2020) figure.

The average number of weekly hours worked in March-May 2025 was estimated at 37.6 hours for those in full-time employment, and at 16.9 hours for those in part-time employment (for main jobs only, any second jobs are excluded). By sex:

  • for those in full-time employment, the average weekly hours worked for males was 39.5 hours, whereas for females it was 34.5 hours.
  • for those in part-time employment, the average weekly hours worked for males was 16.6 hours, whereas for females it was 17.0 hours.

3.3 Employees (experimental) from HMRC PAYE RTI

Payrolled employee counts (experimental) from the HMRC’s Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) system relate to employees paid by employers only, and do not include those who are self-employed. Data are based on where employees live and not the location of their place of work within the UK. As employees who were “furloughed” as part of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme programme should still have had their payments reported through this system, they should feature in these data.

Key findings

  • The number of payrolled employees in NI decreased by 0.3% over the month and increased by 0.5% over the year to June 2025.
  • In the UK, the number of payrolled employees decreased by 0.1% over the month and decreased by 0.6% over the year to June 2025.

Figure 6: Number of payrolled employees decreased over the month

NI payrolled employees (experimental) from PAYE RTI, July 2014 to June 2025
Chart

Note: graph has a non-zero axis

Table
Date Northern Ireland
Jul 2014 674,332
Aug 2014 675,855
Sep 2014 676,844
Oct 2014 677,825
Nov 2014 679,774
Dec 2014 679,788
Jan 2015 684,488
Feb 2015 686,954
Mar 2015 688,303
Apr 2015 690,732
May 2015 691,737
Jun 2015 694,312
Jul 2015 696,248
Aug 2015 697,504
Sep 2015 700,124
Oct 2015 700,650
Nov 2015 701,497
Dec 2015 701,334
Jan 2016 702,949
Feb 2016 703,675
Mar 2016 704,730
Apr 2016 704,343
May 2016 705,453
Jun 2016 705,538
Jul 2016 706,333
Aug 2016 707,901
Sep 2016 709,300
Oct 2016 710,474
Nov 2016 713,263
Dec 2016 713,806
Jan 2017 712,826
Feb 2017 714,798
Mar 2017 716,322
Apr 2017 716,472
May 2017 718,819
Jun 2017 720,515
Jul 2017 721,155
Aug 2017 722,690
Sep 2017 724,072
Oct 2017 725,362
Nov 2017 726,680
Dec 2017 729,955
Jan 2018 729,828
Feb 2018 731,277
Mar 2018 731,947
Apr 2018 732,981
May 2018 734,448
Jun 2018 735,252
Jul 2018 736,457
Aug 2018 738,066
Sep 2018 739,286
Oct 2018 740,933
Nov 2018 741,746
Dec 2018 742,940
Jan 2019 744,155
Feb 2019 745,007
Mar 2019 746,669
Apr 2019 746,681
May 2019 747,495
Jun 2019 746,493
Jul 2019 748,492
Aug 2019 748,931
Sep 2019 749,517
Oct 2019 749,862
Nov 2019 751,432
Dec 2019 751,842
Jan 2020 753,576
Feb 2020 754,690
Mar 2020 755,064
Apr 2020 743,253
May 2020 742,722
Jun 2020 742,105
Jul 2020 743,045
Aug 2020 739,046
Sep 2020 739,237
Oct 2020 738,469
Nov 2020 736,855
Dec 2020 737,858
Jan 2021 739,796
Feb 2021 740,217
Mar 2021 741,613
Apr 2021 742,255
May 2021 748,548
Jun 2021 755,148
Jul 2021 761,034
Aug 2021 760,925
Sep 2021 762,163
Oct 2021 763,304
Nov 2021 765,802
Dec 2021 768,510
Jan 2022 770,676
Feb 2022 771,686
Mar 2022 773,442
Apr 2022 774,508
May 2022 776,166
Jun 2022 775,795
Jul 2022 777,772
Aug 2022 780,767
Sep 2022 780,242
Oct 2022 781,271
Nov 2022 782,814
Dec 2022 784,761
Jan 2023 784,988
Feb 2023 786,547
Mar 2023 789,216
Apr 2023 788,969
May 2023 789,150
Jun 2023 789,916
Jul 2023 790,756
Aug 2023 792,353
Sep 2023 794,545
Oct 2023 796,568
Nov 2023 797,513
Dec 2023 798,816
Jan 2024 799,293
Feb 2024 799,411
Mar 2024 799,389
Apr 2024 801,085
May 2024 802,797
Jun 2024 805,530
Jul 2024 806,216
Aug 2024 806,159
Sep 2024 806,161
Oct 2024 806,441
Nov 2024 806,682
Dec 2024 806,082
Jan 2025 808,216
Feb 2025 809,401
Mar 2025 810,554
Apr 2025 810,937
May 2025 811,286
Jun 2025 809,168


Please note:

  1. The flash estimate for the latest period is based on early data and is therefore more likely to be subject to revisions.

Between 2014 and 2020, the number of payrolled employees had generally been increasing each month, peaking at around 755,000 in March 2020. This was followed by a decrease of almost 12,000 employees (1.5%) to April 2020. Employee numbers then remained at a similar level until April 2021 when they returned to a general upward trend once again. The most recent month saw a decline of 2,100 (0.3%), representing the largest monthly decrease since August 2020 (0.5%).

Data from the latest HMRC PAYE RTI show that:

  • 809,200 people were payrolled employees in June 2025, a 0.3% decrease from the previous month and a 0.5% increase over the year.
  • In the UK, there were 30,265,500 payrolled employees in June 2025, a decrease of 0.1% over the month and a decrease of 0.6% over the year.
  • Over the year, the other 11 UK regions saw a decline in payrolled employees, while Northern Ireland recorded an increase of 0.5%.
  • Between March 2020 and June 2025, all regions of the UK recorded an increase in payrolled employees (4.3% overall). Northern Ireland recorded the largest increase (7.2%) while Scotland recorded the lowest (2.7%).

3.4 Earnings (experimental) from HMRC PAYE RTI

Median measures the amount earned by the average employee, i.e. the level of earnings at which half the population are above and half the population are below.

Key findings

  • Median monthly pay in NI decreased by 1.2% (£28) over the month to £2,344 in June 2025 and increased by 1.1% (£26) over the year.
  • UK median monthly pay increased by 0.2% (£4) over the month to £2,522 in June 2025 and increased by 5.6% (£133) over the year.

Figure 7: Over the month median monthly pay decreased in NI but increased in UK

Median Monthly Pay (experimental) from PAYE RTI, July 2014 to June 2025
Chart

Note: graph has a non-zero axis

Table
Date Northern Ireland UK
Jul 2014 1490 1598
Aug 2014 1488 1602
Sep 2014 1489 1601
Oct 2014 1494 1605
Nov 2014 1499 1607
Dec 2014 1517 1616
Jan 2015 1500 1620
Feb 2015 1495 1620
Mar 2015 1501 1618
Apr 2015 1498 1613
May 2015 1498 1616
Jun 2015 1492 1617
Jul 2015 1493 1620
Aug 2015 1489 1616
Sep 2015 1494 1619
Oct 2015 1497 1626
Nov 2015 1495 1629
Dec 2015 1500 1631
Jan 2016 1503 1638
Feb 2016 1510 1640
Mar 2016 1520 1645
Apr 2016 1512 1651
May 2016 1515 1652
Jun 2016 1516 1654
Jul 2016 1521 1659
Aug 2016 1528 1660
Sep 2016 1528 1664
Oct 2016 1523 1663
Nov 2016 1532 1666
Dec 2016 1533 1667
Jan 2017 1535 1668
Feb 2017 1536 1677
Mar 2017 1543 1686
Apr 2017 1545 1688
May 2017 1546 1690
Jun 2017 1556 1695
Jul 2017 1556 1693
Aug 2017 1562 1700
Sep 2017 1565 1704
Oct 2017 1566 1706
Nov 2017 1575 1713
Dec 2017 1583 1721
Jan 2018 1572 1725
Feb 2018 1593 1728
Mar 2018 1589 1729
Apr 2018 1587 1729
May 2018 1605 1749
Jun 2018 1611 1756
Jul 2018 1614 1751
Aug 2018 1621 1772
Sep 2018 1622 1761
Oct 2018 1632 1767
Nov 2018 1638 1778
Dec 2018 1640 1772
Jan 2019 1649 1784
Feb 2019 1691 1791
Mar 2019 1656 1799
Apr 2019 1670 1808
May 2019 1681 1815
Jun 2019 1674 1812
Jul 2019 1682 1819
Aug 2019 1683 1826
Sep 2019 1687 1820
Oct 2019 1693 1825
Nov 2019 1689 1830
Dec 2019 1684 1836
Jan 2020 1705 1852
Feb 2020 1713 1861
Mar 2020 1738 1845
Apr 2020 1656 1791
May 2020 1665 1798
Jun 2020 1709 1829
Jul 2020 1743 1859
Aug 2020 1747 1881
Sep 2020 1769 1900
Oct 2020 1779 1911
Nov 2020 1782 1913
Dec 2020 1798 1925
Jan 2021 1787 1930
Feb 2021 1793 1942
Mar 2021 1795 1948
Apr 2021 1810 1963
May 2021 1804 1962
Jun 2021 1823 1975
Jul 2021 1878 1979
Aug 2021 1820 1987
Sep 2021 1852 2008
Oct 2021 1860 2008
Nov 2021 1860 2016
Dec 2021 1918 2036
Jan 2022 1941 2050
Feb 2022 1916 2055
Mar 2022 1923 2076
Apr 2022 1936 2077
May 2022 1937 2084
Jun 2022 1941 2103
Jul 2022 1956 2110
Aug 2022 1970 2119
Sep 2022 1969 2148
Oct 2022 1987 2145
Nov 2022 2014 2190
Dec 2022 2027 2189
Jan 2023 2047 2194
Feb 2023 2053 2208
Mar 2023 2106 2216
Apr 2023 2057 2226
May 2023 2066 2252
Jun 2023 2081 2303
Jul 2023 2083 2268
Aug 2023 2086 2278
Sep 2023 2102 2275
Oct 2023 2111 2275
Nov 2023 2131 2327
Dec 2023 2154 2325
Jan 2024 2144 2334
Feb 2024 2153 2345
Mar 2024 2166 2356
Apr 2024 2186 2369
May 2024 2228 2382
Jun 2024 2318 2389
Jul 2024 2240 2399
Aug 2024 2301 2411
Sep 2024 2251 2410
Oct 2024 2277 2452
Nov 2024 2290 2475
Dec 2024 2291 2452
Jan 2025 2303 2474
Feb 2025 2307 2481
Mar 2025 2404 2488
Apr 2025 2403 2515
May 2025 2372 2518
Jun 2025 2344 2522


Please note:

  1. The flash estimate for the latest period is based on early data and is therefore more likely to be subject to revisions.

Median monthly pay in NI and the UK increased overall between mid-2015 and early 2020. In NI, an increase of 1.5% in median pay was recorded between February and March 2020, followed by a decrease of 4.7% between March and April 2020. The UK also saw a decrease between March and April 2020 of 2.9%. These monthly decreases coincided with decreases in the number of paid employees recorded in April 2020.

Over the past six months, pay has increased sharply, followed by similar decreases, aligning with local pay awards.

Data from the latest HMRC PAYE RTI show that:

  • NI had a median monthly pay of £2,344 in June 2025, which was a decrease of 1.2% on the previous month and an increase of 1.1% over the year.
  • UK had a median monthly pay of £2,522 in June 2025, which was an increase of 0.2% on the previous month and an increase of 5.6% from June 2024.
  • NI had the smallest annual increase of the 12 UK regions, and was the lowest earning region in the UK in June 2025. London had the highest median pay (£2,961).
  • Since March 2020, earnings in NI have increased by 34.9%, 1.8 pps less than the increase in the UK (36.7%) and the third lowest of all the UK regions.


4. Economic inactivity

4.1 LFS Economic inactivity

Economically inactive: People not in employment who have not been seeking work within the last 4 weeks and/or are unable to start work within the next 2 weeks.

Key findings

  • The NI economic inactivity rate decreased over the quarter and increased over the year to 26.3%.
  • The most recent UK economic inactivity rate for March-May 2025 was estimated at 21.0%.

Figure 8: NI economic inactivity consistently above UK average

Seasonally adjusted economic inactivity rates (Aged 16 to 64), Mar-May 2010 to Mar-May 2025
Chart

Note: graph has a non-zero axis

Table
Date Northern Ireland United Kingdom
Mar-May 2010 28.9 23.4
Jun-Aug 2010 28.6 23.3
Sep-Nov 2010 29.1 23.5
Dec-Feb 2011 28.1 23.3
Mar-May 2011 26.8 23.4
Jun-Aug 2011 27.0 23.4
Sep-Nov 2011 27.2 23.2
Dec-Feb 2012 27.4 23.2
Mar-May 2012 27.4 23.0
Jun-Aug 2012 27.2 22.6
Sep-Nov 2012 27.0 22.5
Dec-Feb 2013 27.9 22.5
Mar-May 2013 27.7 22.7
Jun-Aug 2013 27.9 22.4
Sep-Nov 2013 27.1 22.3
Dec-Feb 2014 26.8 22.2
Mar-May 2014 26.9 22.0
Jun-Aug 2014 27.1 22.2
Sep-Nov 2014 27.8 22.4
Dec-Feb 2015 27.0 22.1
Mar-May 2015 27.7 22.2
Jun-Aug 2015 27.6 22.2
Sep-Nov 2015 26.6 21.9
Dec-Feb 2016 26.4 21.8
Mar-May 2016 26.7 21.7
Jun-Aug 2016 25.7 21.6
Sep-Nov 2016 26.4 21.8
Dec-Feb 2017 27.4 21.7
Mar-May 2017 27.4 21.6
Jun-Aug 2017 28.2 21.5
Sep-Nov 2017 28.0 21.3
Dec-Feb 2018 28.1 21.3
Mar-May 2018 27.4 21.1
Jun-Aug 2018 27.2 21.3
Sep-Nov 2018 27.5 21.1
Dec-Feb 2019 26.6 20.8
Mar-May 2019 25.8 20.9
Jun-Aug 2019 26.5 20.9
Sep-Nov 2019 25.6 20.7
Dec-Feb 2020 25.8 20.3
Mar-May 2020 27.7 21.2
Jun-Aug 2020 27.7 21.3
Sep-Nov 2020 28.4 21.3
Dec-Feb 2021 28.6 21.5
Mar-May 2021 28.4 21.7
Jun-Aug 2021 27.6 21.4
Sep-Nov 2021 29.2 21.7
Dec-Feb 2022 28.4 21.8
Mar-May 2022 28.1 21.6
Jun-Aug 2022 27.6 22.1
Sep-Nov 2022 26.7 21.9
Dec-Feb 2023 26.4 21.7
Mar-May 2023 26.5 21.3
Jun-Aug 2023 26.3 21.9
Sep-Nov 2023 25.8 22.0
Dec-Feb 2024 25.6 22.1
Mar-May 2024 26.0 22.1
Jun-Aug 2024 26.5 21.8
Sep-Nov 2024 26.2 21.6
Dec-Feb 2025 27.5 21.4
Mar-May 2025 26.3 21.0


Figure 8 shows that, over the last 15 years, economic inactivity in NI has been consistently higher than the UK average, with more variability in economic inactivity in NI than the UK. Economic inactivity in NI peaked during this time-period in late 2021 at over 29%, compared to the lower peak in the UK rate of over 23% in late 2010.

During the ten years to 2019, the trend for both the UK and NI economic inactivity rates was generally downward. From the onset of the COVID pandemic, both UK and NI economic inactivity rates increased. Since early-2021 however, the trends have varied, whilst the UK rate has trended upwards until early 2024 with a downward trend since, the NI rate trended downwards until the start of 2024 with a general upward trend since. Over the last year, the economic inactivity rate in NI has seen an increase of 0.4pps whilst the UK rate has seen a decrease of 1.1pps. The most recent economic inactivity rates for NI (26.3%) and the UK (21.0%) were 0.6pps and 0.7pps above their pre-pandemic equivalents in December-February 2020.

The NI economic inactivity rate (aged 16 to 64) for March-May 2025 was estimated at 26.3%, which was:

  • a decrease of 1.2pps over the quarter (not statistically significant); and
  • an increase of 0.4pps over the year (not statistically significant).

The number of economically inactive people (age 16 and over) in NI was estimated at 611,000, which was:

  • down 15,000 from last quarter; and
  • up 7,000 from the same period last year.

Annual changes by sex (for those aged 16 to 64) showed:

  • a decrease of 1.5pps over the year in the male economic inactivity rate to 21.3%; and
  • an increase of 2.2pps over the year in the female economic inactivity rate to 31.2%.

UK regional comparison:

  • The NI economic inactivity rate (aged 16 to 64) of 26.3% was 5.3pps above the most recent UK rate of 21.0%.
  • the second highest of the twelve UK regions.

Please note that the following estimates are not adjusted for seasonality.

Reasons for inactivity:

  • In March-May 2025, the most common reason for economic inactivity among the working age population was ‘long-term sick’. There were 123,000 ‘long-term sick’, accounting for 39.3% of the total economically inactive (aged 16 to 64), or 10.4% of the working age population. This was an increase of 2,000 (2.0%) from the same period last year.
  • Compared to the pre-pandemic figures in December-February 2020, there has been an increase in the number of ‘long-term sick’ (by 23,000) and ‘student’ (by 12,000), however the totals for ‘family and home care’ and ‘retired’ have decreased by 5,000 and 4,000 respectively.

Inactivity by Age:

  • In March-May 2025, those aged 65 and over (297,000) made up the highest proportion (48.6%) of the total economically inactive (age 16 and over), with those aged 25 to 34 (37,000) making up the lowest proportion (6.1%) across the age groups.
  • Those aged 65 and over had the highest economic inactivity rate (86.9%), whilst those aged 25 to 34 had the lowest (15.7%). These rates are relatively similar to the pre-pandemic rates in December-February 2020 (89.9% and 14.7% respectively).


5. Further Information

General Information

The Labour Market Report is a monthly overview of key labour market statistics for NI. It includes figures from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), claimant count, redundancies counts, and HMRC PAYE statistics. The LMR also contains an overview from the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) in March, June, September and December. More information about the data sources can be found in the LMR Supplementary Document.

Comparison between data sources

Although the broad concepts are similar across sources contained within this release, differences in reference periods, definitions, and methodology exist which impact the interpretation of the statistics. Additional information can be found in the LMR supplementary document, including comparisons between:

  • LFS unemployment and experimental claimant count
  • LFS employment and the number of paid employees from HMRC PAYE RTI
  • LFS employment and QES employee jobs
  • HMRC PAYE RTI and Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE)
  • Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) and HMRC PAYE RTI

More information is also available in the comparison of labour market data sources article by ONS.

Seasonal adjustment

All estimates discussed in this report are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise stated. Seasonal adjustment removes the effects of seasonal factors and the arrangement of the calendar and allows comparison over months or quarters.

Reporting change and sampling variability

Reported change is calculated using unrounded data and is presented to 1 decimal place. When a change is less than 0.05pps, it is rounded to 0.0pps and the data is reported as unchanged.

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a sample survey. Estimates obtained from it are subject to sampling variability which means if we drew many samples, each would give a different result. The sampling variability of the Northern Ireland estimates can be found in Table 2.49 of the LFS monthly tables, published alongside this report on the NISRA website. We would expect that in 95% of samples the range would contain the true value.

Alternative release time

The NI Labour Market Report is released at 7am. This is an ‘alternative release time’ agreed by the Office for Statistics Regulation and differs from the standard 9.30am release time for the majority of statistical reports.

Labour Force Survey

Response rates

The methodology for determining the response rate for the NI LFS has been revised to follow the same methodology as that used in ONS. This allows for the comparability of the response rate against the UK.

The achieved sample size for the Northern Ireland Labour Force Survey during January to March 2025 was 2,123, a decrease of 9% from the same period last year.

Table 1: LFS Response rates, October-December 2021 to January to March 2025

Period NI Response Rate (%) UK Response Rate (%)
October-December 2021 28.2 26.6
January-March 2022 33.3 27.2
April-June 2022 43.3 27.8
July-September 2022 46.4 26.1
October-December 2022 47.4 23.6
January-March 2023 48.0 21.5
April-June 2023 47.4 19.6
July-September 2023 43.9 17.4
October-December 2023 41.9 18.8
January-March 2024 36.1 21.3
April-June 2024 33.2 23.1
July-September 2024 30.8 24.6
October-December 2024 31.1 24.4
January-March 2025 30.9 25.4

Please note, response rates are updated quarterly.

LFS revisions

LFS microdata are routinely revised to incorporate the latest population estimates. The latest reweighting was introduced in December 2024, affecting data from January-March 2019 to July-September 2024. An overview of the impact of reweighting on the NI estimates of unemployment, employment, and economic inactivity is available on the NISRA website. Previous reweightings occurred in October 2020, July 2021, June 2022 and February 2024.

LFS comparisons

Estimates of employment, unemployment, and economic inactivity are derived from the LFS. The most robust estimates of short-term movements in these estimates are obtained by comparing the estimates over separate three-month periods, commonly known as 3 month rolling averages. For example, estimates relating to March-May 2025 should be compared with the estimates for December-February 2025. This provides a more robust estimate than comparing with the estimates for February-April 2025, as the March and April data are included within both estimates. The LFS is sampled such that it is representative of the NI population over a three-month period, not for a single month period.

Suppression and shading

Estimates based on fewer than 3 events are suppressed to prevent disclosure. In tables, shading is used to draw attention to lower statistical quality/precision of estimates that are based on a smaller sample size. Shaded estimates still provide the best estimate of the size of a group but comparison across time or between groups with similar values should be avoided. Unshaded estimates are based on a larger sample size. This is likely to result in estimates of higher precision, although they will still be subject to some sampling variability.

Due to the small sample sizes and the effect this may have on the precision of the figures, estimates for long-term unemployment, youth unemployment and annual changes in unemployment by sex have not been included in this bulletin this month.

Claimant Count

Experimental claimant count

This measure is categorised as experimental as the statistics are in the testing phase and not yet fully developed. ONS have produced a useful guide to official statistics in development, and an FAQ document explaining the difference between the previous measure and this experimental measure is available on the changes to the claimant count page.

Claimant count revisions

Seasonally adjusted estimates are revised on a regular basis. Each month the previous estimate is revised in line with the current seasonal adjustment model, giving the best estimate of change for the latest period.

Also, a seasonal adjustment review takes place once a year. Typically, the last 3 years are revised and this takes the most recent year of data into account when determining the seasonal adjustment model. These revisions affect only the seasonally adjusted data.

Claimant count undercount correction note

A number of claims across the UK to the UC element of the Claimant Count were coded to incorrect locations for data relating to December 2018 to November 2019. This has been corrected for December 2019 onwards, but previous periods remain affected. The impact of the revision on NI for December 2019 was an increase of fewer than 1,000 cases.

Percentage of workforce

The number of claimants as a percentage of workforce jobs plus claimants. Workforce jobs are the sum of employee jobs, self-employment jobs, HM Forces, and government-supported trainees. This measure is only available at the NI level.

Redundancies

To prevent the potential identification of individual businesses, redundancy totals relating to fewer than 3 businesses are not disclosed. The Statistical Disclosure Control Policy is available on the NISRA website.

HMRC PAYE Real Time Information

Age breakdowns are published in January, April, July and October, and industry sector breakdowns published in February, May, August and November. Data are subject to revisions.

Further information on UK monthly pay, UK pay distribution, methodology, data source, collection, and coverage of PAYE RTI data, as well as information on imputation and revisions can be found on the Earnings and employment from PAYE page.


The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency wishes to thank the participating households and businesses for their co-operation in agreeing to take part in the surveys and for facilitating the collection of the relevant data.


6. Contacts

For further information contact:

Labour Force Survey, Claimant Count, and Redundancies

Mark McFetridge
Email:

HMRC PAYE

Brian Grogan
Email:


Web: Labour Market and Social Welfare
Twitter / X: NISRA

Accredited Official Statistics logo

7. Accredited Official Statistics Status

These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in August 2010 following a full assessment of Labour Market Statistics for Northern Ireland against the Code of Practice for Statistics. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and are therefore labelled as accredited official statistics. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. For further information, please refer to the Office for Statistics Regulation accredited official statistics webpage.

As outlined above, our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR).

OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards using the details in Section 6.

Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing or via the OSR website.