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 May 2023 was 788,400, unchanged over the month and an increase of 1.7% over the year.

Employment section 3.3
Earnings from the HMRC PAYE indicated that NI employees had a median monthly pay of £2,054 in May 2023, a decrease of £4 (0.2%) over the month and an increase of £108 (5.5%) over the year.

Employment section 3.4
In May 2023, the seasonally adjusted number of people on the claimant count was 36,200 (3.7% of the workforce), a decrease of 1.4% from the previous month’s revised figure. The May 2023 claimant count remains 21.1% 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 140 redundancies occurred in May 2023. Over the year June 2022 to May 2023, 1,200 redundancies were confirmed, 25.7% less than in the previous 12 months. There were 610 proposed redundancies in May 2023, taking the annual total to 2,650 (26.0% more than in the previous 12 months).

Unemployment section 2.3
Businesses reported that employee jobs increased over the quarter (0.6%) and over the year (2.9%) to a series high of 818,840 jobs in March 2023. The annual change was statistically significant.

Employment section 3.5
The latest NI seasonally adjusted unemployment rate (the proportion of economically active people age 16 and over who were unemployed) for the period February-April 2023 was estimated from the Labour Force Survey at 2.4%. This was unchanged over the quarter and a decrease of 0.2pps over the year.

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 0.5pps over the quarter and increased by 2.1pps over the year to 72.4%.

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 0.6pps over the quarter and decreased by 2.0pps over the year to 25.8%.

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 29.0 million hours, an increase of 4.5% on the previous quarter and an increase of 3.8% on the equivalent period last year.

Employment section 3.2

1.2 Commentary

The latest labour market release generally shows improvements over the year. Payrolled employee numbers and earnings have both increased, and employee jobs in Northern Ireland are at the highest level on record. The unemployment rate for February-April 2023 has reached parity with the pre-pandemic position, the economic inactivity rate is 0.1 percentage points (pps) below the pre-pandemic figure, the employment rate is 0.1pps above the pre-pandemic position, and hours worked are now 0.5% above the pre-pandemic level.

The latest HMRC payroll data shows that payrolled employee numbers remained unchanged over the month but increased by 1.7% over the year. Payrolled earnings decreased over the month by 0.2% but were 5.5% higher than May 2022.

Businesses reported, via the Quarterly Employment Survey, that employee jobs in NI increased over both the quarter and the year to 818,840 jobs in March 2023 to reach a series high. The quarterly and annual increases in employee jobs in March 2023 were largely driven by the services industry sector. Over the year to March 2023, the services and other industries sectors experienced increases while there were decreases within the manufacturing and construction sectors.

Households reported, via the Labour Force Survey (LFS), a 2.1pps increase in the employment rate over the year to February-April 2023, to 72.4%, and a decrease of 0.2pps in the unemployment rate over the year, to 2.4%. The economic inactivity rate also decreased over the year to February-April 2023, by 2.0pps, to 25.8%. Caution is advised when interpreting these results however as none of the annual changes were statistically significant. At February-April 2023, the employment rate sat 0.1pps above the pre-pandemic position recorded in November-January 2020, while the economic inactivity rate was 0.1pps below the pre-pandemic position. The unemployment rate for February-April 2023 of 2.4% is equal to the pre-pandemic rate recorded in November-January 2020.

The total number of hours worked in February-April 2023 increased by 3.8% over the year and now stand at 0.5% above the pre-pandemic position recorded in November-January 2020.

There were 610 proposed redundancies reported to the Department in May 2023, the highest monthly total reported since July 2021. This took the rolling twelve-month total of proposed redundancies to 2,650 which, although still below the long-term trend, is the highest figure reported since October 2021.

The Department was also notified that 140 redundancies had taken place in May 2023, which brought the rolling twelve-month confirmed redundancies total to 1,200. This is the highest annual total since July 2022, although still well below the long term trend.

Finally, over the month to May 2023, the claimant count estimate decreased, by 1.4%, from the revised figure for April 2023, with the claimant count rate decreasing to 3.7%. This is the fourteenth consecutive month that the claimant count rate has been within the range 3.6% to 3.8%.

1.3 Things users need to know

Labour Market Statistics – Transformation in Northern Ireland – May 2023

NISRA aims to provide the most accurate and up-to-date statistics about the local labour market. To achieve this, a number of initiatives are being taken forward including greater use of administrative data sources such as HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Pay As You Earn data and the transformation of the Labour Force Survey (LFS).

Most of our labour market statistics will continue to be obtained from surveys completed by either households or businesses. Using surveys to collect labour market statistics is an effective and proven approach that delivers trusted results. In the next two years, NISRA are working towards transforming how we deliver key labour market surveys.

The transformation of the Labour Force Survey focuses on improving the design of the LFS and quality of its outputs. It will use enhanced address registers, improved sampling, and transform to a respondent led, online first approach supported by telephone collection and “knock to nudge” processes. To account for this, the transformation has also focused on a respondent-centred design of questions.

The current interviewer led approach will be retained for the next 12 months but more details on the transformation plan will be published soon.

The goal of these initiatives is to reduce the time and effort needed to collect survey data, to improve overall response and to provide more accurate and relevant statistics.

LFS Occupational data

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has identified an issue with the collection of some occupational data in a number of surveys, including the Labour Force Survey (LFS). While we estimate any impacts will be small overall, this would affect the accuracy of the breakdowns in quarterly tables 2.18, 2.29 and 2.39. A decision has therefore been taken to suspend publication of these tables until this issue has been resolved. ONS are aiming to recode the occupations for January 2021 onwards over the coming months, and these will be available later in 2023. Further details, including a list of the impacts to SOC codes, can be found on the ONS website.

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 February-April 2023 was unchanged over the quarter and decreased over the year to 2.4%.
  • The UK unemployment rate was estimated at 3.8%.

Figure 1: NI unemployment rate remains below UK rate

Seasonally adjusted unemployment rate (Age 16 and over), Feb-Apr 2008 to Feb-Apr 2023
Chart
Note: graph has a non-zero axis
Table
Date Northern Ireland United Kingdom
Feb-Apr 2008 4.1 5.3
May-Jul 2008 4.1 5.5
Aug-Oct 2008 4.4 6.0
Nov-Jan 2009 5.7 6.5
Feb-Apr 2009 6.3 7.3
May-Jul 2009 6.4 7.9
Aug-Oct 2009 6.5 7.9
Nov-Jan 2010 6.3 7.7
Feb-Apr 2010 7.1 8.0
May-Jul 2010 6.7 7.8
Aug-Oct 2010 7.5 7.9
Nov-Jan 2011 7.9 7.9
Feb-Apr 2011 7.2 7.7
May-Jul 2011 7.4 8.0
Aug-Oct 2011 6.9 8.4
Nov-Jan 2012 6.4 8.4
Feb-Apr 2012 7.0 8.2
May-Jul 2012 8.2 8.0
Aug-Oct 2012 7.8 7.9
Nov-Jan 2013 8.3 7.8
Feb-Apr 2013 7.6 7.8
May-Jul 2013 6.9 7.7
Aug-Oct 2013 7.6 7.4
Nov-Jan 2014 7.4 7.2
Feb-Apr 2014 6.7 6.6
May-Jul 2014 6.6 6.1
Aug-Oct 2014 6.4 6.0
Nov-Jan 2015 6.0 5.7
Feb-Apr 2015 6.0 5.5
May-Jul 2015 6.1 5.5
Aug-Oct 2015 6.2 5.2
Nov-Jan 2016 6.1 5.1
Feb-Apr 2016 5.6 5.0
May-Jul 2016 5.3 4.9
Aug-Oct 2016 5.7 4.8
Nov-Jan 2017 5.8 4.7
Feb-Apr 2017 5.3 4.5
May-Jul 2017 5.0 4.3
Aug-Oct 2017 3.9 4.2
Nov-Jan 2018 3.3 4.3
Feb-Apr 2018 3.3 4.2
May-Jul 2018 3.8 4.0
Aug-Oct 2018 3.6 4.1
Nov-Jan 2019 3.5 3.9
Feb-Apr 2019 3.1 3.8
May-Jul 2019 2.8 3.8
Aug-Oct 2019 2.3 3.8
Nov-Jan 2020 2.4 3.9
Feb-Apr 2020 2.5 4.1
May-Jul 2020 3.2 4.3
Aug-Oct 2020 4.0 5.1
Nov-Jan 2021 4.2 5.1
Feb-Apr 2021 3.6 4.9
May-Jul 2021 4.5 4.6
Aug-Oct 2021 4.0 4.2
Nov-Jan 2022 3.2 4.0
Feb-Apr 2022 2.6 3.8
May-Jul 2022 2.9 3.6
Aug-Oct 2022 2.7 3.7
Nov-Jan 2023 2.4 3.7
Feb-Apr 2023 2.4 3.8


Figure 1 shows unemployment rates for NI and the UK over the last 15 years. During this period, the UK unemployment rate peaked at 8.4% in late-2011 while the NI unemployment rate peaked at 8.3% in late-2012. Following these peaks, both unemployment rates showed a downward trend until the end of 2019, when a low point of 3.8% was recorded for the UK and the lowest point in the time series was recorded for NI at 2.3%. The lowest UK unemployment rate of 3.6% was recorded in May-July 2022. Over the most recent year to February-April 2023, the NI unemployment rate decreased by 0.2pps to 2.4% while the UK unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.8%.

The NI unemployment rate (age 16 and over) for the period February-April 2023 was estimated at 2.4%. This was:

  • unchanged over the quarter; and
  • a decrease of 0.2pps over the year (not statistically significant).

The number of unemployed people (age 16 and over) in NI was estimated at 22,000, which was:

  • up 1,000 from last quarter; and
  • down 1,000 from the same period last year.

UK regional comparison:

  • The NI unemployment rate (age 16 and over) of 2.4% was 1.4pps below the overall UK rate of 3.8%; and
  • 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 May 2023, the NI claimant count decreased by 1.4% to 36,200.
  • In May 2023, 3.7% of the NI workforce were recorded on the claimant count.

Figure 2: The seasonally adjusted claimant count rate remains higher than the pre-pandemic rate

NI seasonally adjusted claimant count (experimental) monthly rates, May 2008 to May 2023
Chart
Note: graph has a non-zero axis
Table
Date Undercount Rate
May 2008 2.8
Jun 2008 2.9
Jul 2008 3.0
Aug 2008 3.1
Sep 2008 3.3
Oct 2008 3.5
Nov 2008 3.9
Dec 2008 4.1
Jan 2009 4.3
Feb 2009 4.7
Mar 2009 5.0
Apr 2009 5.2
May 2009 5.4
Jun 2009 5.6
Jul 2009 5.7
Aug 2009 5.8
Sep 2009 5.9
Oct 2009 6.0
Nov 2009 6.0
Dec 2009 6.1
Jan 2010 6.1
Feb 2010 6.1
Mar 2010 6.1
Apr 2010 6.1
May 2010 6.1
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 6.0
May 2021 5.7
Jun 2021 5.4
Jul 2021 5.3
Aug 2021 5.1
Sep 2021 5.0
Oct 2021 4.9
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 3.7
Oct 2022 3.7
Nov 2022 3.7
Dec 2022 3.7
Jan 2023 3.7
Feb 2023 3.6
Mar 2023 3.7
Apr 2023 3.8
May 2023 3.7


In May 2023, 36,200 people were recorded on the NI Claimant Count. This is 43.6% less than the recent peak in May 2020 and 21.1% 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 NI seasonally adjusted claimant count was 36,200 (3.7% of the workforce) in May 2023, representing:

  • a decrease of 500 (1.4%) over the month
  • a decrease of 0.2% in males and a decrease of 3.1% in females over the month
  • an increase of 200 (0.4%) over the year, and
  • an increase of 6,300 (21.1%) since March 2020.

UK regional comparison:

  • The UK seasonally adjusted claimant count decreased by 0.9% over the month to 1,535,500 (3.9% of the workforce).
  • The UK count is 43.1% below the recent peak in August 2020 and 24.8% 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

  • 140 redundancies were confirmed in May 2023, taking the annual total to 1,200, which was 25.7% less than the previous year (1,620).
  • There were 610 proposed redundancies in May 2023, taking the annual total to 2,650, which was 26.0% more than the previous year (2,110).

Confirmed redundancies

During May 2023, the Department was notified of:

  • 140 confirmed redundancies, more than double the monthly average (60) during 2022.

Over the latest twelve month period there were:

  • 1,200 confirmed redundancies, which was 25.7% less than the previous year (1,620).
  • 290 confirmed redundancies (24.3%) in the transportation and storage sector.
  • 250 confirmed redundancies (20.7%) in the wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles sector.
  • 200 confirmed redundancies (16.7%) in the manufacturing sector.

Proposed redundancies

During May 2023, the Department was notified of:

  • 610 proposed redundancies, more than four and a half times the monthly average (130) during 2022.

Over the last twelve months, to the end of May 2023, there were:

  • 2,650 proposed redundancies, which was 26.0% more than the previous year (2,110).
  • 600 proposed redundancies (22.6%) in the wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles sector.
  • 470 proposed redundancies (17.7%) in the education sector.
  • 410 proposed redundancies (15.4%) in the manufacturing 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 February-April 2023 increased over both the quarter and year to 72.4%.
  • The UK employment rate was estimated at 76.0%.

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

Seasonally adjusted employment rate (Aged 16 to 64), Feb-Apr 2008 to Feb-Apr 2023
Chart
Note: graph has a non-zero axis
Table
Date Northern Ireland United Kingdom
Feb-Apr 2008 68.9 73.0
May-Jul 2008 68.3 72.8
Aug-Oct 2008 67.8 72.3
Nov-Jan 2009 66.0 72.2
Feb-Apr 2009 64.6 71.4
May-Jul 2009 64.2 70.6
Aug-Oct 2009 65.2 70.6
Nov-Jan 2010 65.6 70.4
Feb-Apr 2010 66.1 70.2
May-Jul 2010 66.4 70.6
Aug-Oct 2010 65.7 70.5
Nov-Jan 2011 66.0 70.5
Feb-Apr 2011 67.2 70.5
May-Jul 2011 67.1 70.2
Aug-Oct 2011 67.7 70.1
Nov-Jan 2012 68.1 70.2
Feb-Apr 2012 67.1 70.5
May-Jul 2012 66.8 71.1
Aug-Oct 2012 67.3 71.1
Nov-Jan 2013 66.4 71.4
Feb-Apr 2013 67.1 71.2
May-Jul 2013 67.5 71.5
Aug-Oct 2013 66.8 71.9
Nov-Jan 2014 67.6 72.1
Feb-Apr 2014 67.9 72.7
May-Jul 2014 67.9 72.8
Aug-Oct 2014 68.1 73.0
Nov-Jan 2015 67.6 73.3
Feb-Apr 2015 68.3 73.4
May-Jul 2015 67.9 73.5
Aug-Oct 2015 68.5 74.0
Nov-Jan 2016 68.8 74.1
Feb-Apr 2016 69.8 74.2
May-Jul 2016 69.7 74.5
Aug-Oct 2016 69.7 74.4
Nov-Jan 2017 69.1 74.5
Feb-Apr 2017 68.8 74.8
May-Jul 2017 68.3 75.3
Aug-Oct 2017 68.4 75.1
Nov-Jan 2018 69.5 75.3
Feb-Apr 2018 69.8 75.6
May-Jul 2018 70.0 75.5
Aug-Oct 2018 69.5 75.7
Nov-Jan 2019 70.9 76.1
Feb-Apr 2019 71.3 76.1
May-Jul 2019 72.0 76.1
Aug-Oct 2019 72.4 76.2
Nov-Jan 2020 72.3 76.5
Feb-Apr 2020 70.8 76.0
May-Jul 2020 69.8 75.6
Aug-Oct 2020 69.6 74.8
Nov-Jan 2021 67.9 74.6
Feb-Apr 2021 68.4 74.7
May-Jul 2021 68.7 75.1
Aug-Oct 2021 68.4 75.4
Nov-Jan 2022 68.7 75.4
Feb-Apr 2022 70.2 75.6
May-Jul 2022 69.6 75.4
Aug-Oct 2022 71.3 75.6
Nov-Jan 2023 71.8 75.7
Feb-Apr 2023 72.4 76.0


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 2008 and 2009 (by over 4pps) was steeper than the fall in the UK rate. Similarly, the fall between 2019 and 2021 was steeper for NI than the UK as a whole, following peak rates recorded for both towards the end of 2019. For the most recent period, the NI employment rate has exceeded pre-pandemic levels and is 0.1pps above the pre-pandemic rate of 72.3% recorded in November-January 2020, while the UK rate was 0.5pps below the rate of 76.5% recorded in November-January 2020.

The most recent NI employment rate (aged 16 to 64) for the period February-April 2023 was estimated at 72.4%. This was:

  • an increase of 0.5pps over the quarter (not statistically significant); and
  • an increase of 2.1pps over the year (not statistically significant);

The number of employed people (age 16 and over) in NI was estimated at 883,000, which was:

  • up 12,000 from last quarter; and
  • up 31,000 from the same period last year.

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

  • the male employment rate (76.0%) increased by 2.5pps over the year; and
  • the female employment rate (68.8%) increased by 1.7pps over the year.

UK regional comparison:

  • The NI employment rate (aged 16 to 64) of 72.4% was 3.6pps below the overall UK rate of 76.0%; and
  • the second-lowest of the twelve UK regions.

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

Self-employment:

  • In February-April 2023, there were 103,000 self-employed, 2,000 more than a year ago, although 34,000 lower (24.7%) than the pre-pandemic figure in November-January 2020.
  • The proportion who were self-employed (11.7%) remains below the pre-pandemic proportion (15.5% in November-January 2020).

Employment by Age:

  • In February-April 2023, those aged 35 to 49 had the highest employment rate (82.8%), whilst those aged 16 to 24 had the lowest (55.8%). These rates are similar to the pre-pandemic rates in November-January 2020 (83.1% and 56.4% respectively).

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 February-April 2023 was estimated at 29.0 million hours per week.
  • This was an increase of 4.5% on the previous quarter and an increase of 3.8% on the same period last year.

Figure 5: Hours worked has returned to pre-pandemic levels

Total weekly hours worked (Age 16 and over), Feb-Apr 2008 to Feb-Apr 2023
Chart
Note: graph has a non-zero axis
Table
Date Total weekly hours
Feb-Apr 2008 27.4
May-Jul 2008 27.2
Aug-Oct 2008 27.4
Nov-Jan 2009 25.2
Feb-Apr 2009 25.7
May-Jul 2009 25.1
Aug-Oct 2009 25.8
Nov-Jan 2010 25.0
Feb-Apr 2010 26.0
May-Jul 2010 25.5
Aug-Oct 2010 25.6
Nov-Jan 2011 24.8
Feb-Apr 2011 26.1
May-Jul 2011 25.8
Aug-Oct 2011 26.4
Nov-Jan 2012 25.3
Feb-Apr 2012 26.2
May-Jul 2012 26.1
Aug-Oct 2012 27.1
Nov-Jan 2013 25.6
Feb-Apr 2013 26.6
May-Jul 2013 26.8
Aug-Oct 2013 27.0
Nov-Jan 2014 26.0
Feb-Apr 2014 27.4
May-Jul 2014 27.2
Aug-Oct 2014 27.7
Nov-Jan 2015 26.6
Feb-Apr 2015 27.4
May-Jul 2015 26.6
Aug-Oct 2015 27.5
Nov-Jan 2016 26.4
Feb-Apr 2016 27.6
May-Jul 2016 27.1
Aug-Oct 2016 27.3
Nov-Jan 2017 27.3
Feb-Apr 2017 28.0
May-Jul 2017 26.8
Aug-Oct 2017 27.8
Nov-Jan 2018 28.0
Feb-Apr 2018 28.1
May-Jul 2018 28.7
Aug-Oct 2018 27.9
Nov-Jan 2019 28.5
Feb-Apr 2019 29.4
May-Jul 2019 29.2
Aug-Oct 2019 29.5
Nov-Jan 2020 28.8
Feb-Apr 2020 26.0
May-Jul 2020 23.6
Aug-Oct 2020 25.9
Nov-Jan 2021 24.8
Feb-Apr 2021 25.4
May-Jul 2021 26.2
Aug-Oct 2021 27.0
Nov-Jan 2022 26.2
Feb-Apr 2022 27.9
May-Jul 2022 27.4
Aug-Oct 2022 27.7
Nov-Jan 2023 27.7
Feb-Apr 2023 29.0


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 November-January 2020 and May-July 2020. From early-2021 onwards, the increasing trend has returned, and at a steeper rate than before the pandemic. In the latest results, total hours worked has returned to the pre-pandemic levels, although not quite to the peak levels seen in mid 2019. Hours worked in February-April 2023 were 1.6% below the peak of 29.5 million hours in August-October 2019.

The total number of weekly hours worked in NI in February-April 2023 was estimated at 29.0 million hours, this was:

  • an increase of 1.3 million hours (4.5%) on the previous quarter;
  • an increase of 1.1 million hours (3.8%) from the same period last year (not statistically significant); and
  • 0.1 million hours, or 0.5%, above the pre-pandemic (November-January 2020) figure.

The average number of weekly hours worked in February-April 2023 was estimated at 37.5 hours for those in full-time employment, and at 16.6 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 39.9 hours, whereas for females it was 34.0 hours.
  • for those in part-time employment, the average weekly hours worked for males was 16.9 hours, whereas for females it was 16.5 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 was unchanged over the month and increased by 1.7% over the year to May 2023.
  • In the UK, the number of payrolled employees increased by 0.1% over the month and increased by 1.6% over the year to May 2023.

Figure 6: Number of payrolled employees was unchanged over the month

NI payrolled employees (experimental) from PAYE RTI, July 2014 to May 2023
Chart
Note: graph has a non-zero axis
Table
Date Northern Ireland
Jul 2014 673,564
Aug 2014 674,827
Sep 2014 676,164
Oct 2014 677,600
Nov 2014 679,116
Dec 2014 678,645
Jan 2015 683,869
Feb 2015 685,463
Mar 2015 687,193
Apr 2015 690,436
May 2015 691,257
Jun 2015 693,524
Jul 2015 694,998
Aug 2015 696,096
Sep 2015 698,136
Oct 2015 698,718
Nov 2015 699,350
Dec 2015 698,965
Jan 2016 700,934
Feb 2016 701,158
Mar 2016 702,464
Apr 2016 702,381
May 2016 703,079
Jun 2016 703,242
Jul 2016 703,803
Aug 2016 705,611
Sep 2016 707,213
Oct 2016 708,436
Nov 2016 710,769
Dec 2016 711,927
Jan 2017 711,058
Feb 2017 712,641
Mar 2017 714,007
Apr 2017 715,314
May 2017 716,657
Jun 2017 718,049
Jul 2017 718,684
Aug 2017 720,336
Sep 2017 721,728
Oct 2017 723,278
Nov 2017 724,296
Dec 2017 727,838
Jan 2018 727,573
Feb 2018 728,963
Mar 2018 729,683
Apr 2018 731,162
May 2018 731,993
Jun 2018 732,997
Jul 2018 733,810
Aug 2018 735,238
Sep 2018 736,334
Oct 2018 738,685
Nov 2018 739,603
Dec 2018 740,474
Jan 2019 741,896
Feb 2019 743,104
Mar 2019 744,795
Apr 2019 745,725
May 2019 745,636
Jun 2019 745,001
Jul 2019 746,911
Aug 2019 747,235
Sep 2019 747,740
Oct 2019 748,095
Nov 2019 749,663
Dec 2019 749,114
Jan 2020 751,109
Feb 2020 752,554
Mar 2020 752,964
Apr 2020 741,981
May 2020 740,446
Jun 2020 740,076
Jul 2020 741,564
Aug 2020 737,558
Sep 2020 737,928
Oct 2020 737,481
Nov 2020 736,182
Dec 2020 736,332
Jan 2021 737,761
Feb 2021 738,302
Mar 2021 740,027
Apr 2021 742,449
May 2021 748,323
Jun 2021 755,885
Jul 2021 761,612
Aug 2021 761,796
Sep 2021 762,161
Oct 2021 763,288
Nov 2021 765,767
Dec 2021 768,124
Jan 2022 769,537
Feb 2022 770,686
Mar 2022 772,672
Apr 2022 774,324
May 2022 775,132
Jun 2022 775,661
Jul 2022 777,379
Aug 2022 780,649
Sep 2022 779,826
Oct 2022 781,460
Nov 2022 782,986
Dec 2022 784,900
Jan 2023 784,350
Feb 2023 786,264
Mar 2023 790,945
Apr 2023 788,773
May 2023 788,444


Between 2014 and 2020, the number of payrolled employees had generally been increasing each month, peaking at around 753,000 in March 2020. This was followed by a sharp decrease of almost 11,000 employees (1.5%) to April 2020. Employee numbers then remained at a similar level until April 2021.

Since April 2021, the trend in the number of payrolled employees has generally been upward. More recently, an increase of 0.6% was recorded in March 2023, followed by a decrease of 0.3% over the month in April 2023. There was no change over the most recent month to May 2023.

Data from the latest HMRC PAYE RTI show that:

  • 788,400 people were payrolled employees in May 2023, unchanged from the previous month and a 1.7% increase over the year.
  • in the UK, there were 30,032,400 payrolled employees in May 2023, an increase of 0.1% over the month and an increase of 1.6% over the year.
  • all regions of the UK increased over the year to May 2023, where changes ranged from an increase of 1.0% in Yorkshire and The Humber to an increase of 2.0% in London. The increase in Northern Ireland (1.7%) was higher than the increase recorded for the UK as a whole (1.6%).
  • between March 2020 and May 2023, all regions of the UK recorded an increase in payrolled employees (3.6% overall). Northern Ireland recorded the largest increase (4.7%) while Scotland recorded the lowest (2.5%).

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 0.2% (£4) over the month to £2,054 in May 2023 and increased by 5.5% (£108) over the year.
  • UK median monthly pay increased by 0.3% (£6) over the month to £2,240 in May 2023 and increased by 7.0% (£146) over the year.

Figure 7: Median monthly pay decreased over the month in NI but increased in UK

Median Monthly Pay (experimental) from PAYE RTI, July 2014 to May 2023
Chart
Note: graph has a non-zero axis
Table
Date Northern Ireland UK
Jul 2014 1490 1598
Aug 2014 1488 1601
Sep 2014 1488 1601
Oct 2014 1494 1605
Nov 2014 1498 1608
Dec 2014 1514 1617
Jan 2015 1500 1620
Feb 2015 1494 1620
Mar 2015 1500 1618
Apr 2015 1499 1614
May 2015 1498 1615
Jun 2015 1491 1616
Jul 2015 1492 1620
Aug 2015 1488 1616
Sep 2015 1494 1618
Oct 2015 1496 1626
Nov 2015 1493 1630
Dec 2015 1497 1631
Jan 2016 1502 1638
Feb 2016 1508 1640
Mar 2016 1516 1646
Apr 2016 1516 1652
May 2016 1514 1652
Jun 2016 1517 1654
Jul 2016 1519 1659
Aug 2016 1526 1659
Sep 2016 1527 1664
Oct 2016 1523 1663
Nov 2016 1529 1666
Dec 2016 1528 1668
Jan 2017 1533 1668
Feb 2017 1535 1677
Mar 2017 1546 1686
Apr 2017 1541 1689
May 2017 1544 1691
Jun 2017 1556 1694
Jul 2017 1554 1693
Aug 2017 1560 1699
Sep 2017 1562 1704
Oct 2017 1564 1706
Nov 2017 1571 1713
Dec 2017 1576 1721
Jan 2018 1569 1723
Feb 2018 1589 1727
Mar 2018 1585 1730
Apr 2018 1591 1730
May 2018 1604 1750
Jun 2018 1612 1756
Jul 2018 1611 1751
Aug 2018 1618 1771
Sep 2018 1619 1761
Oct 2018 1629 1767
Nov 2018 1634 1778
Dec 2018 1632 1772
Jan 2019 1645 1781
Feb 2019 1687 1791
Mar 2019 1660 1801
Apr 2019 1667 1810
May 2019 1681 1818
Jun 2019 1677 1813
Jul 2019 1680 1820
Aug 2019 1681 1824
Sep 2019 1684 1819
Oct 2019 1691 1824
Nov 2019 1688 1830
Dec 2019 1671 1835
Jan 2020 1701 1849
Feb 2020 1709 1860
Mar 2020 1742 1846
Apr 2020 1655 1793
May 2020 1666 1802
Jun 2020 1716 1830
Jul 2020 1741 1860
Aug 2020 1746 1880
Sep 2020 1766 1896
Oct 2020 1776 1910
Nov 2020 1779 1914
Dec 2020 1782 1924
Jan 2021 1782 1926
Feb 2021 1789 1941
Mar 2021 1795 1949
Apr 2021 1814 1965
May 2021 1809 1969
Jun 2021 1835 1977
Jul 2021 1878 1980
Aug 2021 1820 1986
Sep 2021 1848 2002
Oct 2021 1854 2008
Nov 2021 1859 2019
Dec 2021 1901 2033
Jan 2022 1934 2046
Feb 2022 1913 2053
Mar 2022 1930 2076
Apr 2022 1934 2079
May 2022 1946 2094
Jun 2022 1957 2106
Jul 2022 1956 2111
Aug 2022 1971 2119
Sep 2022 1964 2139
Oct 2022 1977 2145
Nov 2022 2015 2195
Dec 2022 2009 2187
Jan 2023 2036 2192
Feb 2023 2050 2206
Mar 2023 2115 2216
Apr 2023 2058 2234
May 2023 2054 2240


Median employee pay in NI and the UK increased overall between mid-2015 and early 2020. In NI, a sharp increase of 1.9% in median pay was recorded between February and March 2020, followed by a decrease of 5.0% 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.

From April 2020, median employee pay has shown an upward trend, however in recent months some volatility has been seen in the NI results. An increase of 3.2% was recorded in March 2023 and was followed by decreases in April 2023 (2.7%) and May 2023 (0.2%). This was driven by a backdated local pay award paid in March 2023, which caused a significantly large increase (29%) in March 2023 and significantly large decrease (23%) in April 2023 in the Health and social work sector. The latest earnings (£2,054) are 17.9% higher than the pre-pandemic level in March 2020 (£1,742).

Data from the latest HMRC PAYE RTI show that:

  • NI had a median monthly pay of £2,054 in May 2023, which was a decrease of 0.2% on the previous month and an increase of 5.5% from May 2022.
  • UK had a median monthly pay of £2,240 in May 2023, which was an increase of 0.3% on the previous month and an increase of 7.0% from May 2022.
  • NI had the second lowest annual increase of the 12 UK regions, and now has the lowest median monthly pay in the UK. London had the highest median pay (£2,671).
  • Since March 2020, earnings in NI have increased by 17.9%, 3.4pps lower than the increase in the UK (21.3%) and lowest of all the UK regions.

3.5 Quarterly Employment Survey (QES)

Survey date 06 March 2023

QES employee: anyone aged 16 years or over that is directly paid from a business’s payroll for carrying out a full-time or part-time job or being on a training scheme in NI. The QES counts the number of jobs rather than the number of persons with jobs.

Key findings

  • Employee jobs in NI increased over both the quarter and the year to 818,840 jobs in March 2023.
  • March 2023 marked the eighth consecutive quarterly increase in employee jobs, following five quarters of decilne.

Figure 8: Employee jobs are increasing

NI index of employee jobs, March 2008 to March 2023 (Quarter 1)
Chart
Note: graph has a non-zero axis
Table
Quarter NI UK
Q1 2008 100.0 100.0
Q2 2008 100.1 100.2
Q3 2008 99.3 100.3
Q4 2008 98.5 99.4
Q1 2009 97.6 98.6
Q2 2009 97.0 98.0
Q3 2009 96.6 97.4
Q4 2009 97.2 97.0
Q1 2010 96.8 96.7
Q2 2010 96.6 96.8
Q3 2010 96.2 96.7
Q4 2010 95.8 96.6
Q1 2011 95.5 96.9
Q2 2011 95.1 96.7
Q3 2011 95.0 96.9
Q4 2011 94.5 97.1
Q1 2012 94.3 97.9
Q2 2012 94.7 97.5
Q3 2012 94.9 97.3
Q4 2012 95.0 97.4
Q1 2013 94.9 97.9
Q2 2013 95.6 98.4
Q3 2013 96.3 98.7
Q4 2013 96.3 99.5
Q1 2014 97.0 100.2
Q2 2014 97.0 101.3
Q3 2014 98.5 101.8
Q4 2014 98.6 102.4
Q1 2015 98.8 103.2
Q2 2015 99.3 103.5
Q3 2015 99.8 103.9
Q4 2015 99.7 104.3
Q1 2016 99.8 105.0
Q2 2016 100.2 105.4
Q3 2016 100.5 105.7
Q4 2016 101.1 105.8
Q1 2017 101.6 106.4
Q2 2017 102.4 106.4
Q3 2017 102.6 106.9
Q4 2017 103.7 106.8
Q1 2018 104.0 106.9
Q2 2018 104.5 107.0
Q3 2018 104.7 107.5
Q4 2018 105.7 107.8
Q1 2019 105.7 108.2
Q2 2019 105.8 108.5
Q3 2019 106.3 108.9
Q4 2019 106.5 108.8
Q1 2020 106.2 109.3
Q2 2020 106.1 108.3
Q3 2020 105.3 106.8
Q4 2020 105.2 106.9
Q1 2021 104.9 107.6
Q2 2021 105.1 108.6
Q3 2021 106.2 109.8
Q4 2021 106.9 110.5
Q1 2022 108.6 111.3
Q2 2022 109.3 112.3
Q3 2022 110.3 112.7
Q4 2022 111.1 113.4
Q1 2023 111.8 114.4


Figure 8 shows estimated seasonally adjusted employee jobs, indexed to allow comparison between NI and the UK. The UK reached a low point in December 2010, more than a year before the NI low in March 2012. There are now 127,880 more employee jobs in NI since the lowest point in March 2012, and 5,064,000 more jobs in the UK since December 2010.

The seasonally adjusted employee jobs total in Northern Ireland at March 2023 was 818,840, which was:

  • an increase of 0.6% (4,960 jobs) over the quarter from the revised December 2022 estimate of 813,870; and
  • an increase of 2.9% (22,870 jobs) over the year from the revised March 2022 estimate of 795,960.
  • While the quarterly change in employee jobs was not found to be statistically significant, the change over the year was statistically significant.


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 economic inactivity rate decreased over both the quarter and the year to 25.8%.
  • The UK economic inactivity rate was estimated at 21.0%.

Figure 9: NI economic inactivity consistently above UK average

Seasonally adjusted economic inactivity rates (Aged 16 to 64), Feb-Apr 2008 to Feb-Apr 2023
Chart
Note: graph has a non-zero axis
Table
Date Northern Ireland United Kingdom
Feb-Apr 2008 28.1 22.9
May-Jul 2008 28.6 22.9
Aug-Oct 2008 29.0 23.1
Nov-Jan 2009 30.0 22.7
Feb-Apr 2009 31.0 22.9
May-Jul 2009 31.3 23.3
Aug-Oct 2009 30.2 23.3
Nov-Jan 2010 30.0 23.6
Feb-Apr 2010 28.7 23.6
May-Jul 2010 28.7 23.3
Aug-Oct 2010 28.8 23.3
Nov-Jan 2011 28.2 23.3
Feb-Apr 2011 27.5 23.5
May-Jul 2011 27.4 23.5
Aug-Oct 2011 27.2 23.3
Nov-Jan 2012 27.2 23.2
Feb-Apr 2012 27.7 23.1
May-Jul 2012 27.0 22.6
Aug-Oct 2012 26.9 22.7
Nov-Jan 2013 27.5 22.4
Feb-Apr 2013 27.2 22.6
May-Jul 2013 27.4 22.4
Aug-Oct 2013 27.5 22.3
Nov-Jan 2014 26.9 22.2
Feb-Apr 2014 27.0 22.1
May-Jul 2014 27.1 22.3
Aug-Oct 2014 27.1 22.2
Nov-Jan 2015 28.0 22.2
Feb-Apr 2015 27.2 22.2
May-Jul 2015 27.5 22.1
Aug-Oct 2015 26.9 21.9
Nov-Jan 2016 26.6 21.8
Feb-Apr 2016 25.9 21.8
May-Jul 2016 26.3 21.6
Aug-Oct 2016 25.9 21.7
Nov-Jan 2017 26.5 21.7
Feb-Apr 2017 27.2 21.6
May-Jul 2017 27.9 21.3
Aug-Oct 2017 28.7 21.5
Nov-Jan 2018 28.0 21.2
Feb-Apr 2018 27.7 21.0
May-Jul 2018 27.1 21.2
Aug-Oct 2018 27.8 21.0
Nov-Jan 2019 26.4 20.7
Feb-Apr 2019 26.4 20.8
May-Jul 2019 25.8 20.8
Aug-Oct 2019 25.9 20.8
Nov-Jan 2020 25.9 20.4
Feb-Apr 2020 27.3 20.7
May-Jul 2020 27.8 20.9
Aug-Oct 2020 27.4 21.1
Nov-Jan 2021 29.0 21.3
Feb-Apr 2021 29.0 21.4
May-Jul 2021 27.9 21.2
Aug-Oct 2021 28.7 21.3
Nov-Jan 2022 28.9 21.4
Feb-Apr 2022 27.8 21.3
May-Jul 2022 28.2 21.7
Aug-Oct 2022 26.7 21.5
Nov-Jan 2023 26.4 21.3
Feb-Apr 2023 25.8 21.0


Figure 9 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 2009 at over 31%, compared to the lower peak in the UK rate of almost 24% at the beginning of 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. Over the last year, the economic inactivity rate in NI has seen a decrease of 2.0pps and the economic inactivity rate in the UK rate has seen a smaller decrease of 0.3pps. The NI rate is now lower than the pre-pandemic period (November-January 2020), by 0.1pps, whilst the UK rate is 0.6pps higher than the pre-pandemic period of November-January 2020.

The economic inactivity rate (aged 16 to 64) for February-April 2023 was estimated at 25.8%, which was:

  • a decrease of 0.6pps over the quarter (not statistically significant);
  • a decrease of 2.0pps over the year (not statistically significant).

The number of economically inactive people (age 16 and over) in NI was estimated at 581,000, which was:

  • down 11,000 from last quarter; and
  • down 25,000 from the same period last year.

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

  • a decrease of 2.5pps over the year in the male economic inactivity rate to 21.7%; and
  • a decrease of 1.5pps over the year in the female economic inactivity rate to 29.8%.

UK regional comparison:

  • The NI economic inactivity rate (aged 16 to 64) of 25.8% was 4.8pps above the overall UK rate of 21.0%; and
  • the highest of the twelve UK regions.

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

Reasons for inactivity:

  • In February-April 2023, the most common reason for economic inactivity among the working age population was ‘long-term sick’. This was the highest level of ‘long-term sick’ in the time series, accounting for 39.8% (120,000) of the total economically inactive (aged 16 to 64). Pre-pandemic, in November-January 2020, ‘long-term sick’ accounted for 34.3% of the total.
  • Compared to the pre-pandemic figures in November-January 2020, there has been an increase in the number of ‘long-term sick’ (+17,000) and ‘student’ (+5,000), however the totals for ‘family and home care’ (-15,000) and ‘retired’ (-2,000) have decreased.

Inactivity by Age:

  • In February-April 2023, those aged 65 and over (281,000) made up the highest proportion (48.2%) of the total economically inactive (age 16 and over), with those aged 25 to 34 (39,000) making up the lowest proportion (6.7%) across the age groups.
  • Those aged 65 and over had the highest economic inactivity rate (89.3%), whilst those aged 25 to 34 had the lowest (16.2%). These rates are similar to the pre-pandemic rates in November-January 2020 (89.6% and 15.4% 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.

New Labour Market Report (LMR) format

The September 2022 LMR publication marked the first release in HTML format, produced using reproducible analytical pipelines (RAP). The content and format of the report and monthly tables changed to make them more user friendly and interactive, enhancing accessibility, and increasing automation in their production. As the tables changed, a mapping document (please note, this link will automatically download the file) was created showing the relationship between the old and new tables.

In addition, the LMR, data tables and supplementary documents are now available on one webpage. Individual data source pages contain links directing users to the most recent data on the LMR publication page.

We welcome feedback from users on the Labour Market Report (see Contacts).

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 total eligible sample for the January-March 2023 LFS consisted of 3,865 addresses (1,185 chosen at random from the Land and Property Services (LPS) list of domestic properties and 2,680 carried forward from the previous quarter). A random start, fixed interval sampling technique of the addresses, which are ordered by Council Area and Ward, is used. This ensures a proportional representation across the Council Areas in Northern Ireland. Only private household addresses were eligible and every selected address is interviewed on five successive occasions over five quarters. This means there is an 80% sample overlap between quarters. The achieved sample size has now returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Table 1 is updated on a quarterly basis – additional information can be found in the supplementary document.

Table 1: Response rates, January-March 2023

Statistic Figure
Fully and partially responding 2,640
Eligible sample 3,865
Response rate (%) 68.3%

LFS revisions

LFS microdata are routinely revised to incorporate the latest population estimates. The population totals used for the latest LFS estimates use projected growth rates from RTI data for UK, EU and non-EU populations based on 2021 patterns. The total population used for the LFS therefore does not take into account any changes in migration, birth rates, death rates etc. since June 2021 and hence levels estimates may be under- or over-estimating the true values and should be used with caution. Estimates of rates will, however, be robust.

In June 2022, the LFS estimates were reweighted from January-March 2020 to January-March 2022 using updated PAYE Real-Time Information data and with the introduction of the non-response bias adjustment to NI data. An overview of the impact of reweighting on the NI estimates of unemployment, employment, and economic inactivity is available on the NISRA website. This webpage also contains the detail on two previous LFS reweightings since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, in October 2020 and July 2021.

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 February-April 2023 should be compared with the estimates for November-January 2023. This provides a more robust estimate than comparing with the estimates for January-March 2023, as the February and March 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 Experimental Statistics, 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.

Quarterly Employment Survey

QES revisions

QES estimates are revised quarterly to reflect the latest information provided to the Department by employers. The December 2022 seasonally adjusted estimate first published in March 2023 has subsequently been revised up by 0.5%. For further details, please see the Quarterly Employment Survey revisions 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:

Quarterly Employment Survey

Ciaran Kerr
Email:

HMRC PAYE

Ashleigh Warwick
Email:


Web: Labour Market and Social Welfare
Twitter: NISRA

National Statistics logo

7. National Statistics Status

National Statistics status means that our statistics meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality, and public value, and it is our responsibility to maintain compliance with these standards.

These statistics were designated as National Statistics in August 2010 following a full assessment of Labour Market Statistics for Northern Ireland against the Code of Practice for statistics. A compliance check in March 2020 recommended the continued designation of the report as a National Statistic. These statistics were considered as part of a wider assessment of the UK employment and jobs statistics.

Since the assessment by the UK Statistics Authority, we have continued to comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics, and have made the following improvements:

  • New HTML Labour Market Report and monthly tables, produced using reproducible analytical pipelines (RAP) to enhance usability and accessibility (in line with regulations) and increase automation of production;
  • Providing more context to results by setting recent changes within context of longer term trends;
  • Removed pre-release access to enhance trustworthiness, and brought forward the publication date as a result;
  • Improved timeliness of quarterly labour force survey tables (ranging from 1 week to 3 months) by incorporating quarterly tables in the main Labour Market Report Publication;
  • Improved quality of the LFS data by boosting the sample size and improving precision around headline estimates (Please note, sample sizes decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic due to difficulty of collecting survey information from households, but have since returned to pre-pandemic levels);
  • Reviewed and updated quality protocols for release for LFS data;
  • Improved accessibility of labour market statistics by changing the release dates of statistics to avoid public holidays;
  • Included additional administrative sources of labour market data to provide a fuller picture of the labour market;
  • Changed the timing of release in line with change in ONS release practices in response to COVID-19 where the exemption has now been transferred to an alternative release time of 7am as agreed by the OSR.