Latest news with #Nisra
Belfast Telegraph
17-07-2025
- Business
- Belfast Telegraph
Average employee in Northern Ireland down nearly £30 in June
But details published by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) said there had also been a drop of £28 in median pay over the month, to now sit at £2,344. Over the quarter from March-May 2025, the unemployment rate for Northern Ireland was 2.1%, which was a 0.6% increase over the period and described by Nisra as 'statistically significant'. There were 30.2 million weekly hours of work performed in June, which was a 4.2% rise on the prior quarter and a 2.9% rise from the equivalent period in 2024. However, the economic inactivity rate now sits at 26.3%, which was a 0.4% rise over the year. Economic inactivity is defined as 'the proportion of people aged 16 to 64 who were not working and not seeking or available to work'. There were 300 redundancies in June, with a total of 2,160 redundancies made in the 12 months leading up it. That figure was down by 400 from the total of 2,560 for the previous year. And there were 210 proposed redundancies in the month, taking the annual total to 3,030, which was almost 5% higher than the figure for the previous year (2,890). During the month, there were 38,500 people on the claimant count, which covers those claiming jobseeker's allowance or unemployed recipients of universal credit. That was 3.9% of the workforce, and the figure is 28.8% higher than that recorded before the pandemic in March 2020. The figures follow an unexpected increase in Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation to 3.6% in June, up from 3.4%. Mark McAllister, chief executive of the Labour Relations Agency, said the figures, combined with the rise in inflation, 'make a bad combination especially with pending pay negotiations and the potential for pay-related disputes'. 'This, together with an uptick in the number of announced redundancies compared to last year, may give cause for concern. 'Whilst long-term trends are not in place, there does not seem to be a let-up in employees bemoaning the cost of living and employers bemoaning the cost of doing business.' Jenny Rankin, associate and employment expert at DWF Law, said: 'The latest labour market figures for Northern Ireland show a mixed picture against a difficult economic backdrop. 'Strength in formal employment and wage growth are both positive indicators. More people are actively looking for work but unable to find it, suggesting some cooling in the market. 'With food prices rising and UK inflation taking an unexpected hike in June 2025 we are likely to see employees seeking higher wages. Quite simply it costs more money to live. 'If employers cannot meet the increased wage demands, we may see some movement in the market as employees may be forced to search for other roles for higher pay.'
Belfast Telegraph
26-06-2025
- Business
- Belfast Telegraph
‘Uncertainty ahead': Northern Ireland's economy shrinks in first quarter of 2025
The Northern Ireland Composite Economic Index (Nicei) indicated that economic output dropped by 0.6% between January and March. However, the index from the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency (Nisra) also said output had increased by 1.6% over the year. And it had grown by 2.7% on a rolling four quarters basis to March 2025. Overall, Northern Ireland's economic output is now 10% above the pre-pandemic level seen in the final months of 2019, Nisra said. It said the contraction in early 2025 had been driven by a fall in activity in the construction sector and in the production sector over the three months. However, over the year, all sectors had grown, with the services sector – which covers everything from restaurants to law firms – the biggest driver of growth since the pandemic. And while economic output had dropped here over the quarter, it had increased by 0.7% in the UK. However, over the year, Northern Ireland's 1.6% was stronger than the 1.3% growth experienced in the UK. And our 10% growth in economic activity since the pandemic was stronger than the growth of just 4.1% in the UK as a whole. Over the first quarter, private sector output had dropped by 0.9%, though it had increased by 1.9% over the year. Output in the private sector is now 10.5% above pre-pandemic levels recorded in the final months of 2019. And the Nicei public sector employee jobs index had grown by 0.3% over the quarter and by 0.7% over the year. Overall, economic activity in Northern Ireland had increased in 24 of the last 40 quarters. Richard Ramsey, professor of practice in economics and policy at Queen's University, said the Nicei had confirmed a 'reversal in fortunes' for the private sector. 'Continued growth within the public sector and agriculture failed to compensate for declines in output for both industrial production, mostly manufacturing, and construction. 'Services activity, the economy's largest sector, saw output flatline. It was interesting to note that 2024's annual growth rate was revised upwards from 2.2% to 2.7%. 'Outside of Covid-19, which saw freak increases and decreases in economic activity due to implementation of/lifting lockdowns, 2024 marked the strongest rate of economic growth since 2006, when there was a 3.2% increase year on year.' But he warned that US President Donald Trump's tariff policy announcements of April 2 meant there was now little room for complacency – though a delay in the implementation of tariffs is due to end on July 9. Mr Ramsey said: "The latest figures for Q1 2025 pre-date Donald Trump's 'Liberation Day' which announced widespread tariff increases and unleashed uncertainty. 'As a result, economic growth forecasts have been scaled back. 'The local economy is expected to see a growth rate of around one-third of last year's figure. 'That marked slowdown will be felt. "With the pause in Trump's tariffs set to expire in the next two weeks, it remains to be seen what Trump plans to do next. "One thing is certain, more uncertainty looks set to prevail for the rest of the year".
Belfast Telegraph
10-06-2025
- Business
- Belfast Telegraph
‘Significant' increase in weekly hours worked in Northern Ireland: government report
Data from the labour force survey said there had been 30.4 million hours worked per week between February and April – an increase of 4.3% over the year. The Department for the Economy, which released data on the labour market on Tuesday, said the number of hours worked was 1.2% above the pre-Covid-19 position. It described the annual increase as a 'statistically significant' change, which brought the number of hours worked to the highest level recorded in recent times. But the labour force survey, from the NI Statistics & Research Agency (Nisra), also showed a rise in the economic inactivity rate to 26.9%, following an increase of 1.2 percentage points over the year. The economic inactivity rate, measuring the proportion of people aged 16 to 64 not working and not seeking or available to work, had also increased by 0.3 percentage points (pps) over the quarter. Tuesday's data also includes updates from HRMC, which said there had been 809,700 people in NI receiving pay through PAYE in May, a fall of 0.1% over the month but an increase of 0.8% over the year. HMRC PAYE data also said employees in Northern Ireland had a median monthly pay of of £2,385 in May 2025, a decrease of £21 (0.9%) over the month and an increase of £152 (6.8%) over the year. According to the labour force survey, the unemployment rate for February to April was 1.8%, which was up 0.2 percentage points (pps) over the quarter and down 0.3pps over the year. And the survey said the employment rate had dropped by 0.5pps over the quarter and by 1.0pps over the year to 71.7%. In May, the seasonally adjusted number of people on the claimant count was 38,200, or 3.9% of the workforce, a decrease of 1.5% from the previous month's revised figure. The May 2025 claimant count remains 28% higher than the pre-pandemic count in March 2020. And Nisra said it had received confirmation that 560 redundancies occurred last month. Over the year June 2024 to May 2025, 2,170 redundancies were confirmed, which was approximately 90% of the figure for the previous year (2,470). News Catch Up - Tuesday 10th June There were 780 proposed redundancies in May 2025, taking the annual total to 3,200, which was around 80% of the figure for the previous year (4,040). And in the quarterly employment survey, businesses reported that employee jobs increased over the quarter (1.0%) and increased over the year (2.1%) to 840,750 jobs in March 2025. There were quarterly increases in employee jobs within the manufacturing, construction and services sectors while there was a quarterly decrease in the sector of 'other industry'.
Belfast Telegraph
13-05-2025
- General
- Belfast Telegraph
A third of families using grandparents or relatives as main childminder: survey
But campaigners say figures skewed and ignore reality A third of families here are using grandparents or relatives as their main childminder as costs continue to soar. Nisra's new NI Childcare Survey shows 32% are using family members to look after their children while they work, and that 58% of parents had been forced to change decisions on work, education and training because of the expense.
BBC News
06-03-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Pregabalin is specifically named most in NI drug-related deaths
Pregabalin is the specific drug which is mentioned the most in drug-related deaths across Northern Ireland in 2023, according to official was mentioned in 67 of 169 drug-related is prescribed for ecstasy but some people use it recreationally and it can cause breathing problems, especially when mixed with alcohol or with other street drugs that have a sedative effect. Deaths connected to pregabalin have been increasing over the past Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) figures also show that opioids were connected to 103 drug-related 25-34 age group had the highest drug-related and drug misuse mortality rate in 2023. Males accounted for around two-thirds of drug-related deaths in 2023, which is similar to previous years. The 2023 deaths are a 47% increase on the total number registered in 2013 which was then, registered deaths due to drug-related causes have peaked at 218 in misuse deaths have also increased from 79 in 2013 to a peak of 185 in 2020 and then falling to 146 in number of deaths which involved two or more drugs increased to 74.6% in 2023 from 53% in was named as the predominant substance in deaths involving only one drug in the last decade, the number of deaths involving alcohol has declined from 28.7% in 2013 to 18.3% in 2023. Nisra notes that registration-based figures consider delays arising from system wide processes which can cause annual agency has corrected the number of drug misuse deaths from 2020 to 2022 which were published previously due to an error in the classification of pregabalin and gabapentin.
