Thousands more people in work than previously thought

Official figures have understated the strength of the Northern Ireland jobs market for the past two years.

A data processing error by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) meant that employment was significantly underestimated.

The corrected data shows that between April and June this year, there were an estimated 24,000 more people in work than previously thought.

The latest employment rate, the percentage of working age adults who are in a job, has been revised up from 71.6% to 72.9%.

Better recovery

The figures also suggest the jobs market in Northern Ireland has had a better recovery from the Covid pandemic than previously thought.

In the final quarter of 2019, just before the pandemic, the employment rate was 72.4%.

It declined during the pandemic, falling to below 69% for most of 2021 with the old figures suggesting it had yet to fully recover.

However, the corrected figures show it returned to 72.4% between July and September 2023 and has remained above that level since then.

Conversely the level of economic inactivity is lower than previously estimated.

Economic inactivity refers to people who are not in work and not looking for work.

It includes people who are sick, retired, in full-time education, disabled and those with caring responsibilities.

The most recent economic inactivity rate has been revised down from 27.1% to 25.9%, a difference of 16,000 people.

Nisra, Northern Ireland’s statistics agency, said the ONS error dates back to early 2020 when the undetected changes were initially small.