Proposed NI redundancies double

The number of proposed redundancies in Northern Ireland have doubled, with last month's records reaching an all-time high.

Latest figures from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency reveal there were almost 7,000 proposed redundancies in the last 12 months, with over 2,400 in the month of June.

A further 745 were proposed between the 1 and 15 July.

The number of confirmed redundancies in the most recent 12 months was 44% higher than the previous year.

NI unemployment rates

The latest unemployment rates from March-May 2020 was estimated at 2.4% - that's below the UK rate (3.9%) and the European Union rate (6.6%) for April 2020. The Republic of Ireland rate stood at 5.6% in May.

However the employment rate decreased over the same quarter.

This means, Northern Ireland has the lowest employment rate in the UK, coupled with the highest economic inactivity rate.

NISRA concludes that while unemployment remains one of the lowest on record and the employment rate (71.6%) remains relatively high, 18% of employed people were temporarily furloughed.

Furloughed workers, alongside those working fewer hours than normal, has had a large impact on the number of hours worked - which is now the lowest on record at 27.4 hours per week, a decrease of 19% over the year.