Proposed redundancies double in a year

The number of redundancies proposed in Northern Ireland has doubled in a year.

There were 10,720 collective redundancies proposed to the end of November, 10,000 of which have been proposed since March when the coronavirus pandemic took a grip.

According to figures recorded by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, the number is double that of the previous year.

Record high numbers were recorded in June and July, translating into confirmed redundancies with over 3,600 notifications received in the last five months.

The region's unemployment rate is now 3.9% - that's up 1.6% on last year.

There were 1,240 confirmed redundancies in October, however that figure fell to 420 the following month.

A further 340 redundancies were proposed from November until 11 December.

Meanwhile, earnings from the HMRC PAYE show that employees here had a median monthly pay of £1,769 in October - an increase of 5% from the same time last year.

Figures also reveal Northern Ireland had the joint lowest unemployment rate across the UK but the highest economic inactivity rate.

Manufacturing, services and retail sectors experienced the biggest job losses over the year.

The manufacturing sector has experienced five consecutive quarters of decline since the peak in June 2019.

Meanwhile wholesale and retail trade contributed the most to the quarterly decline on jobs, with -3,460 roles.

Nisra noted the latest data shows that employment and jobs are below pre-pandemic levels, while measures of unemployment are higher than the levels before Covid-19 struck.