FIGURES released for the period September-November 2015 show a decrease in the Northern Ireland unemployment rate.
The Northern Ireland Labour Force Survey statistics show the unemployment rate was 5.9% — a decrease of 0.1 percentage points over the quarter.
More recent figures for December 2015 show that the number of claimants in receipt of unemployment related benefits has fallen to 38,700, a decrease of 500 over the month.
There has been a fall of 11,000 in the unemployment claimant figures over the last 12 months.
The employment rate (68.8%) increased over the quarter and the year to September-November 2015, while economic inactivity decreased over both periods to 26.7%.
Enterprise Minister Jonathan Bell said: “The figures contain positive messages across a range of key labour market indicators.
“At 5.9%, the Northern Ireland unemployment rate continues to compare very favourably to the October 2015 rates for the European Union (9.3%) and the Republic of Ireland (8.9%).”