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NI job market Covid recovery continues

15th February 2022

NI job market Covid recovery continues as the number of employees on the payroll is higher than pre-Covid levels for the eighth consecutive month, according to new HMRC data.

Payrolls have increased by 5% year-on-year and the number of employees in Northern Ireland paid through HMRC in January was 774,900 – the highest on record.

However, total employment figures (including self-employed) have not returned to pre-covid levels just yet.

The total number of hours worked in October-December 2021 compared to the pre-pandemic levels in October-December 2019, was 7% down, whilst the employment rate was 1.7% under.

The unemployment and economic inactivity rates both remain above the pre-pandemic position at 0.3% and 1.5% above, respectively.

In January 2022, the seasonally adjusted number of people on the claimant count was 41,200 (4.2% of the workforce), a decrease of 900 (2.2%) from the previous month’s revised figure. The January claimant count is 35% below the recent peak in May 2020, and 35% higher than the pre-pandemic count in March 2020.

And the economic inactivity rate increased over the quarter (+0.5%) and over the year (+0.1%) to 27.3%. 

Earnings from the HMRC PAYE indicated that NI employees had a median monthly pay of £1,941 in January 2022, an increase of £33 (1.7%) month on month and an increase of £155 (8.7%) year on year.

The labour market statistics were published on Tuesday 15th Feb by the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency.

Meanwhile, the proportion of people aged 16 to 64 in work or the employment rate increased by 0.5% over both the quarter and the year to 70.7%. Neither the quarterly nor annual changes were statistically significant.

The economic inactivity rate (the proportion of people aged 16 to 64 who were not working and not seeking or available to work) increased over the quarter (+0.5%) and over the year (+0.1%) to 27.3%.

The latest HMRC payroll data showed that employee numbers were 2.9% above those recorded in March 2020 pre-COVID. All sectors with the exception of finance and insurance reported an increase over the year.

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