Ulster Unionist Economy Spokesperson, Sandra Overend, has expressed her concern at the latest unemployment data.
The Mid Ulster MLA commented;
‘’Once again the unemployment statistics make fairly grim reading.
Sadly the unemployment rate is up and is now 8.4%, above the UK average of 7.9%.
Youth unemployment stands at 23.8%, and another 100 people have joined the dole queues making a total of 64,800 people claiming unemployment related benefits. Indeed our annual increase in claimants is the highest of all the UK regions.
It is very worrying that the number of “economically inactive” people has increased by 5,000 over the quarter and that the number of redundancies is up 68% this year from last year.
There is some hope in the fact that production and service sector output has increased over the quarter but there is clearly still much work to be done to help rebuild the local economy and create the jobs and investment we so desperately need.
I make no apology for repeating my call for Arlene Foster to examine the approach her Department is taking with regard to job creation and in particular to re-evaluate how we are implementing strategies and initiatives such as the Green New Deal. I would also encourage her to press for a more ambitious export strategy and to renew the efforts to maximise our tourism and creative industries.’’