Northern Ireland’s labour market remains in good health, with a record number of people in jobs, a relatively short dole queue and rising wages.
The latest Labour Market Survey from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency showed the highest level of pay-rolled employees on record in August of 779,600. That is 2.7% up on the same time last year and 3.6% higher than in March 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions took hold.
The data suggests the jobs market is managing to shrug off concerns around the growing risk of recession as a result of soaring inflationary pressures. However, economists have warned labour data tends to be a lagging indicator of economic health and future months will offer an indication as to how deeply the current environment has impacted employment.
