Slight fall in borough’s monthly jobless total

The latest claimant count statistics show that 57 less people were out of work in April than in March.

The current unemployed total stands at 1,561, of which the vast majority are men. The previous month’s tally was 1,618.

Broken down into wards, Dunclug had the highest total unemployed in January at 114 claimants (compared with 121 the previous month), next is Ballee at 108 (111 in March), and third highest is Cullybackey at 102 (102 in March).

The ward with the least unemployment as of April 2011, was Ballyloughan on 24 (25 the previous month).

The latest claimant count statistics also reveal that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Northern Ireland increased by 200 last month.

However, the Northern Ireland unemployment rate decreased over the last quarter (January 2011 to March 2011) to 7.2%, down from 8% in the previous quarter.

It was below the UK average rate (7.7%) and was also lower than the European Union (9.5%) and Republic of Ireland (14.9%) rates for February 2011.

Commenting on the figures, Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster said: “Any fall in the unemployment rate has to be welcomed.”

She added: “Despite these signs of progress, I am conscious that we are nevertheless continuing to see an increase in the number of people claiming unemployment benefit.

“There remains considerable work to be done to reverse the worse effects of the downturn and put Northern Ireland back on a sustainable road to recovery.”