Labour Market

Available charts:

• Employment rate, 2004-2009
• Unemployment rate, 1991-2009

Employment rate, 2004-2009

The employment rate suggests that there has been a degree of economic convergence between the four countries of the UK (i.e. reaching a similar level), in large part due to Northern Ireland’s strong performance throughout the 2000s. This convergence was slightly disrupted in 2008 as a result of the economic downturn, which resulted in Northern Ireland’s employment rate decreasing more than the rest of the UK.

Employment rates in England, Wales and Scotland dropped approximately 2% between 2008 and 2009, averaging 73.0% in England and 69.6% in Wales. Scotland's employment rate rose significantly after 2006, when it stood at 74.7%, increasing in 2007 to 77%. This was followed by two years of decreases, dropping slightly in 2008 to 76.6% and then to 74% in 2009.

Northern Ireland’s employment rate improved the most between 2004 and 2008, rising from 66.7% to 70.3%. However its employment rate was hit the hardest by the economic downtown, dropping nearly 5% to 65.7% in 2009.

Source: Regional Trends, 2009: Table 9.1

Unemployment rate, 1991-2009

The unemployment rate dropped significantly over this period until 2008, as good economic conditions pushed the unemployment rate under 4% from 2005 to 2008. The economic downturn has, however, resulted in increased unemployment rates across the UK and the average rate increased from 2.4% in 2008 to 4.2% in 2009. England’s unemployment rate increased from 2.4% (2008) to 4.2% (2009), Scotland’s rate increased from 2.5% (2008) to 4.0% (2009), while Wales’s rate increased from 2.7% (2008) to 5% (2009), representing the highest unemployment rate in the UK.

There was a major fall in unemployment rates in Northern Ireland in particular, from 12.6% in 1991 to 2.7% in 2008. This trend reversed slightly as a result of the economic downturn, with the rate increasing by 2.1% to 4.8% in 2009.

Source: UK Housing Review, 2010: 91