The number of people claiming jobless-related benefits fell in Northern Ireland last month but the jobless rate crept up in the first quarter of the year, suggesting the local economic recovery may be losing momentum and the prosperity gap with the UK could be widening, leading economists have warned.

The latest official labour force survey for the North finds that there were 900 fewer people claiming unemployment benefits in May which brought the total figure down to 44,300.

But the figures also show that the local unemployment rate for the first quarter of the year rose to 6.2 per cent which meant 55,000 people were out of work between January and March of this year – an increase of 6,000 over the quarter.

The ailing Northern Ireland statistics are in sharp contrast to the general picture of improving economic health across the UK as a whole.

Overall the UK unemployment total in the three months to March fell by 35,000 to 1.83 million people – the lowest on record for seven years.

The figures for jobless benefit claims followed the same trend with a drop of 12,600 last month to settle at 764,000.