FOLLOWING A surge in the number of people claiming jobless benefits in December, 2008 saw the largest annual increase in unemployment in Northern Ireland for 37 years.
Latest Government figures show the number of people claiming unemployment support jumped by 1,800 in the North in December to 35,900.
Northern Ireland has not witnessed such a sharp rise since 1971.
The latest official statistics show that more than 10,000 people joined the dole queues between June and December last year.
But some economists warn that the Government figures do not fully take account of the number of self-employed or contract workers who have also lost their jobs over the last 12 months.
Richard Ramsey, Northern Ireland economist with Ulster Bank believes the figures need to be taken in context.
“Focusing on the level of redundancies misses the high level of under-employment and unemployment . . . in the self-employed sector. Northern Ireland has a higher proportion of its workforce classed as self employed than any other region in the UK,” Mr Ramsey said.
According to the Department of Enterprise in the North the latest unemployment rate – for the period September to November 2008 – was 4.2 per cent, compared to the UK average of 6.1 per cent.
