Workforce growing but pay increases falling behind inflation

Northern Ireland’s workforce is continuing to grow, however pay increases are falling behind inflation, the latest figures suggest.

The number of employees in Northern Ireland in July 2022 was 779,300, according to HMRC.

This figure has been described as the highest on record and the 11th consecutive monthly increase.

In terms of earnings, employees had a median monthly pay of £1,963 in July 2022, an increase of £2 (0.1%) over the month and an increase of £89 (4.7%) over the year.

This lags significantly behind the UK inflation rate of 9.4%.

Some 50 redundancies were notified in July, taking the annual total to 1,160.

The redundancy total has been described as the lowest since 2000.

The number claiming unemployment benefits was 35,700 (3.8% of the workforce) in July, which represents a decrease of 0.5% from the previous month’s revised figure.

The latest HMRC payroll data also notes that the largest percentage increases of payrolled employees were recorded in the information and communication and the arts, entertainment and recreation sectors (both 9%).