Slight Rise in Unemployment

The number of people registered as unemployed rose again in January, but still sits below 300.

A total of 297 were registered as out of work in January, up from 292 in December 2022 and 277 in November.

The unemployment rate for January 2023 is 0.7%, remaining the same as the previous month.

A total of 746 job vacancies remained at the Job centre in January 2023, which is an increase of 264 vacancies compared to the previous month (December 2022). Of these, 55% (409) were full time positions and 45% (337) were part time.

Medical and health services remains the sector with the highest number of vacancies, with 146, while ‘other business services’ and catering and entertainment made up the top three with 101 and 92 respectively.

The International Labour Organisation estimates that 742 individuals are unemployed and looking for work in January 2023 compared with 737 in December 2022, this gives an unemployment rate of 1.7%.