Employment Numbers Go Past Pre-Pandemic Levels In Northern Ireland

There is welcome news out today that employment numbers hit a record high in July in Northern Ireland, with an estimated 762,000 people on a payroll. This is 1.3% higher than before Covid-19 came to darken our shores, and a huge 3.1% higher than July of last year, which is quite the turnaround. These statistics are from The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and are a very good indicator of how the economy is performing and of course the demand for staff across the country.

Includes Workers On The Furlough Scheme

These figures include workers who are being paid through the furlough scheme. There are just short of 45,000 workers benefiting from the furlough scheme at present, the scheme is slowly winding down and will end completely in October. How much this will affect the overall payroll figures is unclear right now, but there are signs that the economic climate is warming up nicely.

Just this week there has been good news from two companies, with bus manufacturer Wrightbus, who are based in Ballymena, looking to take on 300 more employees after gaining new orders. Also Workrise, which is a US based firm, is looking to create over 150 technology jobs in Belfast. All good news.

Coronavirus Cases

Meanwhile there have been 7 more coronavirus related deaths in Northern Ireland over the past 24 hours with 1,564 new cases of the virus reported over the same period. These cases show that we are not out of the woods yet, but we are maybe staggering towards a clearing at the very least.

The data from the last few weeks has shown more than anything how the vaccine has been so effective in preventing serious illness for anyone who has been double jabbed. It is not impossible to still get very ill after two vaccines (and there is a chance you can still transmit the virus) but the possibility is drastically reduced, which is wonderful news.

This means that the business community can finally start planning with some certitude, as the chances of another heavy lockdown are very remote indeed, although we can`t say completely non-existent due to the chance of the virus mutating so that it evades the vaccines, however unlikely that may be.

The future is certainly beginning to look a lot brighter. Finally if you require any help from our accountancy team please get in touch with our offices ASAP on 028 3752 2909.