Employment: Number on NI payrolls hits record high

The number of pay-rolled employees in Northern Ireland last month was 1.3% higher than before the pandemic hit, official figures show.

The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) said employee numbers hit its highest record in July at 762,000.

It is the second month in a row numbers surpassed March 2020 pre-Covid levels.

HM Revenue and Customs payroll data is the most timely and best single overall indicator of the labour market.

The figures showed an estimated 762,600 employees in July - that is 1.3% higher than March 2020 and 3.1% higher than the same time last year.

It includes furloughed employees, who numbered about 44,000 at the end of June.

The furlough scheme is due to end in October and it has already begun to taper off.

That may be contributing to an increase in redundancies in June and July - 850 were proposed in July.

The introduction of the furlough scheme helped to stabilise the job market near the start of the pandemic crisis.

The unemployment rate for April-June 2021 was 3.8% - that is an increase of 0.4% over the quarter and 1.2% over the year.

Tuesday's figures were published against the backdrop of two significant jobs announcements in different sectors of the economy.

Ballymena-based bus manufacturer Wrightbus is creating up to 300 jobs after winning new orders.

The company which went into administration in 2019 was bought by Jo Bamford.

A total of 120 temporary roles are also being made permanent.

Mr Bamford said he hopes to expand the workforce from 56 workers two years ago to more than 900 by 2022.

Meanwhile, US company called Workrise is creating more than 150 technology jobs in Belfast over the next four years.

The Austin-based firm matches up labourers with construction projects.

Invest NI has offered the firm almost £1m in support towards the 153 new positions, which will have salaries above the private sector average.