There was an annual increase in employment of 2.4% or 46,900 in the year to the first quarter of 2016, bringing total employment to 1,976,500.  This compares with an annual increase in employment of 2.3% in the previous quarter and an increase of 2.2% in the year to Q1 2015.

Summary points for Q1 2016

• The increase in total employment of 46,900 in the year to Q1 2016 was represented by an increase in full-time employment of 30,700 (+2.1%) and an increase in part-time employment of 16,300 (+3.7%). See table 1 and figure 1.

• On a seasonally adjusted basis, employment increased by 15,400 (+0.8%) over the previous quarter. This follows on from a seasonally adjusted increase in employment of 6,600 (+0.3%) in Q4 2015, an increase of 9,400 (+0.5%) in Q3 2015, an increase of 16,200 (+0.8%) in Q2 2015 and an increase of 12,900 (+0.7%) in Q1 2015. See table 3.

• The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased from 9.0% to 8.3% over the quarter, while the seasonally adjusted number of persons unemployed fell by 14,900. See table 3.

• Unemployment decreased by 33,300 (-15.7%) in the year to Q1 2016 bringing the total number of persons unemployed to 179,500. This is the fifteenth quarter in succession where unemployment has declined on an annual basis. See table 1.

• The long-term unemployment rate decreased from 6.0% to 4.7% over the year to Q1 2016.  Long-term unemployment accounted for 56.1% of total unemployment in Q1 2016 compared with 59.7% a year earlier and 60.5% in the first quarter of 2014. See table 6.

• The total number of persons in the labour force in the first quarter of 2016 was 2,156,000, representing an increase of 13,600 (+0.6%) over the year.  This compares with an annual labour force decrease of 4,000 (-0.2%) in Q1 2015.  The number of persons not in the labour force in Q1 2016 was 1,470,200, an increase of 5,300 (+0.4%) over the year.