To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on unemployment levels in Northern Ireland. [134156]

Labour Force Survey estimates indicate that unemployment in Northern Ireland for the period June-August 2003 was estimated to be 5.6 per cent. Northern Ireland unemployment rates remain at relatively low levels in historical terms and have fallen by 2.9 percentage points from December-February 1998 when the unemployment rate was 8.5 per cent.