Unemployment

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were unemployed in each of the last three years in Northern Ireland. (77349)

Estimates of unemployment are produced from the Northern Ireland Labour Force Survey and the latest figures relate to the period February-April 2006. Figures for this period and for the same period in the previous two years can be found in the following table.

*Number of people unemployed in Northern Ireland, 2004-06*
Reference period	Number unemployed
February-April 2004	39,000
February-April 2005	38,000
February-April 2006	39,000
Source: NI Labour Force Survey

Volume 447: debated on Friday 16 June 2006