Following the restoration of devolution on 8 May 2007 Northern Ireland Ministers became responsible for the running of the Northern Ireland Departments. The information requested is set out in the following table which has been provided by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland (DETI).
Unemployment estimates are sourced to the Northern Ireland Labour Force Survey and the latest estimates relate to the period October to December 2007. DETI advise that annual estimates are not available for the full period requested, so estimates for the last quarter of each year have been provided for comparison purposes.
Period (October to December each year) Unemployment level Unemployment rate (percentage) 2007 34,000 4.2 2006 34,000 4.2 2005 35,000 4.5 2004 36,000 4.6 2003 48,000 6.2 2002 43,000 5.5 2001 44,000 5.9 2000 45,000 6.1