The number of persons aged 15-74 years who were unemployed decreased by 400 (-0.3%) to 129,500 in the year to Q3 2024, using standard International Labour Organisation (ILO) criteria.
Unemployment decreased by 4,300 (-6.3%) for males to 64,500 in the year to Q3 2024 – this compares with a rise of 3,900 (+6.4%) to 65,000 for females over the same period. See Tables QLF01 and QLF02.
The unemployment rate for those aged 15-24 years, known as the Youth Unemployment Rate, stood at 11.5% in Q3 2024 down from 12.3% in Q3 2023. The total number of unemployed people in this age group was 45,300, a decrease of 900 (-2.0%).
The unemployment rate for those aged 25-74 years was 3.4% in Q3 2024, unchanged from 12 months earlier. The total number of persons unemployed in this age group was 84,200, an increase of 500 people (+0.6%).
78.4%* of unemployed persons in Q3 2024 were in short-term unemployment (less than one year). Over the year to Q3 2024, short-term unemployment rose by 6,000 (+6.5%) to 98,200, while there was a decrease of 4,200 (-13.4%) in the numbers of long-term unemployed to 27,100.
*excluding ‘Not stated’
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the numbers unemployed in Q3 2024 stood at 128,400, a rise of 2,800 (+2.2%).
The seasonally adjusted number of unemployed males increased by 1,500 (+2.3%) to 67,400 over the quarter to Q3 2024, while the corresponding number for females was up 1,300 (+2.1%) to 61,000 over the same period. See Table QLF06.
See Monthly Unemployment outputs for supplementary analysis of seasonally adjusted unemployment.
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