THE SDLP’s Sinéad McLaughlin has welcomed the fall in unemployment in Derry and Strabane, while regretting that the gap with the rest of the North is actually widening.
While the claimant count unemployment rate in the Derry and Strabane council area fell by 1.4% in the last month, it dropped by 2.1% in the North of Ireland as a whole and by 2.4% in Belfast, which has the next highest unemployment rate in the North.
Said the Foyle MLA: “Parts of the economy in Derry are doing very well and we are benefiting from the location of excellent high tech businesses that are thriving.
“It is this sector and the health and life sciences that offer great hope for the future, especially as the City Deal is rolled out.
“But we must do more to create additional highly paid jobs across many more sectors. I warmly welcome the fall in unemployment in the Derry and Strabane council area.
“However, it is disappointing that not only do we continue to have the highest unemployment rate, but that we are actually falling behind other parts of the North.
“It is noticeable that Belfast, in particular, is outperforming Derry in employment growth.
“This is unsurprising given that Invest NI last year announced around 1500 jobs being created in and around Belfast with its support, yet a mere eight in Derry and 40 in Strabane.
“Invest NI, in particular, must do more – a point I will make to them when I meet them on Friday.”
