Northern Ireland’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the period October-December 2018 was 3.8%, down 0.3% when compared to the previous year according to the latest Labour Force Survey from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.

The Northern Ireland unemployment rate is below the UK average of 4.0% and is the fifth lowest rate of the UK regions. The Northern Ireland unemployment was also lower than the Republic of Ireland (5.3%) and the European Union (6.7%) rates for November 2018.

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland also reported an increase in the employment rate to 70.3%, up 1.7% over the year and a record high.

The economic inactivity rate (26.8%) decreased over the year (1.6%).

Roger Pollen, head of external affairs at the Federation of Small Businesses told the Belfast Telegraph that the increase in employment and the fall in economic inactivity "demonstrates that despite the political and economic uncertainty which we face, business owners are continuing to run their firms, employ people and generate wealth".

Mike Jakeman, senior economist at PricewaterhouseCoopers, also commented, "We continue to expect 2019 to be a good year for UK workers. The big unknown, of course, remains the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, which could alter the outlook for the jobs market, wages and inflation significantly."