part time workers graph
Blog
 September 
24,
 2012
  By Paul Mac Flynn

Recent data has indicated that the level of unemployment in Northern Ireland has surpassed that of the UK as a whole. This is worrying news, but it is also not a full picture of the labour market in Northern Ireland. The unemployment rate does not count those who are underemployed, those who are in employment but still seek work.


Indicator 2.5 (b) of the Quarterly Economic Facts shows the number of people in Northern Ireland who work part-time only because they cannot find full-time work. This is one measure of underemployment that highlights a large section of the workforce who cannot realise their full potential.

Paul Mac Flynn

Paul Mac Flynn is co-director of the Nevin Economic Research Institute and is based in the Belfast office. In addition to managing the Belfast office he has co-responsibility for the NERI's research programme and for its strategic direction.  

He leads on the NERI’s analysis of the Northern Ireland economy along with all research into the impact of the United Kingdom‘s departure from the European Union. Other research areas include regional productivity, the all-island economy and the future of work.

He is a graduate of University College Dublin with a BA in Economics and Politics and the University of Bristol with an MSc in Economics and Public Policy, specialising in the economic impacts of political devolution in the UK.

Contact: [email protected] or 00 44 28 9024 6214.