December unemployment rate decrease for Derry and Strabane

However, despite the decrease the Derry City and Strabane District Council area remains the council area with the highest rate of unemployment in the North.

The percentage of the workforce claiming unemployment related benefits in the North for December 2015 was 3.3 per cent; for Derry and Strabane it was 6.3 per cent.

Males living in the Derry and Strabane council area are twice as likely to claim unemployment related benefits than women.

In December, 4,181 males in the Derry and Strabane council area claimed unemployment related benefits; 1,854 females were in receipt of the same.

Belfast (4.3 per cent) remains the council area with the second highest level of unemployment in the North.

The council authority responsible for Limavady, Causeway Coast and Glens, saw the number of people claiming unemployment related benefits increase by 1.7 per cent.

The Westminster constituency of Foyle remains the parliamentary constituency in the North with the highest level of unemployment.

The percentage of the workforce in Foyle decreased by 0.1 per cent from November to December 2015 but the level still remains the highest in the North at 6.7 per cent.