‘Need to tackle long-term unemployment’, insists Clarke | Latest Newry News, Newry Sport and Newry Business for Newry City

‘Need to tackle long-term unemployment’, insists Clarke

Alliance South Down Representative Councillor Patrick Clarke has said the fall in unemployment across Northern Ireland should be cautiously welcomed, adding more must be done to tackle the long-term issue.

Clarke was speaking after new figures revealed less people are now claiming unemployment benefits, with the claimant total now standing at 64,100.

Clarke said, “Any fall in unemployment can only be seen as a positive, however we must be cautious as Northern Ireland has not yet emerged from the recession and these challenging economic times.

“While the unemployment rate is very good compared to Europe and the Republic of Ireland, it still stands at 7.8%. One way to further stimulate our local economy would be to invest in a ‘Green New Deal’, thereby encouraging markets to embrace a degree of innovation and change.

“Northern Ireland is open for business and we should be doing everything we can to increase investment opportunities. Just yesterday pharmaceutical firm Almac announced the creation of 229 jobs.

Clarke added, “It is this type of growth and financial support I hope we can continue to attract and impact positively on employment in the longer term.”

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Posted by on Jun 17 2013. Filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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