Hidden male unemployment in Northern Ireland

In recent years there has been growing research evidence in the UK to suggest that official unemployment figures do not accurately reflect the true extent of joblessness, mainly because they ignore aspects of economic inactivity such as long term sickness, early retirement and participation on government employment and training schemes. This paper examines the nature and extent of hidden unemployment in Northern Ireland and in different local areas within Northern Ireland. The paper shows that there are large numbers of people who do not appear in official unemployment figures but who, under plausible assumptions, ought to be considered to be part of the stock of unemployed. The results show that if the hidden component of joblessness is accounted for, total male unemployment in Northern Ireland is more than one-third higher than official figures suggest.