The number of redundancies proposed by employers in Northern Ireland surged in January, official government figures show.
There were 710 proposed job cuts in the opening weeks of 2026, according to the latest labour market report from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra).
While it was the highest monthly number since May 2025, it represented the third biggest monthly total recorded over the past five years and 25% of the total redundancies proposed over the last 12 months (2,880).
Last month saw the ABP Food Group place 338 jobs at risk of redundancy after it announced plans to cease retail packing at its facility at the Granville Industrial Estate, near Dungannon.
Financial services company FinTrU also confirmed it initiated a consultation with “a number of roles” at risk of redundancy.
FinTrU confirmed plans to cut jobs in January 2026.
Employers in the north are only required to notify Stormont’s Department for the Economy when making at least 20 people redundant.
It means the actual number of redundancies proposed last month will be inevitably higher.
NIsra’s February data release revealed 100 redundancies were confirmed in January 2026, which was less than half the 220 confirmed in December.
Despite the sharp rise in employers planning to cut jobs at the start of 2026, the number of people being paid through HMRC’s (pay as you earn) system reached a new record last month.
The PAYE count reached 818,662 in January, which was 0.2% up over the month and 1.2% higher over the year to January 2026, the equivalent of an additional 10,000 jobs year-on-year.
Earnings also jumped again last month, with the median monthly pay rising by £27 (1.1%) to £2,443, representing an annual increase of 6% (£138), well above the UK’s headline inflation rate of 3.4% over the year to December 2025.
The February labour market report also showed an increase in the north’s claimant count total, which increased 4.3% over the month to 36,600, the equivalent of 3.7% of the workforce.
That was in line with the claimant count measured throughout the second half of 2025.
Meanwhile, Nisra’s latest labour market survey estimated the Norhern Ireland employment rate at 2.2% in the final quarter of 2025.
That was 0.2 percentage points (pps) down on the previous quarter, but 0.6pps up over the year.
The corresponding employment rate increased by 0.5pps over the quarter and decreased by 0.3pps over the year to 71.9%.
The north’s economic inactivity rate, i.e. the proportion of people aged 16-64 not working, not seeking or available to work, decreased by 0.3pps over the quarter and decreased by 0.2pps over the year to 26.5%.