Northen Ireland – ‘Do nothing executive’ sleepwalks job crisis

NI Conservatives’ economy spokesman, Johnny Andrews, has accused the Executive of ‘sleepwalking towards a jobs crisis’ and failing to ‘deliver a boost for business’, after the latest labour statistics revealed an increase in unemployment and economic inactivity in Northern Ireland.

“The Executive’s Programme for Government promised that creating jobs would be a priority, but it doesn’t seem to have any ideas and its strategy is clearly failing”, Johnny remarked.  “The minister, Arlene Foster, is happy to talk about the rate of unemployment comparing favourably to the EU or the rest of the UK, rather than take action.”

“The true story is reflected by the Ulster Bank’s Purchasing Managers Index May 2012 survey which last week revealed that Northern Ireland’s manufacturing output is among the lowest in the EU – between Greece and Spain in the rankings.  There is an urgent need to rebalance the economy and increase exports here, yet our manufacturing sector is shrinking and the hard work to achieve growth has scarcely begun”…

Source: ‘Do nothing executive’ sleepwalks to higher unemployment | Conservatives.