Northern Ireland: unemployment rate by urban area 1989

In the second half of the 20th century, unemployment rates in Northern Ireland were much higher than elsewhere in the United Kingdom. A large part of this was due to the violence of the Troubles, which dissuaded public investment, foreign investment, and tourism in Northern Ireland. In most Western countries during this period, there was a transition from employment in agriculture and manufacturing to service industries, but this lack of investment in Northern Ireland deprived its workforce of opportunities in these areas, which caused unemployment to grow in later decades. Today, Northern Ireland often has the lowest unemployment rate of any region in the UK; however, this may be misleading, as it generally has the highest rate of economically inactivity, which includes long-term unemployed persons.

When looking at unemployment rates in the listed urban areas, majority-Catholic towns such as Strabane or Cookstown had much higher levels than majority-Protestant towns such as Ballymena or Craigavon. This was reflective of factors such as employment discrimination, uneven distribution of public investment by area, and Protestants having greater access to higher education.