UNEMPLOYMENT in the North has fallen to its lowest level in 15 years, but the downward trend could be reversed by the beef crisis. The Economy Minister, Baroness Denton, yesterday said that the number of people out of work fell by 500 last month, making the seasonally adjusted total 85,300 - 11 per cent of the workforce.

The largest drop over the year was in west Belfast. "Over the year, both youth and long term unemployment have shown declines of 6 and 9 per cent respectively, compared with an overall 5 per cent in Northern Ireland as a whole," she said.

Baroness Denton admitted the beef crisis was causing problems which would be reflected in future figures. However, she said that the recent expansion by multi nationals was encouraging.

She announced that 100 jobs would be created in Craigavon, Co Armagh, in a £10 million expansion at the US forklift truck manufacturer, NACCO. They will bring the workforce to almost 1,000.