Unemployment fell to a new low in Northern Ireland last month but the latest statistics were compiled too early to reflect the fall-out of the terrorist attacks on the United States, the North's Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Sir Reg Empey, has warned . The number of people out of work in Northern Ireland in September was at its lowest level since 1975. But the Minister said the statistics pre-dated the events in the US last month. "There are now many job losses, most significant of which are the 2,000 proposed redundancies at Bombardier Aerospace, which we had not anticipated.

"This added to the other job losses which are already in the pipeline indicate that the Northern Ireland economy faces a difficult future," Sir Reg said.

The latest UK Labour Force Survey shows the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits in the North fell by 400 during the month of September to 38,500.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the North now stands at 6 per cent or 46,000 people.

Once one of the UK's worst unemployment blackspots, the North currently has a lower jobless rate than London or Scotland. But with redundancy programmes already in place at Bombardier Aerospace, Northern Ireland's largest private sector employer, Nortel Networks and British Airways, the question is how much longer can Northern Ireland enjoy this position.

Sir Reg yesterday gave advance notice that there would be trouble in the short term on the economic front.

"Clearly there are challenging times ahead. It is therefore imperative that our business community rises to this challenge and does not stagnate in response to global pressures," he said.