While the longer-term growth potential of the economy may still be reassuring, the short-term outlook has weakened somewhat. This is particularly the case with regard to unemployment. The year 2002 saw some 25,538 notified redundancies, the highest level since 1988. This constituted an increase of 28% over those notified in 2001 which, in turn, saw an increase of 49% over 2000. The trend is continuing with relatively modest growth forecast for this year and next. However, in relative terms, unemployment is still low and the indications are that we will still have a need for both skilled and unskilled labour from overseas in the years immediately ahead.