US software company in Belfast jobs boost

A Massachusetts-headquartered software company has chosen Belfast as the location for a new open-source security research facility that is expected to create 58 jobs.

The global security firm Black Duck Software, which is privately held, operates in 24 countries, and specialises in developing solutions to secure and manage open-source software.

In Belfast to announce its investment plans, Black Duck Software's chief executive and president Lou Shipley said it had looked at a number of possible sites but chose Belfast because it believed the city had "the depth of security research talent that fit our needs".

“We recognised very quickly that Northern Ireland has both the high-quality tech professionals to meet our open-source research needs and a growing cluster of cybersecurity-focused businesses which will continue to attract more attractive candidates as we scale our business there.”

Mr Shipley said the US company – named after the founder’s childhood pet – was keen to further increase its security research capabilities and grow its business. Its new Belfast office would l play a key role in cutting-edge open-source security research.

Labour market

Northern Ireland welcomed its newest inward investor as the latest labour market statistics show its jobless rate is at its lowest level since September-November 2008.

Figures released for the three months to August 2016 show that the Northern Ireland unemployment rate was 5.5 per cent, higher than the UK average.

The figures also show that the number of people claiming jobless benefits in the North fell last month by 400 to 34,900.

Economy Minister Simon Hamilton said the decrease in the jobless rate was "good news" and also welcomed an increase in the overall number of local people in employment – it rose to a record 847,000 between June to August 2016.

Separately, the budget airline Jet2.com has also announced plans to create 50 jobs at Belfast International Airport with the launch of an expanded summer programme from Northern Ireland next year. It intends to operate flights to 14 sun destinations from Belfast International Airport next year.