Published: June 2014
The Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES) is a rich dataset from which small area analyses can be derived at various levels. The survey collects employment information from businesses across the whole of the UK economy for each site that they operate.
|
2012 Employment (jobs) |
% Change 2009-2012 |
% Annual change 2011-2012 |
Somerset |
213,500 |
-6.2 |
-3.8 |
Mendip |
42,900 |
-2.7 |
-2.8 |
Sedgemoor |
41,700 |
-2.4 |
2.7 |
South Somerset |
64,200 |
-10.6 |
-8.0 |
Taunton Deane |
52,800 |
-7.7 |
-6.1 |
West Somerset |
12,000 |
-2.2 |
1.9 |
Heart of the South West LEP |
683,700 |
-4.9 |
-1.3 |
England |
24,177,600 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
Source: BRES 2012. NB. All figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
Total employment (jobs) in Somerset decreased by 3.8% between 2011 and 2012, compared to a marginal increase of 0.5% at national level. The majority of the County’s jobs (30%) are located in South Somerset (64,200), whilst only 5.6% are to be found in West Somerset (12,000).
Somerset’s largest sector in employment terms is health (15.2%), followed by manufacturing (14.5%). The smallest sectors are agriculture, forestry and fishing (0.3%), and finance and insurance (1.4%).
The agriculture, Forestry and fishing sector had the largest annual increase between 2011 and 2012 (12%). whereas employment in business administration and support services fell by 29% over the same period.
The number of employees in Somerset fell by 5.3% between 2009 and 2012. The number of Somerset full-time employees has fallen by 4,000 between 2011 and 2012 while the number of part-time employees increased by 2,000 over the same period. This may be an indication of under-employment; people working part-time because there is insufficient full-time work available.
Area |
Current economic activity rate (% residents aged 16-64) |
Annual change (Dec 2012-Dec 2013) |
Economic activity rate: % males aged 16-64 |
Economic activity rate: % females aged 16-64 |
Somerset |
80.2 |
2.3 |
85.1 |
75.5 |
Mendip |
74.8 |
-5.1 |
79.6 |
70.0 |
Sedgemoor |
85.0 |
11.8 |
91.2 |
79.1 |
South Somerset |
81.6 |
4.4 |
84.4 |
79.0 |
Taunton Deane |
81.5 |
-2.4 |
86.4 |
76.7 |
West Somerset |
69.1 |
-1.0 |
80.1 |
58.9 |
Heart of the |
79.4 |
1.1 |
83.5 |
75.3 |
UK |
77.3 |
0.5 |
83.2 |
71.4 |
80.2% of Somerset’s residents aged 16-64 are economically active, compared to 77.3% nationally. Within the County, Sedgemoor has the highest economic activity rate (85%) showing a substantial annual increase of 11.8%. Mendip, Taunton Deane and West Somerset have all seen decreases in economic activity Males have a consistently higher economic activity rate than females across Somerset, the LEP and the UK.Source: Annual Population Survey, NOMIS 2014
Area |
Current Employment Rate, aged 16-64 (%) |
Annual Change (Dec 2012-Dec 2013) |
Somerset |
76.5 |
1.9 |
Mendip |
70.8 |
-6.0 |
Sedgemoor |
78.1 |
9.4 |
South Somerset |
79.3 |
5.8 |
Taunton Deane |
79.5 |
-3.6 |
West Somerset |
65.3 |
0.7 |
Heart of the |
74.7 |
0.8 |
UK |
71.3 |
0.7 |
Source: Annual Population Survey, NOMIS 2014
Somerset’s employment rate is higher than nationally and has risen by 1.9% in the last year. Taunton Deane has the highest employment rate of all the districts, although this has decreased by 3.6% since December 2012. Sedgemoor has seen the greatest improvement over this period (+9.4%).
There were 1,455 report road casualties in 2015. Of these , 22 were fatal, 188 ‘serious’ and 1,245 ‘slight’. This represented a fall of 10% from the number of road casualties in 2014 compared to a national decrease of 4%. - Road Safety