Published: August 2013
% of all people in employment by occupation
Area | Somerset | Mendip | Sedgemoor | South Somerset | Taunton Deane | West Somerset | Heart of the South West LEP | UK |
Managers, directors and senior officials | 10.0% | 7.5% | 10.7% | 13.4% | 6.3% | 12.5% | 10.1% | 10.1% |
Professional | 17.4% | 19.0% | 13.4% | 14.8% | 23.4% | 17.6% | 17.5% | 19.4% |
Associate professional & technical | 11.7% | 12.6% | 11.8% | 11.1% | 11.9% | 9.3% | 11.6% | 14.0% |
Admin & secretarial | 9.6% | 7.8% | 8.6% | 8.7% | 11.3% | 17.9% | 10.5% | 10.9% |
Skilled trades | 14.5% | 13.9% | 15.1% | 17.8% | 10.4% | 13.6% | 13.7% | 10.6% |
Caring, leisure & other service | 9.8% | 7.5% | 9.7% | 8.8% | 14.0% | 7.5% | 10.2% | 9.0% |
Sales & customer service | 8.4% | 8.1% | 8.6% | 9.9% | 7.6% | N/A | 7.9% | 8.1% |
Process, plant & machine operatives | 5.8% | 6.3% | 8.1% | 5.5% | 4.3% | N/A | 5.7% | 6.3% |
Elementary occupations | 12.4% | 16.7% | 14.0% | 9.9% | 9.5% | 16.5% | 12.4% | 10.9% |
Source: Annual Population Survey, NOMIS 2013 (*Some data unavailable due to small sample size)
Professional occupations and skilled trades are the largest occupational groups in Somerset, accounting for 17.4% and 14.5% of the workforce respectively. Compared to the national picture, Somerset has greater proportions of its workforce employed in skilled trades, elementary occupations, caring, leisure and service occupations, and sales and customer services. Managers, directors and senior officials are well represented in South Somerset and West Somerset compared to the UK as a whole. There have been recent fluctuations in Somerset’s occupational structure with a large increase in elementary occupations and decrease in managerial positions between 2011 and 2012.
% of people in employment who work in the public sector
Area | % Public Sector March 2007 | % Public Sector March 2013 | Change 2007-2013 |
Somerset | 23.2% | 21.3% | -1.9% |
Mendip | 18.5% | 11.8% | -6.7% |
Sedgemoor | 27.0% | 17.9% | -9.1% |
South Somerset | 21.8% | 18.7% | -3.1% |
Taunton Deane | 28.3% | 34.9% | 6.6% |
West Somerset | 16.4% | 31.5% | 15.1% |
Heart of the South West LEP | 24.9% | 24.3% | -0.6% |
UK | 24.2% | 23.5% | -0.7% |
Source: Annual Population Survey, NOMIS 2013 (*Figures have a confidence interval
greater than 10% and should be used with caution).
Somerset has a slightly smaller proportion of people employed in the public sector than the UK and Heart of the South West area; 21.3% compared to 23.5% and 24.3% respectively.
Within the County there are concentrations of public sector employment in Taunton Deane (34.9%) and West Somerset (31.5%).
Public sector employment in Somerset has decreased by 1.9% since 2007, a faster rate than nationally (-0.7%). However, West Somerset and Taunton Deane have bucked this trend, showing increases of 15.1% and 6.6% respectively. This is more likely due to a relative decrease in private sector employment rather than an increase in public sector jobs.
(updated annually). Figures not available for West Somerset due to statistical unreliability. ASHE data is not produced for LEP areas.
Average earnings in Somerset consistently lag behind the UK level, with a deficit of 7.3% in 2012. Mendip has the highest median earnings in the County (£25,671) and Sedgemoor has the lowest (£24,027). The median is the value below which 50% of employees’ earnings fall. It is preferred over the mean for earnings data as it is influenced less by extreme
values and because of the skewed distribution of earnings data.
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