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Occupation and Earnings - April 2015
Published: May 2015
- Occupation and Earnings - April 2015
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Occupational structure (Dec 2014)
% 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 | 13.2 | 13.2 | 18.2 | 12 | 10.3 | 12.5 | 11.4 | 10.1 |
| Professional | 14.5 | 21.1 | 13.8 | 14.7 | 12.3 | N/A | 17.4 | 19.8 |
| Associate professional & technical | 9.5 | 10.6 | 8.1 | 7.6 | 13.6 | N/A | 11.7 | 13.9 |
| Admin & secretarial | 9.4 | 4.8 | 12 | 6.6 | 14.4 | 12.2 | 9.5 | 10.7 |
| Skilled trades | 14.5 | 15.9 | 13.5 | 12.4 | 14.1 | 25.5 | 12.8 | 10.8 |
| Caring, leisure & other service | 10.1 | 8.7 | 3.2 | 13.8 | 11.3 | 16.7 | 10.3 | 9.2 |
| Sales & customer service | 8.7 | 5.5 | 6.4 | 11.5 | 9.7 | 9.9 | 8.1 | 7.8 |
| Process, plant & machine operatives | 7.9 | 8.9 | 9.5 | 8.4 | 4.7 | 7.6 | 6.5 | 6.3 |
| Elementary occupations | 11.5 | 11.3 | 15.3 | 10.8 | 9.6 | 8.4 | 11.7 | 10.8 |
Source: Annual Population Survey, NOMIS 2015 (*Some data unavailable due to small sample size)
The largest occupation groups in Somerset are skilled trades (14.5%) and professional roles (14.5%), compared to 10.8% and 19.8% respectively at a national level. Managers, directors and senior officials are well represented in all Somerset districts compared to the UK as a whole .The proportion of people employed in these senior occupations in Somerset increased by 3.2% between 2013 and 2014.
Source: Annual Population Survey, NOMIS 2015. Graph uses annual data.
Public sector employment (Dec 2014)
% of people in employment who work in the public sector
| Area | % Public Sector Dec 2008 | % Public Sector Dec 2014 | Change 2008-2014 |
| Somerset | 22.7 | 17.7 | -5.0 |
| Mendip | 24.1 | 15.9 | -8.2 |
| Sedgemoor | 18.8 | 20.3 | 1.5 |
| South Somerset | 19.0 | 15.3 | -3.7 |
| Taunton Deane | 31.8 | 21.8 | -10.0 |
| West Somerset | 17.9 | 11.0 | -6.9 |
| Heart of the South West LEP | 24.8 | 23.1 | -1.7 |
| UK | 24.1 | 22.7 | -1.4 |
Source: Annual Population Survey, NOMIS 2015. *Estimate and confidence interval unreliable since the group sample size is small.
Source: Annual Population Survey, NOMIS 2015
Somerset has a smaller proportion of people employed in the public sector than the UK and Heart of the South West area; 17.7% compared to 22.7% and 23.1% respectively.
Within the County there is a particular concentration of public sector employment in Taunton Deane (21.8%).
Public sector employment in Somerset peaked at 24.7% of the workforce in 2009. Since then, the number of people employed in the public sector in the County has decreased from 61,300 to 45,200.
Earnings (2014)
Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), NOMIS 2014 (updated annually). Figures are not available for Sedgemoor (2014) and West Somerset (2013) due to statistical unreliability. ASHE data is not produced for LEP areas.
Average earnings in Somerset consistently lag behind the UK level. Mendip has the highest median earnings in the County (£26,506), an increase of 1.1% over the year. West Somerset has the lowest (£20,629) median earnings. Taunton Deane had the highest annual increase of 9.5% (£25,810). NB: The median is the value below which 50% of employees’ earnings fall.
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