Occupation and Earnings - October 2014

Published: October 2014

• Occupation and Earnings - October 2014
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Occupational structure (June 2014)

% of all people in employment by occupation (Green = higher than UK, Red = lower than UK, Amber = Equal to UK)

Source: Annual Population Survey, NOMIS 2014 (*Some data unavailable due to small sample size)

The largest occupation groups in Somerset are professional roles (14.7%) and skilled trades (14.6%), compared to 20% and 12.7% respectively at a national level.  Managers, directors and senior officials are well represented in all Somerset districts except Taunton Deane compared to the UK as a whole. The proportion of people employed in professional occupations in Somerset fell by 4% between 2013 and 2014. In contrast, the caring, leisure and other service occupations showed an increase of 2.5% over the same period.

Source: Annual Population Survey, NOMIS 2014. Graph uses annual data at March each year.

Public sector employment (June 2014)

Somerset has a slightly smaller proportion of people employed in the public sector than the UK and Heart of the South West area; 20.7% compared to 24% and 23.9% respectively.

Within the County there is a concentration of public sector employment in Taunton Deane (28.8%).

Source: Annual Population Survey, NOMIS 2014. *Estimate and confidence interval unreliable since the group sample size is small.

Public sector employment in Somerset peaked at 23.5% of the workforce in 2011. Since then, the number of people employed in the public sector in the County has decreased from 56,400 to 45,000 (-20.2%).  

Source: Annual Population Survey, NOMIS 2014.

Earnings (2013)

Average earnings in Somerset consistently lag behind the UK level, with a deficit of 8.1% in 2013. Mendip has the highest median earnings in the County (£25,421) and Taunton Deane has the lowest (£23,256). The median is the value below which 50% of employees’ earnings fall.

Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), NOMIS 2013 (updated annually).  Figures not available for West Somerset due to statistical unreliability. ASHE data is not produced for LEP areas.