Unemployment and Economic Inactivity - December 2015

Published: December 2015

• Economic Factsheet: Unemployment and Economic Inactivity - December 2015
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Unemployment is an important indicator of the state of the economy. There are several measures which can be used to show levels of unemployment and economic inactivity:

• Claimant count – This shows the number of people who are out of work and claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) and is often expressed as a rate. Data is published monthly.
• Unemployment rate – Often called the ILO unemployment rate, this measure assesses the number of jobless people who want to work, are available to work and are actively seeking employment. This measure is usually higher than the claimant rate as not all people looking for work are either eligible or choose to claim JSA. Data is published quarterly.
• Economic inactivity – This is a broader measure of people who are economically inactive for a range of reasons, including students, people who are unable to work due to illness, retired people and those looking after family/ home. Data is published quarterly.

In Oct 2015, 0.8% of people in Somerset aged 16-64 were claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA).  Sedgemoor has the highest claimant rate in Somerset (1%) and West Somerset has the lowest (0.5%). Sedgemoor, Taunton Deane and West Somerset all saw a fall in Claimants over the quarter.  Claimant rates have also dropped in all five districts, with Sedgemoor having the largest fall in claimants over the year.

Claimant Count (October 2015)

% of residents aged 16-64 claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)

Source: Claimant count with rates and proportions, NOMIS 2015

Somerset has a consistently lower claimant rate than the UK and Heart of the South West LEP area.

Somerset’s claimant rate is steadily declining and is now returning to the low levels seen before the recession began in 2008.

Source: Claimant count with rates and proportions, NOMIS 2015

Unemployment rate (June 2015)

ILO unemployment in Somerset stood at 4.6% in June 2015, higher than the Heart of the South West LEP area (4.4%) but lower than the UK as a whole (5.8%).   Somerset’s unemployment rate has fallen over the last year (0.2%). Available data shows Sedgemoor has the highest unemployment rate of all the districts (6.4%).

% of residents aged 16-64 who are unemployed

Source: Annual population survey, NOMIS 2015 (Data unavailable where the sample size is disclosive).

Somerset’s unemployment rate is consistently lower than the national level. After peaking at 8% in December 2010, the general trend has been downwards but fluctuations in the last year show the rate increasing slightly and then falling. Over the same period, the UK unemployment rate remained constant, with signs of a declining trend from September 2013.

Economic inactivity (June 2015)

Somerset’s economic inactivity rate is lower than nationally. Sedgemoor has the highest proportion of economically inactive residents (19.9%), closely followed by  Mendip (18.9%). West Somerset has the lowest economic inactivity rate (12%).  Mendip has the highest proportion of economically inactive persons who want a job.

 Source: Annual population survey, NOMIS 2015. NB. Some data unavailable due to small sample size.