We monitor the latest employment and unemployment data for the West Midlands, which is published monthly by the Office for National Statistics. We analyse the data and show the latest position of the West Midlands relative to the other regions in England.
The data covers the period up to June 2010 for the claimant count, and the quarter up to May 2010 for employment and ILO unemployment.
Jobseekers' Allowance claimant rates
We've produced interactive maps showing the proportion of the region's working age population claiming Jobseekers' Allowance in each local authority and ward.
We update the maps each month and currently show data up to June 2010.
Employment
The employment rate in the West Midlands for the three months to May 2010 has risen, to 71.2%. The English average employment rate is now 72.7%, so the gap between the regional and national employment rates is now only 1.5 percentage points — the narrowest it has been since mid-2007.
The West Midlands has a higher employment rate than the regions of London, the North East, and the North West.
Source: Office for National Statistics (Labour Force Survey, seasonally adjusted data)
ILO unemployment
The official International Labour Organisation (ILO) measure of unemployment in the West Midlands is now 8.6% (March 2010–May 2010), 0.4 percentage points lower than it was in February 2010–April 2010.
The West Midlands has seen one of the largest rises in unemployment over the course of the recession, but the rate at which unemployment rose was not constant. The West Midlands was the most heavily affected region at the beginning of the recession, seeing a 4.2 percentage point rise in unemployment between the March-May quarters in 2008 and 2009.
However, between the March-May quarters in 2009 and 2010, unemployment in the West Midlands fell by 1.6 percentage points. With the exception of the East Midlands (which saw a negligible fall), all other regions experienced increases in the unemployment rate between these two time periods.
Source: Office for National Statistics (Labour Force Survey, seasonally adjusted data)
The regional unemployment rate has fallen by almost 2.0 percentage points since its peak in the April–June 2009 quarter, equating to over 54,000 fewer unemployed people.
The total number currently unemployed stands at just under 230,000, more than 43,000 fewer than a year ago. Unemployment in the West Midlands seems to have been declining to March-May 2010, whilst in many other parts of England, rates are continuing to rise.
The disproportionate impact of the recession on unemployment in the West Midlands is shown in the chart below. The gap between the unemployment rate in England and the West Midlands has risen considerably since the beginning of 2008; it has since narrowed:
Source: Office for National Statistics (Labour Force Survey, seasonally adjusted data)
Economic inactivity
The West Midlands has a higher rate of economic inactivity (ie people neither in work nor seeking jobs) than the nation as a whole. However, economic inactivity rates have fluctuated throughout the recession, with the gap growing and then narrowing.
In previous recessions there have been significant increases in economic inactivity following economic recovery so it will be important to continue to monitor the level of economic inactivity. At the moment the rate of inactivity is broadly similar to the pre-recession level.
Source: Office for National Statistics (Labour Force Survey, seasonally adjusted data)
Claimant count
As of June 2010, there are 159,800 people in the West Midlands claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA - the unemployment benefit). This is 17,700 fewer than in May 2009, and 24,800 fewer than the peak of 184,600 in October 2009.
Source: Office for National Statistics (claimant count, seasonally adjusted data)
Nevertheless, the West Midlands still has the second-highest claimant count rate of all the English regions, at 4.8% compared with the national rate of 3.7%.
Source: Office for National Statistics (claimant count, seasonally adjusted data)
At a sub-regional level, there's wide variation in the numbers of people claiming Jobseekers' Allowance.
Data for June 2010 show that the percentage of working age people claiming Jobseekers' Allowance ranges from 1.8% in Stratford-on-Avon to 7.6% in Wolverhampton. All West Midlands districts now have claimant count rates lower than or equal to those they had a year ago.
To see how the recession has affected each Local Authority District area, see our interactive map which shows trends in claimant rates in each Local Authority in the region.
Young people
Young people have been the worst affected age group in this recession, seeing the biggest increases in their unemployment rates.
There are over 45,000 young people (aged 18–24) in the West Midlands claiming Jobseekers' Allowance, equating to almost one in every eleven young people (claimant rate 8.7%). These figures represent lower youth claimant rates for the region than last month, but the West Midlands still has the highest youth claimant rate among the English regions:
Source: Office for National Statistics (claimant count)
Birmingham and the Black Country have youth claimant rates over 10%, meaning that more than one in ten young people are unemployed and claiming Jobseekers' Allowance.
Dataset: youth claimant rates by regions and Local Authority (June 2010) (xls, 40kb)
Definitions
There are four headline measures:
- Employment
- ILO unemployment (this is the offical measure of unemployment based on the International Labour Organisation definition of those looking for and available for work)
- Economic inactivity (those of working age who are neither working nor seeking work)
- Claimant count (numbers of people claiming unemployment benefit)