Our research on the West Midlands economy and labour market includes:
Latest employment and unemployment data
Updated 11 August 2010
We provide analysis, commentary and interactive maps on monthly labour market statistics for the West Midlands, released by the Office for National Statistics.
More about this project »
West Midlands economy post recession
Published 29th June 2010
This research provides insight into existing and likely future skills needs in the West Midlands. It considers the changing needs of the region's economy and labour market as it moves out of recession and helps inform decisions of employers, individuals and skills providers.
More about this project »
Download full report (pdf, 844kb)
Regional skills assessment 2009
Published 12th February 2010
Our assessment provides an overview of the changing needs of the West Midlands' labour market, with detailed exploration of key issues by sector and by sub-region. It focuses on recent trends, the impact of recession and prospects for recovery.
More about this project »
Download full report (pdf, 562kb)
West Midlands: fit for the future?
Updated 13th October 2009
This book, published in July 2009, features ten chapters by ten different authors, each giving their personal view on how the West Midlands can best place itself in readiness for the economic recovery. Bill Heslegrave has kindly written an eleventh chapter, on green infrastructure and sustainable recovery (PDF, 929kb), which was published 13 October 2009.
More about this project »
Places vulnerable to the recession
Increasing unemployment was, of course, one impact of the recession on places in the West Midlands. Other examples included fewer job vacancies, falling earnings and the sluggish housing market. But which places are particularly vulnerable?
We carried out work to identify and map the areas which are likely to be most vulnerable. These results are being used to make sure activities are targeted in the right places.
More about this project »
West Midlands regional integrated economic assessment
Published 7th October 2008
The West Midlands is the first English region to produce a regional integrated economic assessment.
This project aims to provide an assessment of the performance of the West Midlands' economy and of the factors which contribute to it. It also assesses the relative position of the different parts of the region.
More about this project »
Graduate retention, attraction and employment study 2008
Updated 14th October 2008
We explored issues surrounding the utilisation of graduates in the West Midlands labour market. Specifically, we wish to understand issues affecting the attraction, retention and employment of graduates.
In October 2008, we published University Challenge (PDF, 0.5MB), our review of the West Midlands' knowledge economy and the demand for higher level skills.
More about this project »