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 December 2009 for the claimant count, and the quarter up to November 2009 for employment and ILO unemployment.
Jobseeker's Allowance claimant rates
We've produced interactive maps showing the proportion of the region's working age population claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in each local authority and ward. These are updated monthly and currently show data up to December 2009.
We've also produced an interactive map showing the proportion of the working age population claiming Jobseeeker's Allowance in the Rural Regeneration Zone (RRZ).
Employment
The employment rate in the West Midlands for the three months to November 2009 has risen slightly to 70.5%. This is an increase on the previous quarter (Jun-Aug 2009) of 0.5 percentage points and 17,000 people.
The West Midlands still has the third lowest employment rate of all English regions, behind the North East and London.
The gap between the employment rate in the West Midlands and England has widened since the beginning of 2008:
Source: Office for National Statistics (Labour Force Survey, seasonally adjusted data)
ILO unemployment
The official ILO measure of unemployment in the region is now 9.6% (Sep-Nov 2009). This is the first time in six months that the rolling-quarter figure has dropped below 10%, but it is still higher than the 9.4% recorded in February-April 2009.
The unemployment rate has fallen by 0.9 percentage points since its peak in the April-June 2009 quarter, equating to over 24,000 fewer people unemployed. However, the total number currently unemployed stands at almost 259,000, almost 65,000 more than a year ago.
The West Midlands no longer has the highest unemployment rate of any English region, having dropped 0.2 percentage points below the North East, but at 9.6% it is still 1.7 percentage points higher than the rate for England (7.9%).
The West Midlands has been the worst affected of all the regions with unemployment increasing by more in this region (2.3 percentage points) than any other over the year to November 2009:
Source: Office for National Statistics (Labour Force Survey, seasonally adjusted data)
The disproportionate impact of the recession on unemployment in the West Midlands is shown on the chart below. The gap between the unemployment rate in England and the West Midlands has risen considerably since the beginning of 2008:
Source: Office for National Statistics (Labour Force Survey, seasonally adjusted data)
Claimant count
There are now 180,500 people in the West Midlands claiming Jobseekers' Allowance (the unemployment benefit). This is 2,400 fewer than in November 2009.
This is the third month in a row to see a fall in the claimant count, from a peak of 185,300 in September 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:
Source: Office for National Statistics (claimant count, seasonally adjusted data)
At a sub-regional level there is wide variation in the numbers of people claiming Jobseekers' Allowance.
Data for December 2009 show that the percentage of working age people claiming Jobseekers' Allowance ranges from 2.2% in Stratford-on-Avon to 8.2% in Wolverhampton.
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 54,000 young people (aged 18–24) in the region claiming Jobseekers' Allowance, equating to more than one in ten young people (claimant rate 10.5%). This is the highest youth claimant rate among the English regions:
Source: Office for National Statistics (claimant count)
As with overall claimants, the number of young people claiming Jobseekers' Allowance fell very slightly between November and December 2009. However, these figures are not seasonally adjusted and so in the datasheet we have compared the latest monthly data with the same period a year ago.
Download the youth claimant rates by regions and Local Authority (December 2009) (XLS, 33kb)
In Wolverhampton the youth claimant rate is over 16% meaning that nearly one in six young people are unemployed and claiming Jobseeker's Allowance.
Definitions
There are three 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)
- Claimant count (numbers of people claiming unemployment benefit)