Unemployment geography

Unemployment data are available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) at national, country, regional and local area level. Estimates of UK unemployment levels and rates are available for each three-month period back to 1971.

At the sub-national level, quarterly LFS estimates of unemployment levels and rates are available for Great Britain, Government Office Regions (GORs) and Standard Statistical Regions (SSRs) back to spring 1992. Estimates for spring quarters back to 1984 are also available, for SSRs only. Northern Ireland data are available for each quarter, back to winter 1994/95 and only for spring quarters, back to 1984.

Unemployment rates for local authority areas are available from the quarterly LFS back to 1992. However, annual LFS data should be used for local areas, wherever possible, as the increased sample size provides more accurate estimates.

Annual LFS data are available back to 1994. The Annual Population Survey (APS) was introduced in 2004. The annual LFS and APS databases are compiled by taking data from four quarters of the quarterly LFS and since 2000, combining them with additional samples of interviews. The first sample boost was introduced in 2000 for some areas in England. In 2001 and 2003 further boosts were introduced in Wales and Scotland respectively. As the quarterly LFS covered seasonal quarters, the annual LFS covered spring to winter. Therefore, it covered the period from March of one year to February of the next. When the APS was introduced in 2004, the survey changed to cover calendar quarters. Further data are now published quarterly, but with each publication including one year's data. For more details see Volume 6 of the LFS User Guide.

The annual LFS and the APS provide estimates of unemployment rates for a range of geographies:

• Unitary and Local Authority Areas

• Local Education Authorities

• Parliamentary Constituencies

• Travel-To-Work-Areas

• Learning and Skills Councils

• Learning Partnerships

• Education and Learning Wales

• Community Consortia for Education and Training for Wales, and

• Local Enterprise Companies for Scotland

However, for most local areas, even the APS does not have a sufficiently large enough sample to provide precise estimates of unemployment. For this reason, a statistical model has been developed to improve the annual LFS/APS estimates of unemployment, for small areas. It uses supplementary information which is mainly the numbers of claimants of Jobseeker's Allowance (the claimant count). The model provides estimates of total unemployment only, for local authorities.

For breakdowns of unemployment by age or sex, APS data should be used. The model-based unemployment data are published with the same frequency as the APS outputs (that is quarterly publication, but with each publication including one year's data). A time series of model-based unemployment estimates is available back to 1996.

All key unemployment data are published on the Nomis® website. Tables showing sub-national data are also published monthly in the labour market statistics Regional First Releases and in Labour Market Trends. They are also published as part of the LFS Historical Quarterly Supplement. The availability of unemployment data at different geographical levels is given in the data availability guide.