UK labour market: December 2017

Estimates of employment, unemployment, economic inactivity and other employment-related statistics for the UK.

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Contact:
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Release date:
13 December 2017

Next release:
24 January 2018

1. Main points for August to October 2017

  • Estimates from the Labour Force Survey show that, between May to July 2017 and August to October 2017, the number of people in work fell, the number of unemployed people also fell, and the number of people aged from 16 to 64 not working and not seeking or available to work (economically inactive) increased.

  • There were 32.08 million people in work, 56,000 fewer than for May to July 2017 but 325,000 more than for a year earlier.

  • The employment rate (the proportion of people aged from 16 to 64 who were in work) was 75.1%, lower than for May to July 2017 (75.3%) but higher than for a year earlier (74.4%).

  • There were 1.43 million unemployed people (people not in work but seeking and available to work), 26,000 fewer than for May to July 2017 and 182,000 fewer than for a year earlier.

  • The unemployment rate (the proportion of those in work plus those unemployed, that were unemployed) was 4.3%, down from 4.8% for a year earlier and the joint lowest since 1975.

  • There were 8.86 million people aged from 16 to 64 who were economically inactive (not working and not seeking or available to work), 115,000 more than for May to July 2017 but 56,000 fewer than for a year earlier.

  • The inactivity rate (the proportion of people aged from 16 to 64 who were economically inactive) was 21.5%, higher than for May to July 2017 (21.2%) but lower than for a year earlier (21.7%).

  • Latest estimates show that average weekly earnings for employees in Great Britain in nominal terms (that is, not adjusted for price inflation) increased by 2.5% including bonuses and by 2.3% excluding bonuses, compared with a year earlier.

  • Latest estimates show that average weekly earnings for employees in Great Britain in real terms (that is, adjusted for price inflation) fell by 0.2% including bonuses, and fell by 0.4% excluding bonuses, compared with a year earlier.

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2. Summary of latest labour market statistics

Table 1 and Figure 1 show the latest estimates, for August to October 2017, for employment, unemployment and economic inactivity and show how these estimates compare with the previous quarter (May to July 2017) and the previous year (August to October 2016). Comparing the estimates for August to October 2017 with those for May to July 2017 provides the most robust short-term comparison. See Section 3 of this statistical bulletin for more information.

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3. Things you need to know about this release

Exceptional pre-release access for Bank of England

The Bank of England was granted exceptional pre-release access to this Statistical Bulletin at 9am on Monday 11 December 2017 so that the data were available for the Monetary Policy Committee meeting held on that day. Correspondence between ourselves and the Bank of England is available.

Revisions to estimates of workforce jobs and public sector employment

There have been revisions to estimates of Workforce Jobs going back several years caused by benchmarking to the latest estimates from the annual Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES), updating seasonal factors and taking on board late information.

There have been revisions to estimates of public sector employment back to the start of the time series in 1999 caused by taking account of late information, updating seasonal factors and some reclassifications.

About labour market statuses

Everybody aged 16 or over is either employed, unemployed or economically inactive. The employment estimates include all people in paid work including those working part-time. People not working are classed as unemployed if they have been looking for work within the last four weeks and are able to start work within the next two weeks. A common misconception is that the unemployment statistics are a count of people on benefits; this is not the case as they include unemployed people not claiming benefits.

Jobless people who have not been looking for work within the last four weeks or who are unable to start work within the next two weeks are classed as economically inactive. Examples of economically inactive people include people not looking for work because they are students, looking after the family or home, because of illness or disability or because they have retired.

Explaining the concepts of employment, unemployment and economic inactivity is available from the National Archives website as a short video.

Making comparisons with earlier data derived from the Labour Force Survey

Estimates of employment, unemployment, economic inactivity, hours worked and redundancies are derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), a survey of households. The most robust estimates of short-term movements in these estimates are obtained by comparing the estimates for August to October 2017 with the estimates for May to July 2017, which were first published on 13 September 2017. This provides a more robust estimate than comparing with the estimates for July to September 2017. This is because the August and September data are included within both estimates, so effectively observed differences are those between the individual months of July and October 2017. The LFS is sampled such that it is representative of the UK population over a three-month period, not for single month periods.

Accuracy and reliability of survey estimates

Most of the figures in this statistical bulletin come from surveys of households or businesses and are therefore estimates rather than precise figures. Further information is available in the Quality and Methodology section of this statistical bulletin.

Where to find explanatory information

A Guide to labour market statistics, which includes a Glossary, is available.

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4. Employment

Things you need to know about employment

Employment measures the number of people in work and differs from the number of jobs because some people have more than one job. Further information is available at Notes for Employment at the end of this section.

A comparison between estimates of employment and jobs is available.

Commentary

The proportion of people aged from 16 to 64 in work is known as the employment rate. Figure 2 shows the employment rates for people, men and women aged from 16 to 64 since comparable records began in 1971. The lowest employment rate for people was 65.6% in 1983, during the economic downturn of the early 1980s. The employment rates for people, men and women have been generally increasing since early 2012. For the latest time period, August to October 2017, the employment rate for people was 75.1%, up from 74.4% for a year earlier.

Figure 3 looks in more detail at the employment rate for people for the last five years.

For August to October 2017, 75.1% of people aged from 16 to 64 were in work, up from 74.4% for a year earlier. Looking at employment rates by sex, for August to October 2017:

  • 79.4% of men aged from 16 to 64 were in work; up from 79.1% for a year earlier

  • 70.8% of women aged from 16 to 64 were in work, up from 69.8% for a year earlier

The increase in the employment rate for women over the last few years has been partly due to ongoing changes to the State Pension age for women, resulting in fewer women retiring between the ages of 60 and 65.

For August to October 2017, there were 32.08 million people in work, 56,000 fewer than for May to July 2017 but 325,000 more than for a year earlier.

Figure 4 shows how the estimates for full-time and part-time employment by sex for August to October 2017 compare with those for a year earlier. The annual increase in the number of people in employment (325,000) was due to more people in full-time employment (337,000).

Comparing the estimates for type of employment for August to October 2017 with those for a year earlier:

  • employees increased by 284,000 to 27.08 million (84.4% of all people in work)

  • self-employed people increased by 50,000 to 4.81 million (15.0% of all people in work)

  • unpaid family workers fell by 16,000 to 110,000 (0.3% of all people in work); see Note 2 at the end of this section for an explanation of the coverage of this series

  • people on government-supported training and employment programmes were little changed at 78,000 (0.2% of all people in work); see Note 3 at the end of this section for an explanation of the coverage of this series

Where to find data about employment

Employment estimates are available at Tables 1 and 3 of the PDF version of this statistical bulletin and at datasets A02 SA and EMP01 SA.

Estimates of employment, unemployment and economic inactivity for UK and non-UK workers are available at Non-UK workers in the labour market and at datasets A12 and EMP06.

International comparisons of employment rates are available at Table 17 of the PDF version of this statistical bulletin and at dataset A10.

Historic estimates of employment back to the 18th century (which do not have National Statistics status) have been published by the Bank of England in the spreadsheet A millennium of macroeconomic data version 3 (at worksheets A49 and A50).

Notes for: Employment

  1. Employment consists of employees, self-employed people, unpaid family workers and people on government-supported training and employment programmes.

  2. Unpaid family workers are people who work in a family business who do not receive a formal wage or salary but benefit from the profits of that business.

  3. The government-supported training and employment programmes series does not include all people on these programmes; it only includes people engaging in any form of work, work experience or work-related training who are not included in the employees or self-employed series. People on these programmes not engaging in any form of work, work experience or work-related training are not included in the employment estimates; they are classified as unemployed or economically inactive.

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5. Public and private sector employment

Things you need to know about public and private sector employment

Public sector employment measures the number of people in paid work in the public sector. The public sector comprises central government, local government and public corporations. Estimates of public sector employment are obtained from information provided by public sector organisations.

Private sector employment is estimated as the difference between total employment, sourced from the Labour Force Survey, and public sector employment.

Comparisons of public and private sector employment over time are impacted by changes to the composition of these sectors. For example, if a publicly owned body is privatised, public sector employment will fall and private sector employment will increase by an equivalent amount. This is known as a reclassification effect. At Table 4 of the PDF version of this statistical bulletin and at dataset EMP02 we therefore publish estimates of public and private sector employment excluding the effects of major, but not all, reclassifications alongside estimates of total public and private sector employment.

Commentary

There were 5.49 million people employed in the public sector for September 2017. This was 19,000 more than for June 2017 and 21,000 more than for a year earlier. The largest contributor to these quarterly and annual increases in public sector employment was the National Health Service.

Figure 5 shows a breakdown of the 5.49 million people employed in the public sector for September 2017.

There were 26.59 million people employed in the private sector for September 2017. This was:

  • 75,000 fewer than for June 2017

  • 304,000 more than for a year earlier

For September 2017, 17.1% of all people in work were employed in the public sector and the remaining 82.9% worked in the private sector.

Where to find data about public and private sector employment

Public and private sector employment estimates are available at Tables 4 and 4(1) of the PDF version of this statistical bulletin and at datasets EMP02 and EMP03.

Further information on public sector employment is available in the Public sector employment release.

Historic estimates of public sector employment back to 1797 (which do not have National Statistics status) have been published by the Bank of England in the spreadsheet A millennium of macroeconomic data version 3 (at worksheet A51).

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6. Actual hours worked

Things you need to know about actual hours worked

Actual hours worked measures the number of hours worked in the economy. Changes in actual hours worked reflect changes in the number of people in employment and the average hours worked by those people.

Commentary

Between May to July 2017 and August to October 2017, total hours worked per week decreased by 5.9 million to 1.03 billion. The decrease in hours worked reflected 56,000 fewer people in employment (as explained in Section 4 of this statistical bulletin) and a small fall in the average hours worked by those people.

For August to October 2017:

  • people worked, on average, 32.0 hours per week, slightly fewer than for May to July 2017 but slightly more than for a year earlier

  • people working full-time worked, on average, 37.3 hours per week in their main job, fewer compared with May to July 2017 but unchanged compared with a year earlier

  • people working part-time worked, on average, 16.2 hours per week in their main job, slightly fewer compared with May to July 2017 but slightly more compared with a year earlier

Figure 6 shows total hours worked and the number of people in work, as indices, for the last five years.

Where to find data about hours worked

Hours worked estimates are available at Tables 7 and 7(1) of the PDF version of this statistical bulletin and at datasets HOUR01 SA and HOUR02 SA.

Historic estimates of hours worked back to the 18th century (which do not have National Statistics status) have been published by the Bank of England in the spreadsheet A millennium of macroeconomic data version 3 (at worksheet A54).

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7. Workforce jobs

Things you need to know about workforce jobs

Workforce jobs measures the number of filled jobs in the economy. The estimates are mainly sourced from employer surveys. Workforce jobs is a different concept from employment, which is sourced from the Labour Force Survey, as employment is an estimate of people in work and some people have more than one job.

A comparison between estimates of employment and jobs is available.

Commentary

For September 2017, there were 35.23 million workforce jobs, 162,000 more than for June 2017 and 577,000 more than for a year earlier.

Figure 7 shows changes in the number of jobs by industrial sector between September 2016 and September 2017.

Looking at a longer-term comparison, between June 1978 (when comparable records began) and September 2017:

  • the proportion of jobs accounted for by the manufacturing and mining and quarrying sectors fell from 26.4% to 7.8%

  • the proportion of jobs accounted for by the services sector increased from 63.2% to 83.4%

Where to find data about workforce jobs

Jobs estimates are available at Tables 5 and 6 of the PDF version of this statistical bulletin and at datasets JOBS01 and JOBS02.

While comparable estimates for workforce jobs by industry begin in 1978, some historical information back to 1841, not comparable with the latest estimates, are available from 2011 Census Analysis, 170 years of industry.

Historic estimates of jobs by industry back to the 19th century (which do not have National Statistics status) have been published by the Bank of England in the spreadsheet A millennium of macroeconomic data version 3 (at worksheet A53).

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8. Average weekly earnings

Things you need to know about average weekly earnings

Average weekly earnings measures money paid per week, per job to employees in Great Britain in return for work done, before tax and other deductions from pay. The estimates are not just a measure of pay rises as they do not, for example, adjust for changes in the proportion of the workforce who work full-time or part-time, or other compositional changes within the workforce. The estimates do not include earnings of self-employed people.

Estimates are available for both total pay (which includes bonuses) and for regular pay (which excludes bonus payments). Estimates are available in both nominal terms (not adjusted for consumer price inflation) and real terms (adjusted for consumer price inflation). Further information is available at Notes for Average weekly earnings at the end of this section.

Commentary

For October 2017 in nominal terms (that is, not adjusted for price inflation):

  • average regular pay (excluding bonuses) for employees in Great Britain was £478 per week before tax and other deductions from pay, up from £467 per week for a year earlier

  • average total pay (including bonuses) for employees in Great Britain was £510 per week before tax and other deductions from pay, up from £498 per week for a year earlier

Between August to October 2016 and August to October 2017, in nominal terms, regular pay increased by 2.3%, little changed compared with the growth rate between July to September 2016 and July to September 2017 (2.2%).

Between August to October 2016 and August to October 2017, in nominal terms, total pay increased by 2.5%, which is higher than the growth rate between July to September 2016 and July to September 2017 (2.3%).

Figure 8 compares the annual growth rates for both regular and total pay, in nominal terms, for the last five years.

Looking at longer-term movements, average total pay for employees in Great Britain in nominal terms increased from £376 per week in January 2005 to £510 per week in October 2017; an increase of 35.5%. Over the same period, the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) increased by 33.3%.

For October 2017 in real terms (constant 2015 prices):

  • average regular pay (excluding bonuses) for employees in Great Britain was £459 per week before tax and other deductions from pay, £14 lower than the pre-downturn peak of £473 per week recorded for March 2008

  • average total pay (including bonuses) for employees in Great Britain was £490 per week before tax and other deductions from pay, £32 lower than the pre-downturn peak of £522 per week recorded for February 2008

Figure 9 shows average weekly earnings for total pay and regular pay in real terms (constant 2015 prices) since comparable records began in 2005.

Between August to October 2016 and August to October 2017, in real terms (that is, adjusted for consumer price inflation), regular pay for employees in Great Britain fell by 0.4% and total pay for employees in Great Britain fell by 0.2%.

A more detailed analysis of earnings growth in real terms is available in Analysis of real earnings.

Where to find data about average weekly earnings

Estimates of average weekly earnings in nominal terms (that is, not adjusted for consumer price inflation) are available at Tables 13, 14 and 15 of the PDF version of this statistical bulletin and at datasets EARN01, EARN02 and EARN03.

Estimates of average weekly earnings in real terms (that is, adjusted for consumer price inflation) are available at Table 16 of the PDF version of this statistical bulletin and at dataset EARN01.

While comparable records for average weekly earnings start in 2000, modelled estimates of average weekly earnings in nominal terms back to 1963 (which do not have National Statistics status) are available at dataset EARN02.

Estimates back to 1209 (which do not have National Statistics status) have been published by the Bank of England in the spreadsheet A millennium of macroeconomic data version 3 (at worksheets A47 and A48).

Where to find more information about earnings

Analysis of real earnings provides a more detailed analysis of real earnings.

An article looking at bonus payments is published annually. The most recent edition of this article was published on 19 September 2017.

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), published on 26 October 2017, provides more detailed data for 2017.

Notes for: Average Weekly Earnings

  1. The estimates relate to Great Britain and include salaries but not unearned income, benefits in kind or arrears of pay.

  2. As well as pay settlements, the estimates reflect bonuses, changes in the number of paid hours worked and the impact of employees paid at different rates joining and leaving individual businesses. The estimates also reflect changes in the overall structure of the workforce; for example, more low paid jobs in the economy would have a downward effect on the earnings growth rate.

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9. Labour disputes (not seasonally adjusted)

Things you need to know about labour disputes

Labour disputes estimates measure strikes connected with terms and conditions of employment.

Commentary

For October 2017:

  • there were 7,000 working days lost from 11 stoppages

  • 3,000 people took strike action

These are historically low figures when looking at the long-run monthly time series back to the 1930s.

Since monthly records began in December 1931:

  • the highest cumulative 12-month estimate for working days lost was 32.2 million for the 12 months to April 1980

  • the lowest cumulative 12-month estimate for working days lost was 143,000 for the 12 months to March 2011

For the 12 months ending October 2017:

  • there were 299,000 working days lost from 80 stoppages

  • 45,000 people took strike action

Figure 10 shows an industrial breakdown of the 299,000 working days lost for the 12 months ending October 2017. A more detailed industrial breakdown is available at datasets LABD02 and LABD03.

Where to find data about labour disputes

Labour disputes estimates are available at Table 18 of the PDF version of this statistical bulletin and at dataset LABD01.

Where to find more information about labour disputes

The labour disputes annual article provides more detailed information. The most recent edition of this article was published on 30 May 2017.

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10. Unemployment

Things you need to know about unemployment

Unemployment measures people without a job who have been actively seeking work within the last four weeks and are available to start work within the next two weeks.

The unemployment rate is not the proportion of the total population who are unemployed. It is the proportion of the economically active population (those in work plus those seeking and available to work) who are unemployed. This follows guidelines specified by the International Labour Organisation and it ensures that UK unemployment statistics are broadly comparable with those published by other countries.

Commentary

The proportion of economically active people aged 16 and over who are out of work and seeking work is known as the unemployment rate. As shown in Figure 11 (which shows unemployment rates for people, men and women), the lowest unemployment rate for people recorded since comparable records began in 1971 was 3.4% in late 1973 to early 1974 and the highest rate, 11.9%, was recorded in 1984 during the downturn of the early 1980s. The unemployment rate for people for the latest time period, August to October 2017, at 4.3%, was the joint lowest since 1975.

Figure 12 looks in more detail at the unemployment rates for the last five years.

For August to October 2017:

  • the unemployment rate for people was 4.3%; it has not been lower since March to May 1975

  • the unemployment rate for men was 4.4%

  • the unemployment rate for women was 4.1%; the lowest since comparable records began in 1971

For August to October 2017, there were:

  • 1.43 million unemployed people, 26,000 fewer than for May to July 2017 and 182,000 fewer than for a year earlier

  • 783,000 unemployed men, little changed compared with May to July 2017 but 103,000 fewer than for a year earlier

  • 647,000 unemployed women, 21,000 fewer than for May to July 2017 and 80,000 fewer than for a year earlier

Looking at unemployment by how long people have been out of work and seeking work, for August to October 2017, there were:

  • 835,000 people who had been unemployed for up to six months, 115,000 fewer than for a year earlier

  • 219,000 people who had been unemployed for between six months and one year, 25,000 fewer than for a year earlier

  • 375,000 people who had been unemployed for over one year, 43,000 fewer than for a year earlier

Where to find data about unemployment

Unemployment estimates for the UK are available at Table 9 of the PDF version of this statistical bulletin and at dataset UNEM01 SA.

Estimates of employment, unemployment and economic inactivity for UK and non-UK workers are available at Non-UK workers in the labour market and at datasets A12 and EMP06.

Historic estimates of unemployment back to the 18th century (which do not have National Statistics status) have been published by the Bank of England in the spreadsheet A millennium of macroeconomic data version 3 (at worksheets A49 and A50).

International comparisons of unemployment rates are available at Table 17 of the PDF version of this statistical bulletin and at dataset A10.

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11. Economic inactivity

Things you need to know about economic inactivity

Economically inactive people are not in employment but do not meet the internationally accepted definition of unemployment because they have not been seeking work within the last four weeks and/or they are unable to start work within the next two weeks.

Commentary

The proportion of people, aged from 16 to 64, not in work and neither seeking nor available to work is known as the economic inactivity rate. Figure 13 shows that, since comparable records began in 1971, the economic inactivity rate for people has been generally falling (although it increased during economic downturns) due to a gradual fall in the economic inactivity rate for women. The economic inactivity rate for men has been gradually rising.

For August to October 2017:

  • the economic inactivity rate for people was 21.5%, higher than for May to July 2017 (21.2%) but lower compared with a year earlier (21.7%)

  • the economic inactivity rate for men was 16.8%, higher than for May to July 2017 (16.4%) and higher than for a year earlier (16.6%)

  • the economic inactivity rate for women was 26.2%, higher than for May to July 2017 (26.0%) but lower than for a year earlier (26.7%)

Figure 14 looks in more detail at the economic inactivity rate for people since comparable records began in 1971. The economic inactivity rate for people increased during the downturn of the early 1980s, reaching a record high of 25.9% in 1983. As the economy improved in the late 1980s, it resumed its downward path, before the economic downturn of the early 1990s drove it back up again.

Following an increase in the economic inactivity rate during the economic downturn of 2008 to 2009, it again resumed a generally downward path, although the latest figures show an increase between May to July 2017 (21.2%) and August to October 2017 (21.5%).

For August to October 2017, there were 8.86 million people aged from 16 to 64 not in work and neither seeking nor available to work (known as economically inactive). This was 115,000 more than for May to July 2017 but 56,000 fewer than for a year earlier.

Looking in more detail at the 8.86 million people aged from 16 to 64 who were economically inactive for August to October 2017, the two largest categories were students (26.7% of the total) and people looking after the family or home (23.5% of the total):

  • there were 2.36 million people who were not looking for work because they were studying, 35,000 more than for May to July 2017 and 33,000 more than for a year earlier

  • there were 2.08 million people who were not looking for work because they were looking after the family or home, 14,000 fewer than for May to July 2017 and 146,000 fewer than for a year earlier

The third and fourth largest categories were long-term sick (22.8% of the total) and retired (13.3% of the total):

  • there were 2.02 million people who were not looking for work due to long-term sickness, 24,000 more than for May to July 2017 and 35,000 more than for a year earlier

  • there were 1.18 million people who were not looking for work because they had retired, 15,000 fewer than for May to July 2017 but 14,000 more than for a year earlier

Figure 15 shows the four largest categories of economic inactivity for the last five years. While the number of people younger than 65 years in the retired category increased by 14,000 compared with a year earlier, it was 395,000 fewer compared with August to October 2011. This reflects ongoing changes to the State Pension age for women, resulting in fewer women retiring between the ages of 60 and 65.

Where to find data about economic inactivity

Economic inactivity estimates are available at Tables 1 and 11 of the PDF version of this statistical bulletin and at datasets A02 SA and INAC01 SA.

Estimates of employment, unemployment and economic inactivity for UK and non-UK workers are available at Non-UK workers in the labour market and at datasets A12 and EMP06.

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12. Young people in the labour market

Things you need to know about young people in the labour market

This section looks at people aged from 16 to 24. It is a common misconception that all people in full-time education are classified as economically inactive. This is not the case as people in full-time education are included in the employment estimates if they have a part-time job and are included in the unemployment estimates if they are seeking part-time work.

Commentary

For August to October 2017, for people aged from 16 to 24, there were:

  • 3.84 million people in work (including 853,000 full-time students with part-time jobs)

  • 523,000 unemployed people (including 186,000 full-time students looking for part-time work)

  • 2.72 million economically inactive people, most of whom (2.09 million) were full-time students

Figure 17 shows how the latest estimates, for August to October 2017, for employment, unemployment and economic inactivity for people aged from 16 to 24 compare with the previous quarter (May to July 2017) and the previous year (August to October 2016). The chart shows that, while the overall UK household population is increasing, it is falling for the 16 to 24 age group.

For August to October 2017, the unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds was 12.0%, lower than for a year earlier (13.0%).

The unemployment rate for those aged from 16 to 24 has been consistently higher than that for older age groups. Since comparable records began in 1992:

  • the lowest youth unemployment rate was 11.6% for March to May 2001

  • the highest youth unemployment rate was 22.5% for late 2011

Between March to May 1992 (when comparable records began) and August to October 2017, the proportion of people aged from 16 to 24 who were in full-time education increased substantially from 26.2% to 44.2%. This increase in the number of young people going into full-time education has reduced the size of the economically active population (those in work plus those seeking and available to work) and therefore increased the unemployment rate (because the unemployment rate is the proportion of the economically active population who are unemployed).

Where to find data about young people in the labour market

Estimates for young people in the labour market are available at Table 12 of the PDF version of this statistical bulletin and at dataset A06 SA.

Where to find more information about young people in the labour market

Estimates for young people who were Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) for July to September 2017 were published on 23 November 2017.

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13. Redundancies

Things you need to know about redundancies

The redundancies estimates measure the number of people who were made redundant or who took voluntary redundancy in the three months before the Labour Force Survey interviews.

Commentary

For August to October 2017, 100,000 people had become redundant in the three months before the Labour Force Survey interviews, 11,000 fewer than for May to July 2017 and 18,000 fewer than for a year earlier.

Figure 18 shows the number of redundancies since comparable records began in 1995.

Where to find data about redundancies

Redundancies estimates are available at Tables 22 and 23 of the PDF version of this statistical bulletin and at datasets RED01 SA and RED02.

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14. Vacancies

Things you need to know about vacancies

Vacancies are defined as positions for which employers are actively seeking to recruit outside their business or organisation.

Commentary

There were 798,000 job vacancies for September to November 2017. This was:

  • 14,000 more than for June to August 2017

  • 45,000 more than for a year earlier

  • the highest figure since comparable records began in 2001

Figure 19 shows the number of job vacancies since comparable records began in 2001.

There were 707,000 job vacancies in the services sectors for September to November 2017, accounting for 88.6% of all vacancies. Looking at services in more detail, the sectors with the largest number of job vacancies were wholesaling, retailing and repair of motor vehicles (144,000) and human health and social work (122,000).

There were 2.7 job vacancies per 100 filled employee jobs for September to November 2017. The industrial sector showing the largest vacancy rate was accommodation and food service activities (4.3 vacancies per 100 filled employee jobs) and the sector showing the smallest vacancy rate was public administration and defence (1.3 vacancies per 100 filled employee jobs).

Where to find data about vacancies

Vacancies estimates are available at Tables 19, 20 and 21 of the PDF version of this statistical bulletin and at datasets VACS01, VACS02 and VACS03.

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15. Future publication dates

Publication dates for 2018 are:

24 January 2018
21 February 2018
21 March 2018
18 April 2018
16 May 2018
13 June 2018
18 July 2018
15 August 2018
12 September 2018
17 October 2018
14 November 2018
12 December 2018

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17. Quality and methodology

Revisions

Estimates for the most recent time periods are subject to revision due to the receipt of late and corrected responses to business surveys and revisions to seasonal adjustment factors which are re-estimated every month. Estimates are subject to longer run revisions, on an annual basis, resulting from reviews of the seasonal adjustment process. Estimates derived from the Labour Force Survey (a survey of households) are usually only revised once a year. Revisions to estimates derived from other sources are usually minor and are commented on in the statistical bulletin if this is not the case. Further information is available in the labour market statistics revisions policy.

One indication of the reliability of the main indicators in this statistical bulletin can be obtained by monitoring the size of revisions. Datasets EMP05, UNEM04 and JOBS06 record the size and pattern of revisions over the last five years. These indicators only report summary measures for revisions. The revised data itself may be subject to sampling or other sources of error. Our standard presentation is to show five years worth of revisions (60 observations for a monthly series, 20 for a quarterly series).

Accuracy of the statistics: estimating and reporting uncertainty

Most of the figures in this statistical bulletin come from surveys of households or businesses. Surveys gather information from a sample rather than from the whole population. The sample is designed to allow for this, and to be as accurate as possible given practical limitations such as time and cost constraints, but results from sample surveys are always estimates, not precise figures. This means that they are subject to some uncertainty. This can have an impact on how changes in the estimates should be interpreted, especially for short-term comparisons.

We can illustrate the level of uncertainty (also called “sampling variability”) around a survey estimate by defining a range around the estimate (known as a “confidence interval”) within which we think the real value that the survey is trying to measure lies. Confidence intervals are typically defined so that we can say we are 95% confident the true value lies within the range – in which case we refer to a “95% confidence interval”.

The number of people unemployed for August to October 2017 was estimated at 1,429,000, with a stated 95% confidence interval of plus or minus 72,000. This means that we are 95% confident that the true number of unemployed people was between 1,357,000 and 1,501,000. Again, the best estimate from the survey was that the number of unemployed people was 1,429,000.

As well as calculating precision measures around the numbers and rates obtained from the survey, we can also calculate them for changes in the numbers. For example, for August to October 2017, the estimated change in the number of unemployed people since May to July 2017 was a fall of 26,000, with a 95% confidence interval of plus or minus 77,000. This means that we are 95% confident the actual change in unemployment was somewhere between an increase of 51,000 and a fall of 103,000, with the best estimate being a fall of 26,000. As the estimated fall in unemployment of 26,000 is smaller than 77,000, the estimated fall in unemployment is said to be “not statistically significant”.

In general, changes in the numbers (and especially the rates) reported in this statistical bulletin between three-month periods are small, and are not usually greater than the level that is explainable by sampling variability. In practice, this means that small, short-term movements in reported rates should be treated as indicative, and considered alongside medium and long-term patterns in the series and corresponding movements in administrative sources, where available, to give a fuller picture.

Where to find data about uncertainty and reliability

Dataset A11 shows sampling variabilities for estimates derived from the Labour Force Survey.

Dataset JOBS07 shows sampling variabilities for estimates of workforce jobs.

The sampling variability of the three-month average vacancies level is around plus or minus 1.5% of that level.

Sampling variability information for average weekly earnings growth rates are available from the “Sampling Variability” worksheets within datasets EARN01 and EARN03.

Seasonal adjustment and uncertainty

Like many economic indicators, the labour market is affected by factors that tend to occur at around the same time every year; for example, school leavers entering the labour market in July and whether Easter falls in March or April. In order to compare movements other than annual changes in labour market statistics, such as since the previous quarter or since the previous month, the data are seasonally adjusted to remove the effects of seasonal factors and the arrangement of the calendar. All estimates discussed in this statistical bulletin are seasonally adjusted except where otherwise stated. While seasonal adjustment is essential to allow for robust comparisons through time, it is not possible to estimate uncertainty measures for the seasonally adjusted series.

Quality and Methodology Information reports

The Quality and Methodology Information reports contain important information on:

  • the strengths and limitations of the data and how it compares with related data

  • users and uses of the data

  • how the output was created

  • the quality of the output including the accuracy of the data

Labour Force Survey Quality and Methodology Information

Labour Force Survey performance and quality monitoring reports

Vacancy Survey Quality and Methodology Information

Workforce Jobs Quality and Methodology Information

Average weekly earnings (AWE) Quality and Methodology Information

Labour Disputes Quality and Methodology Information

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