Employment, unemployment and economic inactivity in Bristol

In Bristol:

Estimates of employment and economic inactivity are based on the Annual Population Survey. Unemployment estimates are modelled to improve their precision compared to those based only on responses provided via the Annual Population Survey.

The Claimant Count is based on administrative data from the benefits system. These data are experimental statistics.

Employment in Bristol has decreased compared with the previous year

Bristol's employment rate was lower than across the South West as a whole in the year ending September 2023.

Of people aged 16 to 64 years living in Bristol, 76.7% were employed in the year ending September 2023. This is a decrease compared with the year ending September 2022 when the local rate was 81.6%.

Across the South West in the year ending September 2023, 78.9% of people aged 16 to 64 years were employed. This was higher compared with the previous year, when 78.1% of people were employed.

Overall, there were 253,000 people aged 16 and over in Bristol who were employed in the year ending September 2023. This is down from the previous year, when there were 268,000 people aged 16 and over who were employed.

Local population changes mean that the numbers of people in each area who are employed, unemployed and economically inactive in this article may be under- or over-estimates.

Back to top

Unemployment rose in Bristol compared with the previous year

Unemployment estimates are modelled to improve their precision compared to those based only on responses provided via the Annual Population Survey.

Around 9,200 people aged 16 and over in Bristol were unemployed in the year ending September 2023. This is a rate of 3.5%.

This was an increase compared with the year ending September 2022 when the unemployment rate was 3.1%.

Across the South West, from the year ending September 2022 to the year ending September 2023, there was a decrease in the unemployment rate from 2.7% to 2.5%.

Year on year, the number of people unemployed in the South West fell from around 75,400 to around 72,200 over the same period.

Unemployment across Great Britain stayed at a similar rate between the year ending September 2022 and the year ending September 2023, going from around 1,200,000 people (3.7%) to around 1,240,000 (3.7%).

Unemployed people are those without jobs who are actively seeking work and available to take up a job. Some jobless people may not seek work or be able to work for various reasons, such as retirement, sickness, or study, and are called "economically inactive".

This means that the employment rate and the unemployment rate can both go up at the same time as people move into the labour market and become job seekers.

The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed people out of everyone "economically active" in the labour market, that is, everyone who is employed or looking for work. The employment rate is out of the working-age population including "economically inactive" people.

Back to top

Claimant Count in Bristol was higher than in the previous year

The Claimant Count is an experimental statistic that measures the number of people who are claiming unemployment-related benefits.

The Claimant Count in Bristol was 11455 in December 2023, up from December 2022, when there were 10865 claimants.

The proportion of people aged 16 to 64 years in Bristol who were claiming unemployment-related benefits was 3.5% in December 2023, an increase compared with December 2022 when it was 3.3%.

Back to top

Economic inactivity has increased in Bristol compared with the previous year

Around 65,300 people or 20.2% of the population aged 16 to 64 years in Bristol were "economically inactive" in the year ending September 2023. This compares with around 52,700 people (16.4%) in the year ending September 2022.

People are classed as "economically inactive" if they are not in employment but don't meet the criteria for being "unemployed". This means they have not been seeking work within the previous four weeks or were unable to start work within the next two weeks. Common reasons include being retired, looking after the home or family or being temporarily or long-term sick and disabled.

Economic inactivity in Bristol is higher than across the South West.

Across the South West, 19.0% of people aged 16 to 64 years were economically inactive during the year ending September 2023, a decrease compared with the year ending September 2022 when 19.7% were economically inactive.

Overall in Great Britain, 21.2% of people aged 16 to 64 years were economically inactive, compared with 21.6% in the previous year.

Back to top

More data about Bristol

You can view and download more local labour market data on the Bristol area profile page on Nomis.

Find more facts and figures about Bristol.

More data on the labour market

The most recent labour market figures for all local authorities are in our associated data release.

You can also read our most recent labour market overview.

Historic data is available on Nomis. For employment and economic inactivity, see estimates from the Annual Population Survey. Data for model-based unemployment and Claimant Count (non-seasonally adjusted) are also available.

About this article

The content in this article is generated using semi-automated journalism, based on rules pre-programmed by Office for National Statistics (ONS) staff.

This is a new product in Beta release, intended to improve the accessibility of labour market data at local level. Leave us general feedback or contact the subnational analysis team by emailing subnational@ons.gov.uk.

Articles are not available for Isles of Scilly and City of London, as the survey samples of the resident population are too small.

Previous editions

This pilot release was originally published on October 5 2023 and was updated with new data on November 9 2023. For transparency, all data previously provided in the release are listed below.

Download data for the October 5 and November 9, 2023 editions of Employment, unemployment and related statistics for your area, 354KB, XLSX.