Employment, unemployment and economic inactivity in Solihull
In Solihull:
These estimates are less precise than national or regional figures because they are based on smaller numbers of survey respondents.
Local population changes also 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.
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 Solihull has increased compared with the previous year
Solihull's employment rate was higher than across the West Midlands as a whole in the year ending September 2023.
Of people aged 16 to 64 years living in Solihull, 77.9% were employed in the year ending September 2023. This is an increase compared with the year ending September 2022 when the local rate was 75.1%.
Across the West Midlands in the year ending September 2023, 74.8% of people aged 16 to 64 years were employed. This was higher compared with the previous year, when 73.6% of people were employed.
Overall, there were 103,000 people aged 16 and over in Solihull who were employed in the year ending September 2023. This is up from the previous year, when there were 97,300 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.
Unemployment decreased in Solihull 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 3,800 people aged 16 and over in Solihull were unemployed in the year ending September 2023. This is a rate of 3.6%.
This was a decrease compared with the year ending September 2022 when the unemployment rate was 4.6%.
Across the West Midlands, from the year ending September 2022 to the year ending September 2023, there was a decrease in the unemployment rate from 4.9% to 4.5%.
Year on year, the number of people unemployed in the West Midlands fell from around 144,000 to around 133,000 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.
Claimant Count in Solihull was slightly 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 Solihull was 4110 in December 2023, up from December 2022, when there were 4040 claimants.
The proportion of people aged 16 to 64 years in Solihull who were claiming unemployment-related benefits was 3.2% in December 2023, a slight increase compared with December 2022 when it was 3.1%.
Economic inactivity has decreased in Solihull compared with the previous year
Around 24,100 people or 19.1% of the population aged 16 to 64 years in Solihull were "economically inactive" in the year ending September 2023. This compares with around 25,300 people (20.1%) 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 Solihull is lower than across the West Midlands and Great Britain.
Across the West Midlands, 21.6% 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 22.5% 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.
More data about Solihull
You can view and download more local labour market data on the Solihull area profile page on Nomis.
Find more facts and figures about Solihull.
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.