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UK unemployment since 2005

July 22, 2011 Comments off

UK unemployment since 2005
Source: Office for National Statistics

The UK experienced a long period of falling unemployment rates after the end of the early 1990s recession where it stood at 10.7 per cent at the start of 1993. The unemployment rate levelled off from around 2001 and reached a low in the UK of 4.7 per cent at the beginning of 2005. This was followed by a small rise and then a sharper increase during the 2008-2009 recession.

Looking at the overall period from Jan-Mar 2005 to the latest quarter Mar-May 2011, the increase (difference between peaks and lows) in unemployment rates varied across regions:

  • The increase was largest in West Midlands (6.1 percentage points) and Yorkshire and The Humber (5.3 percentage points)
  • The increase was lowest in the South East (2.7 percentage points), East of England (3.0 percentage points), London (3.2 percentage points) and the South West (3.5 percentage points)

Between 2005 and the latest quarter (Mar-May 2011), the three regions with the highest peaks in unemployment rates were:

  • West Midlands, where unemployment peaked at 10.6 per cent in Apr-Jun 2009
  • North East, where unemployment peaked at 10.4 per cent in Jan-Mar 2011
  • Yorkshire and The Humber, where unemployment peaked at 9.7 per cent in Jan-Mar 2010

Data from the most recent quarter (Mar-May 2011) show the highest unemployment rate for North East, at 9.8 per cent, and lowest unemployment rate for South East, at 5.7 per cent.

Categories: labor, Office for National Statistics, United Kingdom

Commuting to work: Half-hour to work for 75% in UK

June 6, 2011 Comments off

Commuting to work: Half-hour to work for 75% in UK
Source: Office for National Statistics

Looking at the UK as a whole, around 3 in 4, or 75 per cent of workers take half an hour or less to travel from home to work

However, commuting patterns are vastly different between workers in London and those working in the rest of the UK.

People working in London, in particular central London, tend to travel longer to get to work, with more than half, 56 per cent, needing to commute for more than thirty minutes to get to work every day. In contrast, of those working in the rest of the UK, only 20 per cent need to travel as long to reach their workplace.

In the final quarter of 2009, around 3 in 5, or 59 per cent of all workers in the UK worked and lived in the same local authority district. The remaining, 41 per cent, worked in a different local authority district from the one in which they lived.

Categories: labor, Office for National Statistics, transportation and travel, United Kingdom

UK — Royal-ing back the years

April 27, 2011 Comments off

Royal-ing back the years (PDF)
Source: Office for National Statistics

As Prince William and Kate Middleton prepare to tie the knot at Westminster Abbey, ONS has taken a look back to 1981, when the prince’s parents’ wedding captured the attention of a nation and the world. How does today’s society compare with three decades ago when we look at the numbers that count?

In 1981, Charles and Diana were one of 351,973 couples who tied the knot in England and Wales – 36,526 in the same month, July. However, July wasn’t the most popular month for weddings that year – that was August, which saw 43,247.

By contrast, in 2009 – the most recent year the ONS has figures for – there were only 231,490 marriages. This was the lowest number since William’s great-great-great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria was on the throne, in 1895.

Over the last three decades marriage rates have fallen considerably and the number of marriages have therefore fallen. Important drivers of this trend are that men and women are delaying getting married, or not marrying at all. Meanwhile there has been an increase in the number of people cohabiting, as a precursor to, or instead of marrying.

Categories: marriage and divorce, Office for National Statistics, social and cultural issues, United Kingdom

UK — CPI and RPI: The 2011 Basket of Goods

March 21, 2011 Comments off

CPI and RPI: The 2011 Basket of Goods
Source: Office for National Statistics

The ‘shopping basket’ of items making up the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) and Retail Prices Index (RPI) are reviewed every year.

Some items are taken out of the basket and some are brought in, to reflect changes in the market and to make sure the CPI and RPI are up-to-date and representative of consumer spending patterns.

This article describes the review process and explains how and why the various items in the CPI and RPI baskets are chosen.

+ Full Document (PDF)

Categories: business and economics, consumer issues, Office for National Statistics, United Kingdom

UK — Older people in the labour market

March 11, 2011 Comments off

Older people in the labour market
Source: Office for National Statistics

Of those aged 65 and over in October to December 2010:

  • 2.7 per cent (270,000) worked full-time, up from 1.2 per cent (106,000) in January to March 2001
  • 6.1 per cent (600,000) worked part-time, up from 3.4 per cent (306,000) in January to March 2001

The 870,000 workers aged 65 and over made up 3.0 per cent of all workers in October to December 2010. This percentage has doubled over the last decade, when it was 1.5 per cent in January to March 2001, with 412,000 people aged 65 and over in work.

Categories: age and aging, labor, Office for National Statistics, United Kingdom
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