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Labour Market Profile
Wales

The profile brings together data from several sources. Details about these and related terminology are given in the definitions section.

All figures are the most recent available.

  Resident population
  Headline indicators
  Employment by occupation - unadjusted
  Qualifications
  Earnings by residence
  Out-of-work benefits
  Workforce jobs
  Jobcentre plus vacancies

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RESIDENT POPULATION

  Wales
(level)
United Kingdom
(level)
All people 3,063,800 63,232,600
Males 1,504,500 31,074,400
Females 1,559,300 32,158,200
Source: mid-year population estimates

  Wales
(level)
Wales
(%)
United Kingdom
(level)
United Kingdom
(%)
All people 1,941,500 63.4 40,895,000 64.7
Males 965,700 64.2 20,355,200 65.5
Females 975,900 62.6 20,539,800 63.9
Source: mid-year population estimates

Notes: % is a proportion of total population

LABOUR SUPPLY

  Wales
(level)
Wales
(%)
United Kingdom
(level)
United Kingdom
(%)
All people
Economically active 1,482,000 75.8 32,226,000 77.6
In employment 1,361,000 69.5 29,708,000 71.4
Unemployed§ 121,000 8.2 2,518,000 7.8
Economically inactive 459,000 24.2 9,003,000 22.4
Males
Economically active 790,000 80.9 17,319,000 83.3
In employment 720,000 73.6 15,889,000 76.2
Unemployed§ 71,000 8.9 1,430,000 8.3
Economically inactive 179,000 19.1 3,346,000 16.7
Females
Economically active 692,000 70.7 14,907,000 72.0
In employment 641,000 65.5 13,819,000 66.6
Unemployed§ 50,000 7.3 1,088,000 7.3
Economically inactive 280,000 29.3 5,657,000 28.0
Source: Labour Force Survey

level are for those aged 16 and over, % are for those aged 16-64
level and % are for those aged 16-64
§level and % are for those aged 16 and over. % is a proportion of economically active

  Wales
(level)
Wales
(%)
United Kingdom
(level)
United Kingdom
(%)
All people
Total 502,100 26.5 9,330,200 23.2
Student 126,600 25.2 2,368,700 25.4
looking after family/home 107,800 21.5 2,342,900 25.1
temporary sick 11,900 2.4 182,500 2.0
long-term sick 134,200 26.7 2,069,400 22.2
discouraged 2,700 0.5 79,400 0.9
retired 83,200 16.6 1,503,900 16.1
other 35,600 7.1 783,500 8.4
 
wants a job 125,200 24.9 2,293,000 24.6
does not want a job 376,900 75.1 7,037,200 75.4
Source: ONS annual population survey

Notes: numbers are for those aged 16-64
% is a proportion of those economically inactive, except total, which is a proportion of those aged 16-64

  Wales
(level)
Wales
(%)
United Kingdom
(level)
United Kingdom
(%)
Soc 2010 major group 1-3 513,300 39.2 12,751,700 43.8
1 Managers, directors and senior officials 120,500 9.1 2,948,700 10.1
2 Professional occupations 233,500 17.7 5,683,700 19.4
3 Associate professional & technical 159,400 12.1 4,119,200 14.1
Soc 2010 major group 4-5 306,500 23.4 6,308,100 21.7
4 Administrative & secretarial 141,700 10.7 3,205,200 10.9
5 Skilled trades occupations 164,800 12.5 3,102,900 10.6
Soc 2010 major group 6-7 245,000 18.7 5,023,800 17.3
6 Caring, leisure and other service occupations 135,100 10.2 2,631,900 9.0
7 Sales and customer service occs 110,000 8.3 2,391,900 8.2
Soc 2010 major group 8-9 243,400 18.6 5,025,400 17.3
8 Process plant & machine operatives 94,100 7.1 1,847,000 6.3
9 Elementary occupations 149,300 11.3 3,178,400 10.8
Source: ONS annual population survey

Notes: level and % are for those aged 16+
% is a proportion of all persons in employment

  Wales
(level)
Wales
(%)
United Kingdom
(level)
United Kingdom
(%)
Individual levels
NVQ4 and above 572,500 30.3 13,693,400 34.2
NVQ3 330,600 17.5 6,831,700 17.1
Trade Apprenticeships 72,700 3.8 1,467,400 3.7
NVQ2 341,300 18.1 6,722,300 16.8
NVQ1 230,900 12.2 4,855,000 12.1
Other qualifications 124,800 6.6 2,514,100 6.3
No qualifications 216,100 11.4 3,975,900 9.9
Composite levels
NVQ4 and above 572,500 30.3 13,693,400 34.2
NVQ3 and above 975,800 51.7 21,992,400 54.9
NVQ2 and above 1,317,200 69.7 28,714,700 71.7
NVQ1 and above 1,548,100 82.0 33,569,700 83.8
Source: ONS annual population survey

Notes: For an explanation of the qualification levels see the definitions section.
level and % are for those aged 16-64
% is a proportion of resident population of area aged 16-64

  Wales
(pounds)
United Kingdom
(pounds)
Gross weekly pay
Full-time workers 455.0 505.9
Male full-time workers 493.0 545.8
Female full-time workers 406.7 448.6
Hourly pay
Full-time workers 11.63 12.82
Male full-time workers 12.22 13.41
Female full-time workers 10.85 12.01
Source: ONS annual survey of hours and earnings - resident analysis

Note: Median earnings in pounds for employees living in the area.

OUT-OF-WORK BENEFITS

The Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) is payable to people under pensionable age who are available for, and actively seeking, work of at least 40 hours a week.

The seasonally adjusted estimates in this table are consistent with the headline claimant count measure.

  Wales
(level)
Wales
(%)
United Kingdom
(level)
United Kingdom
(%)
All people 77,700 5.3 1,520,700 4.5
Males 51,900 6.7 991,700 5.5
Females 25,800 3.8 529,000 3.4
Source: ONS claimant count - seasonally adjusted

Note: % is a proportion of claimant count + workforce jobs total

The unadjusted estimates in this table are not consistent with the headline claimant count measure. However, they are consitent with the local area figures.

  Wales
(level)
Wales
(%)
United Kingdom
(level)
United Kingdom
(%)
All people 78,320 5.4 1,538,576 4.6
Males 52,711 6.8 1,012,106 5.6
Females 25,609 3.7 526,470 3.4
Source: ONS claimant count with rates and proportions

Note: % is a proportion of claimant count + workforce jobs total

  Wales
(level)
Wales
(%)
United Kingdom
(level)
United Kingdom
(%)
All ages
Total 78,230 4.0 1,535,705 3.8
Up to 6 months 42,165 2.2 813,360 2.0
Over 6 and up to 12 months 14,635 0.8 292,060 0.7
over 12 months 21,425 1.1 430,285 1.1
Aged 18 to 24
Total 23,050 7.8 403,005 6.8
Up to 6 months 14,190 4.8 248,865 4.2
Over 6 and up to 12 months 4,410 1.5 80,075 1.3
over 12 months 4,450 1.5 74,070 1.2
Aged 25 to 49
Total 42,685 4.4 868,660 4.0
Up to 6 months 21,850 2.2 441,050 2.0
Over 6 and up to 12 months 8,150 0.8 168,320 0.8
over 12 months 12,685 1.3 259,290 1.2
Aged 50 to 64
Total 12,410 2.1 261,445 2.3
Up to 6 months 6,045 1.0 121,020 1.0
Over 6 and up to 12 months 2,075 0.3 43,530 0.4
over 12 months 4,290 0.7 96,900 0.8
Source: ONS claimant count - age duration with proportions

Note: % is number of persons claiming JSA as a proportion of resident population of the same age

  Wales
(level)
Wales
(%)
Great Britain
(level)
Great Britain
(%)
Total claimants 340,560 17.5 5,621,910 14.1
By statistical group
Job seekers 76,270 3.9 1,443,280 3.6
ESA and incapacity benefits 165,120 8.5 2,491,320 6.3
Lone parents 27,120 1.4 510,030 1.3
Carers 31,980 1.6 503,820 1.3
Others on income related benefits 8,150 0.4 156,000 0.4
Disabled 28,040 1.4 441,640 1.1
Bereaved 3,890 0.2 75,820 0.2
Key out-of-work benefits 276,660 14.2 4,600,620 11.6
Source: DWP benefit claimants - working age client group

Notes: †  Key out-of-work benefits includes the groups: job seekers, ESA and incapacity benefits, lone parents and others on income related benefits. See the Definitions and Explanations below for details
% is a proportion of resident population of area aged 16-64
Northern Ireland and United Kingdom figures are not available for this dataset

LABOUR DEMAND


  Wales
(jobs)
Wales
(density)
United Kingdom
(jobs)
United Kingdom
(density)
Jobs density 1,360,000 0.70 31,711,000 0.78
Source: ONS jobs density

Notes: The density figures represent the ratio of total jobs to population aged 16-64.
Total jobs includes employees, self-employed, government-supported trainees and HM Forces

  Wales
(level)
Wales
(%)
United Kingdom
(level)
United Kingdom
(%)
Total 1,384,000 - 32,102,000 -
A : Agriculture, forestry and fishing 37,000 2.7 375,000 1.2
B : Mining and quarrying 2,000 0.1 69,000 0.2
C : Manufacturing 147,000 10.6 2,628,000 8.2
D : Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning 9,000 0.7 112,000 0.3
E : Water supply; sewerage, waste management 12,000 0.9 199,000 0.6
F : Construction 89,000 6.4 1,989,000 6.2
G : Wholesale and retail trade; repair of vehicles 202,000 14.6 4,881,000 15.2
H : Transportation and storage 47,000 3.4 1,584,000 4.9
I : Accommodation and food service activities 93,000 6.7 2,064,000 6.4
J : Information and communication 29,000 2.1 1,312,000 4.1
K : Financial and insurance activities 30,000 2.2 1,157,000 3.6
L : Real estate activities 18,000 1.3 503,000 1.6
M : Professional, scientific and technical activities 60,000 4.3 2,566,000 8.0
N : Administrative and support service activities 81,000 5.9 2,498,000 7.8
O : Public administration and defence 88,000 6.4 1,579,000 4.9
P : Education 151,000 10.9 2,759,000 8.6
Q : Human health and social work activities 211,000 15.2 4,084,000 12.7
R : Arts, entertainment and recreation 32,000 2.3 863,000 2.7
S : Other service activities 46,000 3.3 801,000 2.5
T : Activities of households as employers;... 1,000 0.1 77,000 0.2
Source: ONS workforce jobs by industry (SIC 2007) - seasonally adjusted

Notes: % is a proportion of is proportion of total workforce jobs

  Wales
(pounds)
United Kingdom
(pounds)
Gross weekly pay
Full-time workers 452.6 505.9
Male full-time workers 482.4 545.8
Female full-time workers 403.9 448.6
Hourly pay
Full-time workers 11.48 12.82
Male full-time workers 12.00 13.41
Female full-time workers 10.83 12.01
Source: ONS annual survey of hours and earnings - workplace analysis

Note: Median earnings in pounds for employees working in the area.

  Wales Great Britain
Unfilled jobcentre vacancies (level) 20,310 389,889
Unfilled jobcentre vacancies
   per 10,000 population aged 16-64
105 98
JSA claimants per unfilled jobcentre vacancy 3.9 3.8
Source: Jobcentre Plus vacancies - summary analysis

Note: Northern Ireland and United Kingdom figures are not available for this dataset

Definitions and Explanations

RESIDENT POPULATION

The estimated population of an area includes all those usually resident in the area, whatever their nationality. HM Forces stationed outside the United Kingdom are excluded but foreign forces stationed here are included. Students are taken to be resident at their term-time address.

LABOUR SUPPLY

Labour supply consists of people who are employed, as well as those people defined as unemployed or economically inactive, who can be considered to be potential labour supply. Information in this section relates to the characteristics of people living in an area.

Most labour supply data comes from the Annual Population Survey (APS). The APS is the largest regular household survey in the United Kingdom. It includes data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), plus further sample boosts in England, Wales and Scotland. The survey includes data from a sample of around 256,000 people aged 16 and over.

As APS estimates are based on samples, they are subject to sampling variability. This means that if another sample for the same period were drawn, a different estimate might be produced. In general, the larger the number of people in a sample, the smaller the variation between estimates. Estimates for smaller areas such as local authorities are therefore less reliable than those for larger areas such as regions. When the sample size is too small to produce reliable estimates, the estimates are replaced with a #.


Economically Active

Economically active: People who are either in employment or unemployed.

Economic activity rate: People, who are economically active, expressed as a percentage of all people.

In employment: People who did some paid work in the reference week (whether as an employee or self employed); those who had a job that they were temporarily away from (eg, on holiday); those on government-supported training and employment programmes; and those doing unpaid family work.

Employment rate: The number of people in employment expressed as a percentage of all people aged 16-64.

Employees and self employed: The division between employees and self employed is based on survey respondents' own assessment of their employment status. The percentage show the number in each category as a percentage of all people aged 16-64. The sum of employees and self employed will not equal the in employment figure due to the inclusion of those on government-supported training and employment programmes, and those doing unpaid family work in the latter.

Unemployed: Refers to people without a job who were available to start work in the two weeks following their interview and who had either looked for work in the four weeks prior to interview or were waiting to start a job they had already obtained.

Unemployment rate: Unemployed as a percentage of the economically active population.

Economically inactive: People who are neither in employment nor unemployed. This group includes, for example, all those who were looking after a home or retired.


Occupation

Occupations are classified according to the Standard Occupation Classification 2000. Descriptions of the job titles included in each code are available in the SOC manuals.


Qualifications

Qualifications data are only be available from the APS for calendar year periods, for example, Jan to Dec 2005. The variables show the total number of people who are qualified at a particular level and above, so data in this table are not additive. Separate figures for each NVQ level are available in the full Annual Population Survey data set (wizard/advanced query).

The trade apprenticeships are split 50/50 between NVQ level 2 and 3. This follows ONS policy for presenting qualifications data in publications. Separate counts for trade apprenticeships can be obtained from the full APS data set (wizard/advanced query).

No qualifications: No formal qualifications held

Other qualifications: includes foreign qualifications and some professional qualifications

NVQ 1 equivalent: e.g. fewer than 5 GCSEs at grades A-C, foundation GNVQ, NVQ 1, intermediate 1 national qualification (Scotland) or equivalent

NVQ 2 equivalent: e.g. 5 or more GCSEs at grades A-C, intermediate GNVQ, NVQ 2, intermediate 2 national qualification (Scotland) or equivalent

NVQ 3 equivalent: e.g. 2 or more A levels, advanced GNVQ, NVQ 3, 2 or more higher or advanced higher national qualifications (Scotland) or equivalent

NVQ 4 equivalent and above: e.g. HND, Degree and Higher Degree level qualifications or equivalent


Earnings by Residence

The figures show the median earnings in pounds for employees living in the area who are on adults rates of pay and whose pay was not affected by absence. Figures for earnings come from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE). The ASHE is based on a 1 per cent sample of employees, information on whose earnings and hours is obtained from employers. The survey does not cover self-employed. Information relates to a pay period in April.

The earnings information collected relates to gross pay before tax, national insurance or other deductions, and excludes payments in kind. It is restricted to earnings relating to the survey pay period and so excludes payments of arrears from another period made during the survey period; any payments due as a result of a pay settlement but not yet paid at the time of the survey will also be excluded.


OUT-OF-WORK BENEFITS


JSA Claimant Count

JSA claimant count records the number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) and National Insurance credits at Jobcentre Plus local offices. People claiming JSA must declare that they are out of work, capable of, available for and actively seeking work during the week in which the claim is made.

The percentage figures express the number of claimants resident in an area as a percentage of the population aged 16-64 resident in that area.

The count of total JSA claimants is mostly derived from the Jobcentre Plus computer records. For various reasons, e.g. a claimant's National Insurance number is not known, a few claims have to be dealt with manually. These clerical claims, which amount to less than 1 per cent of the total, are counted separately and not analysed in as much detail as the computerised claims. The count of total JSA claimants includes clerical claims, but only the computerised claims are analysed by age and duration.


DWP Working-Age Client Group

The number of working-age people who are claiming one or more key DWP benefits. The key benefits are: bereavement benefit, carer's allowance, disability living allowance, ESA and incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance, income support, jobseeker's allowance, and widow's benefit. The age at which women reach State Pension age is gradually increasing from 60 to 65 between April 2010 and April 2020. Throughout this period, only women below State Pension age are counted as working age benefit claimants."

The total count is broken down by statistical groups. These categorise each person according to the main reason why they are claiming benefit. Each client is classified to a single group.

Benefits are arranged hierarchically and claimants are assigned to a group according to the top most benefit they receive. Thus a person who is a lone parent and receives Incapacity Benefit would be classified as incapacity benefits. Consequently, the group lone parent will not contain all lone parents as some will be included in the incapacity benefits group and Job seekers groups.

Key out-of-work benefits consists of the groups: job seekers, ESA and incapacity benefits, lone parents and others on income related benefits.

These groups have been chosen to best represent a count of all those benefit recipients who cannot be in full-time employment as part of their condition of entitlement. Those claiming solely Bereavement Benefits or Disability Living Allowance (DLA) are not included as these are not out-of-work or income based benefits. DLA is paid to those needing help with personal care. These people can, and some will, be in full-time employment. If DLA claimants are also in receipt of JSA, IS, ESA or Incapacity Benefits in addition to DLA they will be counted under the relevant statistical group. In addition, we exclude those claiming solely carer's benefits or claiming carer's benefits alongside income support, as DWP does not pursue active labour market policies for this group. Carers benefits are paid to those with full time caring responsibilities. The group entitled to Carer's benefits alongside Income Support (IS) includes around 86,000 claimants and has been stable over time.

This Nomis series is different to that published in the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Labour Market Statistics Bulletin (table 25) and on the DWP website at http://83.244.183.180/100pc/wa/tabtool_wa.html (against the link entitled "One-Click" Key Out-of-Work Benefits). This Nomis series uses DWP Jobseeker's Allowance numbers, whilst the other two series use the ONS claimant count for Jobseeker's Allowance. Details of the difference between these series can be found at http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/differences.pdf


LABOUR DEMAND

Labour demand includes jobs and vacancies available within the area.


Jobs Density

The level of jobs per resident aged 16-64. For example, a job density of 1.0 would mean that there is one job for every resident aged 16-64.

The total number of jobs is a workplace-based measure and comprises employee jobs, self-employed, government-supported trainees and HM Forces. The number of residents aged 16-64 figures used to calculate jobs densities are based on the relevant mid-year population estimates.


Workforce Jobs (WFJ)

Workforce Jobs (WFJ) is a quarterly measure of the number of jobs in the UK and is the preferred measure of the change in jobs by industry. Estimates are only available at national and regional level.

It is a compound source that draws on a range of employer surveys, household surveys and administrative sources. WFJ is the sum of employee jobs measured primarily by employer surveys, self-employment jobs from the Labour Force Survey, and government-supported trainees and Her Majesty's Forces from administrative sources.

The industry codes used in the table are Standard Industrial Classification 2007 Sections. Refer to the SIC 2007 manuals for details of the activities included in each Section.


Earnings by Workplace

The figures show the median earnings in pounds for employees working in the area who are on adults rates of pay and whose pay was not affected by absence. Figures for earnings come from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE). The ASHE is based on a 1 per cent sample of employees, information on whose earnings and hours is obtained from employers. The survey does not cover self-employed. In 2004 information related to the pay period which included 21 April.

The earnings information collected relates to gross pay before tax, national insurance or other deductions, and excludes payments in kind. It is restricted to earnings relating to the survey pay period and so excludes payments of arrears from another period made during the survey period; any payments due as a result of a pay settlement but not yet paid at the time of the survey will also be excluded.


Jobcentre plus vacancies


The figures in the tables are based on the number of live unfilled vacancies handled by Jobcentre Plus. These are vacancies actively available to jobseekers on the count date and are derived as a by-product of administrative systems. Users should be aware of the following points when using and interpreting the series:

For further details see: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/articles/406.aspx


Copyright

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These new arrangements replace the previous Click-Use and Value Added Licences. For further information, go to the links above, phone 020 8876 3444 or email psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk


Users should include a source accreditation to ONS:

Source: Office for National Statistics


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