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Labour Market Profile
Worcestershire

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.

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  Resident population
  In employment / unemployed
  Economically inactive
  Employment by occupation
  Qualifications
  Earnings by residence
  Working-age benefits
  Jobs (total jobs / employee jobs)
  VAT registered businesses


larger map

RESIDENT POPULATION

Total population (2007)

  Worcestershire
(numbers)
West Midlands
(numbers)
Great Britain
(numbers)
All people 555,400 5,381,800 59,216,200
Males 273,600 2,648,100 29,054,100
Females 281,800 2,733,800 30,162,100
Source: ONS mid-year population estimates

Working age population (2007)

  Worcestershire
(numbers)
Worcestershire
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
All people - working age 335,600 60.4 61.0 62.2
Males - working age 177,300 64.8 65.1 66.2
Females - working age 158,300 56.2 57.1 58.3
Source: ONS mid-year population estimates

Note: % is a proportion of total population

LABOUR SUPPLY

Economically active (Jul 2007-Jun 2008)

  Worcestershire
(numbers)
Worcestershire
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
All people
Economically active 285,400 80.7 77.4 78.8
In employment 275,000 77.6 72.4 74.5
Employees 236,100 66.9 63.6 64.7
Self employed 38,400 10.5 8.4 9.4
Unemployed§ 10,400 3.6 6.2 5.2
Males
Economically active 153,900 85.0 82.3 83.2
In employment 148,000 81.7 76.6 78.7
Employees 119,600 66.4 63.7 65.0
Self employed 28,400 15.3 12.5 13.3
Unemployed§ 5,900 3.8 6.8 5.4
Females
Economically active 131,500 75.9 71.9 73.9
In employment 127,000 73.2 67.7 70.1
Employees 116,500 67.6 63.5 64.5
Self employed 10,000 5.3 3.9 5.2
Unemployed§ 4,500 3.4 5.5 5.0
Source: ONS annual population survey

numbers are for those aged 16 and over, % are for those of working age (16-59/64)
§numbers and % are for those aged 16 and over. % is a proportion of economically active

Economically inactive (Jul 2007-Jun 2008)

  Worcestershire
(numbers)
Worcestershire
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
All people
Economically inactive 64,400 19.3 22.6 21.2
Wanting a job 14,900 4.5 4.9 5.5
Not wanting a job 49,500 14.8 17.7 15.8
Males
Economically inactive 26,300 15.0 17.7 16.8
Wanting a job 7,700 4.4 4.1 4.6
Not wanting a job 18,600 10.6 13.6 12.2
Females
Economically inactive 38,100 24.1 28.1 26.1
Wanting a job 7,200 4.6 5.8 6.5
Not wanting a job 30,800 19.5 22.3 19.7
Source: ONS annual population survey

Notes: Numbers and % are for those of working age
% is a proportion of total working age population

Employment by occupation (Jul 2007-Jun 2008)

  Worcestershire
(numbers)
Worcestershire
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
Soc 2000 major group 1-3 114,700 41.7 39.0 42.9
1 Managers and senior officials 44,400 16.1 14.5 15.4
2 Professional occupations 34,100 12.4 11.7 12.9
3 Associate professional & technical 36,100 13.1 12.8 14.6
Soc 2000 major group 4-5 66,500 24.2 23.6 22.4
4 Administrative & secretarial 33,700 12.2 12.0 11.6
5 Skilled trades occupations 32,800 11.9 11.6 10.8
Soc 2000 major group 6-7 41,300 15.0 15.8 15.7
6 Personal service occupations 22,300 8.1 8.1 8.1
7 Sales and customer service occs 19,000 6.9 7.7 7.6
Soc 2000 major group 8-9 51,300 18.6 21.3 18.7
8 Process plant & machine operatives 21,300 7.7 8.7 7.2
9 Elementary occupations 30,000 10.9 12.6 11.5
Source: ONS annual population survey

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

Qualifications (Jan 2007-Dec 2007)

  Worcestershire
(numbers)
Worcestershire
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
NVQ4 and above 93,100 28.0 24.6 28.6
NVQ3 and above 159,200 47.8 42.0 46.4
NVQ2 and above 225,300 67.7 61.1 64.5
NVQ1 and above 271,400 81.5 75.4 78.1
Other qualifications 23,500 7.1 7.7 8.8
No qualifications 38,000 11.4 17.0 13.1
Source: ONS annual population survey

Notes: For an explanation of the qualification levels see the definitions section.
Numbers and % are for those of working age
% is a proportion of total working age population

Earnings by residence (2008)

  Worcestershire
(pounds)
West Midlands
(pounds)
Great Britain
(pounds)
Gross weekly pay
Full-time workers 454.0 450.0 479.3
Male full-time workers 494.1 488.3 525.0
Female full-time workers 390.7 380.3 412.7
Hourly pay
Full-time workers 11.11 11.11 12.01
Male full-time workers 11.84 11.86 12.72
Female full-time workers 10.00 10.08 10.96
Source: ONS annual survey of hours and earnings - resident analysis

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

WORKING-AGE 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.

Total JSA claimants (November 2008)

  Worcestershire
(numbers)
Worcestershire
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
All people 8,100 2.4 3.7 2.8
Males 5,963 3.4 5.3 3.9
Females 2,137 1.4 2.0 1.5
Source: ONS claimant count with rates and proportions

Note: % is a proportion of resident working age people

JSA claimants by age and duration (November 2008)

  Worcestershire
(numbers)
Worcestershire
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
By age of claimant
Aged 18-24 2,335 28.8 31.0 30.5
Aged 25-49 4,080 50.4 53.4 53.6
Aged 50 and over 1,655 20.4 15.1 15.3
By duration of claim
Up to 6 months 6,625 81.8 72.8 76.6
Over 6 up to 12 months 915 11.3 14.9 13.9
Over 12 months 555 6.9 12.3 9.5
Source: ONS claimant count - age and duration

Note: % is a proportion of all JSA claimants

Working-age client group - key benefit claimants (May 2008)

  Worcestershire
(numbers)
Worcestershire
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
Total claimants 36,840 11.0 15.5 13.9
Job seekers 5,170 1.5 2.9 2.1
Incapacity benefits 18,090 5.4 7.2 7.0
Lone parents 4,580 1.4 2.2 2.0
Carers 3,300 1.0 1.3 1.1
Others on income related benefits 1,450 0.4 0.5 0.5
Disabled 3,320 1.0 1.1 1.0
Bereaved 930 0.3 0.3 0.3
Source: DWP benefit claimants - working age client group

Note: % is a proportion of resident working age people

LABOUR DEMAND

Jobs density (2006)

  Worcestershire
(jobs)
Worcestershire
(density)
West Midlands
(density)
Great Britain
(density)
Jobs density 275,000 0.82 0.87 0.88
Source: ONS jobs density

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

Employee jobs (2007)

  Worcestershire
(employee jobs)
Worcestershire
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
Total employee jobs 233,200 - - -
Full-time 154,500 66.2 69.0 69.0
Part-time 78,700 33.8 31.0 31.0
Employee jobs by industry
Manufacturing 37,900 16.2 14.0 10.6
Construction 9,600 4.1 5.1 4.9
Services 184,000 78.9 79.4 83.0
Distribution, hotels & restaurants 57,600 24.7 23.3 23.3
Transport & communications 9,300 4.0 5.6 5.9
Finance, IT, other business activities 44,200 19.0 19.0 21.6
Public admin, education & health 60,200 25.8 26.5 26.9
Other services 12,600 5.4 5.0 5.2
Tourism-related 20,000 8.6 7.7 8.2
Source: ONS annual business inquiry employee analysis

-Data unavailable
Tourism consists of industries that are also part of the services industry (see the definitions section)
Notes: % is a proportion of total employee jobs
Employee jobs excludes self-employed, government-supported trainees and HM Forces

Earnings by workplace (2008)

  Worcestershire
(pounds)
West Midlands
(pounds)
Great Britain
(pounds)
Gross weekly pay
Full-time workers 419.9 448.9 479.1
Male full-time workers 455.2 488.7 523.5
Female full-time workers 359.5 379.4 412.4
Hourly pay
Full-time workers 10.32 11.09 12.00
Male full-time workers 10.92 11.83 12.69
Female full-time workers 9.36 10.04 10.95
Source: ONS annual survey of hours and earnings - workplace analysis

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

BUSINESSES

VAT registered businesses (2007)

  Worcestershire
(numbers)
Worcestershire
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
Registrations 2,055 9.4 9.4 10.2
Deregistrations 1,415 6.4 7.2 7.3
Stock (at end of year) 21,970 - - -
Source: BERR - vat registrations/deregistrations by industry

Note: % is a proportion of stock (at end of year)

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.

Working age includes males aged 16 to 64 and females aged 16 to 59.

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 #.

Working age: always refers to females aged 16 to 59 and males aged 16 to 64.


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 a