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Labour Market Profile
South Somerset

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


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RESIDENT POPULATION

Total population (2007)

  South Somerset
(numbers)
South West
(numbers)
Great Britain
(numbers)
All people 157,800 5,178,000 59,216,200
Males 77,000 2,536,200 29,054,100
Females 80,800 2,641,800 30,162,100
Source: ONS mid-year population estimates

Working age population (2007)

  South Somerset
(numbers)
South Somerset
(%)
South West
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
All people - working age 90,900 57.6 60.1 62.2
Males - working age 48,100 62.5 64.7 66.2
Females - working age 42,700 52.9 55.7 58.3
Source: ONS mid-year population estimates

Note: % is a proportion of total population

LABOUR SUPPLY

Economically active (Apr 2007-Mar 2008)

  South Somerset
(numbers)
South Somerset
(%)
South West
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
All people
Economically active 80,600 84.7 81.7 78.7
In employment 78,300 82.2 78.5 74.5
Employees 63,000 66.4 66.4 64.7
Self employed 14,200 14.5 11.5 9.4
Model-based unemployed§ 2,400 3.0 3.8 5.2
Males
Economically active 44,300 89.8 85.0 83.3
In employment 42,700 86.6 81.4 78.8
Employees 33,400 67.9 65.2 65.1
Self employed 8,500 16.9 15.7 13.3
Unemployed§ # # 4.1 5.4
Females
Economically active 36,400 79.1 78.0 73.7
In employment 35,600 77.3 75.3 69.9
Employees 29,600 64.7 67.7 64.3
Self employed 5,700 11.8 6.9 5.2
Unemployed§ ! ! 3.4 4.9
Source: ONS annual population survey

#Sample size too small for reliable estimate (see definitions)
!Estimate is not available since sample size is disclosive (see definitions)
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 (Apr 2007-Mar 2008)

  South Somerset
(numbers)
South Somerset
(%)
South West
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
All people
Economically inactive 13,800 15.3 18.3 21.3
Wanting a job 3,300 3.6 5.1 5.4
Not wanting a job 10,500 11.7 13.2 15.9
Males
Economically inactive 4,800 10.2 15.0 16.7
Wanting a job # # 4.3 4.4
Not wanting a job 3,900 8.3 10.7 12.2
Females
Economically inactive 8,900 20.9 22.0 26.3
Wanting a job # # 6.0 6.5
Not wanting a job 6,600 15.4 16.0 19.8
Source: ONS annual population survey

#Sample size too small for reliable estimate (see definitions)
Notes: Numbers and % are for those of working age
% is a proportion of total working age population

Employment by occupation (Apr 2007-Mar 2008)

  South Somerset
(numbers)
South Somerset
(%)
South West
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
Soc 2000 major group 1-3 28,000 35.7 42.1 43.0
1 Managers and senior officials 13,100 16.7 16.0 15.3
2 Professional occupations 6,100 7.7 11.9 13.1
3 Associate professional & technical 8,900 11.3 14.3 14.6
Soc 2000 major group 4-5 19,000 24.3 23.7 22.5
4 Administrative & secretarial 8,000 10.2 11.5 11.6
5 Skilled trades occupations 11,100 14.1 12.2 10.9
Soc 2000 major group 6-7 12,100 15.5 16.0 15.6
6 Personal service occupations 6,100 7.8 8.4 8.0
7 Sales and customer service occs 6,000 7.7 7.6 7.6
Soc 2000 major group 8-9 19,200 24.5 18.0 18.6
8 Process plant & machine operatives 8,700 11.1 6.5 7.2
9 Elementary occupations 10,500 13.4 11.5 11.4
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)

  South Somerset
(numbers)
South Somerset
(%)
South West
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
NVQ4 and above 24,700 27.5 29.1 28.6
NVQ3 and above 41,700 46.3 49.2 46.4
NVQ2 and above 59,900 66.6 68.1 64.5
NVQ1 and above 73,600 81.8 82.6 78.1
Other qualifications 6,400 7.1 7.9 8.8
No qualifications 10,000 11.1 9.5 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 (2007)

  South Somerset
(pounds)
South West
(pounds)
Great Britain
(pounds)
Gross weekly pay
Full-time workers 413.6 433.4 459.0
Male full-time workers 452.8 480.0 500.7
Female full-time workers 373.7 364.2 394.8
Hourly pay
Full-time workers 10.08 10.77 11.50
Male full-time workers 10.70 11.59 12.17
Female full-time workers 8.68 9.57 10.48
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 (October 2008)

  South Somerset
(numbers)
South Somerset
(%)
South West
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
All people 984 1.1 1.7 2.6
Males 694 1.4 2.3 3.6
Females 290 0.7 1.0 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 (October 2008)

  South Somerset
(numbers)
South Somerset
(%)
South West
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
By age of claimant
Aged 18-24 310 31.7 31.3 31.1
Aged 25-49 495 50.3 51.1 53.2
Aged 50 and over 160 16.5 16.9 15.1
By duration of claim
Up to 6 months 885 90.1 81.3 75.0
Over 6 up to 12 months 70 7.3 12.2 14.8
Over 12 months 25 2.5 6.5 10.3
Source: ONS claimant count - age and duration

Note: % is a proportion of all JSA claimants

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

  South Somerset
(numbers)
South Somerset
(%)
South West
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
Total claimants 8,780 9.7 11.4 13.9
Job seekers 750 0.8 1.3 2.1
Incapacity benefits 4,840 5.3 6.2 7.0
Lone parents 940 1.0 1.5 2.0
Carers 830 0.9 0.9 1.1
Others on income related benefits 270 0.3 0.4 0.5
Disabled 910 1.0 0.9 1.0
Bereaved 240 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)

  South Somerset
(jobs)
South Somerset
(density)
South West
(density)
Great Britain
(density)
Jobs density 81,000 0.90 0.90 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 (2006)

  South Somerset
(employee jobs)
South Somerset
(%)
South West
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
Total employee jobs 64,500 - - -
Full-time 44,600 69.1 64.6 68.9
Part-time 19,900 30.9 35.4 31.1
Employee jobs by industry
Manufacturing 14,000 21.7 11.4 10.9
Construction 3,200 5.0 4.5 4.8
Services 45,900 71.2 82.2 82.9
Distribution, hotels & restaurants 16,900 26.2 25.7 23.5
Transport & communications 1,800 2.8 4.8 5.9
Finance, IT, other business activities 8,800 13.7 18.2 21.2
Public admin, education & health 15,600 24.2 28.5 26.9
Other services 2,700 4.2 5.0 5.3
Tourism-related 4,300 6.7 9.4 8.3
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 (2007)

  South Somerset
(pounds)
South West
(pounds)
Great Britain
(pounds)
Gross weekly pay
Full-time workers 422.5 427.8 458.6
Male full-time workers 452.8 476.5 500.0
Female full-time workers 340.0 363.3 394.8
Hourly pay
Full-time workers 10.15 10.63 11.49
Male full-time workers 10.62 11.47 12.14
Female full-time workers 8.55 9.53 10.48
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 (2006)

  South Somerset
(numbers)
South Somerset
(%)
South West
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
Registrations 450 7.4 8.6 9.4
Deregistrations 385 6.4 6.6 7.4
Stock (at end of year) 6,055 - - -
Source: BERR - vat registrations/deregistrations by industry

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