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Labour Market Profile
Wolverhampton

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
  Employment and unemployment
  Economic inactivity
  Employment by occupation
  Qualifications
  Earnings by residence
  Out-of-work benefits
  Jobs (total jobs / employee jobs)
  Jobcentre plus vacancies
  VAT registered businesses

larger map

RESIDENT POPULATION

  Wolverhampton
(numbers)
West Midlands
(numbers)
Great Britain
(numbers)
All people 239,400 5,455,200 60,462,600
Males 118,400 2,684,000 29,758,900
Females 121,000 2,771,200 30,703,700
Source: ONS mid-year population estimates

  Wolverhampton
(numbers)
Wolverhampton
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
All people aged 16-64 152,300 63.6 63.5 64.8
Males aged 16-64 76,600 64.7 64.4 65.8
Females aged 16-64 75,800 62.6 62.6 63.8
Source: ONS mid-year population estimates

Notes: % is a proportion of total population

LABOUR SUPPLY

  Wolverhampton
(numbers)
Wolverhampton
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
All people
Economically active 107,800 70.6 73.8 76.2
In employment 93,500 61.0 67.3 70.2
Employees 79,300 52.3 58.7 60.7
Self employed 13,600 8.3 8.1 9.1
Unemployed (model-based)§ 13,600 12.7 8.7 7.7
Males
Economically active 59,800 77.3 80.9 82.5
In employment 50,700 65.3 72.8 75.4
Employees 41,300 53.4 60.7 62.2
Self employed 9,100 11.4 11.7 12.8
Unemployed§ 9,100 15.2 9.8 8.4
Females
Economically active 48,000 63.8 66.8 69.9
In employment 42,800 56.7 61.7 65.0
Employees 38,100 51.2 56.8 59.2
Self employed 4,400 5.1 4.5 5.4
Unemployed§ 5,200 10.9 7.4 6.9
Source: ONS annual population survey

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

  Wolverhampton
(level)
Wolverhampton
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
All people
Total 43,800 29.4 26.2 23.8
Student 10,100 23.1 24.8 24.3
looking after family/home 13,700 31.2 27.3 25.2
temporary sick # # 2.0 1.9
long-term sick 12,000 27.5 21.7 22.4
discouraged # # 0.8 0.8
retired 4,800 11.1 16.0 16.7
other 2,300 5.3 7.4 8.7
 
wants a job 7,600 17.4 19.6 23.8
does not want a job 36,200 82.6 80.4 76.2
Source: ONS annual population survey

#Sample size too small for reliable estimate (see definitions)
Notes: Numbers and % are for those of aged 16-64
% is a proportion of resident population of area aged 16-64 and gender

  Wolverhampton
(numbers)
Wolverhampton
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
Soc 2010 major group 1-3 32,900 35.5 39.4 43.2
1 Managers, directors and senior officials 6,600 7.1 9.6 9.9
2 Professional occupations 14,100 15.1 17.4 19.3
3 Associate professional & technical 12,200 13.1 12.2 13.8
Soc 2010 major group 4-5 22,900 24.6 22.9 22.0
4 Administrative & secretarial 11,800 12.6 11.1 11.1
5 Skilled trades occupations 11,100 11.8 11.6 10.7
Soc 2010 major group 6-7 17,500 18.9 17.7 17.3
6 Caring, leisure and Other Service occupations 9,300 9.9 9.5 9.0
7 Sales and customer service occs 8,200 8.8 8.1 8.2
Soc 2010 major group 8-9 19,500 21.0 20.0 17.5
8 Process plant & machine operatives 9,200 9.8 7.6 6.5
9 Elementary occupations 10,400 11.1 12.3 11.0
Source: ONS annual population survey

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

  Wolverhampton
(numbers)
Wolverhampton
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
NVQ4 and above 28,300 18.9 26.0 31.3
NVQ3 and above 56,500 37.7 45.4 51.0
NVQ2 and above 84,500 56.4 62.5 67.3
NVQ1 and above 105,700 70.5 77.1 80.2
Other qualifications 14,200 9.5 7.8 8.5
No qualifications 29,900 20.0 15.1 11.3
Source: ONS annual population survey

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

  Wolverhampton
(pounds)
West Midlands
(pounds)
Great Britain
(pounds)
Gross weekly pay
Full-time workers 416.0 470.5 503.1
Male full-time workers 460.0 503.9 541.7
Female full-time workers 352.8 407.3 446.3
Hourly pay
Full-time workers 10.54 11.85 12.77
Male full-time workers 11.15 12.38 13.32
Female full-time workers 9.52 10.93 11.95
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.
  Wolverhampton
(numbers)
Wolverhampton
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
All people 11,761 7.7 4.8 3.9
Males 7,830 10.2 6.5 5.2
Females 3,931 5.2 3.1 2.5
Source: ONS claimant count with rates and proportions

Note: % is a proportion of resident population of area aged 16-64 and gender

  Wolverhampton
(level)
Wolverhampton
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
Aged 16 to 64
Total 11,760 7.7 4.8 3.8
Up to 6 months 5,885 3.9 2.7 2.3
Over 6 and up to 12 months 2,560 1.7 1.1 0.8
over 12 months 3,315 2.2 1.0 0.7
Aged 18 to 24
Total 3,640 15.2 9.8 7.8
Up to 6 months 2,325 9.7 6.8 5.6
Over 6 and up to 12 months 815 3.4 2.0 1.5
over 12 months 500 2.1 1.0 0.6
Aged 25 to 49
Total 6,450 7.9 4.9 3.9
Up to 6 months 2,910 3.5 2.5 2.1
Over 6 and up to 12 months 1,415 1.7 1.2 0.9
over 12 months 2,125 2.6 1.3 0.9
Aged 50 to 64
Total 1,650 4.1 2.4 2.1
Up to 6 months 635 1.6 1.2 1.1
Over 6 and up to 12 months 325 0.8 0.5 0.5
over 12 months 690 1.7 0.7 0.6
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

  Wolverhampton
(numbers)
Wolverhampton
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
Total claimants 34,460 22.6 16.4 14.5
By statistical group
Job seekers 11,540 7.6 4.6 3.6
ESA and incapacity benefits 13,090 8.6 6.7 6.5
Lone parents 3,880 2.5 1.7 1.5
Carers 2,660 1.7 1.4 1.2
Others on income related benefits 1,150 0.8 0.5 0.5
Disabled 1,780 1.2 1.2 1.0
Bereaved 380 0.2 0.2 0.2
Key out-of-work benefits 29,650 19.5 13.6 12.1
Source: DWP benefit claimants - working age client group

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
Note: % is a proportion of resident population of area aged 16-64

LABOUR DEMAND


  Wolverhampton
(jobs)
Wolverhampton
(density)
West Midlands
(density)
Great Britain
(density)
Jobs density 114,000 0.75 0.75 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

  Wolverhampton
(employee jobs)
Wolverhampton
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
Total employee jobs 103,800 - - -
Full-time 72,200 69.6 69.4 68.8
Part-time 31,600 30.4 30.6 31.2
Employee jobs by industry
Manufacturing 14,600 14.0 13.8 10.2
Construction 4,700 4.6 4.9 4.8
Services 84,400 81.2 79.7 83.5
Distribution, hotels & restaurants 24,200 23.3 23.6 23.4
Transport & communications 5,400 5.2 5.8 5.8
Finance, IT, other business activities 18,600 17.9 18.6 22.0
Public admin, education & health 31,800 30.7 27.0 27.0
Other services 4,400 4.2 4.6 5.3
Tourism-related 6,600 6.4 7.4 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

  Wolverhampton
(pounds)
West Midlands
(pounds)
Great Britain
(pounds)
Gross weekly pay
Full-time workers 453.4 470.6 502.6
Male full-time workers 525.8 505.4 540.9
Female full-time workers 391.5 407.3 445.7
Hourly pay
Full-time workers 11.35 11.86 12.75
Male full-time workers 11.79 12.39 13.30
Female full-time workers 10.42 10.94 11.94
Source: ONS annual survey of hours and earnings - workplace analysis

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

  Wolverhampton West Midlands Great Britain
Unfilled jobcentre vacancies (numbers) 1,258 32,616 269,089
Unfilled jobcentre vacancies
   per 10,000 population aged 16-64
83 94 69
JSA claimants per unfilled jobcentre vacancy 9.3 5.1 5.6
Source: Jobcentre Plus vacancies - summary analysis

BUSINESSES


  Wolverhampton
(numbers)
Wolverhampton
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
Registrations 560 10.1 9.4 10.2
Deregistrations 435 7.9 7.2 7.3
Stock (at end of year) 5,530 - - -
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.

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.

Model-based unemployed: As unemployed form a small percentage of the population, the APS unemployed estimates within local authorities are based on very small samples so for many areas would be unreliable. To overcome this ONS has developed a statistical model that provides better estimates of total unemployed for unitary authorities and local authority districts (unemployment estimates for counties are direct survey estimates). Model-based estimates are not produced for male or female unemployed.

The model-based estimate improves on the APS estimate by borrowing strength from the claimant count to produce an estimate that is more precise (i.e. has a smaller confidence interval). The claimant count is not itself a measure of unemployment but is strongly correlated with unemployment, and, as it is an administrative count, is known without sampling error. The gain in precision is greatest for areas with smaller sample sizes.

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


Economically Inactive

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.

Wanting a job: People not in employment who want a job but are not classed as unemployed because they have either not sought work in the last four weeks or are not available to start work.

Not wanting a job: People who are neither in employment nor unemployed and who do not want a job.


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 which can be downloaded from: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/classifications/archived-standard-classifications/standard-occupational-classification-2000/dissemination-media-and-availability/index.html


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 numbers 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.


Employee Jobs

The number of jobs held by employees. Employee jobs excludes self-employed, government-supported trainees and HM Forces, so this count will be smaller than the total jobs figure shown in the Jobs density table. The information comes from the Annual Business Inquiry (ABI) - an employer survey conducted in December of each year. The survey samples around 78,000 businesses. The ABI records a job at the location of an employee's workplace (rather than at the location of the business's main office).

Full-time and part-time: In the ABI, part-time employees are those working for 30 or fewer hours per week.

Tourism-related includes the following sectors:
     551 Hotels
     552 Camping sites etc
     553 Restaurants
     554 Bars
     633 Activities of travel agencies etc
     925 Library, archives, museums etc
     926 Sporting activities
     927 Other recreational activities


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


BUSINESSES

VAT Registered Businesses

VAT registrations and de-registrations are the best official guide to the pattern of business start-ups and closures. They are an indicator of the level of entrepreneurship and of the health of the business population. As such they are used widely in regional and local economic planning.

These figures do not, however, give the complete picture of start-up and closure activity in the economy. Some VAT exempt sectors and businesses operating below the threshold for VAT registration are not covered. At the start of 2005, the VAT threshold was an annual turnover of £58,000, and 1.8 million of the estimated 4.3 million enterprises in the UK were VAT-registered.

However, some businesses do voluntarily register for VAT even though their turnover is below the threshold. Data for 2005 shows that around a fifth of all registrations have turnover below the VAT threshold.

Copyright

Under the terms of the Open Government Licence (OGL) and UK Government Licensing Framework (launched 30 September 2010), anyone wishing to use or re-use ONS material, whether commercially or privately, may do so freely without a specific application for a licence, subject to the conditions of the OGL and the Framework.


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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