Labour Market Profile - West Midlands

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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

  West Midlands
(numbers)
West Midlands
(numbers)
Great Britain
(numbers)
All people 2,918,300 5,956,200 65,078,900
Males 1,432,400 2,929,300 31,833,600
Females 1,485,800 3,026,900 33,245,300
Source: ONS Population estimates - local authority based by five year age band
  West Midlands
(numbers)
West Midlands
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
All people aged 16-64 1,844,300 63.2 61.9 62.9
Males aged 16-64 908,400 63.4 62.3 63.3
Females aged 16-64 935,900 63.0 61.4 62.6
Source: ONS Population estimates - local authority based by five year age band
Notes:   % is a proportion of total population

Labour Supply

  West Midlands
(numbers)
West Midlands
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
All people
Economically active† 1,422,600 73.9 77.7 78.4
In employment† 1,342,000 69.6 74.7 75.5
Employees† 1,189,500 61.9 66.2 66.1
Self employed† 149,700 7.6 8.4 9.2
Unemployed§ 80,600 5.7 3.8 3.7
Males
Economically active† 772,500 80.2 82.5 82.2
In employment† 718,300 74.4 78.7 78.8
Employees† 611,700 63.7 67.0 66.8
Self employed† 104,700 10.7 11.5 11.8
Unemployed§ 54,200 7.0 4.6 4.0
Females
Economically active† 650,100 67.6 72.9 74.7
In employment† 623,700 64.8 70.7 72.1
Employees† 577,800 60.2 65.3 65.4
Self employed† 45,100 4.5 5.3 6.6
Unemployed§ 26,400 4.1 3.0 3.4
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
  West Midlands
(level)
West Midlands
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
All people
Total 488,500 26.1 22.3 21.6
Student 140,100 28.7 26.5 26.8
looking after family/home 120,100 24.6 22.0 18.9
temporary sick 5,900 1.2 1.3 2.0
long-term sick 154,700 31.7 30.3 28.1
discouraged ! ! # 0.4
retired 27,100 5.6 9.1 12.9
other 38,200 7.8 10.2 11.0
 
wants a job 92,200 18.9 19.3 17.8
does not want a job 396,300 81.1 80.7 82.2
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)
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
  West Midlands
West Midlands
Great Britain
Number of Workless Households 146,900 245,700 2,862,100
Percentage of Households that are Workless 16.0 13.5 13.9
Number of children in Workless Households 87,100 128,600 1,196,600
Percentage of children who are in Households that are Workless 13.7 10.6 9.8
Source: ONS annual population survey - households by combined economic activity status
Notes:   Only includes those households that have at least one person aged 16 to 64.
  Children refers to all children aged under 16.
  West Midlands
(numbers)
West Midlands
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
Soc 2020 major group 1-3 643,900 48.1 48.8 52.9
1 Managers, directors and senior officials 97,000 7.2 9.8 11.0
2 Professional occupations 352,800 26.3 24.7 26.6
3 Associate professional occupations 194,100 14.5 14.2 15.3
Soc 2020 major group 4-5 249,800 18.7 19.0 18.2
4 Administrative & secretarial occupations 133,600 10.0 9.7 9.4
5 Skilled trades occupations 116,200 8.7 9.3 8.7
Soc 2020 major group 6-7 187,900 14.0 14.1 14.6
6 Caring, leisure and Other Service occupations 111,100 8.3 8.3 8.4
7 Sales and customer service occs 76,800 5.7 5.8 6.2
Soc 2020 major group 8-9 257,400 19.2 18.1 14.3
8 Process plant & machine operatives 99,600 7.4 6.5 5.4
9 Elementary occupations 157,800 11.8 11.6 8.9
Source: ONS annual population survey
Notes:   Numbers and % are for those of 16+
  % is a proportion of all persons in employment
  West Midlands
(level)
West Midlands
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
RQF4 and above 758,500 41.6 42.5 47.3
RQF3 and above 1,106,300 60.7 63.6 67.8
RQF2 and above 1,480,700 81.3 84.3 86.5
RQF1 and above 1,539,800 84.5 87.5 89.0
Other qualifications 117,900 6.5 5.2 4.6
No qualifications 164,000 9.0 7.3 6.5
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

Out-Of-Work Benefits

Under Universal Credit a broader span of claimants are required to look for work than under Jobseeker's Allowance. As Universal Credit Full Service is rolled out in particular areas, the number of people recorded as being on the Claimant Count is therefore likely to rise.

  West Midlands
(numbers)
West Midlands
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
All people 152,165 8.3 5.8 4.3
Males 84,595 9.3 6.5 4.7
Females 67,570 7.2 5.2 3.9
Source: ONS Claimant count by sex and age
Note:   % is the number of claimants as a proportion of resident population of area aged 16-64 and gender
  West Midlands
(level)
West Midlands
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
Aged 16+ 152,165 8.3 5.8 4.3
Aged 16 to 17 165 0.2 0.2 0.2
Aged 18 to 24 26,945 9.5 7.6 5.4
Aged 18 to 21 15,965 9.7 8.1 5.8
Aged 25 to 49 92,090 9.5 6.9 4.9
Aged 50+ 32,960 6.4 4.1 3.2
Source: ONS Claimant count by sex and age
Note:   % is number of claimants as a proportion of resident population of the same age

Labour Demand

  West Midlands
(jobs)
West Midlands
(density)
West Midlands
(density)
Great Britain
(density)
Jobs density 1,454,000 0.79 0.83 0.87
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
  West Midlands
(employee jobs)
West Midlands
(%)
West Midlands
(%)
Great Britain
(%)
Total employee jobs 1,334,000 - - -
Full-time 913,000 68.4 68.5 68.8
Part-time 421,000 31.6 31.5 31.2
Employee jobs by industry
B : Mining and quarrying 125 0.0 0.0 0.1
C : Manufacturing 120,000 9.0 10.2 7.5
D : Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply 5,000 0.4 0.5 0.4
E : Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities 13,000 1.0 0.9 0.7
F : Construction 53,000 4.0 4.4 4.8
G : Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles 190,000 14.2 15.3 13.7
H : Transportation and storage 74,000 5.5 6.1 5.0
I : Accommodation and food service activities 99,000 7.4 7.5 8.0
J : Information and communication 38,000 2.8 3.1 4.6
K : Financial and insurance activities 39,000 2.9 2.2 3.4
L : Real estate activities 25,000 1.9 1.7 1.9
M : Professional, scientific and technical activities 110,000 8.2 8.2 9.3
N : Administrative and support service activities 129,000 9.7 8.7 8.7
O : Public administration and defence; compulsory social security 63,000 4.7 4.2 4.7
P : Education 131,000 9.8 8.9 8.6
Q : Human health and social work activities 195,000 14.6 13.6 13.9
R : Arts, entertainment and recreation 25,000 1.9 2.4 2.6
S : Other service activities 25,000 1.9 2.0 1.9
Source: ONS Business Register and Employment Survey : open access
-   Data unavailable
Notes:   % is a proportion of total employee jobs excluding farm-based agriculture
  Employee jobs excludes self-employed, government-supported trainees and HM Forces
  Data excludes farm-based agriculture

Businesses

  West Midlands
(numbers)
West Midlands
(%)
West Midlands
(numbers)
West Midlands
(%)
Enterprises
Micro (0 to 9) 81,520 88.7 192,235 88.9
Small (10 to 49) 8,455 9.2 19,495 9.0
Medium (50 to 249) 1,515 1.6 3,445 1.6
Large (250+) 450 0.5 960 0.4
Total 91,940 - 216,135 -
Local Units
Micro (0 to 9) 90,320 83.0 211,955 83.8
Small (10 to 49) 14,465 13.3 32,695 12.9
Medium (50 to 249) 3,440 3.2 7,240 2.9
Large (250+) 540 0.5 1,100 0.4
Total 108,760 - 252,985 -
Source: Inter Departmental Business Register (ONS)

Note:   % is as a proportion of total (enterprises or local units)

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
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.
Workless Households
Households
A household is defined as a single person, or a group of people living at the same address who have the address as their only or main residence and either share one main meal a day or share living accommodation (or both). For the purposes of this table, estimates only include those households where at least 1 person is aged 16 to 64.
Workless households
Households where no-one aged 16 or over is in employment. These members may be unemployed or economically inactive. Economically inactive members may be unavailable to work because of family commitments, retirement or study, or unable to work through sickness or disability.
Children
Children refers to all children under 16.
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 (Query data).

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 (Query data).

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.
Out-Of-Work Benefits
Claimant Count (Experimental Statistics)

The Claimant Count is the number of people claiming benefit principally for the reason of being unemployed. This is measured by combining the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) and National Insurance credits with the number of people receiving Universal Credit principally for the reason of being unemployed. Claimants 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 measure of the number of people receiving Universal Credit principally for the reason of being unemployed is still being developed by the Department for Work and Pensions. Consequently this component of the total Claimant Count does not yet correctly reflect the target population of unemployed claimants and is subject to revisions. For this reason the Claimant Count is currently designated as Experimental Statistics.

The Claimant Count is mostly derived from DWP administrative systems. For various reasons, e.g. a claimant's National Insurance number is not known, a small number of claims have to be dealt with manually. These clerical claims do not have as much detail as the computerised claims and therefore, whilst part of the claimant count by sex table, cannot be included the age breakdown.

Rates by age

Unemployment benefits normally only apply to people aged 18 years and over. They can only be claimed by 16 and 17 year olds in exceptional circumstances. Consequently the counts for this age group are typically very low.

Labour Demand

Labour demand includes jobs 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.

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 Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES) - an employer survey conducted in September of each year. The BRES 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 BRES, part-time employees are those working for 30 or fewer hours per week.
Note
All figures exclude farm-based agriculture
UK Business Counts

The data contained in the table are compiled from an extract taken from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) recording the position of units as at March of the reference year. The IDBR contains information on VAT traders and PAYE employers in a statistical register which provides the basis for the Office for National Statistics to conduct surveys of businesses.

The table presents analysis of businesses at both Enterprise and Local Unit level. An Enterprise is the smallest combination of legal units (generally based on VAT and/or PAYE records) which has a certain degree of autonomy within an Enterprise Group. An individual site (for example a factory or shop) in an enterprise is called a local unit.

The employment information on the IDBR is drawn mainly from the Business Register Employment Survey (BRES). Because this is based on a sample of enterprises, estimates from previous returns and from other ONS surveys have also been used. For the smallest units, either PAYE jobs or employment imputed from VAT turnover is used.

Estimates in the table are rounded to prevent disclosure.

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Source: Office for National Statistics

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