Unemployment in April 2013

Introduction
Here is a round-up of the unemployment figures for Worcestershire drawn from the monthly County Economic Summary.  The figures are claimant count (i.e. those claiming Jobseekers Allowance) rather than the more widely used Labour Market Statistics.  In common with the national Jobseekers Allowance figures there was a fall in the number of claimants, though nationally and regionally the Labour Market figures showed a rise and seem to suggest an end to the period of falling unemployment.  It remains to be seen what effect this will have on Worcestershire, which overall has been fairly resilient on job losses compared to some parts of the region and country.

Unemployment

The claimant count in Worcestershire in April 2013 fell by 419 to 10,018, which is 748 lower than April 2012.  At 2.9% of the 16-64 population this remains below the regional and national levels.  The districts with the highest proportion of claimants were Redditch and Wyre forest at 3.7%, and the greatest decrease in absolute terms (between April 2012 and April 2013) was in Wychavon with a fall of 253 claimants.

The urban centre with the highest proportion of claimants is Kidderminster with 4.3% and the lowest is Wythall at 1.6%. In Worcestershire's urban areas the proportion of claimants is 0.4 percentage points higher than the county as a whole at 3.3%.

Long Term Unemployment

The proportion of claimants receiving Jobseekers Allowance between 6 and 12 months has fallen by 1.3 percentage points to 19.2% since April 2012 whilst those on this benefit for more than 12 months has increased by 2.1 percentage points over the same period to 22.6% of all claimants. The number of people claiming for 6-12 months has declined due to them either finding employment or falling into the category of claiming for more than 12 months.

Unemployment by Gender

At the beginning of the recession the male claimant count rate increased at a faster pace than the female rate.  Since peaking in 2009-2010 at around 5.5% the male rate began to fall, although not back to pre-recession levels (at around 4%), whilst the female rate has remained at the higher level (around 2%).

Youth Unemployment – Claimants Aged 18-24

In April 2013 the number of claimants aged 18-24 was 2,765, which is a decrease of 200 compared to March 2013 and 380 fewer compared to April 2012.  The greatest decrease in absolute terms (between April 2012 and April 2013) was in Redditch with a fall of 120 claimants.

The proportion of claimants aged 18-24 is 6.7%, which is 0.1 percentage points higher than the England average.  The district with the highest proportion of claimants aged 18-24 was Wyre Forest (8.0%).

Comments

In a briefing from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Gerwyn Davies, the CIPD’s labour market adviser, said the [unemployment] figures confirmed that the UK job market was still a “battleground”. 

“Private sector firms are not taking on enough staff to offset the contraction in the number of self-employed and public sector workers and the continuing expansion of the UK workforce,” he explained.

“The labour market remains a battleground for jobseekers,” he continued. “With five unemployed people for every vacancy registered with JobCentre Plus, there are twice as many unemployed people chasing vacancies than before the recession.

“Although youth unemployment has fallen slightly – the one bright spot in yesterday’s numbers – CIPD figures still show more than 40 applicants typically chasing every low-skilled job.”

A study by the TUC published the day before the unemployment figures came out showed people aged 18 to 24 are far less likely to be in work today than before the recent recession. The report looked at adults’ likelihood of being in work over the past five years.

It found that under-25s had seen the sharpest fall in job prospects of all age groups, and were 10 per cent less likely to currently be in work than they were on the eve of the recession in February 2008. Some 395,000 more jobs were needed before the youth unemployment rate returned to its 2008 level, said the analysis.

There was also a job shortfall amongst “prime age” workers aged 25 to 49, the data found. The employment rate among 25- to 34-year-olds had fallen by 2.4 per cent – creating a job shortfall of 164,000 – while 71,000 jobs had been lost in the 35 to 49 age category.

But the news for older workers was more positive, according to the figures. The likelihood of a 50- to 64-year-old being in work was 2.2 per cent higher today than it was in 2008 – although this was partly attributable to a gradual rise in the state pension age for women.