Unemployment

(asked on 24th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is (1) the number of people, and (2) the percentage of the total workforce, registered as unemployed in the (a) Rother Valley, (b) Newcastle-under-Lyme, (c) Leigh, (d) Don Valley, (e) Wakefield, (f) Bishop Auckland, (g) Sedgefield, (h) North West Durham, (i) Bassetlaw, and (j) Great Grimsby, Parliamentary constituencies.


This question was answered on 8th December 2020

Estimates of the level and rate of unemployment are compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) using the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and Annual Population Survey (APS). The LFS provides national and regional unemployment estimates whilst the APS, which boosts the sample of the LFS, allows more local analysis.

Estimates are based on a sample of cases and therefore subject to sampling uncertainty. Unemployment estimates at geographies below regions, such as local authorities and parliamentary constituencies, can be more statistically uncertain. The confidence intervals given in Table 2 in the Annex reflect the level of uncertainty around the rates given, with confidence intervals (and therefore uncertainty in the figure) generally increasing as the underlying sample size decreases.

The Annex sets out the constituency level information asked for. All estimates of unemployment and the claimant count used the Annex are also publicly available on the NOMIS website (https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/).

Table 1 of the Annex gives the latest figures from the LFS on the unemployment levels and rates for the relevant regions for the named constituencies.

Table 2 of the Annex gives the latest estimate from the APS on the levels and rates of unemployment for the named constituencies. These figures, where available, should be treated as indicative, rather than precise, due to the heightened level of sample variability of estimates at this level of geography due to the small sample of people the estimate is based upon. Where the sample is too small to derive an estimate, figures are not given. The rates given express the proportion of the economically active population (those in work plus those seeking and available to work) who are unemployed, in line with the International Labour Organization definition of unemployment.

Table 3 of the Annex gives the latest figures on the Claimant Count for the named constituencies. The Claimant Count is based on administrative data and can be broken down robustly to constituency level, and as such, there are no confidence intervals around the figures. The Claimant Count is the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance plus those who claim Universal Credit who are out of work. The rates given express the number of claimants as a percentage of the population aged 16-64.

Reticulating Splines