Research Briefing
People claiming unemployment benefits by constituency, April 2018
This paper provides figures for the number of people claiming unemployment benefits (the “claimant count”) by parliamentary constituency, as well as a summary of the latest labour market statistics for the UK as a whole. The UK employment rate climbed to a new record high of 75.6% in January-March 2018, the inactivity rate fell to a new record low of 21.0% and the unemployment rate was at its lowest level since 1975. Average weekly pay excluding bonuses grew slightly faster than prices for the first time in over a year, although there was slower growth in average pay including bonuses.