• Research Briefing

    Unemployment by Constituency, May 2011

    This paper presents labour market data for Parliamentary Constituencies. A summary of the latest national and regional labour market data is given, along with a selection of relevant constituency-level indicators including the latest Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) claimant count data.

  • Research Briefing

    Education Bill: Committee Stage Report

    This is an account of the House of Commons Committee Stage of the Education Bill. It complements Research Paper 11/14, prepared for the Commons Second Reading debate, which examines the range of matters covered by the Bill. As originally presented, the Bill sought to make provision relating to the National Assembly for Wales’ framework powers. However, these clauses were removed from the Bill following the ‘yes’ vote in the Welsh Devolution Referendum. A Government amendment to clause 13 (reporting restrictions on alleged offences by teachers) was agreed to without a vote. This inserted new schedule 11B into the Education Act 2002, and was introduced to secure compliance with a European Electronic Commerce Directive. Several minor and technical Government amendments were also made to the Bill. The Opposition tabled many amendments, a considerable number of which were pressed to a division, but none was successful.

  • Research Briefing

    Economic Indicators, May 2011

    This Research Paper series summarises the main economic indicators currently available for the UK, along with comparisons with other major OECD countries. The ONS’s first estimate of Q1 2011 GDP showed that the economy grew by 0.5% compared with the previous quarter. Growth in Q1 came from the manufacturing sector (up by 1.1%) and the services sector (up by 0.9%). However, overall GDP growth was reined in by a steep decline in construction output (down by 4.7%). The Q1 outturn followed a 0.5% decline in GDP in Q4 2010 when bad weather was blamed for the contraction in activity. Taking the two quarters together, economic output remained unchanged over the six month period October 2010-March 2011.

  • Research Briefing

    Unemployment by Constituency, April 2011

    This paper presents labour market data for Parliamentary Constituencies. A summary of the latest national and regional labour market data is given, along with a selection of relevant constituency-level indicators including the latest Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) claimant count data. The latest data show: Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) claimant count unemployment increased by 700 in March 2011 to 1.45 million. The wider ILO-based measure of unemployment was 2.48 million in the period December-February 2011, a fall of 17,000 from the last quarter. The number of people in employment aged 16 and over rose by 143,000 over the last quarter to 29.23 million (December-February 2011). This edition of Unemployment by Constituency contains a special section on long-term unemployment, as well as the regular monthly analysis of the national figures, and maps and tables with unemployment statistics for every constituency

  • Research Briefing

    Economic Indicators, April 2011

    This Research Paper series summarises the main economic indicators currently available for the UK, along with comparisons with other major OECD countries. The decline in Q4 2010 GDP was revised from 0.6% to 0.5%. ONS estimated that if the effects of December’s winter weather were excluded, GDP would have been unchanged. Although data from early 2011 is mixed, the economy is likely to have returned to growth in Q1. The manufacturing sector continues to expand strongly and business confidence indicators are generally positive. However, with earnings growth failing to keep pace with rising inflation, consumer expenditure – which makes up around two-thirds of GDP – is likely to remain subdued in the near future.

  • Research Briefing

    Economic Indicators, Budget update

    Recent data show unemployment rose to its highest level since 1994 in the three months to January and CPI inflation increased to 4.4% in February (compared with average earnings growth of 2.3%). Meanwhile, public finance statistics show that for the first 11 months of fiscal year 2010/11 the government borrowed nearly 10% less than in the same period of 2009/10. As a result, full-year borrowing in 2010/11 is likely to be less than the OBR’s November forecast of £149 billion. For more information see the Library’s background briefing to the Budget. Following the Budget an additional Library briefing will be available

  • Research Briefing

    Unemployment by constituency, March 2011

    This paper presents labour market data for Parliamentary Constituencies. A summary of the latest national and regional labour market data is given, along with a selection of relevant constituency-level indicators including the latest Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) claimant count data.JSA claimant count unemployment decreased by 10,200 in February 2011 to 1.45 million The wider ILO measure of unemployment rose to 2.53 million in the period November-January 2011, the highest level since 1994. Employment in the public sector fell by 45,000 over the last quarter to 6.2 million (December 2010), while employment in the private sector rose by 77,000 to 23.0 million. This was made up of a 56,000 increase in the number of people aged 65 and over in employment, while for all other age groups (ages 16-64) employment fell by 24,000.This edition of Unemployment by Constituency contains a special section on job vacancy statistics.