Unemployment by Constituency, May 2016

This paper contains claimant count figures for parliamentary constituencies, as well as a summary of the latest labour market statistics for the UK as a whole. 

• The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance or not in work and claiming Universal Credit fell by 2,400 between March and April 2016 to 737,800. It was 7.2% lower than a year ago and roughly the same as the previous quarter.

• The unemployment rate was 5.1% in January-March 2016, the same as the previous quarter. The ILO measure of unemployment was 1.69 million people, roughly the same as the previous quarter and down 139,000 from the previous year. Overall, the unemployment level was thus relatively unchanged.

• The number of people in employment was 31.58 million in January-March 2016, up 44,000 from the previous quarter and up 409,000 from the previous year. The employment rate was 74.2%, the joint highest since comparable records began in 1971 and roughly the same as the previous quarter.

• Average weekly total pay in Great Britain was £499 in March 2016. It increased by 2.0% in the three months to March 2016 compared with the previous year. Regular pay (excluding bonuses) was £468 per week. It grew by 2.1%. CPI inflation averaged 0.3% over this period.