Financial markets: Economic indicators
The price of shares and commodities can help show the health of the economy. Find the latest data on the prices of shares, oil and gold.

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.
People claiming unemployment benefits by constituency, November 2018 (5 MB , PDF)
The full briefing paper will be published around 1pm today.
The claimant count figures provided in this paper are affected by the ongoing rollout of Universal Credit. The claimant count comprises people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance, or people claiming Universal Credit who are required to seek work. Under Universal Credit, a broader span of claimants are required to look for work than under Jobseeker’s Allowance. This has the effect of increasing the number of unemployed claimants. So changes in claimant numbers may be a consequence of the Universal Credit rollout rather than changes in economic conditions.
The effect is most visible in areas operating Universal Credit “Full Service”, where rollout of Universal Credit is more advanced: in these areas, there tends to have been a sharp increase in the claimant count over the past year.
In response, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is intending to publish an ‘alternative’ claimant count series when the next set of labour market statistics is published on 22 January 2019. The alternative series will model what the count would have been if Universal Credit had been in place since 2013 – so it will also include those people who may not have been claiming at the time, but who would have been required to look for work had Universal Credit been in place.
People claiming unemployment benefits by constituency, November 2018 (5 MB , PDF)
The price of shares and commodities can help show the health of the economy. Find the latest data on the prices of shares, oil and gold.
Sterling often changes in value relative to other currencies. Find the latest data on exchange rates overall and against the dollar and euro.
Debt levels affect how much households spend. Find the latest data on UK household debt, mortgage rates and insolvencies.