Unemployment by Constituency, April 2013

Changes were made to the format of this paper from the February 2013 edition. The paper now includes a single data table instead of two. The denominators used to calculate claimant rates for constituencies were also revised, in line with data from the 2011 Census.

In December 2012 to February 2013, the number of people in employment in the UK was about the same as in the previous quarter. The number of unemployed people increased but fewer people were economically inactive.

• The number of people claiming JSA decreased by 7,000 between February and March 2013 to 1.53 million people aged 18 or over.

• The wider ILO measure of unemployment was 2.56 million in the period December 2012 to February 2013, an increase of 70,000 from the last quarter but down 71,000 on the previous year. The unemployment rate was 7.9%.

• The number of people in employment was 29.70 million in December 2012 to February 2013, about the same as in the previous quarter and up 488,000 on the previous year. The employment rate (the proportion of the population aged 16-64 in work) was 71.4%, compared to a pre-recession level of 73.0% in March-May 2008.

• The number of economically inactive people aged 16-64 was 8.95 million in December 2012 to February 2013, down 57,000 compared to the last quarter and down 285,000 compared to the previous year.