We monitor the latest employment and unemployment data for the West Midlands, which is published monthly by the Office for National Statistics. We analyse the data and show the latest position of the West Midlands relative to the other regions in England.

The data covers the period up to January 2010 for the claimant count, and the quarter up to December 2009 for employment and ILO unemployment.

Jobseeker's Allowance claimant rates

We've produced interactive maps showing the proportion of the region's working age population claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in each local authority and ward.

We update the maps each month and currently show data up to January 2010.

• Local Authority map (requires Adobe Flash Player)
• Ward map (requires Adobe Flash Player)
• Download the dataset (xls, 220kb)

We've also produced an interactive map showing the proportion of the working age population claiming Jobseeeker's Allowance in the Rural Regeneration Zone.

Employment

The employment rate in the West Midlands for the three months to December 2009 has risen slightly to 70.5%. This is an increase on the previous quarter (July-​September 2009) of 0.5 percentage points.

The employment rate is still below the English average of 72.6%, but the West Midlands has a higher employment rate than the regions of London, North East, and North West.

The gap between the employment rate in the West Midlands and England grew over the course of the recession, but the gap is beginning to narrow. In the December-​February 2008 quarter, there were only 1.6 percentage points' difference. This widened to a 3.5 point gap in January-​March 2009, but now stands at 2.2 percentage points:

Source: Office for National Statistics (Labour Force Survey, seasonally adjusted data)

ILO unemployment

The official ILO measure of unemployment in the West Midlands is now 9.4% (October-​December 2009).

This is now slightly lower than the rate recorded in February-​April 2009. It represents a decrease from the figures which occurred throughout much of the intervening period, when rates were generally over 10%.

The unemployment rate has fallen by over 1.1 percentage points since its peak in the April-​June 2009 quarter, equating to over 31,800 fewer people unemployed.

However, the total number currently unemployed stands at over 252,000, almost 38,000 more than a year ago.

The West Midlands again has the highest unemployment rate of any English region. England's average unemployment rate is 7.9%.

Previously, the West Midlands had also been the worst affected of all the regions, with unemployment increasing by more in this region than any other over the year. This has changed for the October-​December 2009 quarter.

While the unemployment rate for the West Midlands is 1.4 percentage points higher than it was at the same time last year, other regions (Yorkshire and the Humber, London, and the South West) have fared worse during the same time period:

Source: Office for National Statistics (Labour Force Survey, seasonally adjusted data)

The disproportionate impact of the recession on unemployment in the West Midlands is shown in the chart below. The gap between the unemployment rate in England and the West Midlands has risen considerably since the beginning of 2008, although it has narrowed since mid-​2009:

 Source: Office for National Statistics (Labour Force Survey, seasonally adjusted data)

Claimant count

There are now 180,500 people in the West Midlands claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (the unemployment benefit). This is 1,500 more than in December 2009. However, it's also 3,000 fewer than the peak of 185,300 in September 2009.

Source: Office for National Statistics (claimant count, seasonally adjusted data)

Nevertheless, the West Midlands still has the second highest claimant count rate of all the English regions:

Source: Office for National Statistics (claimant count, seasonally adjusted data)

At a sub-​regional level, there's wide variation in the numbers of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance.

Data for January 2010 show that the percentage of working age people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance ranges from 2.3% in Stratford-​on-​Avon to 8.4% in Wolverhampton.

To see how the recession has affected each Local Authority District area, see our interactive map which shows trends in claimant rates in each Local Authority in the region.

Young people

Young people have been the worst affected age group in this recession, seeing the biggest increases in their unemployment rates.

There are over 56,400 young people (aged 18–24) in the West Midlands claiming Jobseeker's Allowance, equating to more than one in ten young people (claimant rate 10.9%).

This is the highest youth claimant rate among the English regions:

Source: Office for National Statistics (claimant count)

These figures represent higher claimant rates than last month.

In Wolverhampton the youth claimant rate is over 16%, meaning that nearly one in six young people are unemployed and claiming Jobseeker's Allowance.

Dataset: youth claimant rates by regions and Local Authority (January 2010) (xls, 33kb)

Definitions

There are three headline measures:

• Employment
• ILO unemployment (this is the offical measure of unemployment based on the International Labour Organisation definition of those looking for and available for work)
• Claimant count (numbers of people claiming unemployment benefit)

Jobseeker's Allowance claimant data (January 2010) (xls, 220kb)

Youth claimant rates by Local Authority and region (January 2010) (xls, 33kb)