Title

Claimant count by duration (not seasonally adjusted)

Last update

20 Jan 2016 20 Jan 2016

Next update

Jan 2017

Publishing organisation

Welsh Government

Contact email

economic.stats@wales.gsi.gov.uk

Designation

National Statistics

Lowest level of geographical disaggregation

Local authorities

Geographical coverage

United Kingdom

Languages covered

English only

General description

These data are counts of all persons claiming unemployment-related benefits i.e. Jobseeker’s Allowance, and are based on computerised claims only.

Data collection and calculation

The data are annual averages and are NOT adjusted to take account of past discontinuities in the data, although these are minor since 1996. Rates given in this dataset are expressed as percentages of TOTAL claimants irrespective of age or duration.

Frequency of publication

Annual

Data reference periods

1996 to 2015

Rounding applied

As all claimant count levels in this dataset have been independently rounded to the nearest 5, the figures may not add up exactly.

Statistical quality

There are two standard measures of unemployment used in official UK statistics the UK, namely the claimant count and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) unemployment measure. The measures are different and are each subject to advantages and disadvantages.
The former is a count of all persons claiming unemployment-related benefits. As such it is not subject to sampling variability and can therefore be disaggregated to very high levels of detail. However, it excludes those who are unemployed who are not eligible to claim (for example those out of work but whose partner works), and those who do not wish to claim.
The ILO measure, which is a count of those who are out of work and want a job, have actively sought work in the last 4 weeks and are available to start work in the next two weeks; plus those who are out of work, have found a job and are waiting to start in the next 2 weeks, is a more encompassing measure of unemployment. However, as the data come from a survey, the results are sample-based estimates and therefore subject to differing degrees of sampling variability, i.e. the true value for any measure lies in a differing range about the estimated value. This range or sampling variability increases as the detail in the data increases, for example local authority data are subject to higher variability than Wales data.
Please see the weblink to the data sources guide for further information.

Weblinks

www.nomisweb.co.uk;
Data sources guide: http://gov.wales/statistics-and-research/economic-labour-market-statistics-guide-data-sources-useful-links/

Keywords

Claimant count
Unemployment

Name

Econ0004