Unemployment rate by Government Office Region
Jan 2008 - present
The number of unemployed people in the UK is measured by the Labour Force Survey. It uses an internationally agreed definition of unemployment recommended by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) - an agency of the United Nations. Unemployment rates are measured as the percentage of the economically active population who are unemployed.
From early 2008, the economic downturn started affecting the labour market, causing both the number of people unemployed and the rate of UK unemployment to rise. At its lowest, the number of unemployed people was around 1.6 million; by the end of the year the number was over 2 million. In the same period, the UK unemployment rate had grown from 5.2 per cent to 6.3 per cent.
The rate of unemployment varies by Government Office Region. When unemployment was at its lowest, the rate ranged between a high of 6.6 per cent in London, to a low of 3.7 per cent in the South West. By the end of 2008, the unemployment rate had risen in all regions, although there were significant differences in the amount it had increased. The North East had the largest increase of 2.6 percentage points to 8.4 per cent, while Scotland had the lowest increase of 0.3 percentage points to 5.1 per cent.
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Animated chart showing unemployment rate by Government Office Region