Local Unemployment
Local Unemployment rates vary between 2.4% and 12.2%
Range of unemployment rates within English regions and GB countries, April 2008 to March 2009
In the 12 months ending March 2009, the highest unemployment rate in Great Britain is in Sandwell, West Midlands at 12.2 per cent, followed by the London borough of Tower Hamlets at 11.9 per cent and Birmingham and Kingston upon Hull, both at 11.4 per cent.
The three areas with the lowest unemployment rates in Great Britain were all found in Scotland. The lowest was Aberdeenshire at 2.4 per cent, followed by the Orkney Islands at 2.5 per cent and the Shetland Islands at 2.6 per cent.
Differences in unemployment rates in local areas within regions are generally greater than differences between regions. In the 12 months ending March 2009, the region with the greatest contrast between local authorities was the West Midlands with 8.8 percentage points between Sandwell at 12.2 per cent and Stratford-on-Avon at 3.4 per cent.
The region with the narrowest spread of unemployment rates is the South West, with 3.7 percentage points between Purbeck in Dorset at 2.8 per cent and Gloucester at 6.5 per cent.
At regional level, there are just 3.6 percentage point between the lowest unemployment rate (4.6 per cent), for the South West, and the highest unemployment rate (8.2 per cent), for the North East.
Source: Model-based estimates, Office for National Statistics
Notes: These unemployment data for local authorities are derived using a statistical model which takes unemployment estimates from the Annual Population Survey and improves them by ‘borrowing strength’ from the accurately known administrative data on numbers of Job Seeker’s Allowance claimants.
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