Labour Market In The Regions Of The UK: February 2021

23rd February 2021

Since February 2020, the number of payrolled employees for all regions followed a pattern of decline, with varying magnitude; comparing January 2021 with January 2020, decreases in payrolled employees ranged from 0.8% in Northern Ireland to 5.2% in London.

Annual growth in median pay for employees in January 2021 was highest in Wales (an increase of 5.2%) and lowest in the South East (an increase of 3.4%).

For the three months ending December 2020, the highest employment rate estimate in the UK was in the South East (78.6%) and the lowest was in Northern Ireland (69.4%); most regions saw a decrease in the employment rate compared with the same period last year, except for the North East, which was largely unchanged, and Yorkshire and The Humber, which saw a small increase of 1.1 percentage points.

For the three months ending December 2020, the highest unemployment rate estimate in the UK was in London (7.0%) and the lowest was in Northern Ireland (3.6%); all regions saw an increase in the unemployment rate compared with the same period last year, with London seeing the largest increase, at 2.7 percentage points.

For the three months ending December 2020, the highest economic inactivity rate estimate in the UK was in Northern Ireland (28.0%) and the lowest was in the South East (18.3%); most regions saw an increase in the economic inactivity rate compared with the same period last year, except for the North East, which saw a small decrease of 0.3 percentage points, and Yorkshire and The Humber, and London, with decreases of 1.6 and 1.5 percentage points, respectively.

Between June and September 2020, workforce jobs decreased in all regions of the UK, except for Wales, which increased by 11,000; the largest decrease was in London at 98,000.

Average weekly hours worked, for the 12 months ending September 2020, varied between London, with 30.9 million hours worked and the North East, with 27.9 million hours worked; all regions saw a decrease in the average weekly hours worked, compared with the same period last year, with the North West and Scotland both with the largest decreases of 3.2 hours per week; for total weekly hours worked, the South East saw the largest decrease compared with the same period last year, down 13.2 million hours per week.

These statements are taken from the report by the Office for National Statistics published on 23 February 2021.

See the full report at https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/regionallabourmarket/february2021