The Claimant Count

The Claimant Count is the most reliable data that we use in MtW.  While figures are published monthly by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) it is still only an estimate, but one which is directly sourced from the DWP / Jobcentre Plus admin system.  It covers the whole of the UK.

The Claimant Count measures the number of people claiming unemployment related benefits, usually Job Seekers Allowance, Universal Credit (UC) and National Insurance Credits. 

The Claimant Count is NOT just about unemployment, but there is a large overlap.  It does not meet the internationally agreed definition of unemployment specified by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), but does include people on UC who are in work but with very low earnings.  Additionally, the Claimant Count can include some people who are NEET and economically inactive.

March 2023 figures 

(published 14th March 2023)

Unemployment (all ages)

The ONS figure for claimant unemployed is 1,498,000. The claimant
unemployment rate is 3.7%.


Young people (aged 16-24)

5.851 million young people are in full-time education (FTE) or work – down 63,000 (-1.1%) on the year and down 78,000 (-1.3%) on 2010.

985,000 young people are out of work (i.e., unemployed, or inactive) and not in FTE. This equates to 14.4% of all young people.

Unemployment rate for 16–24-year-olds is 10.8%.

Economic inactivity for Nov-Jan 23 is 38.2%


Young people (aged 16-29)

Age East   East Midlands London North East North West Northern Ireland Scotland South East South West Wales West Midlands Yorkshire and Humber Totals      
Aged 16-17 220 170 145 160 410 45 615 255 220 235 295 380 3,150
Aged 18-24 19,155  18,420 39,220 13,630  35,985   6,065 19,170 26,640  14,670  12,565 32,470 26,880

264,870

Aged 25-29 13,865  12,665 36,910 8,715   25,550   4,530 14,720 20,135 10,840 8,405   22,700 18,115 197,150
Totals 33,240   31,255    76,275  22,505   61,945   10,640 34,505 47,030   25,730   21,205   55,465 45,375  465,170  

Currently over 465,170 16–29-year-olds unemployed.


Vacancies

Vacancies (for Dec-Feb ‘23) at 1.12 million– down 50,000 (-4.3%) on the quarter and up 1.04 million (3.6%) on Feb 20 (since Covid-19).

Single month’s estimate of vacancies (for Feb 23) at 1.08 million vacancies – down 25,000 (-2.3%) on the quarter and up 328,000 (43.4%) on March ’20 (since Covid-
19).


Economic inactivity (all ages).

Economic inactivity is at 8.858 million (21.3%). 

Excluding students, inactivity is at 6.668 million. This is 16.0% of 16–64-year-olds and is up 0.3% on the year

Reason for inactivity  Current (000s)  Change on quarter  Change on Dec-Feb ’20  Change on 2010 election 
Student  2,190 -214  +60  -126  
Looking after family/home  1,698  -10 -142  -671
Temp sick  190 +8  +14 +11
Long-term sick  2,520 -64  +407  +292 
Discouraged workers  26 -10   -54 
Retired  1,110  -37  -12  -418 
Other  1,124 +112  +170  +325 
Total  8,858 -77 +488 -641 

Employment by nationality (for Oct-Dec 22 next data 16 May)

87.7% of those employed in the UK are UK nationals. The employment rate for UK nationals is 75.9%. For non-UK nationals, the employment rate is 75.3%.

  • For non-UK nationals, the employment rate is 75.3% (81.2% for EU nationals,
    69.4% for non-EU nationals).
  • 53.2% of employment growth since 2010 has been among UK nationals