Fall in unemployment for the South West
The unemployment rate for the South West fell in the last quarter by 0.4% to 5.8%. The total number of unemployed people of working age in the region between March and May 2013 was 156,000, 11,000 down on the previous quarter - a fall of 6.4%.
The South West continues to have the lowest rate of unemployment in the country. The latest unemployment rate announced by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday 17 July, represents a slight fall of 0.1% from the same period last year.
The total number of people in work in the region rose by 5,000 to 2,547,000, an increase of 0.2% on the last quarter and 0.7% on a year ago.
National Picture
Nationally, overall there are more people in employment and fewer unemployed compared with both the previous quarter and the same quarter last year.
- The unemployment rate was 7.8% of the economically active population, down 0.2 percentage points from December 2012 to February 2013 and down 0.3 from a year earlier. There were 2.51 million unemployed people, down 57,000 from December 2012 to February 2013 and down 72,000 from 12 months ago.
- The employment rate for those aged from 16 to 64 for March to May 2013 was 71.4%, down 0.1 percentage points from December 2012 to February 2013. There were 29.71 million people in employment aged 16 and over, up 16,000 from December 2012 to February 2013.
- The inactivity rate for those aged from 16 to 64 for March to May 2013 was 22.5%, up 0.2 percentage points from December 2012 to February 2013. There were 9.04 million economically inactive people aged from 16 to 64, up 87,000 from December 2012 to February 2013.
- Total pay rose by 1.7% compared with March to May 2012. Regular pay rose by 1.0% over the same period.
Long-term unemployment has increased to a 17-year high, despite another fall in the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance.
