Unemployment claimants to August 2021

Unemployment claimant count data (released 14 September 2021 by the Department of Work and Pensions) shows that the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits in Oxfordshire decreased between July and August 2021, from 13,915 to 13,650 (-1.9%).

By district in August 2021, the rate of unemployment claimants (as a percentage of the economically active population aged 16-64) was highest in Oxford City followed by Cherwell. By age group, the rate was highest in Oxfordshire (and England) for claimants aged 16-24.

Change in unemployment claimants August-20 to August-21

August 2020 August 2021 August 2020 to August 2021
count rate* count rate* ppt change
Cherwell 3940 5.1% 3195 4.2% -0.97
Oxford 4755 6.8% 4120 5.9% -0.91
South Oxfordshire 3175 4.5% 2305 3.2% -1.22
Vale of White Horse 2960 4.3% 2150 3.1% -1.17
West Oxfordshire 2670 4.7% 1880 3.3% -1.40
Oxfordshire 17495 5.1% 13650 4.0% -1.12
England 2282005 8.4% 1874550 6.9% -1.50

Unemployment claimants by age group August-21

16-24 25-49 50+
count rate* count rate* count rate*
Cherwell 545 5.9% 1,930 4.4% 720 3.1%
Oxford 630 4.8% 2,485 6.4% 1,005 6.2%
South Oxfordshire 360 4.2% 1,290 3.3% 650 2.8%
Vale of White Horse 350 4.1% 1,265 3.2% 535 2.5%
West Oxfordshire 325 4.7% 1,100 4.9% 450 2.5%
Oxfordshire 2,210 4.7% 8,075 4.2% 3,365 3.3%
England 328,635 8.8% 1,093,015 6.9% 452,855 6.0%

*per the economically active population (calculated as the ONS mid-2020 population estimate - aged 16-64 for the top table - multiplied by the proportion of the population that are economically active, as recorded by the 2011 Census); ppt=percentage point

Note that this does not include people on the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme, which is now due to finish at the end of September 2021.  As of 30 June 2021, there were 18,300 furloughed employments in Oxfordshire, a take-up of 6% compared with 7% take-up across England (provisional statistics).

Explore the latest unemployment data for Oxfordshire using our interactive dashboard.

Data downloaded from www.nomisweb.co.uk (14 September 2021); Furlough data from HMRC

Author: 
alick.bird
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