Latest figures show continued high levels of employment

London’s employment rate (i.e. the proportion of London’s resident working age population in employment) in the three months to January 2016 decreased to 72.7 per cent – down by 0.3 percentage points on the previous quarter but up 0.4 percentage points on a year earlier. Despite this, employment remains at a historically high level. Similarly, workforce jobs in London (i.e. the number of jobs located in London, whether or not they are taken by residents of London), reached 5.576 million in Q4 2015 – a new high since the measure began in 1996 and an increase of 85,000 (or 1.5 per cent) over the year.

London’s ILO unemployment rate in the three months to January 2016 was 6.3 per cent. This is down 0.1 percentage points on the previous quarter but up 0.1 percentage points on the year. The timelier claimant count showed a decrease in the numbers claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance or out-of-work Universal Credit in February 2016; with the rate remaining the same from the previous month at 1.8 per cent and down 0.3 percentage points on the year.

*All figures are seasonally adjusted. Rates are based on working age (16 – 64 male and female), with the exception of unemployment rate which is age 16 and above.

** Since June 2015, the labour market release headline measure of the Claimant Count includes some claimants of Universal Credit as well as JSA claimants. These Universal Credit estimates are still being developed by the Department for Work and Pensions. The ONS have therefore decided that the Claimant Count estimates including Universal Credit will continue to be designated as experimental statistics even though they are now the headline measure. A consistent series on this basis is currently available only back to November 2013.