UK employment rates vary widely according to Stats office City tops league

The City of London enjoys 100 per cent employment rates, outstripping many other areas of the country, according to latest research.

The London region has the broadest spread of employment rates with a difference of almost 48 percentage points between the lowest and the highest, according to new labour market indicators for local areas published today by the Office for National Statistics. The new data are from the annual Labour Force Survey (LFS) and cover the period March 2003 to February 2004.

The lowest employment rate in London was Newham (52.4 per cent), while the highest was the City of London (100 per cent). However, the sample in the City of London was very small and all respondents in this area were in employment. Excluding the City, the area in London with the next highest employment rate was Havering (79.9 per cent).

The South West had the narrowest spread of employment rates, with just over 15 percentage points between the lowest, Penwith (71.3 per cent) and the highest, Taunton Deane (86.8 per cent).

The widest spread of economic inactivity rates was in the East Midlands, with just under 27 percentage points between the highest, Nottingham (34.6 per cent), and the lowest, Melton (7.7 per cent). Melton had the lowest economic inactivity rate of all local authorities in Great Britain. Wales had the narrowest spread of inactivity rates with just under 14 percentage points between the highest, Merthyr Tydfil (33.2 per cent), and the lowest, Flintshire (19.3 per cent). Newham in London, at 42.1 per cent, had the highest economic inactivity rate of local authorities in Great Britain.