Overview of the South West

The South West Labour Market

2

KEY TRENDS – ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

What are the key trends in economic activity?

High employment, a high number of jobs per working age resident and relatively self-contained

Over-representation of employment in certain sectors

Low levels of unemployment and long-term unemployment

Full-time earnings are below the national average

3

KEY TRENDS – EMPLOYMENTWorking age employment rate, by region, 2003 & 2004

62

64

66

68

70

72

74

76

78

80

EastMidlands

Eastern London North East NorthWest

South East SouthWest

WestMidlands

Yorkshire& the

Humber

Em

ploy

men

t rat

e

2003 2004 England average (03 & 04)

Source: ONS, NOMIS data service, 2006

4

KEY TRENDS – EMPLOYMENT

Working age employment rate in the South West, 2003 & 2004

Source: ONS, NOMIS data service, 2006

66

68

70

72

74

76

78

80

82

84

86

Bat

h &

NE

Som

Bou

rnem

outh

Bris

tol

Cor

nwal

l & Io

S

Dev

on

Dor

set

Glo

uces

ters

hire

Nor

th S

omer

set

Ply

mou

th

Poo

le

Som

erse

t

Sou

th G

louc

Sw

indo

n

Tor

bay

Wilt

shire

Em

ploy

men

t rat

e

2003 2004 England average (03 & 04) South West average (03 & 04)

5

KEY TRENDS – SECTORAL EMPLOYMENT

Employment by industry, South West & England, 2004

0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0

Other community/social

Health & social w ork

Education

Public admin & defence

Real estate/renting

Financial intermediation

Transport & comms

Hotels & restaurants

Wholesale/retail/motor

Construction

Utilities

Manufacturing

Mining & quarrying

Agriculture

Percentage of employment

England South West

Source: APS, ONS, NOMIS data service 2006.

6

KEY TRENDS – OCCUPATIONAL EMPLOYMENT

Employment by occupation, South West & England, 2004

0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0

Other f lexibility

Elementary occs

Plant & machine ops

Sales & cust service

Personal service

Skilled trades

Admin & secretarial

Associate prof & tech

Professional occs

Managers & senior

% of employment

South West

England

Source: APS, ONS, NOMIS data service 2006.

7

KEY TRENDS – UNEMPLOYMENT

Trends in unemployment rates, South West & England

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Une

mpl

oym

ent r

ate

England South West

Source: APS, ONS, NOMIS data service.

8

KEY TRENDS – OUTPUT & PRODUCTIVITY

What are the key trends in output &productivity?

Low productivity and large divide between the north and the south/west of the region

9

KEY TRENDS – OUTPUT

0.0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

120.0

140.0

160.0

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

Year

Tota

l GV

A (

£bn)

L

NE

SW

EM

WM

ENW

SE

Y&H

10

KEY TRENDS – OUTPUT

GVA at basic prices per head & indexed (UK=100), by region 2003

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

UK England East EastMids

London NorthEast

NorthWest

SouthEast

SouthWest

WestMids

Yorks &Humb

GV

A p

er h

ead

(£)

0.0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

120.0

140.0

GV

A p

er h

ead

Inde

x

GVA per head (£) GVA per head Index (UK=100)

11

KEY TRENDS – PRODUCTIVITY

GVA per hour worked, indexed (UK=100) by region, 1998 – 2004

  1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

East Midlands 95.0 93.9 94.8 96.6 97.1 96.8 98.5

East of England 100.6 98.7 98.6 97.9 98.6 100.8 101.2

London 119.1 116.6 117.6 116.1 117.5 116.7 118.8

North East 94.6 95.7 94.9 98.1 94.9 93.9 93.6

North West 95.1 94.6 94.0 94.2 93.0 92.5 92.5

South East 104.1 105.4 106.3 106.0 105.2 107.2 105.5

South West 94.3 95.8 98.1 96.5 95.9 97.0 95.1

West Midlands 91.0 93.6 93.5 94.5 93.7 93.8 94.0

Yorkshire & the Humber 93.4 94.1 94.1 94.7 93.0 92.2 91.4

England 100.8 100.8 101.0 101.2 101.2 101.3 101.3

12

KEY TRENDS – ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

What are the key trends in population &migration?

One of the smallest regions in population terms

Oldest age profile of all regions

13

BUSINESSES IN THE REGION

What are the key trends in terms of business

generation, enterprise & innovation?

High rate of business generation

Above average R&D expenditure but expenditure by HE is low

14

SMALL BUSINESSES IN THE REGION

Enterprises in the South West, 2003

15

EMPLOYER VACANCIES

What are the trends in employer vacancies?

High proportion of hard-to-fill vacancies

Lowest proportion of skills-related hard-to-fill vacancies and a low proportion of employers reporting skills gaps

16

TURNOVER & REDUNDANCIES

Labour Turnover

High degree of labour market flexibility

Redundancies

One of the lowest redundancy rates in the UK

17

SKILLS & LEARNING

Participation

High staying on rates for young people

High adult participation in learning

Qualifications

Highly qualified workforce

18

SKILLS FOR LIFE

Skills for Life

Proportion of adults with literacy needs below the national average

Those with numeracy problems above the national average

19

SOUTH WEST LABOUR MARKET

The Good News:

• A high degree of labour demand

• A well qualified workforce

• Efficient and equitable functioning between the demand and supply sides of the market.

• On these indicators, this region appears to be more “healthy” than any other region with the exception of the South East.

20

SOUTH WEST LABOUR MARKET

The Bad News:

• A low-skills equilibrium

• Productivity is low, and lower than one would expect given the region’s highly qualified workforce

• Employers report few skills gaps within their workforces

• Markedly differing fortunes across the region. Low output per head, low earning levels and relatively high unemployment dominate the picture for the far west of the region