The Claimant Count
The Claimant Count is the most reliable data that we use in MtW. While figures are published monthly by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), it is still only an estimate, but one which is directly sourced from the DWP / Jobcentre Plus admin system. It covers the whole of the UK.
The Claimant Count measures the number of people claiming unemployment related benefits, usually Job Seekers Allowance, Universal Credit (UC) and National Insurance Credits.
The Claimant Count is NOT just about unemployment, but there is a large overlap. It does not meet the internationally agreed definition of unemployment specified by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), but does include people on UC who are in work but with very low earnings. Additionally, the Claimant Count can include some people who are NEET and economically inactive.
Please note: The ONS has taken the decision to not publish estimates from the Labour Force Survey for July-September 2023 due to concerns over the quality of the data. You can read more here. The ONS has instead produced headline estimates for UK employment, unemployment, and inactivity by projecting trends from the April-June 2023 LFS using administrative data. We reproduce this in the summary table below, but it is to be used with caution.
Novemeber 2023 figures
(published 14th November 2023)
Unemployment (all ages)
The figure for claimant unemployed is 1,448,000.
Unemployment is 1.44 million people aged 16+ were unemployed. Unemployment levels stayed at a similar level to the last quarter but increased by 224,000 on the year and were 72,000 above pre-pandemic levels.
The claimant unemployment rate is 4.2%.
Young people (aged 16-24)
Unemployment rate for 16–24-year-olds is 12.6% for July-September 23.
Economic inactivity for July-September 23 is 38.4% for 16–24-year-olds.
Young people (aged 16-29)
| Age | East | East Midlands | London | North East | North West | Northern Ireland | Scotland | South East | South West | Wales | West Midlands | Yorkshire and Humber | Totals |
| Aged 16-17 | 225 | 180 | 145 | 150 | 340 | 65 | 725 | 255 | 245 | 255 | 280 | 340 | 3,205 |
| Aged 18-24 | 20,135 | 19,285 | 42,895 | 13,465 | 36,575 | 6,330 | 18,340 | 27,865 | 15,055 | 12,300 | 34,180 | 27,615 | 274,040 |
| Aged 25-29 | 13,910 | 12,755 | 39,110 | 8,215 | 24,475 | 4,935 | 13,460 | 20,060 | 10,425 | 7,805 | 22,745 | 17,470 | 195,365 |
| Totals | 34,270 | 32,220 | 82,150 | 21,830 | 61,390 | 11,330 | 32,525 | 48,180 | 25,725 | 20,360 | 57,205 | 45,425 | 472,610 |
Currently over 472,610 16–29-year-olds unemployed.
Vacancies
Vacancies (for Aug-October ‘23) at 957,000 – down 58,000 (-5.7%) on the quarter and up 156,000 (19.5%) on Jan-Mar ’20 (since Covid-19).
Single month’s estimate of vacancies (for October ‘23) at 984,000 vacancies – down 50,000 (-4.8%) on the quarter and up 228,000 (30.2%) on March ’20 (since Covid-19).
Disabled people
Between Apr-June 23, the disability employment rate was 53.6%.
Employment by nationality (for April-June 23)
87.3% of those employed in the UK are UK nationals, while 6.8% are EU nationals and 5.9% are non-EU nationals.
The employment rate for UK nationals is 75.5%. For non-UK nationals, the employment rate is 76.0% (83.1% for EU nationals, 69.2% for non-EU nationals).
53.5% of employment growth since 2010 has been among UK nationals.