A job is an activity performed for an employer or customer by a worker in exchange for payment, usually in cash, in kind, or both. Agreement is reached through the provision and negotiation of a contract, stipulating what an employer or customer demands and what is to be supplied by the worker.
Publications
BRES provides a rich dataset from which small area analyses can be derived at varying industrial and geographical levels. High level UK BRES estimates are published on the ONS website, while detailed GB regional estimates are published on NOMIS. BRES is regarded as the definitive source of official Government employee statistics.
ICT Activity of UK Businesses - It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do I.T.
Article on the impact of the recession on the labour market
The Labour Market Statistical Bulletin contains the latest data for employment, unemployment, economic inactivity, claimant count, average earnings, labour productivity, vacancies and labour disputes. Previous editions of the Labour Market Statistical Bulletin, back to January 2008, are available from this page. Please note that these previous editions show estimates as originally published by ONS and that may have subsequently been revised. Editions prior to January 2008 are not available on the website but are available on request from ONS’s Labour Market Division (email labour.market@ons.gsi.gov.uk. Tel: +44 (0)1633 455400).
This monthly compendium of statistics and articles on the Labour Market was replaced by Economic and Labour Market Review.
Presents a number of different indicators to give an overall picture of the labour market of local areas. Includes statistics relating to the employment, unemployment and benefit dependency of the resident population of the area; statistics relating to jobs and vacancies at workplaces in the area; and earnings statistics.
Labour Market Statistics for Northern Ireland (employment, unemployment, earnings).
Labour Market Statistics for Northern Ireland (employment, unemployment, earnings).
This report compares the employment rates of those aged 50-64, and those aged 65 and above, before and after the 2008-09 recession.
This statistical bulletin presents statistics on the Welsh Governments priority sectors and includes information on business numbers, employment characteristics, business births & deaths, Gross Value Added and earnings.
This publication was released in error. The information is now available in the publication "Proportion of Employee Jobs in Selected Industry Sectors by English NUTS Regions" released by BIS on 9 June 2011
Quarterly Northern Ireland Employee Jobs series.
Quarterly Northern Ireland Employee Jobs series.
The tables contain Labour Market headline indicators for each UK country and region. These cover Economic Activity, Employment, Unemployment, Economic Inactivity, Workforce jobs and Claimant Count.
Statistics on women in Northern Ireland, labour market, childcare provision, earnings.
Statistics on women in Northern Ireland, labour market, childcare provision, earnings.
The Labour Market statistics First Release gives the results of several separate revisions to the workforce jobs series. These are included together with a description of each type of revision.
Overview
The number of people with jobs is not the same as the number of jobs. This is because a person can have more than one job. The number of people with jobs is measured by the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The LFS also provides an estimate of the number of jobs by adding main and second jobs, but the industry breakdown is less reliable. Workforce Jobs (WFJ) provides an alternative measure of jobs and is the preferred measure of short-term change in employment by industry.
WFJ is a compound measure and draws upon a range of sources:
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employee jobs estimated from a range of employer surveys
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self-employment jobs estimated from the Labour Force Survey (LFS)
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Her Majesty’s Forces (HMF) from administrative sources
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Government-Supported Trainees (GST) from administrative sources
WFJ is published in the National and Regional Labour Market Statistical Bulletin, in the Economic and Labour Market Review (ELMR) and directly on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and NOMIS ® websites. Long quarterly time series by industry, region, gender and full/part-time are available.
The LFS and WFJ measures are reconciled each quarter in the Labour Market Overview.
Job vacancies are measured separately by the Vacancy Survey.
Technical Data
WFJ estimates are subject to various sources of error that can be categorised into sampling error and non-sampling error.
Sampling error occurs for survey estimates that are based on samples rather than a census. WFJ draws upon a range of household and employer surveys and so the total sample error is difficult to measure.
The National Statistics Quality Review of Employment and Jobs (2006) estimated a 95 per cent confidence interval (the range around an estimate which in 95 per cent of cases will include the true value) for quarterly WFJ estimates of between +/- 300,000 to 400,000 jobs, a coefficient of variation of approximately +/- one per cent.
Non-sampling errors include errors of coverage, measurement, processing and non-response and are difficult to quantify. The employer surveys usually exceed a monthly response rate of 80 per cent.
Reliability can be assessed by analysing the revisions between subsequent releases. Revisions are standard practice when producing official statistics and can occur if more information becomes available, if errors are corrected or methods changed.
The revisions policy for WFJ is to open at least the previous quarter for revision. All periods are open in the December release to coincide with the annual benchmarking exercise and seasonal adjustment review. Revisions articles are published to explain the revisions as set out in the National Statistics Code of practice.
The various WFJ sources use different reference points. The reference point for STES is linked to the claimant count date and is the Friday following the second Thursday of the last month in the quarter (March for quarter one, June for quarter two, September for quarter three and December for quarter four).
The QPSES use the last working day of the last month in the quarter. The self-employment jobs series from the LFS are three-month averages centred on the employment month, for example, February to April for the first quarter.
Quarterly WFJ estimates are published in the Labour Market Statistics First Release approximately two-and-a-half months after the reference month. Monthly employee jobs series for the production sector are published approximately one-and-a-half months after the reference month.
Glossary
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Employment and jobs
The number of people with jobs is not the same as the number of jobs. This is because a person can have more than one job. The number of people with jobs is measured by the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The number of jobs is measured by Workforce Jobs (WFJ) and is the sum of employee jobs from employer surveys, self-employment jobs from the LFS, those in HM Forces and Government-Supported Trainees. The LFS also provides an estimate of the number of jobs, by adding main and second jobs, but the industry breakdown is less reliable. The LFS and WFJ measures are reconciled each quarter in the Labour Market Overview. Jobs vacancies are measured separately by the Vacancy Survey.
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Full-time
In employer surveys, jobs are generally classified as being part-time if the contracted hours of work are 30-hours-or-less per week.
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Government-supported trainees
Those on government-supported training programmes are included in the employee jobs estimate within Workforce Jobs (WFJ), if they have a contract of employment. Otherwise they are included in the WFJ estimate as Government-Supported Trainees.
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Jobs
A job is an activity performed for an employer or customer by a worker in exchange for payment, usually in cash, in kind, or both. Agreement is reached through the provision and negotiation of a contract, stipulating what an employer or customer demands and what is to be supplied by the worker.
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Labour Force Survey (LFS)
The main source for information on the labour market in the UK. It is a random household survey of approximately 50,000 households every three months conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). As well as private households, the survey includes people living in student halls of residence and National Health Service (NHS) accommodation.
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Part-time
See full-time
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Sampling variability
Data based on statistical samples are subject to sampling variability. If many samples were drawn, each would give a different result. The ranges shown for the Labour Force Survey (LFS) data in the monthly Labour Market Statistics First Releases, for example, represent 95 per cent confidence intervals; in 95 per cent of samples the range would contain the true value.
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Seasonal adjustment
A process of estimating regularly occurring seasonal effects and removing them from the raw data.
Contact Details
For statistical enquiries about this topic, please contact:
Labour Market Statistics Team
Email: labour.market@ons.gov.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 1633 456776
Labour Market Statistics Team Office for National Statistics Government Buildings Cardiff Road Newport NP10 8XG
