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West Lothian in Figures
West Lothian in Figures

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West Lothian in Figures You are here:  > Home  > wl_economy  > facts_figures  > labour_market  > WL_unemployment
 

Unemployment

Claimant count figures at a West Lothian level are released by the Office for National Statistics every month. These figures represent those people claiming Jobseekers Allowance ? this tends to be around a third of the real level of unemployment in an area. Other people willing to work may be on other forms of benefit such as Incapacity Benefit or Income Support.
 

The last few years have seen an encouraging steady decline in the number of Job Seeker?s Allowance (JSA) claimants in West Lothian from the 1997 rate of 4.2% to 2.9% of today (seasonally adjusted rates). This reduction is also mirrored in the Scottish rate, which has consistently been higher than the West Lothian rate during the same time period.
West Lothian unemployment trend as compared to Scotland Historically, male claimant rates have always been considerably higher than female rates; a possible reason being the traditional nature of activity being conducted by each gender. This month?s rate (May/07 data, released June/07) for West Lothian males is 3.3% versus 1.2% for West Lothian females. Both are still below their counterpart averages for Scotland with rates of 3.6% and 1.3% respectively.
most current unemployment data for West Lothian and Scotland The proportion of claimants unemployed for 6 months or more is 27.9% of all claimants versus 33.1% for Scotland (both down from the previous month by 1.8% and 1.5% respectively), and 1-year or more claimants being 10.6% for West Lothian versus 15.8% for Scotland (with West Lothian being up just slightly over the previous month).
age & duration data for West Lothian and Scotland The largest age group of unemployed for both West Lothian and Scotland are the 25-49 year olds, with the percentage of total claimants in both areas being approx. 52%. Although, the younger group of 18-24 year olds have a higher percentage of claimants in West Lothian (32.5%) versus Scotland at 28.6%, and the exact opposite for the eldest age category of 50+ age group being higher in Scotland (16.8%) versus 12.8% for West Lothian.
% change unemployment for West Lothian and Scotland
 
The West Lothian ward with the highest total claimant rate is Craigshill. It has consistently been in that position with Polkemmet and Bathville rounding out the top three areas with the highest claimants. On the opposite end, St. Michaels and Linhouse are the two lowest wards in terms of claimant unemployment rates.
West Lothian wards with lowest and highest claimant counts

'Real' Unemployment

Although West Lothian's official unemployment figure has been just under 3,000 for the last couple of years, the real level of unemployment is estimated to be more than three times this number. Claimant statistics should be considered alongside other benefit statistics and levels of economic inactivity in order to assess an area's real level of unemployment. In 2002 a research paper produced by Sheffield Hallam and Warwick universities estimated that around 10,000 people in West Lothian were out of work and yet capable of working.
 
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