Economic & Labour Market Review

Publications in this journal

• Article: Disadvantaged groups in the labour market

  Ruth Barrett
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  ABSTRACT: Employment rates vary among different groups of the population, affected by factors such as age, sex, region, ethnic origin, disability status and level of qualification. Some groups face particular barriers to entering, remaining in and progressing within employment. This article considers the economic activity of groups that are considered to face such barriers and be disadvantaged with respect to opportunities for employment.
  Economic & Labour Market Review 01/2010; 4(6):18-24.
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  Available from: 212.58.231.24

  Article: Using the OECD equivalence scale in taxes and benefits analysis

  Grace Anyaegbu
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  ABSTRACT: Equivalence scales make adjustments to the incomes of households so that households with different compositions can be analysed. The effects of taxes and benefits on household income (ETB) analysis uses the McClements equivalence scale to examine how taxes and benefi ts redistribute income between households in the UK. However, many other household income statistics, including indicators published by the Department for Work and Pensions and the European Union (EU), use the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) equivalence scale. Thus, estimates produced in the ETB analysis cannot be easily compared with other key income statistics. This article seeks to outline the effects of switching to the OECD equivalence scale on the effects of taxes and benefits on household income analysis.
  Economic & Labour Market Review 01/2010; 4(1):49-54.
• Source

  Available from: statistics.gov.uk

  Article: Disability, education and training

  Melanie Jones
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  ABSTRACT: This article uses data from the 2008 Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) to examine differences in human capital between disabled and non-disabled individuals of working age. The initial focus of the paper is on how the level of educational attainment differs between the two groups. It goes on to consider differences in the accumulation of human capital, both through post-compulsory education and through job-related education and training.
  Economic & Labour Market Review 01/2010; 4(4):32-37.
• Article: Incorporating derivatives data in the National Accounts and Balance of Payments

  Paul Cullinane
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  ABSTRACT: This article outlines forthcoming changes to the National Accounts and Balance of Payments. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) aims to introduce data on derivatives business of UK banks into the financial accounts and balance sheets for the 2010 Blue Book and Balance of Payments Pink Book. Revisions will go back to the start of 2006.In the National Accounts, currently only limited transaction data is published for the bank, central government and rest of the world sectors. Data for the rest of the world sector is also presented within the Balance of Payments statistics. Additional balance sheet data is published annually in Blue Book Table 4.5 and Pink Book Table FD.Derivative transactions which take place exclusively between other sectors of the economy, such as other (non-bank) financial institutions and private non-financial corporations, will be included once reliable data sources are available.
  Economic & Labour Market Review 01/2010; 4(4):44-47.
• Article: Civil Service Statistics 2009: A focus on gross annual earnings

  David Matthews, Andrew Taylor
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  ABSTRACT: This article presents a summary of annual Civil Service statistics for the year ending 31 March 2009. It compares trends over time with a particular focus on gross annual earnings broken down to different groups in the workforce such as men, women, ethnic minorities and those with a disability.Previously produced by the Cabinet Office, responsibility for the collection and publication of Civil Service Statistics was transferred to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in 2006. This transfer of responsibility was outlined in an ‘In brief’ article in the February 2007 edition of Economic & Labour Market Review1.
  Economic & Labour Market Review 01/2010; 4(4):48-53.
• Source

  Available from: statistics.gov.uk

  Article: Services Producer Price Indices (experimental) – Fourth quarter 2009

  Simon Woodsford
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  ABSTRACT: The experimental services producer price indices (SPPI) are primarily a suite of individual price indices that provide information on price change for a limited range of service industries. Each SPPI captures quarterly changes in the price received for services provided by UK businesses to other UK businesses and Government. These selected price indices are also aggregated together to create an aggregate SPPI with limited coverage. This aggregate SPPI is not representative of the whole service sector. This article shows the effects some industries are having on the aggregate SPPI. The data produced are used internally by the Office for National Statistics as a deflator for the Index of Services and the quarterly measurement of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The index is also used by HM Treasury and the Bank of England to help monitor inflation in the economy.
  Economic & Labour Market Review 01/2010; 4(4):56-59.
• Source

  Available from: statistics.gov.uk

  Article: Recent developments in the household saving ratio

  Christopher Davies, Valerie Fender, Barry Williams
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  ABSTRACT: The household saving ratio summarises the income and expenditure positions of the household sector. This article considers developments in the ratio during the current recession, discussing the drivers in income and consumption and their interaction in the context of developments in the labour market, government policy and wider economic conditions.
  Economic & Labour Market Review 01/2010; 4(5):16-24.
• Article: Comparing different estimates of productivity produced by the Office for National Statistics

  Mike G Phelps
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  ABSTRACT: This article describes the three different types of productivity measures which ONS publishes and examines the particular question of comparing public and private sector productivity. It shows that measures of output per person or person hour are not comparable with measures of output per unit of total input; and that measures of value‐added per unit of input are not comparable with measures of gross output per unit of input. Approximate comparisons can be made of valued added productivity growth between the group of industries which include health, education and public administration and the market sector, though there is some overlap between the two.
  Economic & Labour Market Review 01/2010; 4(5):25-29.
• Article: The effects of taxes and benefits on household income, 2008/09

  Andrew Barnard
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  ABSTRACT: This article looks at how taxes and benefits affect the income of households in the UK. It provides estimates of household incomes, including the average amount of taxes that households paid, and also the value of benefits that they received in 2008/09, a period when the UK economy was in recession. The analysis highlights that the level of inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient, fell slightly between 2007/08 and 2008/09 for retired households, but for non-retired households it was almost unchanged. This analysis is published annually and has been undertaken each year for over 30 years.Appendix 1 (additional tables) and Appendix 2 (Methodology and Definitions) are available on the web version of this article at: www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/article.asp?ID=2440Additional ONS analysis of the effect of the recession on households' incomes will be published in August 2010, as part of a wider investigation of the recession.
  Economic & Labour Market Review 01/2010; 4(7):36-47.
• Article: Regional economic indicators: A focus on regional gross value added using shift-share analysis

  Sebnem Oguz, Jonathan Knight
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  ABSTRACT: This quarter, the regional economic indicators article focuses on explaining variations in economic growth rates across NUTS1 regions between 1995 and 2007 by using the shift-share method. The technique is based on the assumption that local economic growth is explained by the combined effect of three components: national growth, industry mix or structural effect, and local competitiveness. Thus, one can apply shift-share to determine how much each component contributes to local economic growth. The regular part of the article then gives an overview of the economic activity of UK regions in terms of their GVA, GVA per head and labour productivity. This is followed by a presentation of headline indicators of regional welfare, other drivers of regional productivity and regional labour market statistics. The indicators cover the nine Government Office Regions of England and the devolved administrations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. These 12 areas comprise level 1 of the European Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics (NUTS level 1) for the UK. The term ‘region’ is used to describe this level of geography for convenience in the rest of this article.
  Economic & Labour Market Review 01/2010; 4(8):74-87.
• Source

  Available from: statistics.gov.uk

  Article: Employment in the 2008–2009 recession

  Jonathan Wadsworth, Paul Gregg
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  ABSTRACT: After some 15 years of near continuous job growth, the employment rate in the UK in 2008 stood at around 75 per cent of the working age population, a level which was broadly in line with previous employment peaks observed in 1989, 1978 or 1968. In 2005, the (ILO-based) unemployment rate fell below 5 per cent for the first time since the 1970s. Since then, the UK has experienced the worst recession since World War 2 in terms of output lost and the full effects of this on the labour market may not have yet been felt. However the impact on the labour market so far has been rather surprising given the patterns observed both in previous recessions and the contemporaneous experience of other industrialised countries. This article aims to chart the performance of the labour market through the recession and to explain the surprising patterns that have emerged. It also tries to assess the prospects for the next few years.
  Economic & Labour Market Review 01/2010; 4(8):37-43.
• Source

  Available from: landmarkgovernment.co.uk

  Article: The recording of financial intermediation services within sector accounts

  Paul Cullinane
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  ABSTRACT: This article outlines the new methodology for Financial Intermediation Services Indirectly Measured (FISIM), introduced in Blue Book 2008, on the sector accounts. In particular the impact on interest payments and receipts, and key aggregates such as household saving ratio and net lending/borrowing.
  Economic & Labour Market Review 01/2010; 4(6):60-62.
• Article: Methods Explained: Real time data

  Graeme Chamberlin
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  ABSTRACT: Real time data are snapshots of unrevised data available at different points in time. This article provides a literature review on how real time databases can be used to better understand the nature of revisions to economic data, and are also a fairer basis on which to evaluate forecasts and policy–decisions made in the past.
  Economic & Labour Market Review 01/2010; 4(6):68-73.
• Article: Healthcare productivity

  Cristina Penaloza
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  ABSTRACT: This article presents new estimates of publicly funded healthcare outputs, inputs and productivity for the period 1995 to 2008. These update the estimates published in Total Public Service Output and Productivity in June 2009 (ONS 2009a) by incorporating new methods to improve the measurement of output and input volumes and give the first results for 2008.
  Economic & Labour Market Review 01/2010; 4(6):63-67.
• Article: The changing nature of the UK's trade deficits, 1985-2008

  Valerie Fender
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  ABSTRACT: This article considers changes in the nature of the balance of trade between 1985 and 2008. The first section examinesthe theories behind trade and the position of the UK relative to its trading partners. Periods of deficit and surplusbetween these dates are then analysed individually, drawing comparisons. Lastly, the composition of the balance of trade ineach period and the fundamental reasons driving either the surplus or deficit are discussed. The analysis concludes thatthere are some fundamental similarities between the causes of each trade deficit, although there have also been largestructural changes in the composition of UK exports and imports due to developments in the global economy.
  Economic & Labour Market Review 01/2010; 4(1):18-24.
• Article: Implications of the change in female state pension age for labour market statistics

  Richard Clegg, Debra Leaker, Kent Katherine
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  ABSTRACT: Between 2010 and 2020, the state pension age for women will gradually increase, by one month every two months,from 60 to 65. At present, the headline employment and inactivity rates from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) are described asworking age. They are based on upper age limits of 59 for women and 64 for men to reflect the current state pension ages inthe UK. This article describes how these changes will be implemented and impact on key labour market statistics.
  Economic & Labour Market Review 01/2010; 4(1):25-29.
• Source

  Available from: ons.gov.uk

  Article: An expenditure–based analysis of the redistribution of household income

  Sonia Carrera
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  ABSTRACT: This article complements existing Office for National Statistics (ONS) analyses which focus on the distribution of disposable income across households by examining the distribution of household expenditure, in particular the effects of taxes.Analyses of household disposable income and expenditure both show that: households whose members are economically active and composed entirely of adults are more concentrated in the top quintile groups in both distributions; direct taxes are progressive; and benefits are higher for households at the bottom of both distributions.However, a number of interesting differences were also found. These include: indirect taxes are progressive in expenditure distribution, but regressive in income distribution; inequality in expenditure distribution is lower than in the income distribution; and households composed of single parents, couples with children and people in full-time education are more equally spread within the expenditure distribution than the income distribution, where they tend to be more concentrated in the bottom quintile groups.
  Economic & Labour Market Review 01/2010; 4(3):18-27.
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  Available from: 212.58.231.23

  Article: Financial crisis and recession: how ONS has addressed the statistical and analytical challenges

  Aileen Simpkins, Paul Smith, Martin Brand
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  ABSTRACT: This article explains some particularstatistical issues in measuring theeconomy during a recession and sets outthe ways in which ONS has addressedthese challenges, including steps to giveusers good information and analysisabout the changing path of the economy.
  Economic & Labour Market Review 01/2010; 4(1):30-37.
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  Available from: 212.58.231.23

  Article: The labour market across the UK in the current recession

  Jamie Jenkins, Debra Leaker
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  ABSTRACT: This article considers labour market performance from April 2008 to September 2009, covering eighteenmonths of the recent recession, for the UK as a whole, the devolved countries of the UK and Government Office Regions within England. The main findings are: employment rates have fallen for the UK and across the country, withNorthern Ireland and Wales having the largest falls the number of jobs in the UK has fallen, with 'Manufacturing' and'Construction' industries having the largest percentage falls redundancy levels increased through the recession to a peak in the three months to March 2009, before falling over the next six months to September 2009 unemployment and the claimant count have increased in all regions the inactivity rate has increased slightly in the UK, but there are large variations in changes in inactivity across the UK since the onset of the current recession, there has been a sharpincrease in the flow of individuals from employment to unemployment, earnings growth has been relativelyweak in comparison with periods before the recession The full version of this article was published on 18 November 2009 and is available at www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/article.asp?ID=2310.
  Economic & Labour Market Review 01/2010; 4(1):38-48.
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  Available from: statistics.gov.uk

  Article: Patterns of pay: results of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 1997 to 2009

  Ceri Holdsworth
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  ABSTRACT: The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) is the most detailed and comprehensive source of information on levels of earnings, make-up of total earnings and distribution of the earnings of individual employees.The first few sections of this article present summary analyses (overall medians, the make up and distribution of earnings) from the results of the 2009 ASHE, comparing them with the 2008 results (and where relevant the 1997 to 2008 back series). While these figures are of interest, they can hide wide variations between different industries, occupations, regions and age groups. The concluding sections of the article give summary analyses of each of these factors.
  Economic & Labour Market Review 01/2010; 4(3):59-70.