Business
Employment By Area The local variations behind regional totals

The proportion of people in employment varies widely between local authority districts (LADs), according to the Local Labour Force Survey (LLFS).

London is the region with the broadest spread of employment rates for people of working age. In 2001-2 the lowest was 53.9 per cent in Newham and the highest 82.2 per cent in Sutton.

Across the UK, the LAD with the lowest employment rate was Strabane at 49.7 per cent. The highest was 88.3 per cent in Welwyn Hatfield.

Of the counties and unitary authorities where estimates of unemployment (as a percentage of those looking to work) are available, the lowest rate was 2.1 per cent in Oxfordshire and the highest 12.3 per cent in Tower Hamlets.

As with employment, London had the broadest spread of unemployment rates between the lowest, Bromley (3.9 per cent), and the highest, Tower Hamlets (12.3 per cent).

Looking at the countries and regions of the UK, in March 2001 to February 2002 the employment rate ranged from 66.7 per cent in Northern Ireland to 80.0 in the South East (excluding London). The equivalent UK rate was 74.4 per cent. The area with the least variation between districts was Wales.

The unemployment rate went from 3.3 per cent in the South East to 7.4 per cent in the North East, with an average for the UK of 5.0 per cent. The East of England had the narrowest spread, ranging from 3.2 per cent to 5.6 per cent.