Guide to
Measuring The Jobless What are unemployment
and claimant count?
 Unemployment and the
claimant count, 1992-2002 | Official estimates of
unemployment are produced by ONS based upon the ILO (International Labour
Organization) definition. A separate series - the claimant count -
measures how many unemployed people are claiming unemployment-related
benefits. There is a large difference between the two series, and although
they move broadly in line often one measure increases while the other
falls. The reason for this is simply that they measure different things.
Unemployment is a count of jobless people who want to work, are
available to work, and are actively seeking employment. The ILO definition
is used internationally, so comparisons between countries can be made, and
it also allows for consistent comparisons over time. Unemployment is
calculated using data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), so it is subject
to sampling differences.
The claimant count measures only those
people who are claiming unemployment-related benefits (Jobseeker's
Allowance). It is always the lower measure because some unemployed people
are not entitled to claim benefits, or choose not to do so. Benefits rules
vary over time and between different countries, so it is more difficult to
make comparisons. The claimant count comes from the administrative records
of Jobcentre Plus (formerly Employment Service), and is available earlier
than the LFS-based unemployment data.
When employment is high the
gap between unemployment and the claimant count tends to widen, as some
jobless people who were not previously looking for work start to do so. By
actively looking for work they may become classified as unemployed under
the ILO definition. However they do not feature in the claimant count
unless they also begin to claim benefits.
The difference between
the two measures is wider for women than for men. Currently fewer than
half of unemployed women claim unemployment-related benefits compared with
around three quarters of men.
Unemployment data are available in
their current format back to 1984 (non-seasonally adjusted and seasonally
adjusted). The present seasonally adjusted claimant count series goes back
to 1971, and is adjusted to allow for significant changes to benefit
rules.
Source: Office for National Statistics
Published on 20 August 2002
|