Employment, unemployment and economic inactivity in Dorset

In Dorset:

Estimates of employment and economic inactivity are based on the Annual Population Survey. Unemployment estimates are modelled to improve their precision compared to those based only on responses provided via the Annual Population Survey.

The Claimant Count is based on administrative data from the benefits system. These data are experimental statistics.

Employment in Dorset has increased compared with the previous year

Dorset's employment rate was higher than across the South West as a whole in the year ending December 2023.

Of people aged 16 to 64 years living in Dorset, 80.3% were employed in the year ending December 2023. This is an increase compared with the year ending December 2022 when the local rate was 76.7%.

Across the South West in the year ending December 2023, 78.8% of people aged 16 to 64 years were employed. This was slightly higher compared with the previous year, when 78.3% of people were employed.

Overall, there were around 176,000 people aged 16 and over in Dorset who were employed in the year ending December 2023. This is up from the previous year, when there were around 169,000 people aged 16 and over who were employed.

Local population changes mean that the numbers of people in each area who are employed, unemployed and economically inactive in this article may be under- or over-estimates.

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Unemployment fell slightly in Dorset compared with the previous year

Unemployment estimates are modelled to improve their precision compared to those based only on responses provided via the Annual Population Survey.

Around 5,000 people aged 16 and over in Dorset were unemployed in the year ending December 2023. This is a rate of 2.5%.

This was a slight decrease compared with the year ending December 2022 when the unemployment rate was 2.6%.

Across the South West, from the year ending December 2022 to the year ending December 2023, there was a slight decrease in the unemployment rate from 2.6% to 2.5%.

Year on year, the number of people unemployed in the South West fell from around 74,500 to around 71,100 over the same period.

Unemployment across Great Britain rose slightly between the year ending December 2022 and the year ending December 2023, going from around 1,180,000 people (3.6%) to around 1,240,000 (3.7%).

Unemployed people are those without jobs who are actively seeking work and available to take up a job. Some jobless people may not seek work or be able to work for various reasons, such as retirement, sickness, or study, and are called "economically inactive".

This means that the employment rate and the unemployment rate can both go up at the same time as people move into the labour market and become job seekers.

The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed people out of everyone "economically active" in the labour market, that is, everyone who is employed or looking for work. The employment rate is out of the working-age population including "economically inactive" people.

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Claimant Count in Dorset was slightly higher than in the previous year

The Claimant Count is an experimental statistic that measures the number of people who are claiming unemployment-related benefits.

The Claimant Count in Dorset was 5170 in March 2024, up from March 2023, when there were 4960 claimants.

The proportion of people aged 16 to 64 years in Dorset who were claiming unemployment-related benefits was 2.5% in March 2024, a slight increase compared with March 2023 when it was 2.4%.

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Economic inactivity has decreased in Dorset compared with the previous year

Around 36,700 people or 17.9% of the population aged 16 to 64 years in Dorset were "economically inactive" in the year ending December 2023. This compares with around 44,800 people (22.0%) in the year ending December 2022.

People are classed as "economically inactive" if they are not in employment but don't meet the criteria for being "unemployed". This means they have not been seeking work within the previous four weeks or were unable to start work within the next two weeks. Common reasons include being retired, looking after the home or family or being temporarily or long-term sick and disabled.

Economic inactivity in Dorset is lower than across the South West and Great Britain.

Across the South West, 19.1% of people aged 16 to 64 years were economically inactive during the year ending December 2023, a slight decrease compared with the year ending December 2022 when 19.5% were economically inactive.

Overall in Great Britain, 21.2% of people aged 16 to 64 years were economically inactive, compared with 21.5% in the previous year.

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More data about Dorset

You can view and download more local labour market data on the Dorset area profile page on Nomis.

Find more facts and figures about Dorset.

More data on the labour market

The most recent labour market figures for all local authorities are in our associated data release.

You can also read our most recent labour market overview.

Historic data is available on Nomis. For employment and economic inactivity, see estimates from the Annual Population Survey. Data for model-based unemployment and Claimant Count (non-seasonally adjusted) are also available.

About this article

The content in this article is generated using semi-automated journalism, based on rules pre-programmed by Office for National Statistics (ONS) staff.

This is a new product in Beta release, intended to improve the accessibility of labour market data at local level. Leave us general feedback or contact the subnational analysis team by emailing subnational@ons.gov.uk.

Articles are not available for Isles of Scilly and City of London, as the survey samples of the resident population are too small.

Previous editions

This pilot release was originally published on October 5th 2023 and was updated with new data on November 9th 2023, February 2nd 2024, and May 14th 2024. For transparency, all data previously provided in the release are listed below.

Download data for previously published editions of Employment, unemployment and related statistics for your area, 150KB, XLSX.