FOI Ref: FOI/2021/3190
You asked
Please supply data for long-term unemployed (people who have been unemployed for over 1 year).
We are interested in number and rate for long-term unemployed for the following geographies:
- West Midlands
- 6 LEPs (Black Country, Coventry & Warwickshire, Greater Birmingham & Solihull, Stoke & Staffordshire, The Marches, Worcestershire)
We would like data for the three time periods:
- April 2019-Mar 2020
- April 2020-Mar 2021
- April 2021-to latest month available
We said
Thank you for your query regarding long-term unemployment.
Long-term unemployment for the UK is calculated from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), however we do not routinely produce estimates of long-term unemployment for any geographies below the UK.
While it would be possible to produce an estimate of long-term unemployment at a regional level from this source, small sample sizes would result in volatility in the estimate that would make it difficult to interpret. Estimates for LEPs from this source would be based on even smaller sample sizes.
An alternative would be to use the Annual Population Survey (APS), which is an annualised version of the LFS, resulting in a larger dataset. This increased sample size may give reasonable estimates at a regional level. However, please note that even using this source, sample sizes for LEP level estimates would be small. It should be noted that any estimates from the APS would be based on interviews that took place throughout the twelve months covered by the survey.
While we do not routinely produce these estimates from the LFS or APS, it would be possible to request an ad-hoc analysis to be produced. You can make a request by contacting our social surveys team (socialsurveys@ons.gov.uk). In line with ONS charging policy, there would be a charge for this service depending on the amount of time taken to develop our analysis and undertake quality and disclosure control processes.