Size of the Labour Force
3.11 Size of Labour Force - South West England is home to over 5 million people in total, with about 4.2 million people aged 16 and over (Q4 2007). The economically active workforce – i.e. those who are either employed, self employed or registered as unemployed in accordance with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition– is just under 2.7 million. Labour market measures are often also expressed relative to the working age population – currently women aged under 60 and men aged under 65. This excludes those who are economically active and over the standard age of retirement. The region’s working age population is just under 3.1 million, with around 2.5 million economically active people. 133,000 people above retirement age were participating in the region’s labour market at the end of 2007 – this figure will undoubtedly grow as the region’s population continues to age. The graph shows the breakdown of the working age population for the South West and England.
3.12 The economically inactive accounted for 18% of the working age population regionally, which was lower than the national average (21%). The remaining 82% of the population were economically active, of these 96% were in employment – which breaks down to around 85% as employees and 15% self-employed – and around 4% unemployed. South West England’s labour market is in a comparatively healthy position. Its unemployment rate was lower than nationally, whilst employment and self employment rates were higher.