- By Rupert Waters, Head of Economic Research, Buckinghamshire Business First
- 17 May, 2017
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The latest research on Buckinghamshire's economy is in, giving us a greater understanding of how business, social and economic landscapes are changing over time.
Claimant count
Having risen for three successive months, the number of out of work Buckinghamshire residents claiming either Job Seekers’ Allowance or Universal Credit fell by 15 in April to stand at 2,975. The claimant count rate was unchanged at 0.9 per cent of working age residents, less than half the national rate, ranking 3rd lowest among the 38 Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and 6th among England’s 27 county council areas.
Over the last year, Buckinghamshire’s claimant count has risen by 14.0 per cent (365 claimants), more than three times higher than the national rate of increase. Although this is the 5th highest rate of growth among LEPs, it ranks Buckinghamshire only 15th among county council areas.
There were 5,667 advertised job openings in Buckinghamshire in April, 621 (12.3 per cent) more than in the previous March but 1,543 (21.4 per cent) fewer than in February
The most commonly advertised roles were programmers and software development professionals (200), nurses (154), secondary teaching professionals (152), business sales executive (150), other administrative occupations (134) and sales account and business development managers (131)
Other data released this month included:
House prices
Buckinghamshire’s average house price rose by £1,098 (0.3 per cent) in March to reach a new high of £400,255, according to new data from the Land Registry. Over the last year, Buckinghamshire’s average house price has risen by 8.0 per cent, almost double the national rate of increase, with the £29,737 increase being the largest recorded in any county council. Despite house prices continuing to rise, sales are falling. There were 529 house sales in Buckinghamshire in January, taking the annual total to 7,959. This is the lowest total for any 12 month period since July 2013, 38.7 per cent below the pre-recession peak of 12,987 and 20.1 per cent (2,003 sales) lower than in the previous year.
Jobs density
Buckinghamshire’s jobs density has risen for a second successive year to reach its highest level since 2005, at 0.83 jobs for every working age resident. Buckinghamshire has failed to match the South East’s jobs density for each of the last nine years, recording the 7th lowest jobs density among the region’s 19 upper tier authorities.
