The number of out of work Buckinghamshire residents claiming either Job Seekers’ Allowance or Universal Credit rose for a third successive month in October to reach 2,725.  Buckinghamshire’s claimant count is now at its highest level since August 2015.

• Over the last 12 months Buckinghamshire’s claimant count has risen by 5.6 per cent, the first year on year rise since this series began in January 2013, and well ahead of the 1.4 per cent rise recorded across Great Britain.  Despite this rise, the claimant count rate was unchanged at 0.8 per cent of working age residents, ranking 3rd lowest among Local Enterprises (LEPs) and 5th lowest among the 27 county council areas.
• The share of JSA claimants looking for work in sales occupations rose again to 54.9 per cent.
• There were 5,749 advertised job openings in Buckinghamshire in September, 445 (7.2 per cent) fewer than in October but an increase of 902 (18.6 per cent) over October 2015.  The most commonly advertised roles were programmers and software development professionals (235), business sales executive (198), other administrative occupations (145), chartered and certified accountants (144), web design and development professionals (142), nurses (135) and IT user support technicians (118).  

Other data released in the last month included:

Earnings: At £30,587, Buckinghamshire has the 4th highest workplace-based median gross full-time earnings of all 27 county council areas, ranking 5th among the 39 Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), having risen by 5.8 per cent over the last year, more than double the national rate and the strongest growth of any county council area or LEP. Gross hourly pay at the 10th percentile for people working in Buckinghamshire rose by 5.2 per cent in 2016, following the introduction of the National Living Wage, well ahead of the mean change (0.8 per cent) but below the 8.3 per cent change recorded at the median.

https://bbf.uk.com/news/earnings-in-buckinghamshire-2016

Destinations after Key Stage 5: More than a quarter of Buckinghamshire students go on to study at Russell Group universities after Key Stage 5 - more than double the national rate and the highest share of any Local Enterprise Partnership, 10 percentage points above Hertfordshire in second place.  Buckinghamshire also has the highest share of students going to Oxford or Cambridge universities and of students attending universities ranked in the top third in the country. Overall, 55 per cent of those leaving Buckinghamshire’s schools after Key Stage 5 enter higher education, the highest share among LEPs, behind London.

https://bbf.uk.com/news/destination-of-school-leavers-2014-15

House prices: Buckinghamshire’s average house price rose by £10,915 (2.7 per cent) in August to reach a new high of £408,055 according to the Land Registry. Over the last year, prices in Buckinghamshire have risen 17.1 per cent (£59,578), well ahead of the 8.5 per cent (£17,380) rise recorded the across country as a whole, rising faster than any county council area and faster than both inner and outer London (August’s price has since been revised to £403,195, rising to £403,324 in September).

https://bbf.uk.com/news/house-prices-sales-in-buckinghamshire-august-2016

Our usual overview of the national labour market can be found here: https://bbf.uk.com/news/uk-labour-market-q3-2016-1

With the ONS’s summary here >