Measuring unemployment
There are two unemployment indicators in Jersey:
- registered unemployment: the number of people registered as actively seeking work (ASW) with the Social Security Department
- unemployment rate: the number of registered unemployed as well as people not registered but still seeking work
Registered unemployment
The Social Security Department compiles information on people registered as ASW in Jersey. Statistics Jersey independently analyses this anonymised data and publishes monthly reports of the figures.
Latest figures
On 30 September 2018:
- on a seasonally adjusted basis, the total number of people registered as actively seeking work (ASW) was:
- 100 higher than at the end of the previous quarter
- 10 lower than at the end of the corresponding quarter in 2017 (Q3 2017)
- the non-seasonally adjusted ASW total was 970; this total is 150 higher than at the end of the previous quarter and 10 lower than a year earlier
- the total number of long-term ASW (registered for more than twelve months) was 200; this total is 10 higher than the previous quarter and 70 lower than a year earlier
- there were 290 individuals registered as ASW but engaged in some form of paid employment and classified as underemployed; this includes 90 individuals also classified as long-term ASW
- a key driver behind the increase in the total number of people registered as ASW in the latest month were changes in Income Support criteria relating to parents with young children starting the current academic year
Numbers registered as Actively Seeking Work (ASW)
Registered Actively Seeking Work - Third Quarter 2018
Statistics Jersey past reports
Unemployment rate
The internationally comparable rate is defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The ILO unemployment rate measures the proportion of unemployed people in the entire work force. It includes people registered as unemployed as well as those not registered but still seeking work.
The ILO unemployment rate is measured by the Jersey census and is updated between census years through household surveys.
2014 / 15 Household Spending and Income Survey results
The ILO unemployment rate between April 2014 and May 2015 was estimated to be 4%. This rate corresponds to around 2,500 people being unemployed and looking for work.
2011 census results
In March 2011 the ILO unemployment rate was 4.7%, as measured by the 2011 Jersey census. This figure corresponded to 2,569 people being unemployed at that time.
At the time of the 2011 census there were 1,310 people registered with the Social Security Department as ASW. This indicates that around half (48%) of unemployed people recorded by the census were not registered as ASW.
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