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Employment

Answer

[holding answer 23 February 2009]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated February 2009:"As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions asking:""What proportion of the increase since 1997 in the number of people of working age in employment in the UK is accounted for by (a) UK-born workers, (b) workers from outside the UK and (c) workers from outside the EU; and how many people there were in each category on the latest date for which Figures are available. (257366)""What proportion of the increase since 1997 in the number of people aged over 16 in employment in the UK is accounted for by (a) UK-born workers, (b) workers born outside the UK and (c) workers born outside the EU; and if he will express these figures (i) in numbers and (ii) as a percentage. (257388)""The requested information is shown in the attached tables.""The estimates are derived from the Labour Force Survey. As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.""The figures in the table are derived from the LFS microdata which are weighted using the official population estimates published in autumn 2007. Consequently the 2008 estimates are not entirely consistent with the figures published in the monthly Labour Market Statistics First Release, or the migrant workers figures published every quarter, which are weighted using more up-to-date population estimates."

People of working age¹ in employment by country of birth—three month period ending December, 1997 and 2008 United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted
Thousand and percentage
	UK born workers	Non-UK born workers	Non-EU born workers	Total²
1997	23,947	1,959	1,411	25,908
2008³	*24,372	*3,719	*2,495	*28,099
Change between 1997 and 2008	425	1,759	1,084	2,192
Change as percentage of total	19	80	49	100
Source:
Labour Force Survey

People aged 16 and over in employment by country of birth—three month period ending December, 1997 and 2008 United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted
Thousand and percentage
	UK born workers	Non-UK born workers	Non-EU born workers	Total²
1997	24,681	2,013	1,442	26,695
2008³	*25,612	*3,823	*2,567	*29,443
Change between 1997 and 2008	931	1,810	1,125	2,748
Change as percentage of total	34	66	41	100
¹ Men aged 16-64 and women aged 16-59.
² Includes those whose country of birth was not known.
³ Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates. See Guide to Quality below.
Guide to Quality:
The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV - for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5 per cent. we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220.
Key Coefficient of Variation (CV) (%) Statistical robustness
* 0 = CV <5 Estimates are considered precise.
** 5 = CV <10 Estimates are considered reasonably precise.
*** 10 = CV <20 Estimates are considered acceptable.
**** CV = 20 Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes.
Note:
The estimates exclude people in most types of communal establishment (e.g. hotels, boarding houses, hostels, mobile home sites etc.).
Source:
Labour Force Survey

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

488 c1448-9W; 257388

Session

2008-09

Subjects

Employment

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk