Economics and Theology

Fewer Jobs in Slough

At the end of 2005, according to the Government "Annual Business Inquiry" published today, there were 75 thousand people employed in Slough, 57% male and 43% female. Perhaps subject to small boundary changes, the total is four thousand, 5%, down on 2000 and 2001 levels. Factory work (manufacturing industry) now has less than nine thousand jobs, only 11.5% of the total, while finance and insurance tops the list with 27%, followed by shops and catering with 24.5%.

The missing jobs have not moved into surrounding areas. Windsor & Maidenhead also has 75 thousand jobs, scarcely up on 2000 and South Bucks, with 29 thousand, is two thousand down on 2000. What's this about the booming local economy?

Slough Economy Slips Back?

Figures for the number of jobs in Slough in 2003 have only recently been released. They do not make comfortable reading. Although up on five years ago, total employment in Slough was down on 2000. The figures for 2003 are:

                  Thousands  % of total   % change on 2000

Male, full-time	     37          50	       -12.6

Male, part-time	      5	          6	        -8.3

Female, full-time    21          28             -0.3

Female, part-time    12	         16             +5.8

TOTAL	             74         100             -6.5

Source: National Statistics Office, Annual Business Inquiry

Only women and girls working part-time have increased, showing some sign of catching up with the national average for 24 % of the workforce to be female part-timers. The decline in men working full-time includes a 28% decline in manufacturing industry, which now accounts for only 15 % of all jobs in Slough – less than in either retailing and other distribution or property.

Now my best guess is that allowing for residents who commute out daily, very nearly half of those who work in Slough travel in daily. So is it residents or outsiders who have lost jobs? Well, the National Statistics Office also conducts a quarterly "Labour Force Survey". This is a sample survey based on residence. It shows 47 thousand Slough people were employees in 1998. This total rises to a peak of 56 thousand in 2002 and then eases to 52 thousand in 2003 and only 48 thousand last year. These figures are consistent with the already charted rise in Slough people claiming unemployment benefits since 2002. Job cuts at Mars will be coming at a very bad time.

Chart of Slough Unemployment

Here is the promised chart.

The Job Scene

In January 2,320 Slough men and women claimed unemployment benefits. This was just two more than the December total. Since numbers out of work usually rise substantially in January, this can be considered an improvement.

Figures of employment in 2003 have just arrived. The total in employment in Slough was 74 thousand - a 4% drop on 2002's 77 thousand. Jobs in manufacturing fell 6% to just under 11 thousand. But the sharpest decline was in "public administration, education and health" – by over 10% to under 12 thousand. More details later!

10,000 Jobless in Slough!

Unemployment is still a more important issue than most of us realise, even in a prosperous town in the prosperous South East, like Slough. We hope soon to show a chart of unemployment rates: Slough and the UK average. That is the numbers claiming unemployment benefits expressed as a percentage of the labour force. Currently the rates look low. Slough unemployment rose sharply above average in the early nineties before easing back in the years up to 2001. Although it has been on the rise again in the last three years, the Slough rate is only 4% (compared with the national 2.4%).

These figures, however, are total counts of just those claiming benefit. There are many more who would like a job but are not eligible for benefit for reasons including recent redundancy payment, inability to start work almost immediately (child-care issues etc) and giving up looking.

The government's monthly Labour Force Survey shows the total of those out of work who would like a job. Over the country as a whole it is four or five times the claimant total. The survey is based on a sample, which is too small to give a reliable estimate other than the total "economically active", town by town. But we have evidence to suggest that the national proportion fits Slough. Thus the 2,318 claimants in Slough in December 2004 indicate that there may well be some 10,000 Slough women and men who are not employed but would like a job.