What types of sector-related labour market data sources exist?

• Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR): The IDBR is a list of UK businesses maintained by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which provides a sampling frame for surveys of businesses carried out by the ONS. It is also a key data source for analysis of business activity.
• Annual Business Inquiry (ABI): The ABI is the ONS integrated survey of employment and financial information which samples UK businesses, and other related establishments, according to their employment size and industry sector.
• Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE): ASHE is an ONS survey providing information about the levels, distribution and make-up of earnings and hours paid for employees within industries, occupations and regions.
• National Employer Skills Survey (NESS): NESS is a time series of surveys that was established by the Learning and Skills Council in 2003 and is now run by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES). It provides analysis by size of organisation, sector (defined by both Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) and SSC ‘footprint’), and English region.
• Labour Force Survey (LFS): The LFS is a quarterly sample survey of households living at private addresses in Great Britain. This survey is conducted by the ONS.
• Annual Population Survey (APS): The APS is a combined survey of households conducted by the ONS in Great Britain and based on the LFS. It includes borough level statistics. Both the LFS and APS include information on the sector that respondents work in, based on the respondents understanding of the main business of their employer.
• GLA Economics: GLA Economics is funded by the Greater London Authority, Transport for London and the London Development Agency and provides advice and analysis on London’s economy. Data and analysis from GLA Economics is usually sourced from third party suppliers. They produce employment projections for London by sector and also analysis of individual sectors within London.
• Individual Sector Skills Council websites: The Sector Skill Councils are responsible for individual sectors and their organisation websites contain targeted data and analysis for their area. These are employer-led websites and collect sector-specific statistics relating to employers, training providers and employees and learners. The Training and Development Agency for Schools provides a useful portal showing the ‘footprint’ for each sector and a link to the sector website.

Are there any issues related to using these sources?

• The 2007 SIC standard is commonly used and is in the process of being rolled out across all of the ONS surveys - but not all statistical sources, particularly those which deal in historical data, make use of it yet, which can lead to inconsistencies when comparing data.
• Employer-based surveys can produce problematic data. The majority of employer-based surveys include commuters and, therefore, show all those who work in a London sector, whether they live in London or not. However, ONS surveys, such as the APS and LFS, are residentially-based and, as a result, give details of all those working in a London sector according to where they live – thus excluding commuters living outside London. Employer data may also include figures for multiple job roles, even if a single individual is undertaking them.
• Data for the ABI is gathered in response to the Statistics of Trade Act, but must remain confidential. Any analysis carried out involving this data must ensure that no employers can be identified publically. However, this issue only really becomes a problem if data is being analysed for small areas, or by very detailed industrial classification.

What industrial sector data can I get from the Observatory?

• London overviews: Each SSC has provided the Observatory with a London-specific data analysis overview for their ‘footprint’. The data captured in these overviews is drawn from sector employers and primary research carried out by the SSCs themselves.
• Sectors mapping tool: The sector mapping tool was produced by the Data Management and Analysis Group (DMAG) at the GLA and allows users to compare employment trends by sector and view data in a range of different formats, including maps, bar graphs, pie charts and time lines. The data source used is the IDBR and is available at the Super Output Area (SOA) level.
• Data download on employment by industrial sector in London: Our data download allows you to tap into sector analysis for London, including interactive charts by borough or sub-region that show the percentage employed by broad industrial sector. The data source used is the APS.

Further information

Read our report on the issues surrounding sectors and labour market information.

Key subsets of sector data sources you may find useful:

• ABI/1 Data by Industry: Users will need to register for a notice to access ABI/1 data via the Nomis website.
• ASHE Standard Industrial Classifictaion (SIC) and Standard Occupational Classification (SOC): ASHE tables contain UK data on earnings for employees by sex and full-time/part-time workers. Further breakdowns include by region, occupation, industry, region by occupation and age-groups. Users should select the ASHE table for the year in which they are interested, and then consult tables three and five for SIC and SOC information by government office region.

• IBDR data produced for enterprises and local units: Data intended to benefit local authorities in preparing their Local Economic Assessments (LEAs) and available for each local authority region.
• IBDR data on UK business activity, size and location:  Data offering information on VAT traders and PAYE employers in a statistical register comprising of 2.1 million businesses, representing nearly 99% of economic activity.  The data contains detailed information on all businesses in the UK, inclusing size, classification and location.

Other useful datasets:

• Regional Gross Value Added (GVA) by industry: details economic activity as measured by GVA for English regions, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, including component totals and industry group totals.
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP): provides a measure of the total economic activity in a region. GDP is often referred to as one of the main 'summary indicators' of economic activity.
• Quarterly Regional Economic Indicators: provide overviews of the economic activity of UK regions in terms of their GVA, their GVA per head and their labour productivity. The overviews are concerned with regional welfare, drivers of regional productivity and regional labour market statistics. The indicators cover the nine government office regions of England.
• Business Demography: a dataset including details on the births and deaths of enterprises and the survival rates of newly formed businesses. This data is available by local authority and industrial breakdown.