Tag Archives | graphs

Unemployment Stats and Graphs

By on March 19, 2013 in A-Level, stats

A selection of graphs and statistics on unemployment. Also links to further reading on causes and solutions to unemployment.

Current UK Unemployment rate

  • 7.8 % of the economically active population,  0.5 % points less than a year earlier.
  • There were 2.52 million unemployed people 128,000 lower than a year ago. (page updated March 19, 2013)

Recent Unemployment Trends

UK unemployment-past-5-years-percent

Raw data:  Labour market data  | ILO unemployment % rate at ONS

UK Unemployment Since 1980

UK Unemployment
See: Monthly Labour Market Statistics (Past Editions) Unemployment A02

 

UK Employment Rate

  • 71.5 %.  There were 29.73 million people in employment aged 16 and over.

Participation Rate

  • 22.3% per cent inactivity rate for those aged from 16 to 64. 8.95 million economically inactive people aged from 16 to 64

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UK Bond Yields Explained

By on February 10, 2013 in economics

UK bond yields are the rate of interest received by those holding Government bonds.

Governments sell bonds (via the Debt Management Office DMO) to fund their budget deficits. Bonds are a way for the government to borrow – a bit like the government taking out a loan.

Government bonds are frequently traded on bond markets. Therefore, their market price may be quite different to the original price set by the government.

Example. A government may sell a 10 year, £1,000 bond at 5% interest. This means every year year the government will pay £50 to the holder of this bond.

  • If demand for government bonds rose, this £1,000 bond would increase in price as investors pushed up the market price.
  • But, the government still pay £50 a year interest until maturity. If the market price of the bond rises to say £2,000, the interest rate (yield) is now 2.5% (50/2000)
  • Therefore higher demand for bonds leads to lower bond yields.
  • Conversely if people sell bonds, this pushes up the bond yield (e.g. what happened in Greece)

Recent UK Bond Yields

uk-bond-yields-10-year-monthly-average

Source: Bank of England – 10 year bond yields

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List of CO2 Emissions per Capita

By on November 3, 2012 in economics

 

A list of CO2 Emissions by Major Countries

list countries CO2

CO2 emissions are widely considered to play a significant role in contributing to global warming.

Global CO2 source: wiki commons

  • Over the past few decades, the level of CO2 in the atmosphere have continued to rise. Scientists say this increase in CO2 has contributed to global warming.
  • Global warming has potentially damaging economic consequences with increased weather variability and loss of bio-diversity.
  • At Kyoto countries made commitments to target lower CO2 emissions, but these targets have rarely been met. At negotiations, countries  collectively agreed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions (which includes Carbon dioxide) by 5.2% on average for the period 2008-2012.

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Employment Rates – Population ratio

By on November 2, 2012 in economics

A look at some varying employment rates across OECD countries.

employment-rates-working-population

Source: OECD short term Labour Market stats

Employment rates are determined by the number of people of working age, who have a job.

The employment rate excludes:

  • People who are unemployed. – actively seeking work and willing to take work
  • People who are students
  • People who take early retirement.
  • People on disability or sickness benefits.
  • Parents staying at home to look after their kids.

Implications of Employment Rates

  • A fall in the employment rate to less than 70% is an indicator that the economy is working well below full capacity.
  • The government will be losing out on employment tax revenue
  • The government will be paying more on welfare benefits to support those out of employment.

 

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