Standing view · labour_market · Uttlesford
deteriorating, held with strong confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2026-07.
The job market in Uttlesford has been weakening, and the view is held strongly. The claimant count was 1,075 in December 2025, 1,100 in January 2026, 1,115 in March, 1,100 in June and 1,115 in July 2026, each recorded as unfavourable against the usual pattern for its month, with those aged 16-64 who are economically inactive at 19 in the year to March 2026 and claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64 at 2 in July, also unfavourable. The count of 1,110 in February was the one favourable reading.
A view is formed only where the evidence names a figure you can check. Each movement listed as a reason had to be large enough to matter and distinctive in at least one way — unusual against this area's own history, unusual against comparable areas, or sustained over several periods. A movement shared with peers counts for less, because it says something about the country rather than about Uttlesford. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Claimant count | 2025-12 | deteriorating |
| Claimant count | 2026-01 | deteriorating |
| Claimant count | 2026-02 | improving |
| % who are economically inactive - aged 16-64 | 2026-03 | deteriorating |
| Claimant count | 2026-03 | deteriorating |
| Claimant count | 2026-06 | deteriorating |
| Claimant count | 2026-07 | deteriorating |
| Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64 | 2026-07 | deteriorating |