Standing view · labour_market · Chorley
deteriorating, held with strong confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2026-08.
Chorley's labour market view is held strongly, and the claimant count is the reason. It was 1,645 in December 2025, 1,775 in March 2026, 1,815 in June, 1,825 in July and 1,865 in August 2026. All but the July reading were recorded as unfavourable against the usual pattern for their month, and claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64 was 2.5 in July 2026 and also unfavourable, having stood at 2.4 in February. Those aged 16-64 who are economically inactive was 17 in the year to March 2026, likewise unfavourable. Nothing here runs the other way.
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 Chorley. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Claimant count | 2025-12 | deteriorating |
| % who are economically inactive - aged 16-64 | 2026-03 | deteriorating |
| Claimant count | 2026-03 | deteriorating |
| Claimant count | 2026-06 | deteriorating |
| Claimant count | 2026-07 | improving |
| Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64 | 2026-07 | deteriorating |
| Claimant count | 2026-08 | deteriorating |
These figures carry no defensible direction of their own: a rising house price is good news to an owner and bad news to someone trying to buy, so we do not score one as an improvement. They are shown because they are part of the picture, and they did not decide the view above.
| Measure | Period | Series |
|---|---|---|
| Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64 | 2026-02 | — |