Standing view · labour_market · Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire
improving, held with strong confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2026-08.
The job market in Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire has been getting stronger, and the view is held strongly. The claimant count was 40,470 in November 2025, 39,795 in December and 41,275 in July 2026, each recorded as favourable against the usual pattern for its month, with those aged 16-64 who are economically inactive at 19.8 in the year to March 2026 and claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64 at 3.3 in June 2026, also favourable. Against that, the proportion was 3.3 in February 2026 and the count 42,355 in March and 41,865 in June, all unfavourable.
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 Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Claimant count | 2025-11 | improving |
| Claimant count | 2025-12 | improving |
| Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64 | 2026-02 | deteriorating |
| % who are economically inactive - aged 16-64 | 2026-03 | improving |
| Claimant count | 2026-03 | deteriorating |
| Claimant count | 2026-06 | deteriorating |
| Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64 | 2026-06 | improving |
| Claimant count | 2026-07 | improving |