Standing view · labour_market · Wigan
improving, held with established confidence, formed on 31 August 2026 from movements in 2026-07.
The number of workless households with dependent children in Wigan improved to 7,900 in 2025. The claimant count rose to 7,835 in March 2026 and 7,685 in June, both recorded as unfavourable, before 7,650 in July was recorded as favourable, and modelled unemployment rose to 7,200 in the year to December 2025. Among the economically inactive, 37.4% were long-term sick, 10.8% were looking after family or home and 9.7% retired.
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 Wigan. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Workless households, dependent children | 2025 | improving |
| Unemployment count (model based) | 2025-12 | deteriorating |
| Claimant count | 2026-03 | deteriorating |
| Claimant count | 2026-06 | deteriorating |
| Claimant count | 2026-07 | improving |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| % of economically inactive long-term sick | 2025-12 | — |
| % of economically inactive looking after family/home | 2025-12 | — |
| % of economically inactive retired | 2025-12 | — |