Standing view · labour_market · North Ayrshire and East Ayrshire
mixed, held with tentative confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2026-08.
The job market in North Ayrshire and East Ayrshire has gone both ways. The claimant count was 5,865 in May 2026, recorded as favourable against the usual pattern for its month, with claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64 at 3.8 in the same month and payrolled employees at 104,669 in May, also favourable. Against that, payrolled employees was 104,243 in April 2026 and 104,741 in June, and the claimant count 5,960 in July and 6,160 in August 2026, with the proportion at 3.9 in July, all unfavourable. The August count is the highest here.
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 North Ayrshire and East Ayrshire. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Payrolled employees | 2026-04 | deteriorating |
| Claimant count | 2026-05 | improving |
| Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64 | 2026-05 | improving |
| Payrolled employees | 2026-05 | improving |
| Payrolled employees | 2026-06 | deteriorating |
| Claimant count | 2026-07 | deteriorating |
| Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64 | 2026-07 | deteriorating |
| Claimant count | 2026-08 | deteriorating |