Standing view · labour_market · Surrey, East and West Sussex
mixed, held with tentative confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2026-08.
The share of people in work in Surrey, East and West Sussex has been rising, though other measures here have run the other way. The employment rate for those aged 16-64 was 80.2 in the year to March 2026, recorded as favourable against the usual pattern for its period, with claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64 at 3 in April 2026 and the claimant count at 54,455 in July, also favourable. Against that, the count was 53,975 in January 2026, 55,790 in February, 56,050 in March and 54,670 in June, and the proportion 3 in February, 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 Surrey, East and West Sussex. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Claimant count | 2026-01 | deteriorating |
| Claimant count | 2026-02 | deteriorating |
| Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64 | 2026-02 | deteriorating |
| Employment rate - aged 16-64 | 2026-03 | improving |
| Claimant count | 2026-03 | deteriorating |
| Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64 | 2026-04 | improving |
| Claimant count | 2026-06 | deteriorating |
| Claimant count | 2026-07 | improving |