Office for National Statistics

Economic recovery strengthens but households continue to feel the squeeze, says review

The UK’s economic recovery appears to have strengthened during the third quarter of 2013, based on a wide range of indicators, according to a review by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) .

Estimates of output in the services and construction industries both show an acceleration between the second and third quarters, while retail sales volumes grew at the fastest quarterly rate...

Crime figures – good news or bad?

This week we saw the publication of the three-monthly crime figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

As police and crime commissioner it is inevitable that the media will want me to comment in simple sound bites - is this good news or bad news news - so I thought I would clarify why I have been guarded in some of the interviews I have carried out this week.

ONS...

Crime falls in Devon and Cornwall

National Crime is down by the largest ever recorded amount according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) today.

The period between June 2012 to June 2013 saw the number of recorded crimes against households and resident adults drop by 7% nationally, the largest single drop since the survey began in 1981.

The figures also show a drop of 6% of crime in...

Retail sales fall by 0.9% in August

Retail sales fell by 0.9% in August compared with July, figures provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed.

The fall is unexpected with market commentators predicting expecting a modest rise. Figures for July showed a 1.1% growth.

However the figures represent a 2.1% rise from August 2012, when the London Olympics and Paralympics had an impact on...

South West sees fourth largest population growth in the UK

The population of the South West region is estimated to have grown by 38.8 thousand, according to figures released today (Thursday 8 August) by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The figures reveal that the overall population of the UK was estimated to be 63.7 million in mid-2012, up from the estimated 63.3 million in mid-2011. This represents a growth of 419,900 (0.7%) in the...

Fall in unemployment for the South West

The unemployment rate for the South West fell in the last quarter by 0.4% to 5.8%. The total number of unemployed people of working age in the region between March and May 2013 was 156,000, 11,000 down on the previous quarter - a fall of 6.4%.

The South West continues to have the lowest rate of unemployment in the country. The latest unemployment rate announced by the Office for...

Plymouth's jobless total falls

The number of people out of work in Plymouth has fallen according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) today (Wednesday 12 June).

The city's jobless total for May fell by 162 to 5,719 from the April figure of 5,881.

The comparison with May last year shows a drop in unemployment of 897 from 6,616 in 2012, a 0.5% fall in the total percentage of those...