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Understanding the full business impact of the coronavirus pandemic

Josh Martin
August 6, 2020

Categories: Business, Coronavirus, Data, Economy, ONS

An artists impression of COVID-19 virus and decorative charts

Statistics on the number of business creations and closures are important indicators of the health of the economy. However, the different measures of creation and closure can paint a complex picture. Josh Martin describes some new ways we’re measuring this important metric to support understanding of the longer-run impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy.

Understanding the impact on jobs and pay – how the ONS is now measuring the Labour market

Jonathan Athow
June 15, 2020

Categories: Business, Coronavirus, Data, Economy

Tomorrow the ONS will release its latest set of labour market data showing how, and to what extent, the coronavirus pandemic has hit employment and wages. In this post Jonathan Athow compares the strengths and weaknesses of the main data sources we use to produce the figures, including the advantages of new ‘real time’ PAYE data – and the limitations of the claimant count figures.

Measuring the invisible – improving our understanding of UK trade in services

Katie O' Farrell
September 12, 2019

Categories: Business, Economy, ONS

Exports of services have for many decades made a large and positive contribution to the UK’s international trade balance. But unlike goods, which are relatively easy to count and value, the intangibility of services means their measurement has been less detailed. Now, thanks to a big expansion in our statistical coverage, ONS is shedding unprecedented new light on the subject.

Beyond GDP: How ONS is developing wider measures of well-being

Richard Tonkin
February 4, 2019

Categories: Business, Economy, Office for National Statistics, ONS

ONS is continuing to develop new ways of measuring and reporting the UK’s economic and social progress. Richard Tonkin introduces the new Personal and Economic Well-being publication and how it helps us better answer important questions about how are we all doing?’

Transforming GDP: Economic statistics for a digital age

Rob Kent-Smith
October 11, 2018

Categories: Business, Data, Economy, Office for National Statistics, ONS

ONS has radical plans to fundamentally update and enhance the way it calculates many of the UK’s key economic statistics. More detailed information about the dominant services sector and more data on smaller firms add up to the biggest overhaul of GDP in a generation, as Rob Kent-Smith reveals.