New OECD figures published today suggest the ‘productivity gap’ between the UK and other economies including France, Germany and the USA is smaller than previously thought. The latest estimates follow a re-appraisal of how each country measures the number of hours worked. The development of these improved numbers is in part down to work at ONS.
Read more on Productivity gap narrows
Ten lords a leaping, three wise men, two turtle doves. Christmas really is all about stats.
This week Pete Benton, Director of Data Collection at ONS, treated BBC Radio 2’s Steve Wright and his afternoon audience to a festive feast of seasonal statistics.
Read more on The Twelve Stats of Christmas
The relative prosperity of our nations and regions has been under scrutiny again with claims that the UK’s regional inequalities are among the world’s most extreme. But when our regional divide is compared with those of other countries it’s often a case of not comparing like with like.
Read more on Mind the gap: why the UK might not be the most regionally unequal country
One in eight children and young people in England now experience difficulties with their mental health . The figures are contained in new estimates by NHS Digital in collaboration with ONS and NatCen Social Research. Tim Vizard summarises the findings.
Read more on Mental health disorders among the young continue to increase
For months now, UK employment has been sitting at or near record highs. Naturally there has been speculation about what is driving the increase, and whether it is mainly because of people on ‘zero hours contracts.’ Jonathan Athow delves into the figures to show how we measure this important figure and what being ‘unemployed’ actually means for official statistics.
Read more on Working 9 to 5? – How we count unemployment and what the numbers show