Employment overview
The employment overview figures provide an indicator of the total number of jobs held by employees and working owners based on the location of the workplace. These figures include estimates of the number of employees aged 16 and above on payroll for full-time or part-time work or while on a training scheme, in both public and private sector businesses. The number of employees is combined with estimates of the number of working owners, including sole traders, sole proprietors, partners and directors, to give an estimate of employment overall.
The latest figures are for 2023 and are provisional.
Key figures
- In Lancashire-12, there were 526,715 employees and a further 15,492 working owners.
- In Lancashire-14, there were 658,892 employees and a further 17,824 working owners.
- Most employees worked for businesses in Preston (97,648), Blackburn with Darwen (70,035), Blackpool (62,142) and Lancaster (58,022). The fewest were in Rossendale (20,932), Ribble Valley (29,684) and Pendle (29,975).
- Compared to 2022, the number of employees increased in Lancashire-12 by 2.2%. This was greater than the increase in employees in Lancashire-14 (+1.2%) and England (+1.3%).
- 10 districts had increases in the number of employees, compared to 2022, with the largest percentage increases in Wyre (+6.9%) and Hyndburn (+6.0%).
- The proportion of full-time employees in Lancashire-12 (69.4%) and Lancashire-14 (68.7%) was similar to England (69.2%).
- The proportion of private sector employees in Lancashire-12 (81.1%) and Lancashire-14 (78.7%) was similar to England (82.5%).
Source: Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES) from the Office for National Statistics via the National On-line Manpower Information System (Nomisweb).
Definition of employees and working owners
The employment figures combine the number of employees and the number of working owners. The BRES definition of an employee includes anyone aged 16 and above who is paid directly from a business' payroll in return for carrying out full-time or part-time (30 hours per week or less) work or being on a training scheme. This excludes any voluntary employees and agency employees paid directly from an agency payroll. Working owners include sole traders, sole proprietors, partners and directors who receive drawings or a share of profits but are not paid via PAYE.
Data availability
The BRES is an annual survey and the primary source of employee and employment estimates by detailed geography and industry for businesses in England, Scotland and Wales, (representing much of the Great Britain economy). It is a point-in-time survey requesting employee counts on a specific date in the year (the first Friday after the second Thursday in September). Provisional results from BRES are released 12 months after the reference period. Revised results are released 24 months after the reference period.
Due to a change to the methodology (the inclusion of a population of solely Pay as You Earn (PAYE) businesses with employment counts of less than 20), figures from BRES prior to 2015 are not directly comparable.
Estimates of jobs can also be compiled from other sources, including short-term employment surveys (STES), the Quarterly Public Sector Employment Survey (QPSES) and the Labour Force Survey (LFS). These sources provide a less detailed breakdown of employment.
Limitations
BRES figures are based on a sample of approximately 80,000 businesses and can be affected by sampling variability. This means that there is some uncertainty attached to the estimates of employees. For areas with smaller sample sizes, such as the district-level, there will be a higher level of uncertainty. Any differences in the figures for employees between geographies or years should be interpreted with this in mind, as they may not reflect a true difference.
Page updated 10th June 2025