Insight e-bulletin – July 2020

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Insight e-bulletin July 2020

www.coventry.gov.uk/infoandstats

In this issue:


COVID-19 dashboards

Source: Insight Coventry City Council; Public Health England

View COVID-19 (Coronavirus) data for Coventry and surrounding areas on the set of dashboards. Local statistics on the number of cases, the number of associated deaths, outbreaks and testing are regularly updated here. 

There is a lot of information on the local response, including guidance on test and trace.


New population estimates for Coventry

Source: Mid-year population estimates, Office for National Statistics (ONS)

The new mid-year population estimates for mid-2019 were published by the ONS recently. It estimates that the total population of Coventry is 371,500 usual residents. This is an annual increase of 4,700 from 366,800 at mid-2018. For many years Coventry has been amongst the fastest growing places in the UK in terms of population, however in 2019 the growth rate slowed a little. 

  • The total population increased by 1.3% in the year up to mid-2019, a slowing of the growth rate for the previous year of 1.8%.
  • While growth has stabilised, Coventry remains amongst the top 10% of local authorities in the country for growth rate (33rd highest growth rate in the UK). 
  • Net international migration remains the main cause of population growth in Coventry. 
  • The reason why population growth slowed a little in 2019 was an increase in the number of people moving out of Coventry to elsewhere in the UK compared to the previous year. 
  • The highest growth in the population is amongst the young working aged adult population.

Coventry city centre empty shop units report – Q2 2020

Source:  Insight Coventry City Council

The quarterly empty shops survey of Coventry city centre's prime retail area took place in July, the first time since January because the quarter 1 2020 survey could not take place due to the Covid-19 restrictions. This report starts to give an indication of how many shops have closed as a result of the pandemic, although the impact will only become clear in time.

In the quarter 2 2020 survey a total of 50 shops units were counted as empty, 4 more than in quarter 4 2019. In addition another 23 shops were temporarily closed due to Covid-19 at the time of the inspection. 

Read the full report


Unemployment benefits and numbers on furlough in Coventry

Source: HM Revenue & Customs; Office for National Statistics (ONS); Centre for Cities

Claimant count

The latest claimant count data gives a sense of the impact the restrictions on movement and economic activity have had on unemployment across the country. Some of the findings for Coventry include:

  • The unemployment claimant count for Coventry in June 2020 is 16,010, which is an increase of 8,010 additional people claiming the benefits from March 2020. So the claimant count has more than doubled. This is a small monthly increase of 360 from the previous month, most of the increase occurred between March and May 2020. 
  • Overall this indicates a very significant increase in unemployment amongst Coventry residents since the start of the pandemic, although the current situation means that a slightly wider number of people are eligible to claim these benefits (Universal Credit for unemployment purposes or Jobseeker's Allowance) than is usual. The official unemployment figures will give a clearer picture of the impact,  figures that will start to show this for Coventry will be published in October.
  • The claimant count rate for Coventry as a proportion of working age residents in June 2020 is 6.5%, similar to England’s rate of 6.4%.

Job Retention Scheme and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme

In addition many Coventry residents in employment have been 'furloughed' as part of the government's Job Retention Scheme and many self-employed residents have applied for support. 

  • At the end of June 2020 a total of 46,600 Coventry residents were furloughed, this amounts to 30% of all eligible employments, the same take-up rate as the national average.
  • This is an increase from 37,800 at the end of May 2020. 
  • A total number of 9,800 claims had been made to the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme by Coventry residents up to 30th June 2020.  The total value of these claims is £26m at an average of £2,700 per claim.

See the statistics

You can also read analysis on local vacancy numbers by Centre for Cities