The population of England and Wales has become increasingly ethnically diverse. In the 2011 Census around one in five people (19.5% of the population overall) identified with an ethnic minority group. Evidence has shown that patterns of economic activity vary widely across different ethnic minority groups with some groups experiencing lower employment and higher inactivity rates.

This article begins by looking at the position of the five broad ethnic groups (employment and inactivity rates) in the labour market over time in England and Wales from 2001 to 2014 using data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The LFS provides the main source of aggregate labour market statistics in the UK and provides the most frequent and timely estimates. The Census provides a snapshot across a range of household characteristics and is useful for the analysis of population of sub groups.

This article uses 2011 Census data to undertake a more detailed cross sectional analysis using the full 18 ethnic group classification. It examines economic activity (employment, unemployment and economic inactivity) and characteristics of employment (occupation, industry and employment patterns) looking at male and female differences. It also explores young people (aged 16 -24) in the labour market.