§ 18. Mr. Costainasked the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the change in the number of adults unemployed, seasonally adjusted, during the last three months; and how this compares with the same period in each of the past six years.
§ 20. Mr. Nicholas Edwardsasked the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the change in the number of adult vacancies, seasonally adjusted, during the last three months; and how this compares with the same period in each of the past six years.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithBetween October 1972 and January 1973 the seasonally adjusted level of unemployment fell by 61,000, whilst the corresponding level of unfilled vacancies notified for adults rose by 35,800. I will publish the comparable figures for earlier years in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Mr. CostainDoes my hon. Friend realise that this is very good news and indicates the success of the Government's policy? Does he appreciate that hon. Members on the Opposition benches are disappointed at good news because they base their policies on hate and envy and when we get good news it makes them look "proper Charlies"?
§ Mr. SmithYes. My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The position is improving considerably. It is underlined by the lack of Questions on this subject tabled for today by hon. Members of the Opposition.
§ Mr. FernyhoughThe Under-Secretary says that the position is improving. Will he tell me when it will have improved enough for him to be able to define what I would call an acceptable level of unemployment?
§ Mr. SmithNo, I think that it would be wrong to try to define acceptable levels of unemployment. We have always said that if the figure was too high we would take steps immediately to bring it down. The successes of the Government's policy are absolutely apparent today from the figures I have given.
§ Following is the information:
| CHANGE IN SEASONALLY ADJUSTED LEVELS BETWEEN OCTOBER AND JANUARY COUNT DATES | |||
| Thousands | |||
| Years | Unemployment excluding adult students and school leavers (but including other young persons) | unfilled notified vacancies for adults | |
| 1972–73 | … | -61.00 | †35.8 |
| 1971–72 | … | †54.8 | †0.3 |
| 1970–71 | … | †40.3 | -21.5 |
| 1969–70 | … | †9.6 | -1.5 |
| 1968–69 | … | -15.0 | †6.9 |
| 1967–68 | … | †10.0 | †2.1 |
| 1966–67 | … | †92.5 | -33.3 |