§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people registered as unemployed in October 1979; and what was the total number of vacancies registered during that same period.
§ Mr. Jim Lester[pursuant to his reply, 17 December 1979, c. 102]: The regular figures of unemployment and vacancies are based on counts made on a particular day in each month. The counts made on 11 October 1979 showed that in Great Britain there were 1,302,827 registered unemployed people, and on 5 October 1979 there were 245,387 vacancies remaining unfilled at employment offices and 28,403 at careers offices. Vacancies notified to employment offices are estimated to be about one-third of all vacancies in the economy as a whole. Because of possible duplication the vacancy figures at employment offices and careers offices should not be added together.