HC Deb 16 December 1980 vol 996 cc142-6W
Mr. Kilroy-Silk

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number unemployed by order of the standard industrial classification and the number of vacancies in the North-West, Merseyside, Kirkby and Ormskirk.

Mr. Jim Lester

The following table gives the numbers registered as unemployed and the numbers of notified vacancies remaining unfilled at November 1980, analysed by order of the standard industrial classification 1968. The unemployment figures relate to the industry in which the unemployed person last worked. The vacancy statistics relate only to those notified to employment offices and 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 figures for employment offices and careers offices should not be added together.

North West region
Number of notified vacancies remaining unfilled
Order of the Standard Industrial Classification 1968 Numbers unemployed At employment offices At careers offices
Agriculture, forestry and fishing 1,892 18 6
Mining and quarrying 1,357 1
Food, drink and tobacco 10,584 131 3
Coal and petroleum products 473 31
Chemicals and allied industries 6,466 131 4
Metal manufacture 3,489 22 1
Mechanical engineering 10,429 219 1
Instrument engineering 518 24
Electrical engineering 6,676 185 2
Shipbuilding and marine engineering 1,904 16
Vehicles 6,287 106 3
Metal goods not elsewhere specified 6,908 96 6
Textiles 15,356 99 5
Leather, leather goods and fur 860 22 3
Clothing and footwear 7,186 221 12
Bricks, pottery, glass, cement, etc. 3,450 30
Timber, furniture, etc. 3,748 82 2
Paper, printing and publishing 4,756 89 3
Other manufacturing industries 6,130 64 6
Construction 38,605 405 13
Gas, electricity and water 1,180 42 1
Transport and communication 14,474 266 16
Distributive trades 32,057 1,682 56

Numbers of notified vacancies remaining unfilled
Order of the Standard Industrial Classification 1968 Numbers unemployed At employment offices At careers offices
Insurance, banking, finance and business services 5,973 479 14
Professional and scientific services 10,272 750 15
Miscellaneous services 34,195 1,747 26
Public administration and defence 12,831 757 12
Not classified by industry* 63,896
* Includes school-leavers.
Merseyside Special Development Area
Numbers of notified vacancies remaining unfilled
Order of the Standard Industrial Classification 1968 Numbers unemployed At employment offices At careers offices
Agriculture, forestry and fishing 368 3
Mining and quarrying 128
Food, drink and tobacco 5,228 45
Coal and petroleum products 296 28
Chemicals and allied industries 2,001 31 1
Metal manufacture 818 7
Mechanical engineering 2,079 27
Instrument engineering 104 2
Electrical engineering 2,095 24
Shipbuilding and marine engineering 1,659 2
Vehicles 1,930 8
Metal goods not elsewhere specified 2,326 32
Textiles 666 7
Leather, leather goods and fur 199 5 1
Clothing and footwear 1,197 20 1
Bricks, pottery, glass, cement, etc. 536 12
Timber, furniture, etc. 1,142 18 1
Paper, printing and publishing 1,132 11
Other manufacturing industries 1,981 9
Construction 14,368 94
Gas, electricity and water 387 9
Transport and communication 6,634 96
Distributive trades 9,640 370 3
Insurance, banking, finance and business services 2,094 134 2
Professional and scientific services 3,218 214 2
Miscellaneous services 12,472 454 1
Public administration and defence 4,667 228 2
Not classified by industry* 23,315
* Includes school-leavers
Kirkby employment office area
Numbers of notified vacancies remaining unfilled
Order of the Standard Industrial Classification 1968 Numbers unemployed At employment offices At careers offices
Agriculture, forestry and fishing 31
Mining and quarrying 3
Food, drink and tobacco 421 1
Coal and petroleum products 7
Chemicals and allied industries 126 1
Metal manufacture 64 1
Mechanical engineering 302
Instrument engineering 6
Electrical engineering 309
Shipbuilding and marine engineering 44
Vehicles 97
Metal goods not elsewhere specified 232 2
Textiles 35
Leather, leather goods and fur 4
Clothing and footwear 96
Bricks, pottery, glass, cement, etc. 37
Timber, furniture, etc. 249 5
Paper, printing and publishing 101 1
Other manufacturing industries 66
Construction 870 3
Gas, electricity and water 12
Transport and communication 365
Distributive trades 516 2
Insurance, banking, finance and business services 84 33
Professional and scientific services 86 2
Miscellaneous services 782 4
Public administration and defence 295 7
Not classified by industry* 1,332
* Includes school-leavers
Ormskrik employment office area
align="center">Numbers of notified vacancies remaining unfilled
Order of the Standard Industrial Classification 1968 Numbers unemployed At employment offices At careers offices
Agriculture, forestry and fishing 39 1
Mining and quarrying 2
Food, drink and tobacco 23 1
Coal and petroleum products 2
Chemicals and allied industries 18
Metal manufacture 2
Mechanical engineering 80 1
Instrument engineering

Electrical engineering 19
Shipbuilding and marine engineering 3
Vehicles 27
Metal goods not elsewhere specified 20
Textiles 15 1
Numbers of notified vacancies remaining unfilled
Order of the Standard Industrial Classification 1968 Numbers unemployed At employment offices At careers offices
Leather, leather goods and fur
Clothing and footwear 5
Bricks, pottery, glass, cement, etc. 5
Timber, furniture, etc. 62
Paper, printing and Publishing 20
Other manufacturing industries 15
Construction 129 1
Gas, electricity and water 6
Transport and communication 71
Distributive trades 166 6 1
Insurance, banking, finance and business services 34 1
Professional and scientific services 74 8
Miscellaneous services 115 4
Public administration and defence 70 7
Not classified by industry* 213
* Includes school-leavers

Mr. Kilroy-Silk

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the number of (a) men, (b) women and (c) young people unemployed at the latest available date in (i) the North-West, (ii) Merseyside, (iii) Kirkby, (iv) Ormskirk, and the number of vacancies in each place for each category of worker.

Mr. Jim Lester

Table 1 gives the numbers of males and females registered as unemployed at 13 November and the number of vacancies remaining unfilled at 7 November at employment offices and careers offices in the areas specified. These are available monthly. The numbers of unemployed young people are available from the quarterly age analysis and the latest date for which this information is available is 9 October. Table 2 gives the numbers under 20 years of age at that date.

Table 1
Numbers unemployed at 13 November 1980 Notified vacancies* remaining unfilled at 7 November 1980
Male Female At employment offices At Careers offices
North-West region 215,274 96,678 7,715 210
Merseyside Special Development Area 71,818 30,862 1,890 14
Kirkby employment office area 4,775 1,797 62
Ormskirk employment office area 766 469 31 1
*The vacancy statistics relate only to those notified to employment offices and careers offices; vacancies notified to employment offices are estimated to be about one-third of all vacancies in the country as a whole. Because of possible duplication the figures for employment offices and careers offices should not be added together.

Table 2
Numbers under 20 years of age unemployed at 9 October 1980
North West region 67,548
Merseyside Special Development Area 23,722
Kirkby employment office area 1,452
Ormskirk employment office area 283

Mr. Kilroy-Silk

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the percentage by which unemployment has increased since May 1979 in (a) the North-West, (b) Merseyside, (c) Ormskirk, and (d) Kirkby.

Mr. Jim Lester

The following table gives the percentage increases in the numbers registered as unemployed between May 1979 and November 1980 in the areas specified. The figures on which the increases have been based include school leavers, numerically greater in November than in May. Moreover, they are not adjusted for seasonal influences, which normally lead to unemployment being higher in November than in May. Additionally, the figures are not strictly comparable because of the introduction, in September 1979, of fortnightly attendance and payment of benefit. It has been estimated that the resulting spurious effect is an increase of 2,600 on the monthly figures for the North-West region as a whole from October 1979. Estimates of this effect below regional level are not available but for the country as a whole they are about 1½ per cent. higher than under weekly attendance.

Increase in the numbers registered as unemployed between May 1979 and November 1980
per cent.
North West region 63.3
Merseyside Special Development Area 23.2
Kirkby employment office area 24.1
Ormskirk employment office area 73.5