§ 10. Mr. Barry Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he proposes to meet the chairman of the Manpower Services Commission to discuss the predicted unemployment totals in its report; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PriorI have no immediate plans to meet the chairman of the Manpower Services Commission for this purpose, although I see him regularly. Unemployment is bound to rise over the next few months, given the world situation and the uncompetitive state of parts of British industry. Beyond that no one can predict future levels of unemployment with any accuracy; the MSC has merely reflected the opinions of independent forecasting organisations.
§ 21. Mr. Dormandasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the number and percentage of persons unemployed in the Northern region and for the United Kingdom, respectively.
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§ Mr. Jim LesterAt 12 June there were 142,707 people registered as unemployed in the Northern region and 1,659,676 in the United Kingdom. The rates of unemployment were 10.3 and 6.9 per cent., respectively. The figures are provisional.
§ 24. Mr. Joseph Deanasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will
June 1979 June 1980 Increase South-East 265,885 322,147 56,262 East Anglia 30,835 37,220 6,385 South-West 88,826 100,815 11,989 West Midlands 121,521 159,079 37,558 East Midlands 74,483 99,531 25,048 Yorkshire and Humberside 116,955 151,603 34,648 North-West 200,701 251,326 50,625 North 119,095 142,707 23,612 Wales 80,032 99,067 19,035 NoteThe June 1980 figures are not strictly comparable with those for June 1979 because of the introduction, in September 1979, of fortnightly attendance and payment of benefit. This had the effect of raising the monthly unemployment figures for Great Britain by about 20,000 or 1½ per cent.
§ 30. Mr. Winnickasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current total number registered as unemployed.
§ Mr. Jim LesterAt 12 June the provisional number of people registered as unemployed in Great Britain was 1,586,645.
§ 31. Mr. Skinnerasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a further statement on the level of unemployment.
§ Mr. Jim LesterAs long as our present high rate of inflation continues, unemployment is likely to go on rising. Large wage increases without corresponding increases in productivity are at present a major contributory factor to inflation and hence to unemployment.