HC Deb 21 October 1985 vol 84 cc30-1W
Mr. Pendry

asked the Paymaster General what was the number of men and women aged under 25 years registered as unemployed in Stalybridge and Hyde at the latest available date.

Mr. Alan Clark

The following information is in the Library. On 11 July 1985, the latest date for which an analysis of unemployment by age is available, there were 1,389 male and 774 female unemployed claimants under 25 years of age in the parliamentary constituency of Stalybridge and Hyde.

Mr. Deakins

asked the Paymaster General if the definition of productivity in use in his Department makes any distinction between a firm achieving higher output with an unchanged labour force and a firm maintaining output with a reduced labour force and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Alan Clark

The national estimates of productivity are made using the most suitable information available on output and employment. The data for each component is to a large extent collected separately and estimates are prepared independently. It is therefore riot possible to provide national estimates of productivity which distinguish between those improvements for firms which arise entirely from increases in output and those which have come about solely because of reductions in labour.

The employed labour force is estimated to have increased by nearly 3 per cent. between the first quarter of 1983 and the second quarter of 1985; at the same time output rose by 8 per cent. and hence productivity for the whole economy increased by 5 per cent.

Mr. Deakins

asked the Paymaster General which industrial sectors have lost (a) more than 30 per cent. and (b) more than 20 per cent., respectively, of total numbers employed in May 1979.

Mr. Alan Clark

The following tables list those industries in Great Britain which have shown the specified net decreases in numbers of employees in employment between June 1979 (figures are not available for May) and June 1985, the latest date for which figures are available.

Table 1

Industries in which there has been a net decrease in employees in employment of more than 30 per cent. between June 1979 and June 1985 (1980 Standard Industrial Classification)

  • Metal manufacturing (class 22)
  • Production of man-made fibres (class 26)
  • Manufacture of motor vehicles and parts thereof (class 35)
  • Textile industry (class 43)
  • Manufacture of leather and leather goods (class 44)
  • Footwear and clothing industries (class 45)
  • Other manufacturing industries (class 49)
  • Sea transport (class 74)

Table 2

Industries* in which there has been a net decrease in employees in employment of more than 20 per cent. between June 1979 and June 1985 (1980 Standard Industrial Classification)

  • Coal extraction and manufacture of solid fuels (class 11)
  • Mineral oil processing (class 14)
  • Manufacture of non-metallic mineral products (class 24)
  • Manufacture of metal goods not elsewhere specified (class 31)
  • Mechanical engineering (class 32)
  • Manufacture of other transport equipment (class 36)
  • Processing of rubber and plastics (class 48)
  • Construction (class 50)
  • Air transport (class 75)
  • Supporting services to transport (class 76)

* Additional to those in table 1.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Paymaster General how many persons were registered as unemployed, or in receipt of unemployment benefit, in each of his Department's offices in Greater London in May 1979 and the most recent convenient date for which figures are available.

Mr. Alan Clark

This information is available in the library. I am sending a copy of a computer print showing the requested information for registered unemployed at jobcentres at May 1979, for unemployed claimants in each jobcentre area at August 1985, and for October 1982 on both bases. Comparisons are affected by the change in the basis of the unemployment count in October 1982, and by the 1983 Budget provisions which meant that some men, mainly aged 60 years and over, no longer needed to sign on in order to receive supplementary benefit or national insurance credits.

Unemployment statistics are no longer produced for jobcentre areas, and from September 1985 are only available for areas defined in terms of local authority electoral wards.