§ 21. Mr. Ashleyasked the Paymaster General what is the latest figure for the poportion of the unemployed who have been out of work for over a year; and what has been the increase in this figure since May 1979.
§ Mr. LangOn 10 April 1986, the latest date for which an analysis of unemployment by duration is available, the proportion of claimants in the United Kingdom who had been unemployed for over 12 months was 40.8 per cent. The corresponding proportion of unemployed registrants in April 1979 (not available for May 1979) was 27.4 per cent. The figures are not strictly comparable because of changes in the way the figures are collected.