§ 17. Sir Fergus MontgomeryTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current rate of unemployment in the Greater Manchester area.
§ Mr. LeeOn 8 October 1987, the number of unemployed claimants in the Greater Manchester metropolitan county, expressed as a percentage of employees in employment plus the unemployed, was 13.2 per cent.
§ 22. Ms. QuinTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current rate of youth unemployment in Tyne and Wear.
§ Mr. LeeOn 8 October 1987, the number of unemployed claimants aged 18 in the county of Tyne and Wear was 4,670. Figures of the number of employees under 18 years needed to calculate an unemployment rate are not available.
§ 27. Mr. John GreenwayTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the fall in unemployment in Yorkshire and Humberside over the past 12 months; and what has been the comparable position in the United Kingdom as a whole.
§ Mr. LeeThe number of unemployed claimants in Yorkshire and Humberside has fallen by 44,500 since October 1986. The comparable fall in the United Kingdom as a whole was 485,800.
§ 36. Mr. BaldryTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the fall in the numbers of unemployed in the west midlands in 1987 to date.
§ Mr. LeeOn 8 October 1987, the number of unemployed claimants in the west midlands region, adjusted for seasonality and excluding school leavers, was 278,300, a fall of 47,000 since January 1987.
§ 43. Mr. KnowlesTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the fall in numbers of unemployed in the east midlands from June 1983 to date.
§ Mr. LeeOn 8 October 1987, the number of unemployed claimants in the east midlands region adjusted for seasonality and excluding school leavers was 169,000, a fall of 7,100 since June 1983.
§ 45. Mr. FavellTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the fall in the numbers of unemployed in the north-west region from June 1983 to date.
§ Mr. LeeOn 8 October 1987, the number of unemployed claimants in the north-west region, adjusted for seasonality and excluding school leavers, was 372,100, a fall of 37,600 since June 1983.
§ 50. Mrs. PeacockTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the fall in unemployment in the 18 to 25-year-old age group since January 1987.
§ Mr. LeeOn 8 October 1987, the number of unemployed claimants in the 18 to 25 age group in the United Kingdom was 783,849. A fall of 186,702 since January 1987. This change will be affected by seasonal factors.
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§ 60. Ms. AbbottTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he is taking to deal with the high unemployment rate amongst young black males.
§ Mr. NichollsThe Government's sound financial and economic policies are bringing new job opportunities to all sections of our community. Since March 1983 the number of jobs has grown by over 1,300,000 and unemployment over the last 16 months has fallen by almost half a million. In addition, we are offering individual unemployed people, irrespective of their racial origin, positive help towards employment and training measures, on which we are spending some £3 billion this year.
However, we recognise that unemployment rates for ethnic minority groups are generally higher than for white groups with similar charactistics. It is against that background that the DE group implements a policy of ensuring access to programmes and services are open and available to all regardless of racial orgin. Additional help to ethnic minority job seekers includes outreach and caseload approaches by specially appointed jobcentre staff in inner-city offices.
My Department's race relations employment advisory service continues to give help and guidance to employers and others on issues concerned with equality of treatment both in regards to access to work and progression within employment.
§ 65. Mr. Patrick ThompsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current state of employment in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. LeeIn June 1987, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 24,904,000 people in the employed labour force in the United Kingdom. This represents an increase of 1,352,000 since March 1983. The figures are adjusted for the effects of seasonal variations. The employed labour force is the sum of employees in employment, the self-employed and Her Majesty's forces.
§ 66. Mr. HaywardTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many job vacancies were registered with job centres in November 1987.
§ Mr. LeeThe information is not yet available. The number of vacancies notified to jobcentres between 7 November 1987 and 4 December 1987 will be available on 14 January 1988.
§ 79. Mr. Anthony CoombsTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest trends in the number of vacancies reported to jobcentres.
§ Mr. LeeThe number of new vacancies notified to jobcentres in the United Kingdom increased by 7 per cent. over the past 12 months to reach 235,900 in the month ending October, the highest figure since the current series began in 1980.
§ 86. Miss Emma NicholsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment which regions are showing the greatest fall in youth unemployment.
§ Mr. LeeThe table shows the number of unemployed claimants under 18 years of age at 9 October 1986 and at 8 October 1987 respectively, together with the change over the year, expressed numerically and as a percentage.
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Region Unemployed claimants under 18 years October 1986 October 1987 Change Percentage change South East 34,329 21,451 -12,878 -37.5 South West 9,954 6,598 -3,356 -33.7 East Anglia 4,498 2,991 -1,507 -33.5 East Midlands 11,511 8,044 -3,467 -30.1 West Midlands 20,406 14,543 -5,863 -28.7 Yorkshire and Humberside 22,573 16,402 -6,171 -27.3 North West 25,900 19,260 -6,640 -25.6 Wales 10,667 7,970 -2,697 -25.3 Northern 13,374 10,408 -2,966 -22.2 Scotland 27,368 22,157 -5,211 -19.0 Northern Ireland 5,940 4,995 - 945 -15.9
§ 93. Mr. HardyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what additional action he is taking to improve unemployment in the area of the Dearne valley.
§ Mr. LeeAll my Department's employment, training and enterprise measures are already available in the Dearne valley. Although unemployment in the area remains too high, we have been encouraged by its continuing fall in recent months. In the Rotherham and Mexborough travel-to-work area, unemployment has fallen by over 2,750 in the last year.