Mr. Alan WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what change took place in the numbers of(a) unemployed and (b) employed in Wales in the four years to July 1987.
§ Mr. Peter Walker[holding answer 20 May 1988]: The available information is as follows:
( Thousands at mid June) 1984 1985 1986 1987 Unemployed claimants1 163 173 174 151 Employees in employment 886 877 861 863 Self employed 144 146 154 148 Source: Department of Employment
1 Because of a change in the compilation of the unemployment statistics unadjusted figures from February 1986 are not directly comparable with earlier figures.
Latest figures show a further decrease of 11,000 for unemployed claimants (unadjusted, April 1988) an increase of 700 for employees in employment (December 1987).
The current unemployment figure is now the lowest since 1981.