HC Deb 16 January 1989 vol 145 cc50-1W
Mr. Lofthouse

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people under the age of 21 years are currently unemployed in the Pontefract and Castleford constituency.

Mr. Lee

Following is the available information, which is also in the Library. Unemployment figures are not available for the requested age group. However, in October 1988, the latest available date, the number of unemployed claimants aged under 20 in the Pontefract and Castleford parliamentary constituency was 416.

Mr. Lofthouse

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current level of unemployment in the Pontefract and Castleford constituency.

Mr. Lee

The information is in the Library. In November 1988 there were 4,244 unemployed claimants in Pontefract and Castleford parliamentary constituency.

Mr. Gill

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the rate of change in the unemployment figures relative to the number of notified vacancies over the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Lee

The table shows seasonally adjusted unemployment and seasonally adjusted unfilled vacancies at jobcentres in the United Kingdom for November 1987 and 1988 with the percentage change over the period.

November
Seasonally adjusted 1987 (thousands) 1988 (thousands) Percentage change
Unemployed claimants1 2,604.4 2,108.6 -19.0
Unfilled vacancies2 265.1 244.9 -7.6
1 Consistent with current coverage.
2 Recent research shows that, nationally, only about a third of vacancies are notified to jobcentres.