§ Mr. John EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people in the United Kingdom are currently unemployed, economically active, but not in receipt of unemployment benefit; and what were the equivalent figures for May 1979.
§ Miss WiddecombeFor the current data, I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. and learned Member for Montgomery (Mr. Carlisle) on 26 January 1994,Official Report, column 285–86. The equivalent information for 1979 is not available.
§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people would have been registered as unemployed in 1978 if the figures had been treated on the same basis as 1994.
§ Miss WiddecombeClaimant unemployment figures based on the current coverage of the count are available from the Department's consistent seasonally adjusted series. This gives the average level of claimant unemployment in the United Kingdom in 1978 as 1,144,000.