§ Mr. David StewartTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the change has been in the level of unemployment in the constituency of Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber since May 1997. [104572]
§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. David Stewart, dated 24 March 2003:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on what the change has been in the level of unemployment in the constituency of Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber since May 1997.(104572)The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of unemployment from surveys following the international standard International Labour Organisation definition. However the survey sample size is too small to provide estimates for the Inverness East Nairn and Lochaber Parliamentary Constituency.ONS also compiles statistics of claimants of the Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) benefit for Parliamentary Constituencies.In February 2003, there were K543 claimants of Jobseekers Allowance in the Inverness East and Lochaber Parliamentary Constituency compared with 2,403 in May 1997. This represents a reduction of 860 or 36 per cent. The data are not seasonally adjusted.