§ Lord Taylor of Warwickasked Her Majesty's Government: Why on 12 September the Office for National Statistics introduced a new methodology for assessing economic growth. [HL4638]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyThe information falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from the National Statistician, Len Cook, dated 14 October 2003.
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question on the recent introduction of a new methodology for assessing economic growth. (HL4638)
The main change introduced in the data published on 12 September was the use of annual chain-linking for the measurement of the volume of GDP. This method allows changing industrial structures and patterns of expenditure to be reflected more quickly in GDP as the weights used for aggregating components are updated annually rather than 5-yearly as they were under the previous methodology. Because a significant portion of economic activity is measured by statistical surveys or indicators that reflect annual or quarterly change, chain-linking means that the benchmark for each year's measure of GDP is based on the latest available information on the structure of the UK economy.
The introduction of annual chain-linking follows international guidance published in the United Nations System of National Accounts 1993 and the European System of Accounts 1995. Annual chain-linking has already been implemented in the United States and Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Sweden, Netherlands, Portugal and Finland (using annual weights).
A number of articles about the move to annual chain-linking are available on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk about/ Methodology_by_theme/chainlinking/default.asp 115WA In addition to the move to annual chain-linking, the price indices used for detailed level deflation of current price estimates of gross fixed capital formation, changes in inventories and trade in goods, and in the compilation of the Index of Production, have been updated so that their internal weights reflect the values of 2000 rather than 1995. The purpose of this rebasing is to use more up to date and therefore more appropriate weights for current industrial structures.
§ Lord Roberts of Conwyasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many new jobs have been created since the Government came into office in 1997 in (a) the public and (b) the private sectors; and [HL4645]
How many new jobs have been created since they came into office in 1997 by region in the United Kingdom; and how many were in (a) the public and (b) the private sectors in each region of the United Kingdom. [HL4646]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from the National Statistician, Len Cook, dated 14 October 2003.
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question about jobs created in the UK since 1997. (HL4645 and HL4646)
There are no figures for jobs created. However Table 1 attached shows the changes in job levels in the public and private sectors from August 1997 to August 2002 (the latest available data).
A disaggregation of Table 1 by region is not available, but Table 2 attached shows the total persons in employment by Government Office Region, covering the three month period to July 1997 and the three month period to July 2003, together with the change between those dates. It is a count of employed persons, and not a count of jobs, and thus excludes second and subsequent jobs.
Table 1 Job Levels by Main Sector in the UK Thousands, not seasonally adjusted August 1997 August 2002 Change Public Sector 4,954 5,298 344 Private Sector 22,811 23.610 799 Total 27,765 28,908 1,143 Source:
Labour Force Survey and Administrative Returns from public bodies
116WA
Table 2 Persons in Employment by Government Office Region (Thousands) Thousands, not seasonally adjusted Region May-July 1997 May-July 2003 Change North East 1,058 1,071 13 NorthWest 2,916 3,078 162 Yorkshire &the Humber 2,181 2,310 129 East Midlands 1,941 2,017 76 West Midlands 2,391 2,431 40 East 2,515 2,699 184 London 3,156 3,416 260 South East 3,837 4,053 216 SouthWest 2,264 2,417 153 Wales 1,225 1,311 86 Scotland 2,265 2,397 132 Northern Ireland 685 733 48 Source:
Labour Force Survey