§ Mr. JenkinsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the long-term(a) adult and (b) youth unemployment rates were in Tamworth constituency in each of the last 10 years. [179968]
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§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who I have asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 24 June 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about unemployment. (179968)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of unemployment from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) following International Labour Organisation definitions. However, the LFS sample size is too small to give reliable estimates of unemployment in the Tamworth constituency.
ONS also compiles statistics of those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) for local areas including parliamentary constituencies.
The table below shows JSA claimants claiming for over 12 months as a percentage of all claimants, for all ages and for those aged 18–24 years old in the Tamworth constituency. The figures are annual averages for each year since 1996. Comparable figures are not available for earlier years.
People claiming JSA for 12 months or more, as percentage of all claimants Percentage All ages 18 to 24 years 1996 29.5 4.8 1997 24.1 3.2 1998 21.5 3.0 1999 20.9 0.7 2000 20.9 0.5 2001 17.7 1— 2002 14.5 1— 2003 10.0 1— 1Figure not shown to protect individuals' confidentiality