HC Deb 08 April 1971 vol 815 cc244-6W
Mr. Scott

asked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) from information available from international sources, what is the current rate of unemployment in France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg; and what is the comparable figure for the United Kingdom;

(2) from information available from international sources, what is the current rate of unemployment in the European Economic Community taken as a whole; and what is the comparable figure for the United Kingdom.

Mr. Dudley Smith

The following figures have been published as part of a table in "The Common Market and the Common Man", published by the European Community Information Service:

Unemployment as a percentage of Civil Employment at Mid-year 1969
Per cent.
Belgium … … … 2.5*
France … … … 1.1
Germany … … … 0.7
Italy … … … 3.4
Luxembourg … … … 0
Netherlands … … … 1.4
E.E.C … … … 1.7
United Kingdom … … … 2.0†
* Mid-year 1968 figure.
† The United Kingdom percentage in this table represents the wholly unemployed as a percentage of the civilian labour force. The normal method is to take the total registered unemployed, as a percentage of total employees, employed and unemployed. On this basis the United Kingdom figure for June, 1969 is 2.3 per cent.

Mr. Scott

asked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) whether, from information available from international sources, he will give the comparison between numbers unemployed in Germany on 1st January, 1958, and 1st January, 1971; and the figures for the United Kingdom on these dates;

(2) whether, from information available from international sources, he will give the comparison between numbers unemployed in France on 1st January, 1958, and 1st January, 1971; and the figures for the United Kingdom on these dates;

(3) whether, from information available from international sources, he will

NUMBERS UNEMPLOYED
Germany* (Federal Republic) France Italy Belgium Holland Luxembourg United Kingdom
July, 1957 … 1,626,108
October, 1957 … 368,637 76,043 1
November, 1957 … 118,920
December, 1957 … 97,283
January, 1958 … 1,432,067 100,148 1,961,838 204,037 111,129 65 415,235 (439,929)
July, 1970 … 623,000
October, 1970 … 106,494 297,400 45
November, 1970 … 69,779
December, 1970 … 58,700
January, 1971 … 714,379 (731,190)
* Saar is included in the figure for October, 1970 but not in the figures for October, 1957, and January, 1958.
Because of differences in scope, definitions and concept, the statistics for different countries are not necessarily comparable. Two sets of figures are shown for the United Kingdom, that is, the wholly unemployed and, in brackets, the total registered unemployed.

give the comparison between numbers unemployed in Italy on 1st January, 1958, and 1st January, 1971; and the figures for the United Kingdom on these dates;

(4) whether, from information available from international sources, he will give the comparison between numbers unemployed in Belgium on 1st January, 1958, and 1st January, 1971; and the figures for the United Kingdom on these dates;

(5) whether, from information available from international sources, he will give the comparison between numbers unemployed in Holland on 1st January, 1958, and 1st January, 1971; and the figures for the United Kingdom on these dates;

(6) whether, from information available from international sources, he will give the comparison between numbers unemployed in Luxembourg on 1st January, 1958, and 1st January, 1971; and the figures for the United Kingdom on these dates.

Mr. Dudley Smith

In the table below, figures for countries other than the United Kingdom have been taken from the International Labour Office Year Books and from monthly supplements to the International Labour Office Quarterly Bulletins. For each of these countries, information has been shown for January, 1958, for the latest date from which figures can be derived from these sources and for the corresponding month 13 years earlier. For the United Kingdom, information has been shown for January, 1958, and January, 1971: