HC Deb 28 October 1971 vol 823 cc417-21W
Mr. Kinnock

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many

NUMBERS OF MALES REGISTERED AS WHOLLY UNEMPLOYED IN WALES IN CERTAIN AGE RANGES
20 to 29 30 to 39 40 to 49 50 to 59 60 to 64
July, 1967 5,856 4,686 4,690 4,275 4,483
July, 1971 8,723 5,248 5,278 5,227 6,350

Mr. Kinnock

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many redundancies have been notified to his Department by employers in Wales between July, 1970, and September, 1971, and, of these, how many have been in the mining, steel and metal manufacture, engineering and chemical industries, respectively. vacancies have been notified to his Department by employers in Wales at the present time, and of these how many are for supervisory and managerial staff, how many for skilled engineering workers, how many for men in total and how many for women.

Mr. Dudley Smith

At 6th October provisional figures show that there were 6,106 notified vacancies remaining unfilled in Wales. Of these, 2,948 were for men, 1,564 for women and 1,594 for boys and girls.

A limited analysis of these figures shows that the vacancies for men included 503 in engineering occupations which are generally regarded as skilled. Vacancies for supervisory and managerial staff fall broadly within the group "Other administrative, professional and technical workers" for which figures for October are not available. At 8th September, however, when a more detailed analysis was made, there were 320 vacancies in this classification.

The statistics relate only to notified vacancies remaining unfilled and do not purport to measure the total unsatisfied demand for labour.

Mr. Kinnock

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the age distribution of unemployed males in Wales in September, 1967, and September, 1971, given in terms of 21 to 30, 31 to 40, 41 to 50, 51 to 60, and 61 to 65 years of age.

Mr. Dudley Smith

Detailed age analyses of the numbers of males registered as wholly unemployed are made in January and July each year, and the following table shows information for age groups similar to those specified for July, 1967 and July 1971:

Mr. Dudley Smith

Not all redundancies are notified to my Department, and it is not the practice to keep records of every minor redundancy. However, our records show that redundancies involving 20,315 people were declared by employers in Wales from July, 1970 to September, 1971 inclusive. Of these redundancies 205 were in mining, 4,746 in engineering, 925 in chemicals and 5,207 in steel and metal manufacture.

Mr. Kinnock

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of the total United Kingdom labour force has the Welsh labour force constituted in each of the years 1945 to 1970, and what proportion of total United Kingdom unemployed has Welsh workers constituted in each of the years 1945 to 1970.

Mr. Dudley Smith

Comparable statistics are not available for the whole of the period 1945 to 1970. The following table shows information on employment from 1951 and on unemployment from 1949:

Mid-year estimates of employees, employed and unemployed, in Wales and annual average numbers registered as unemployed in Wales, as percentages of corresponding figures for the United Kingdom
Employees per cent. Unemployed per cent.
1949 10.8
1950 10.1
1951 4.4 8.9
1952 4.4 5.8
1953 4.4 7.3
1954 4.4 7.2
1955 4.3 6.5
1956 4.3 6.8
1957 4.3 7.1
1958 4.3 7.2
1959 4.3 7.1
1960 4.2 6.6
1961 4.2 6.6
1962 4.2 6.1
1963 4.2 5.9
1964 4.2 6.2
1965 4.2 7.2
1966 4.2 7.5
1967 4.1 6.7
1968 4.2 6.5
1969 4.1 6.7
1970 4.1 6.0

Mr. Kinnock

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons

NUMBERS REGISTERED AS UNEMPLOYED IN WALES AND PROPORTION WHOLLY UNEMPLOYED
Total registered unemployed Proportion wholly unemployed
Males Females Total Males per cent. Females per cent. Total per cent.
September, 1971 38,850 9,918 48,768 99.0 99.2 99.0
September, 1967 30,471 9,429 39,900 99.4 99.4 99.4

Mr. John

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what number of those Welsh male workers unemployed for more than three months is over 40 years of age; what percentage this is of the total number of such unemployed; and what study he is devoting to the problem of providing employment for this age group. were unemployed in Wales and what percentage of the total Welsh labour force this constituted in November of each year 1945 to 1970.

Mr. Dudley Smith

Comparable statistics are not available for the whole of the period 1945 to 1970, and the following table shows information from November, 1948:

NUMBERS REGISTERED AS UNEMPLOYED AND PERCENTAGE RATES OF UNEMPLOYMENT FOR WALES
Number unemployed Percentage rate
November, 1948 39,859 4.3
November, 1949 38,012 4.2
November, 1950 32,540 3.5
November, 1951 25,335 2.7
November, 1952 27,281 2.9
November, 1953 25,209 2.7
November, 1954 21,130 2.2
November, 1955 17,122 1.8
November, 1956 21,404 2.2
November, 1957 28,140 2.9
November, 1958 39,257 4.1
November, 1959 32,510 3.4
November, 1960 25,241 2.6
November, 1961 27,112 2.8
November, 1962 35,212 3.6
November, 1963 29,160 3.0
November, 1964 25,862 2.6
November, 1965 27,742 2.8
November, 1966 39,362 3.9
November, 1967 41,747 4.2
November, 1968 39,084 4.0
November, 1969 40,249 4.1
November, 1970 37,894 3.9

Mr. Kinnock

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons were unemployed in Wales in September, 1971, and September, 1967, respectively; and in each case how many were males, how many were females, and what proportion was wholly unemployed.

Mr. Dudley Smith

Following is the information:

Mr. Dudley Smith

At July, 1971, the latest date for which detailed age analysis is available, 18,250 wholly unemployed males in Wales had ben on the registers for more than 13 weeks. Of these, 11,700 (64.1 per cent.) were 40 years of age and over.

This problem is one which is under constant review. Older workers can expect to benefit from the Government's measures to stimulate the economy and from the new training scheme which was introduced for those over 45 in development and intermediate areas earlier this year.

Mr. John

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the number of

NUMBERS OF MALES REGISTERED AS WHOLLY UNEMPLOYED IN WALES AT 12TH JULY, 1971
Over 13 weeks (including columns (2) and (3)) Over 26 weeks (including column (3)) Over 52 weeks Total males registered as wholly unemployed
(1) (2) (3) (4)
Number 18,250 13,174 7,990 35,379
Percentage of total 51.6 37.2 22.6 100

Corresponding figures for 11th October will be available shortly.

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