§ Mr. Lawsonasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish a table showing, in descending order, the percentage increase of the numbers unemployed in the United Kingdom and in each of the other member countries of the European Economic Community, between the latest month for which figures are available and the same month in the previous year.
§ Mr. John FraserThe attached table shows in descending order the percentage increases in the numbers unemployed during the year ending on the latest month for which figures are available in each of the European Economic Community countries.
PERCENTAGE CHANGES IN THE NUMBERS UNEMPLOYED IN THE YEAR UP TO THE DATE OF THE LATEST AVAILABLE INFORMATION FOR COUNTRIES IN THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY Country Year ending Percentage change Luxembourg November 1975 +379 United Kingdom January 1976 +69 Belgium December 1975 +64 France November 1975 +47 Denmark November 1975 +38 Germany December 1975 +29 Ireland December 1975 +28 Netherlands December 1975 +26 Italy October 1975 +14 Source:
EEC (except for United Kingdom figures).
Notes:
1. Unemployment in Luxembourg is very low and the increase is from 144 to 609.
2. The United Kingdom January 1975 figure was delayed, owing to industrial action, to a date when most students registered for vacation employment had left the register. The United Kingdom comparison is, therefore, based on figures excluding students in both years.