HC Deb 16 February 1976 vol 905 cc576-8W
40. Mr. Hayhoe

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish the latest available figures and percentages for unemployment available to him from international sources for the individual member States of the EEC and for Austria, Sweden, Japan and the United States of America, together with figures indicating the changes during the last month, quarter and year.

Mr. John Fraser

The latest available numbers and percentage rates of the unemployed for the specified countries and figures indicating the changes during the last month, quarter and year are given below. The figures are not strictly comparable owing to different national concepts and practices in measuring unemployment.

Mr. Peter Walker

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will give the numbers unemployed and the number of registered vacancies for January 1974, January 1975 and January

NUMBERS UNEMPLOYED
January 1974 February 1975* January 1976
Birmingham 17,608 22,801 51,669
Liverpool 39,653 47,669 72,576
Glasgow 29,674 30,571 43,934
Inner London 33,328 42,754 82,475

UNFILLED VACANCIES
January 1974 March 1975* January 1976
Employment Offices Careers Offices Employment Offices Careers Offices Employment Offices Careers Offices
Birmingham 7,964 3,879 2,682 1,419 984 294
Liverpool 4,374 1,229 2,827 290 1,751 176
Glasgow 4,665 1,722 5,213 742 3,399 321
Inner London 34,943 9,286 23,571 5,415 9,482 2,129
* Because of industrial action at local offices of the Employment Service Agency unemployment and vacancy statistics are not available for January 1975 and vacancy statistics are not available for February 1975.

The information given is for the following employment office areas:

Birmingham: Aston, Birmingham, Bromsgrove, Chelmesley Wood, Handsworth, Selly Oak, Small Heath, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield, Washwood Heath.

Liverpool: Bebington, Birkenhead, Bootle, Crosby, Ellesmere Port, Garston, Hoylake, Kirkby, Liverpool, Neston, Old Swan, Prescot, Regent Road, Wallasey, Walton.

Glasgow: Glasgow Commercial Office, Glasgow (South Side), Barrhead, Bridgeton, Cambuslang, Clydebank, Easterhouse, Govan, Millington, Kinning Park, Kirkintilloch, Maryhill, Parkhead, Partick, Rutherglen, Springburn.

Inner London: Bermondsey, Borough, Brixton, Camberwell, Camden Town, City, Clapham Junction, Deptford and Greenwich, Fulham, Hackney, Hammersmith, Holloway, Kings Cross, Lewisham, Poplar, Shoreditch, St. Marylebone, Stepney, Stratford, Tooting, Westminster, Willesden, Woolwich.

The vacancy figures relate only to notified vacancies remaining unfilled and do not purport to be a measure of total vacancies.

Vacancies notified to employment offices include some that are suitable for young persons and those notified to careers offices include some that are suitable for adults. Because of possible duplication, the two series should not be added together.

Mrs. Winifred Ewing

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many of the 15 to 25 year age group are un-

1976, respectively, for Birmingham, Liverpool, Glasgow and the total for the Inner London boroughs.

Mr. John Fraser

Following is the information available:

employed in Scotland, Wales and England, respectively; and, in each case, what percentage has been unemployed for periods of one year, two years, and more.

Mr. John Fraser

The following table shows the information available at January 1976:

Numbers unemployed aged 16–24 years Percentage registered for more than 52 weeks
Scotland 59,658* 4.4
Wales 28,901 6.2
England 364,939 4.9
*The analysis does not distinguish separately those registered for specific periods in excess of 52 weeks. The figures do not include adult students.

Young people reaching the age of 16 can leave school at Christmas in Scotland; this is not the case in England and Wales. The unemployment figures for Scotland shown above therefore include 9,987 school leavers; the comparable figure for December 1975 was 2,868.