Mr. Jim Callaghanasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are currently unemployed in the Greater Manchester area; and how many of these are under the age of 21 years.
§ Mr. GoldingAt 13th December 1977, 72,343 people were registered as unemployed in the Greater Manchester Metropolitan County. The numbers in particular age ranges are available from an analysis made in January and July each year. The analysis for January 1978 is not yet available, but in July 1977, when 83,322 people were unemployed in the county, 25,499 were under 20 years of age. The figures for July included considerable numbers of school-leavers who are no longer on the registers. Statistics are not available for those under 21 years of age.
Mr. Jim Callaghanasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many job creation schemes currently exist in Greater Manchester: and how many workers they employ.
§ Mr. GoldingI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that 288 job creation projects are in operation in Greater Manchester providing 2,843 temporary jobs. The precise number of workers currently employed on them is not available.