§ Mr. Tebbitasked the Secretary of State for Employment pursuant to the recent statement of the Prime Minister that the unemployment position in Italy is much worse than in Great Britain, Official Report, 4th April 1978, column 235, and the answer given on his behalf by the Under-Secretary of State for Employment that the comparison was based on EEC statistics, Official Report, 7th April 1978, column 263, and in view of the fact that the EEC issues such statistics with the explicit warning that it must be emphasised that the degree of standardisation is insufficent to permit relative comparison either of absolute levels or of rates of unemployment, if he will discontinue using such statistics as the basis 178W for making international comparisons of unemployment.
§ Mr. John GrantAs my reply indicated, the usual international comparisons of unemployment, prepared by the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics, are under review in respect of Italy—similarly, the OECD estimates for the United Kingdom are being reviewed. In this particular circumstance, therefore, the national statistics—published with partial adjustments by the EEC—were used.