HC Deb 18 January 1979 vol 960 cc849-50W
Mr. Tebbit

asked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if he will list the percentage change on the seasonally adjusted levels of employment, based on national definitions in each member of the European Community, the United States of America, Japan and Canada, since March 1974 to the latest available common date;

(2) if he will list the average gross hourly earnings in manufacturing industry and the economy as a whole, at the latest available comparable date and expressed in terms of £ sterling, in each member State of the EEC, Japan, the United States of America and Canada.

Mr. Golding: I will reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

Mr. Pattie

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the unemployment rate, adjusted to United States concept for comparison for the latest available common quarter in each country of the EEC, the United States of America, Canada and Japan, respectively.

Mr. Golding:

The United States Bureau of Labour Statistics does not calculate adjusted unemployment rates for every member country of the European Community. The available rates for the third quarter of 1978 are given below.

Rates for the European countries should be viewed as only approximate indicators of the level of unemployment. The rate for Italy is under review.

United States 6.0
Canada 8.5
Japan 2.3
France 5.7
Germany 3.4
Italy (1) 3.6
Great Britain (2) 6.1

(1) Quarterly rates are for the first month in each quarter.

(2) No rate is calculated for the United Kingdom.

Mr. Pattie

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the index of the number of people in employment for each quarter of 1978 for which information is available, based on second quarter 1974=100, in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, France, Italy, Canada, Japan, and West Germany respectively.

Mr. Golding:

The latest available data are given in the following table. The seasonal variation in some countries is large, and would distort the comparisons if not taken into account; accordingly seasonally adjusted figures have been used where possible. Owing to differences in national definitions and methods of compilation, the figures are not fully comparable.

CIVILIAN EMPLOYMENT
(Index: Second quarter 1974=100)
1978
First quarter Second quarter
United Kingdom 99.4* 99.5*
United States of America 108.1 109.5
France † †
Italy‡ 105.7 106.7
Canada 108.6 109.7
Japan§ 102.3 103.1
West Germany 95.2 94.8
*Provisional.
†Not available.
‡Not seasonally adjusted.
§Including armed forces.
Main source: OECD—Labour Force Statistics.