HC Deb 21 March 1979 vol 964 cc614-6W
Mr. Anthony Grant

asked the Secretary of State for Employment it he will set out the unemployment figures, in both numbers and as a percentage of the United kingdom's population, for each of the years 1972 to 1979 in the special development areas, the development areas, the intermediate areas and the non-assisted areas, respectively.

Mr. Golding

In the table below, the numbers of people registered as unemployed are given for the areas specified, as currently defined, at February each year. These numbers have been expressed as percentages of employees—employed and unemployed—in the whole of the United Kingdom.

NUMBERS REGISTERED AS UNEMPLOYED
February 1972 February 1973 February 1974 February 1975 February 1976 February 1977 February 1978 February 1979
Special development areas 228,058 193,919 157,006 180,695 256,097 287,890 316,352 314,011
Development areas 355,840 295,871 245,172 288,724 416,455 470,662 520,076 515,493
Intermediate areas 193,510 145,922 116,853 143,131 237,999 251,455 273,734 267,629
Non-assisted areas in Great Britain 375,857 275,727 237,168 325,276 598,973 643,041 652,053 604,510
Northern Ireland 43,129 35,773 29,619 34,691 50,989 56,660 62,811 64,245

PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL UNITED KINGDOM EMPLOYEES—EMPLOYED AND UNEMPLOYED
February 1972 February 1973 February 1974 February 1975 February 1976 February 1977 February 1978 February 1979
Special development areas 1.0 0.8 0.7 0.8 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.3
Development areas 1.6 1.3 1.1 1.2 1.7 2.0 2.2 2.2
Intermediate areas 0.8 0.6 0.5 0.6 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.1
Non-assisted areas in Great Britain 1.6 1.2 1.0 1.4 2.5 2.7 2.7 2.5
Northern Ireland 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3