HC Deb 04 December 1980 vol 995 cc147-8W
Mr. Kaufman

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what were the number and percentage of unemployed in the area covered by the city of Manchester for the latest available month and the comparable figures for the same months in each of the previous 10 years.

Mr. Jim Lester

The following table gives for November each year from 1970 the numbers of people registered as unemployed and the percentage rates of unemployment, where available, in the Manchester travel-to-work area.

November each year Numbers un-employed Percentage rate
1970 15,677 2.2
1971 26,216 3.7
1972 27,187 4.1
1973 16,099 2.3
1974 20,401 2.9
1975 33,446 4.7
1976 .. ..
1977 44,458 6.3
1978 39,981 5.7
1979 38,328 5.4
1980* 64771 9.1
* provisional.
.. Not available

Note: The figures for November 1979 and November 1980 are not strictly comparable with those for earlier years because of the introduction, in September 1979, of fortnightly attendance and payment of benefit. Estimates of this effect are not available for local areas but for the country as a whole the monthly unemployment figures from October 1979 are about 20,000 or 1½ per cent. higher than under weekly attendance. The effect on the percentage rate is negligible.

Mr. Kaufman

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what were the number of redundancies in the area covered by the city of Manchester announced since the beginning of 1980; what are the numbers in prospect; and if he will publish comparable figures for each of the last 10 years.

Mr. Jim Lester

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the number of workers involved in redundancies confirmed as due to occur in the city of Manchester between January and November 1980 is 6,328. This figure is provisional. Comparable figures are only available from 1977 and are as follows:

Employees
January to November 1977 2,114
January to November 1978 1,598
January to November 1979 2,835

Redundancies involving 1,056 employees have so far been confirmed as due to occur in the city of Manchester between December 1980 and May 1981. All these figures are for redundancies involving 10 or more employees.