§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many school leavers entered the labour market in each of the past five years; and what are his estimates for 1980, 1981 and 1982.
§ Dr. BoysonI have been asked to reply. The numbers of school leavers in England and Wales not entering full-time further education, and therefore likely to be available for employment, are as follows:
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AVERAGE GROSS WEEKLY(a) EARNINGS (£) OF FULL-TIME MANUAL EMPLOYEES Male adults (aged 21 and over) in manufacturing industry All adults (men aged 21 and over, women aged 18 and over) in all industries covered in Department of Employment survey(c) Index of retail prices (October 1979=100) (1) (2) (3) 1954 … … … … 10.61 8.65 17.7 1955 … … … … 11.55 9.43 18.6 1956 … … … … 12.28 10.13 19.3 1957 … … … … 13.06 10.72 20.1 1958 … … … … 13.27 10.96 20.5 1959(b) … … … … 14.21 11.57 20.5 1960 … … … … 15.16 12.33 20.9 1961 … … … … 15.89 13.00 21.7 1962 … … … … 16.34 13.43 22.4 1963 … … … … 17.29 14.14 22.9 1964 … … … … 18.67 15.30 23.9 1965 … … … … 20.16 16.61 25.0 1966 … … … … 20.78 17.30 26.0 1967 … … … … 21.89 18.31 26.5 1968 … … … … 23.62 19.73 27.9 1969 … … … … 25.54 21.36 29.5 1970 … … … … 28.91 24.25 31.6 1971 … … … … 31.37 26.93 34.6 1972 … … … … 36.20 31.17 37.3 1973 … … … … 41.52 35.89 41.0 1974 … … … … 49.12 43.06 48.0 1975 … … … … 59.74 53.15 60.5 1976 … … … … 67.83 60.16 69.4 1977 … … … … 84.77 65.34 79.2 1978 … … … … 84.77 77.40 85.4 1979 … … … … 98.28 89.80 100.0
Thousands per academic year 1974–75 559 1975–76 564 1976–77 601 1977–78 616 1978–79 624* 1979–80 638† 1980–81 640† 1981–82 634† * Estimated. †Projected.