§ Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the number 243W of unemployed by duration of unemployment (a) nationally and (b)in Birkenhead in 1970 and at the latest available date according to whether the unemployed person has been workless (i) under four weeks, (ii) under 52 weeks and (v) over weeks, (iv) under 2 weeks and (v) over 52weeks; and if he will present these data as a percentage of the total unemployed.
January 1970 October 1979* Duration of unemployment Number Percentage of all unemployed Number Percentage of all unemployed Great Britain Up to 4 weeks … … … … 165,946 27.3 231,497 17.8 Over 4 and up to 13 weeks … … 179,666 29.5 309,764 23.8 Over 13 and up to 26 weeks … … 98,016 16.1 230,355 17.7 Over 26 and up to 52 weeks … … 67,744 11.1 194,178 14.9 Over 52 weeks … … … … 97 364 16.0 337,033 25.9 All registered unemployed … … 608,736 100.0 1,302,827 100.0 Birkenhead employment office area Up to 4 weeks … … … … 673 26.2 810 11.3 Over 4 and up to 13 weeks … … 859 33.4 1,470 20.5 Over 13 and up to 26 weeks … … 471 18.3 1,310 18.2 Over 26 and up to 52 weeks … … 292 11.4 1,148 16.0 Over 52 weeks … … … … 277 10.8 2,444 34.0 All registered unemployed … … 2,572 100.0 7,182 100.0 * The figures for October 1979 are not quite comparable with those for previous dates because they are affected by the introduction of fortnightly attendance and payment of benefit. This raised the figure for all unemployed in Great Britain by about 20,000 or 1½ per cent. Estimates for individual local areas are not available.
§ Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list according to age the numbers and proportion of the unemployed who in 1970 and at the latest available date were without work for 12 months and over; and if he will divide these data according to whether the unemployed are men or women.
§ Mr. Jim LesterThe following table shows, for each age range, the numbers of
JANUARY 1970 Numbers registered as unemployed for over 52 weeks Percentage of all unemployed in age range Male Female Total Male Female Total Aged under 18 years 161 96 257 0.9 1.0 0.9 Aged 18–19 years … 691 256 947 2.5 2.4 2.4 Aged 20–24 years … 2,658 630 3,288 3.9 3.6 3.9 Aged 25–29 years … 3,060 387 3,447 5.8 5.1 5.7 Aged 30–34 years … 3,805 337 4,142 8.0 7.1 7.9 Aged 35–44 years … 11,354 1,147 12,501 13.1 11.6 13.0 Aged 45–49 years … 8,045 1,159 9,204 18.7 16.1 18.3 Aged 50–54 years … 7,970 1,666 9,636 22.4 22.0 22.4 Aged 55–59 years … 13,667 2,473 16,140 29.2 26.4 28.8 Aged 60 and over … 37,727 75 37,802 38.7 13.0 38.5 244W
OCTOBER 1979* Numbers registered as unemployed for over 52 weeks Percentage of all unemployed in age range Male Female Total Male Female Total Aged under 18 years 1,665 1,764 3,429 2.7 2.9 2.8 Aged 18–19 years … 6,887 6,046 12,933 10.3 9.8 10.1 Aged 20–24 years … 23,779 14,292 38,071 17.1 13.9 15.7
§ Mr. Jim LesterThe following table gives the information for January 1970 and the latest available, which is for October 1979. There is no corresponding information for October 1970. The figures for January 1980 will become available shortly and I will send them to the hon. Member.
unemployed people registered for more than 52 weeks and expresses them as percentages of the corresponding numbers of all unemployed in that age range. The information is for Great Britain at January 1970 and at October 1979, the latest date for which information is available. There is no corresponding information for October 1970. The figures for January 1980 will become available shortly and I shall send them to the hon. Member.
245W
Numbers registered as unemployed for over 52 weeks Percentage pf unemployed in age range Male Female Total Male Female Total Aged 25–29 years … 22,658 8,031 30,689 22.5 14.4 19.6 Aged 30–34 years … 21,711 5,307 27,018 26.7 17..4 24.2 Aged 35–44 years … 39,319 8,676 47,995 33.1 23.0 30.7 Aged 45–49 years … 21,840 6,177 28,017 39.5 31.2 37.3 Aged 50–54 years … 27,148 8,597 35,745 45.7 39.1 43.9 Aged 55–59 years … 35,578 12,545 48,123 48.2 47.9 48.1 Aged 60 and over … 64,412 601 65,013 51.2 43.9 51.2 * The figures for October 1979 are not quite comparable with those for previous dates because they are affected by the introduction of fortnightly attendance and payment of benefit. This raised the figure for all unemployed in Great Britain by about 20,000.
§ Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the level of unemployment, and what proportion of the working population this has represented in each year since 1945.
§ Mr. Jim LesterThe present series of unemployment statistics started in July 1948. The following table gives the numbers registered as unemployed and the percentage rates of unemployment in Great Britain at December each year from 1948. The unemployment rates are based on the estimated numbers of employees—employed and unemployed—which differ from the working population in that they exclude self-employed people and members of Her Majesty's Forces.
246W
Number Rate (per cent) December 1948 320,628 1.6 December 1949 322,875 1.6 December 1950 294,155 1.4 December 1951 259,438 1.3 December 1952 367,592 1.8 December 1953 309,863 1.5 December 1954 245,314 1.2 December 1955 205,907 1.0 December 1956 267,714 1.2 December 1957 319,456 1.5 December 1958 479,920 2.2 December 1959 409,455 1.9 December 1960 322,807 1.4 December 1961 354,546 1.6 December 1962 524,373 2.3 December 1963 451,455 2.0 December 1964 339,608 1.5 December 1965 319,302 1.4 December 1966 467,223 2.0 December 1967 558,872 2.4 December 1968 540,015 2.3 December 1969 565,512 2.4 December 1970 604,286 2.6 December 1971 867,588 3.9 December 1972 743,099 3.3 December 1973 484,296 2.1 December 1974* .. .. December 1975 1,152,499
December 1976* 1,316,000 5.6 December 1977 1,419,726 6.0 December 1978 1,303,198 5.5 December 1979. 1,292,040 5.5 * Because of industrial action by some staff in the Department of Employment group figures for December 1974 are not available and those for December 1976 are estimates. † As a result of changing the attendance and payment of benefit from weekly to fortnightly the unemployment figures from October 1979 were raised by an amount estimated for Great Britain at about 20,000. For this reason the figures for December 1979 are not strictly comparable with those for earlier years.