§ Mr. Formanasked the Chancellor of Exchequer how much output is lost in goods and services when (a) 500,000, (b) 1,000,000, (c) 1,500,000 and (d) 2,000,000 people are unemployed, assuming that their output per person was on the national average.
§ Mr. BiffenGross domestic product per person in the employed labour force416W —at factor cost, expenditure measure—was £4,017 in 1979, at 1975 prices. If output per person was equal to the national average, the output lost for different reductions in employment would be as set out below.
Fall in number of people employed Output lost (£ million, 1975 prices) 500,000 … … … … 2,008 1,000,000 … … … … 4,017 1,500,000 … … … … 6,025 2,000,000 … … … … 8,034 In fact it would be most unlikely for changes in employment of the magnitudes cited to result in output changes of the size set out above. The losses in output would be affected by many other things, including the distribution of the changes in employment across industries and regions and the impact of the employment changes on inflation, cash balances, and consumption.