HC Deb 26 June 1980 vol 987 cc237-8W
Miss Wright

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many men and women are currently working short time in Birmingham and in which firms.

Mr. Jim Lester

[pursuant to his reply, 24 June 1980, c. 90]: I regret that the information is not available. Statistics on short-time working are available only for Great Britain and the standard regions.

Miss Wright

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many men, women and young people are now unemployed in Birmingham; and what are the comparable figures for one year ago.

Mr. Jim Lester

[pursuant to his reply, 24 June 1980, c. 90]: At 10 April 1980, the latest date for which an age analysis of the unemployed is available, there were 28,628 males and 10,024 females aged 20 years and over, and 8,600 young people under 20 years of age registered as unemployed in the Birmingham travel-to-work area. The corresponding figures for April 1979 were 25,976, 7,912 and 6,387, respectively. The April 1980 figures are not strictly comparable with those for April 1979 because of the introduction of fortnightly attendance and payment of benefit. Estimates of this effect by age or for local areas are not available, but for the country as a whole the monthly figures for all unemployed from October 1979 are about 20,000 or 1½ per cent. higher than they would have been under weekly attendance.

The figures of unemployed age under 20 include Easter school leavers in April 1980, but not in April 1979 when the count was made before Easter.

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