§ 19. Mr. Norman Atkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current level of unfilled vacancies as a proportion of the unemployed work force; and what underlying trend is shown by the monthly figures since May 1979.
§ Mr. Jim LesterIn May 1979 there were 266,000 notified vacancies at employment offices, and the number of unemployed registered at those offices was 1,171,()00. In May 1980, the corresponding figures were 176,000 vacancies and 1,356,()00 unemployed. The number of vacancies is probably only about a third of all vacancies in the economy, and for this and other reasons a simple expression of the proportion of vacancies to unemployment may not be meaningful.