§ Mr. Parryasked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the unemployment figures for the 149W Liverpool travel-to-work area at the latest date; what the percentage figures are; and what the figures were in May 1979.
§ Mr. Jim LesterAt 13 November 1980, the provisional number of people registered as unemployed in the Liverpool travel-to-work area was 72,670 and the unemployment rate was 15.2 per cent. The corresponding figures at 10 May 1979 were 57,060 and 11.8 per cent. The figures include school leavers, numerically greater in November than in May. Moreover, they are not adjusted for seasonal influences, which normally lead to unemployment being higher in November than May. Additionally, the figures are not strictly comparable because of the introduction, in September 1979, of fortnightly attendance and payment of benefit. Estimates of this effect are not available for local areas, but for the country as a whole the monthly unemployment figures from October 1979 are about 20,000, or 1½ per cent., higher than under weekly attendance.
§ Mr. Parryasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the estimated level of unemployment in the Liverpool, Scotland Exchange constituency.
§ Mr. Jim LesterAt 13 November, the provisional number of people registered as unemployed in the Liverpool employment office area, which closely corresponds to the Liverpool, Scotland Exchange parliamentary constituency, was 19,334.