HC Deb 01 December 1981 vol 14 cc80-1W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons now unemployed have been on the unemployment register for, respectively, one, two and three years in each of the past five years.

Mr. Peter Morrison

The following table gives information for the United Kingdom for October 1979, October 1980 and October 1981. Comparable information for earlier years is not available.

Duration in weeks October 1979 October 1980 October 1981
Over 52 and up to 104 weeks 173,747 200,356 512,719
Over 104 and up to 156 weeks 74,308 74,828 119,402
Over 156 weeks 109,011 125,930 152,515

Mr. Dempsey

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons (a) male and (b) female (i) over 18 years and (ii) under 18 years of age were registering for employment at the most recent convenient date in each of the regions of the United Kingdom.

Mr. Peter Morrison

The following table gives the numbers of unemployed males and females in the age group specified who were registered at 8 October in each region of the United Kingdom.

Males Females
Aged under 18 years Aged 18 and over Aged under 18 years Aged 18 and over
North 10,930 142,326 9,553 53,397
Wales 8,192 110,821 6,932 44,105
Scotland 16,857 204,158 14,143 90,288
Northern Ireland 7,812 69,990 5,389 29,033

Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest numbers of unemployed persons in (a) Wolverhampton and (b) the West Midlands; how these figures compare with those for April 1979, showing a breakdown between males and females in each of the following age groups (i) under 18 years, (ii) under 25 years, (iii) over 55 years and (iv) over 60 years, respectively; and how many in each of these age groups (a) have never had a job and (b) have been unemployed for over a year.

Mr. Peter Morrison

I shall reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.