HC Deb 09 February 1981 vol 998 cc245-6W
Mr. Allen McKay

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list for each of the European Economic Community countries, the United States of America and Japan the annual unemployment rates for each year from 1974.

Mr. Peter Morrison

The available annual unemployment rates on a comparable basis are given below, together with the latest figures for 1980.

Germany France Italy Netherlands Belgium Luxembourg United Kingdom Ireland Demark
1974 2.2 2.3 4.8 2.8 3.2 0.0 2.4 6.0 2.0
1975 4.2 3.9 5.3 4.0 5.3 0.2 3.8 8.5 4.6
1976 4.1 4.3 5.6 4.3 6.8 0.3 5.3 9.5 4.7
1977 4.0 4.8 6.4 4.1 7.8 0.5 5.7 9.4 5.8
1978 3.9 5.2 7.1 4.1 8.4 0.7 5.7 8.7 6.5
1979 3.4 6.0 7.5 4.1 8.7 0.7 5.3 7.9 5.3
1980 3.4 6.5 7.9 4.9 9.4 0.7 6.9 8.9 6.2

Source: Statistical Office of the European Communities.

Registered unemployed as a percentage of civilian working population.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will circulate in the Official Report a table showing the average annual increase in

General Election dates Retail prices index percentage increase at annual rate* Employees in employment— increase at an annual rate—thousand† Unemployment average level— thousand‡
July 1945 to February 1950 2.3 600–700 ||
February 1950 to October 1951 8.2 200 293
October 1951 to May 1955 3.7 200 321
May 1955 to October 1959 3.0 80 349
October 1959 to October 1964 3.0 270 422
October 1964 to March 1966 4.2 230 336
March 1966 to June 1970 4.8 –190 528
June 1970 to February 1974 9.5 70 718
February 1974 to October 1974 17.4 220 598
October 1974 to May 1979 15.1 –10 1,216
* Not seasonally adjusted.
† Employment figures for the whole economy are available quarterly (in March, June, September and December) from 1950 but only annually (at each mid-year) before that. The estimates in this column were obtained by comparing the nearest months for which figures were available on either side of the date of the general election and after making some rough allowances for the effects of seasonal fluctuations.
‡ Unemployed, excluding school leavers and seasonally adjusted.
|| Unemployment figures are not available for the whole of the period July 1945 to February 1950.

Great Britain France Germany Japan United States
1974 2.9 3.0 1.7 1.4 5.6
1975 4.1 4.3 3.6 1.9 8.5
1976 5.5 4.7 3.6 2.0 7.7
1977 6.2 5.0 3.8 2.0 7.0
1978 6.1 5.4 3.7 2.3 6.0
1979 5.8 6.2 3.3 2.1 5.8
1980* 7.3 6.5 3.3 †2.0 7.2
* January-November.
† January-October.

Source: United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Unemployment on United States definitions as a percentage of civilian labour force.

Unemployment rates for member countries (apart from Greece) are published by the European Communities and are given below. They are not directly comparable because of differences in concepts and coverage. The average unemployment rate for Greece in 1980 was 2.4. This rate expresses the number of people registered at employment offices as a percentage of total employees. Rates are not available for earlier years.

retail prices and employment, together with the average level in unemployment between each general election since 1945 using monthly data.

Mr. Peter Morrison

Following is the available information:

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