§ Mr. Rentonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the figures were for the annual rate of inflation, unemployment and the public sector borrowing requirement at the end of 1950, 1955, 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975 and 1980, estimated.
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§ Mr. BrittanThe available information is given in the following table. Provisional estimates of the GDP deflator in the fourth quarter of 1980 will be published by press
1950 1955 I960 1965 1970 1975 1980 Rate of inflation (percentage change on corresponding period of previous year) General index of retail prices: December to December +2.9 +3.5 +1.0 +4.6 +7.8 +24.9 +15.1 GDP deflator*: 4th quarter to 4th quarter na na +1.7 +3.9 +9.8 +23.0 na Unemployment Percentage of total employees† (December) 1.5 1.1 1.6 1.5 2.7 5.1 †9.3 Public sector borrowing requirement Value in year (£million) na ‡470 ‡710 1,208 —4 10,480 na As percentage of GDP at market prices na 2.4 2.8 3.4 — 10.0 na Notes: na=not available
*Implied index of total home costs, derived from the current and constant price estimates of gross domestic product—expenditure-based—at factor cost.
† Total unemployment in the United Kingdom—not seasonally adjusted—in December as a percentage of the corresponding mid-year estimate of total employees—employee and unemployed; the latest mid-year estimate available relates to 1979.
‡ These estimates are less accurate than those for later years because fewer figures were available for local authorities and public corporations.