§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest unemployment figures in the Wolverhampton travel-to-work area; how long is the average period of unemployment; and what is the age breakdown of the unemployment register.
§ Mr. Peter Morrison[pursuant to his reply, 28 July 1981]: At 9 July, the provisional number of people registered as unemployed in the Wolverhampton travel-to-work area was 23,477.
The latest date for which figures are available for the duration of unemployment and the age of those registered as unemployed is 9 April. At that date, the median length of time for which those in the Wolverhampton travel-to-work area had been unemployed is estimated at 25 weeks. The following table gives an age breakdown of the total unemployed in the area at 9 April.
Age Number registered as unemployed Under 18 years 1,164 18 years 958 19 years 1,029 20 to 24 years 3,904 25 to 29 years 2,513 30 to 34 years 1,927 35 to 44 years 2,816 45 to 49 years 1,394 50 to 54 years 1,509 55 to 59 years 1,496 60 years and over 1,364 Total, all ages 20,074