§ Dr. Roger Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Employment, for the latest available year, what is the correlation coefficient between the rate of unemployment and the size of population for the countries of Western Europe.
§ Mr. Peter Morrison[pursuant to his reply, 24 March 1981, c. 223]: The correlation coefficient requested can be calculated validly only for a group of countries for which the unemployment rate is available on a comparable basis, and its value is sensitive to the particular countries which are included in the calculation. In Western Europe, comparable OECD figures are available only for Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The unemployment rates for the latest available year are the average from the fourth quarter 1979 to the third quarter 1980. The correlation coefficient between these rates and the total population of the countries—in 1979—is 0.47. Although this coefficient is positive, it is based on so few countries that it cannot be taken to show a close relationship between the rate of unemployment and the size of population.