§ 15. Mr. Hardyasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make it his practice to collect and make available unemployment statistics for individual employment areas within travel-to-work areas.
§ Mr. WaddingtonExcept for unemployment rates, which my Department calculates only for whole travel-to-work areas, a full range of unemployment statistics is available on request for every employment office area.
§ 18. Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the level of unemployment in the Workington travel-to-work area for the month of December.
§ Mr. WaddingtonAt 10 December 1981, the number of people registered as unemployed in the Workington travel-to-work area was 5,827.
§ 20. Mr. Strawasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest number of persons in the United Kingdom registered as unemployed; and what has been the increase since May 1979.
§ Mr. TebbitAt 14 January the provisional total number of people registered as unemployed in the United98W Kingdom was 3,071,000. The seasonally adjusted figure excluding school leavers was 2,828,900 and the corresponding figure for May 1979 was 1,312,000. The increase between the two dates was 1,516,900, or 115.6 per cent.
§ 21. Mr. Fosterasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the number of long term unemployed in the Northern region.
§ Mr. AlisonAt October 1981, the latest date for which figures are available, 66,588 unemployed people in the Northern region had been on the register for over 52 weeks.
§ 24. Mr. Thomas Coxasked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of people unemployed in the Greater London Council area on 1 February.
§ Mr. AlisonThe latest figures are for 14 January when the provisional number of people registered as unemployed in Greater London was 336,920.
§ 26. Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the latest youth unemployment figures for Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire; and if he will also express these in percentage form.
§ Mr. AlisonThe following table gives for 8 October 1981, the latest date for which the information is available, the numbers of young people under 18 years of age registered as unemployed in the areas specified and expresses these as percentages of the total numbers unemployed.
Unemployed aged under 18 years As a percentage of total number unemployed Suffolk 2,477 11.8 Norfolk 3,040 10.4 Cambridgeshire 2,127 10.7
§ 27. Mr. Gwilym Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest figures available for the number and percentage of the potential working population which is unemployed; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. AlisonAt 14 January, United Kingdom unemployment was 3,070,621, and the unemployment rate was 12.7 per cent. This is calculated by expressing the unemployed as a percentage of all employees, both in employment and unemployed; this differs from the working population which, in addition to employees, includes the self-employed and members of Her Majesty's Forces.
There was a full debate in the House last week after the latest unemployment figures were published.
§ 29. Mr. John Grantasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will state the latest figure for unemployment.
§ 30. Mr. Newensasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the latest figure for the total number of registered unemployed persons.
§ 32. Mr. Edwin Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons were registered as unemployed at the latest available date.
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§ Mr. AlisonAt 14 January, the provisional number of people registered as unemployed in the United Kingdom was 3,070,621.
§ 44. Mr. Skinnerasked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest figures for unemployment, both nationally and regionally; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Michael AlisonThe figures were published in the unemployment press notice for January issued by my Department on 26 January; a copy is in the House of Commons Library.
There was a full debate on employment in the House last week, after the latest unemployment figures were made available.
§ 45. Mrs Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest unemployment rate amongst (a) adults and (b) young people in (i) Wolverhampton and (ii) the West Midlands.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonPercentage rates of unemployment by age groups are not available below national level.
§ 48. Mr. Arthur Davidsonasked the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the percentage increase in unemployment in north-east Lancashire since 1979; and how many of those unemployed have been so for more than six months.
§ Mr. AlisonBetween January 1979 and January 1982, the numbers registered as unemployed in north-east Lancashire increased by 156 per cent.
At October 1981, when 28,045 people were registered as unemployed, 12,600 had been on the register for over 26 weeks.
§ 49. Mr. John Fraserasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are currently registered as unemployed in Lambeth at employment and careers offices.
§ Mr. AlisonAt 14 January, the provisional number of people registered as unemployed at employment offices and careers offices in Lambeth was 18,639. Lambeth has been taken as the area covered by the Brixton, Stockwell, Streatham and West Norwood employment offices.
§ 35. Mr. Joseph Deanasked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest unemployment figures for the Leeds travel-to-work area.
§ Mr. AlisonAt 14 January, the provisional number of people registered as unemployed in the Leeds travel-to-work area was 39,807.
§ Miss Joan Lestorasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will set out any proposed changes to the present method of compiling the unemployment figures; and whether any groups of women at presemt included will no longer be included in the figures.
§ Mr. AlisonDetails of the proposed changes to the present method of compiling the unemployment figures, following the Government's acceptance of recommendations in the report on the "Payments of Benefits to Unemployed People" that registration for employment should be voluntary, were published in the May 1981 issue of theEmployment Gazette, a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library.
Those registered as unemployed but not entitled to claim unemployment benefit—about three out of five of 100W whom are women—will be excluded from the unemployment count; they represent less than 5 per cent. of the current count—excluding school leavers—on average through the year. However, there will be other factors partially offsetting this reduction, and estimates for the excluded group will be made and published from time to time.