HC Deb 04 February 1982 vol 17 cc189-93W
Mr. Jim Callaghan

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the present level of overall unemployment and of male unemployment in every employment exchange and travel-to-work area in the Greater Manchester metropolitan area.

Mr. Alison

The following table gives the provisional figures at 14 January.

Number Unemployed
Male Total
Manchester travel-to-work area 68,784 93,155
Altrincham 3,589 4,911
Beswick 2,846 3,692
Didsbury 3,478 4,793
Droylsden 774 1,110
Eccles 2,157 2,918
Irlam 867 1,209
Longsight 3,293 4,361
Number Unemployed
Male Total
Manchester 7,663 10,244
Marple 531 750
Middleton 3,651 4,948
Moss Side 5,066 6,821
Newton Heath 3,826 5,108
Prestwich 2,069 2,924
Salford 5,853 7,625
Stockport 8,067 11,207
Stretford 5,205 7,048
Swinton 1,875 2,699
Wilmslow (Cheshire) 1,060 1,497
Worsley 2,045 2,962
Wythenshawe 4,869 6,328
Ashton-under-Lyne travel-to-work area 9,135 13,482
Ashton-under-Lyne 3,033 4,470
Denton 1,184 1,756
Glossop (Derbyshire) 992 1,508
Hyde 2,496 3,642
Mossley 385 591
Stalybridge 1,045 1,515
Bolton travel-to-work area 12,304 17,691
Bolton 9,009 12,709
Farnworth 2,094 3,063
Horwich 640 950
Westhoughton 561 969
Bury travel-to-work area 5,804 8,407
Bury 3,236 4,722
Heywood 1,550 2,157
Radcliffe 1,018 1,528
Leigh travel-to-work area 4,527 7,001
Atherton 1,447 2,232
Leigh 3,080 4,769
Oldham travel-to-work area 10,202 14,780
Failsworth 1,709 2,403
Oldham and Chadderton 7,654 11,007
Royton 839 1,370
Wigan travel-to-work area 8,907 13,424
Ashton-in-Markerfield (Merseyside) 1,123 1,712
Hindley 1,052 1,545
Wigan 6,732 10,167
Rochdale employment office area 6,270 9,054

Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the most recent unemployment figures for (a) Wolverhampton and (b) the West Midlands, categorised by sex and age and duration of unemployment; and what percentage this represents in each case.

Mr. Alison

At January 1982 there were 24,417 people—17,942 males and 6,475 females—registered as unemployed in the Wolverhampton travel-to-work area and the unemployment rate was 16.7 per cent.—20.0 per cent. males and 11.5 per cent. females. The corresponding figures for the West Midlands region were 353,796–256,005 males and 97,791 females—and 15.3 per cent.—18.4 per cent. males and 10.6 per cent. females. The figures are provisional.

The following table gives for October 1981, the latest date for which information is available, an analysis by sex, age and duration of those unemployed at that date.

Duration in words Males
Wolverhampton travel-to-work area Under 25 25–54 55 and over All
2 or less 236 336 130 702
Over 2 and up to 4 weeks 275 238 68 581
Over 4 and up to 8 weeks 656 462 148 1,266
Over 8 and up to 13 weeks 594 609 190 1,393
Over 13 and up to 26 weeks 1,369 1,320 542 3,231
Over 26 and up to 52 weeks 1,352 2,586 946 4,884
Over 52 and up to 104 weeks 1,184 1,988 748 3,920
Over 104 and up to 156 weeks 205 511 246 962
Over 156 weeks 61 582 267 910
Total 5,932 8,632 3,285 17,849

Duration in weeks Females
Wolverhampton travel-to-work area Under 25 25–54 55 and over All
2 or less 248 102 10 360
Over 2 and up to 4 weeks 205 139 5 349
Over 4 and up to 8 weeks 531 187 18 736
Over 8 and up to 13 weeks 427 179 17 623
Over 13 and up to 26 weeks 1,052 475 68 1,595
Over 26 and up to 52 weeks 759 792 94 1,645
Over 52 and up to 104 weeks 543 516 87 1,146
Over 104 and up to 156 weeks 100 125 16 241
Over 156 weeks 50 155 43 248
Total 3,915 2,670 358 6,943

Duration in weeks Males
West Midlands region Under 25 25–54 55 and Over All
2 or less 3,541 4,929 1,637 10,107
Over 2 and up to 4 weeks 4,066 4,269 1,224 9,559
Over 4 and up to 8 weeks 10,762 8,046 2,433 21,241
Over 8 and up to 13 weeks 8,135 8,671 2,896 19,702
Over 13 and up to 26 weeks 16,475 19,817 7,983 44,275
Over 26 and up to 52 weeks 18,578 34,716 13,607 66,901
Over 52 and up to 104 weeks 15,139 27,163 10,314 52,616
Over 104 and up to 156 weeks 2,137 6,146 2,862 11,145
Over 156 weeks 760 6,621 4,956 12,337
Total 79,593 120,378 47,912 247,883

Duration in weeks Females
West Midlands region Under 25 25–54 55 and over All
2 or less 2,810 1,964 213 4,987
Over 2 and up to 4 weeks 3,304 1,935 179 5,418
Over 4 and up to 8 weeks 9,176 3,382 334 12,892
Over 8 and up to 13 weeks 6,361 3,540 364 10,265
Over 13 and up to 26 weeks 12,033 7,661 846 20,540
Over 26 and up to 52 weeks 10,974 11,867 1,539 24,380
Over 52 and up to 104 weeks 7,653 7,852 1,333 16,838
Over 104 and up to 156 weeks 1,244 1,639 405 3,288
Over 156 weeks 640 1,817 770 3,227
Total 54,195 41,657 5,983 101,835

Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the present number of construction workers unemployed in (a) Wolverhampton and (b) the West Midlands; and what percentage of such workers this represents.

Mr. Alison

At August 1981, the latest date for which information is available, the number of people registered as unemployed in the Wolverhampton travel-to-work area who last worked in the construction industry was 2,120 and the unemployment rate for the industry was 23.1 per cent. The corresponding figures for the West Midlands region were 33,130 and 27.9 per cent.

Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many (a) boys and (b) girls who left school in the summer of 1981 are still without work in (i) Wolverhampton and (ii) the West Midlands; and what percentage of total school leavers this represents in each case.

Mr. Alison

The statistics of unemployed school leavers do not separately distinguish those who left school last summer.