HC Deb 25 March 1982 vol 20 c404W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the total number of jobs lost since May 1979 for each of the principal sections of manufacturing industry and the number of these which are known to have been due to total or partial closures.

Mr. Alison

Precise information about job gains and job losses is not available, but an indication of the net effect can be seen by comparing levels of employees in employment at different dates.

The following table gives, for Great Britain, the decrease in the number of employees in employment in each manufacturing order of the Standard Industrial Classification between May 1979 and December 1981. The figures on which the decreases are based are provisional and are not seasonally adjusted.

National figures concerning plant closures are not available.

Decrease (000s)
Food, drink and tobacco 63.9
Coal and petroleum products 3.7
Chemicals and allied industries 53.8
Metal manufacture 135.3
Mechanical engineering 190.6
Instrument engineering 27.8
Electrical engineering 115.4
Shipbuilding and marine engineering 26.9
Vehicles 142.8
Metal goods not elsewhere specified 108.6
Textiles 110.1
Leather, leather goods and fur 6.5
Clothing and footwear 67.5
Bricks, pottery, glass, cement, etc. 54.2
Timber, furniture, etc. 36.0
Paper, printing and publishing 52.4
Other manufacturing industries 63.8

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