HC Deb 23 November 1982 vol 32 cc424-6W
17. Mr. Ray Powell

asked the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to the autumn statement 1982, what moderation in further increases in unemployment he anticipates in the next year.

19. Mr. Allan Roberts

asked the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to paragraph 1.02 of the autumn statement 1982, when he expects an upturn in the economy to reduce the levels of unemployment on Merseyside.

Mr. Waddington

I refer the hon. Member to the reply my right hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner) earlier today.

23. Mr. Dormand

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest number and percentage of those who are unemployed.

Mr. Tebbit

At 14 October, the number of unemployed people claiming benefit in the United Kingdom was 3,049,008 and the unemployment rate was 13.1 per cent.

30. Mr. Newens

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are now registered as unemployed.

Mr. Alison

At 14 October, the number of unemployed people claiming benefit in the United Kingdom—from now on the count is based on claimants—was 3,049,008.

32. Mr. Andrew F. Bennett

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement about the new methods of compiling unemployment statistics to be used for November; and how far they differ from the previous methods.

Mr. Waddington

I refer the hon. Member to the statement my right hon. Friend made in this House on 18 November—[Vol. 32, c.426-432]—about the change in the method of compiling the unemployment figures.

39. Mr. loan Evans

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest figures of the number of people who are unemployed in the United Kingdom; and how many of these have been unemployed for more than two years and one year, respectively.

Mr. Alison

At 14 October, the total number of people registered as unemployed in the United Kingdom was 3,295,128. Of these, 476,268 had been unemployed for over 104 weeks and 693,290 had been unemployed for over 52 and up to 104 weeks.

41. Mr. Gwilym Roberts

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the latest figures for the numbers and percentage of potential working population who are unemployed; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Alison

At 14 October the number of unemployed claimants in the United Kingdom was 3,049,008 and the unemployment rate was 13.1 per cent. The rate is based on the estimated number of employees—employed plus the claimant unemployed—which differs from the working population in that it excludes members of Her Majesty's Forces and the self-employed.

46. Mr. Flannery

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what were the numbers of people unemployed in November 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982, respectively.

Mr. Alison

The following table gives the estimated numbers of unemployed claimants—from now on the count is based on claimants—in the United Kingdom.

Number of unemployed claimants
November 1978 1,303,000
November 1979 1,258,700
November 1980 2,016,000
November 1981 2,769,500

Figures for November 1982 will be published on 2 December.

50. Mr. Ron Brown

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many young people under the age of 25 years are unemployed; and what percentage this is of the total.

Mr. Alison

At 14 October, the number of young people under 25 years of age registered as unemployed in the United Kingdom was 1,303,091. This represented 39.5 per cent. of the total registered unemployed.

Mr. Parry

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the latest unemployment figures.

Mr. Alison

I refer the hon. Member to the reply my right hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner) earlier today.

Mr. William Hamilton

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the percentage rate of unemployment, in the latest month for which figures are available, in each of the European Economic Community countries and in Austria, Japan, Canada, the United States of America, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and Spain.

Mr. Alison

The latest available seasonally adjusted standardised unemployment rates estimated by the organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development are as follows:

Unemployment as per cent. of total labour force
per cent.
Belgium 13.2 (October)
France 8.5 (September)
Germany 6.9 (September)
Italy 8.6 (July)
Netherlands 10.7 (September)
United Kingdom 13.4 (October)
Austria 3.0 (June)
Japan 2.5 (September)
Canada 12.1 (September)
United States of America 9.9 (September)
Sweden 3.8 (September)
Norway 2.4 (August)
Spain 15.4 (June)

These unemployment rates have been adjusted by the OECD to conform to definitions recommended by the International Labour Office.

For the other countries requested, the OECD do not estimate standardised rates. Unemployment rates using national definitions, on a seasonally adjusted basis where available, are shown below. These figures are not comparable owing to differences in concepts, coverage and methods of compilation.

Unemployment rate
Luxembourg* [...] 1.3 (September)
Ireland* 13.5 (September)
Denmark† 9.5 (August)
Greece‡ 2.8 (July)
Switzerland* [...] 0.5 (September)

* Numbers registered at employment offices, expressed as a percentage of the civilian labour force.

† Numbers registered at employment offices, expressed as a percentage of the total labour force.

‡Numbers registered at employment offices, expressed as a percentage of total employees.

[...] Not seasonally adjusted.

Estimated.

Source: OECD "Main Economic Indicators" supplemented by labour attaché reports etc.

Mr. Greenway

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are currently in work.

Mr. Alison

The latest estimate of the employed labour force in Great Britain is 22,187,000 in June 1982.