HC Deb 18 February 1983 vol 37 cc282-3W
Mr. John Spellar

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the breakdown by standard industrial classification of unemployment for the Birmingham travel-to-work area for May 1979 and to date.

Mr. Alison

The following table gives for May 1979 and May 1982, the last date for which an industrial analysis was made, the numbers of people registered as unemployed—the old basis of the count—in the Birmingham travel-to-work area analysed by orders of the 1968 standard industrial classification. The information relates to the industries in which the unemployed persons last worked.

Standard Industrial Classification, 1968 May 1979 May 1982
Agriculture, forestry, fishing 113 324
Mining and quarrying 89 188
Food, drink and tobacco 964 2,549
Coal and petroleum products 18 44
Chemicals and allied industries 338 1,027
Metal manufacture 1,012 3,264
Mechanical engineering 916 3,360
Instrument engineering 104 223
Electrical engineering 832 3,072
Shipbuilding and marine engineering 26 42
Vehicles 2,521 11,717
Metal goods not elsewhere specified 5,269 14,958
Textiles 196 369
Leather, leather goods and fur 38 71
Clothing and footwear 227 579
Bricks, pottery, glass, cement, etc. 196 604
Timber, furniture, etc. 231 596
Paper, printing and publishing 325 966
Other manufacturing industries 730 2,599
Construction 4,130 11,292
Gas, electricity and water 223 535
Transport and communication 1,161 2,945
Distributive trades 3,456 9,603
Insurance, banking, finance and business services 780 2,154
Professional and scientific services 1,405 3,704
Miscellaneous services 3,319 9,677
Public administration and defence 1,318 3,197
Not classified by industry (including school leavers) 10,900 23,854
Total 40,027 113,513

Mr. John Spellar

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the unemployment figures at the Northfield jobcentre in May 1979 and to date.

Mr. Alison

At May 1979, the number of people registered as unemployed—the old basis of the count—in the Northfield jobcentre area was 2,701. The number of unemployed claimants—the new basis of the count—in the area at January 1983 was 10,079. The figures on both the old and new bases at October 1982 were 10,145 and 9,813, respectively.