§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a breakdown for the average annual numbers of those unemployed in Scotland in each year since 1972 for (a) males, (b) females and (c) both sexes for the following age groups: 25 to 34 years, 35 to 44 years, 45 to 54 years, 55 to 59 years and over 60 years, respectively.
§ Mr. Alexander FletcherThe information is set out in the following tables. Since 1979 the analysis of the unemployment register by age has been carried out quarterly; before that date the register was only analysed 105W by age twice yearly—January and July. The annual averages below, except where noted, are accordingly calculated from four and two figures respectively.
Table 1 Annual average unemployment in Scotland—1972 to 1982 Males Age Breakdown Year 25–34 years 35–44 years 45–54 years 55–59 years Over 60 years 1972* 23,506 19,617 15,958 7,559 12,246 1973 17,254 15,031 13,461 6,524 12,021 1974† 13,726 11,454 10,624 4,788 10,108 1975‡ 18,193 13,887 12,220 5,181 10,564 1976** 23,929 17,509 14,821 6,153 11,902 1977 27,884 19,578 16,246 7,118 11,909 1978†† 27,017 19,094 16,345 7,594 11,789 1979 25,519 17,801 15,744 7,866 11,070 1980 31,162 20,999 18,533 9,297 12,377 1981 46,545 30,314 26,355 13,421 16,220 1982 52,850 34,628 30,154 15,951 17,027
Table 2 Annual average unemployed in Scotland—1972 to 1982 Females Age Breakdown Year 25–34 years 35–44 years 45–54 years 55–59 years Over 60 years 1972* 4,607 2,792 3,778 2,085 104 1973 4,200 2,245 3,341 1,930 173 1974‡ 2,908 1,459 2,308 1,331 66 1975‡ 4,975 2,656 3,298 1,743 84 1976** 7,382 3,603 4,090 2,018 128 1977 10,585 5,027 5,195 2,326 204 1978†† 12,916 5,710 5,842 2,737 171 1979 14,481 5,804 5,871 2,989 162 1980 18,017 7,457 7,126 3,455 178 1981 23,140 10,158 9,615 4,539 189 1982 25,266 11,707 11,180 5,211 228
Table 3 Annual average unemployed in Scotland—1972 to 1982 Male and Female Total Age Breakdown Year 25–34 years 35–44 years 45–54 years 55–59 years Over 60 years 1972* 28,113 22,409 19,736 9,644 12,350 1973 21,454 17,276 16,802 8,454 12,108 1974‡ 16,634 12,913 12,932 6,119 10,174 1975‡ 23,168 16,543 15,518 6,924 10,648 1976** 31,311 21,112 18,911 8,171 12,030 1977 38,469 24,605 21,441 9,444 12,113 1978‡‡ 39,933 24,804 22,187 10,331 11,960 1979 40,000 23,605 21,615 10,855 11,232 1980 49,180 28,456 25,659 12,752 12,555 1981 69,685 40,472 35,970 17,960 16,409 1982 78,116 46,335 41,334 21,162 17,255 * Short-time workers registered as unemployed were included in the figures for 1972. ‡ No January figure, due to power strike. ‡ No January figure, due to industrial action. ** From April 1976 adult students were excluded from count. †† In 1978 because of the changeover in the frequency of the analysis three were completed in January, July and October.