§ Mr. Prescottasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the unemployment rates in percentage and absolute terms in each of the European Economic Community countries.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyFollowing is the information, available in the Library, relating to April 1985, using 171W national unadjusted series compiled by the Statistical Office of the European Communities (SOEC) and also including standardised unemployment rates compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The latter are only available in the form of rates. The national unadjusted figures are not comparable because of differences in definitions and
EC Unemployment SOEC Unadjusted, national definitions OECD Standardised rates Thousands Percentage rate Latest month Percentage rate Belgium 546..2 13.2 March 14.1 Denmark 263.0 9.7 * * France 2,338.3 10.3 March 10.1 Germany 2,304.6 8.6 March 8.8 Greece 79.5 2.1 * * Ireland 228.0 17.6 * * Italy 2,928.1 12.8 October 1984 10.0 Luxembourg 2.7 1.7 * * Netherlands 748.1 13.1 March 13.3 United Kingdom 3,272.6 12.4 March 13.5 * not available