HC Deb 11 November 1985 vol 86 cc50-1W
Mr. Foulkes

asked the Paymaster General if he will list for each of the last 10 years the largest sectors of employment in the United Kingdom; and if he will tabulate for each year (a) the numbers employed in each sector and (b) the percentage of the total working population employed in that sector.

Mr. Alan Clark

The information is shown in the following table.

Civilian employed labour force in the United Kingdom: June
Industry division 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985
thousands
Agriculture, forestry and fishing 676 676 671 658 647 635 635 628 623 621
Energy and water supply industries 721 718 717 722 726 710 685 660 631 607
Extraction of minerals and ores other than fuels; manufacture of metals, mineral products and chemicals 1,164 1,183 1,164 1,151 1,082 944 892 827 805 801
Metal goods, engineering and vehicles industries 3,368 3,394 3,417 3,413 3,307 2,965 2,812 2,682 2,644 2,629
Other manufacturing industries 2,892 2,895 2,852 2,836 2,695 2,460 2,343 2,249 2,252 2,241
Construction 1,586 1,513 1,534 1,600 1,626 1,534 1,463 1,428 1,454 1,444
Distribution, hotels and catering; repairs 4,661 4,718 4,761 4,906 5,002 4,883 4,877 4,891 5,136 5,289
Transport and communications 1,534 1,529 1,546 1,563 1,577 1,522 1,466 1,417 1,423 1,411
Banking, finance, insurance, business services and leasing 1,646 1,667 1,718 1,794 1,863 1,927 1,977 2,035 2,106 2,197
Other services 6,242 6,230 6,301 6,419 6,457 6,410 6,419 6,454 6,583 6,680
per cent. of working population
Agriculture, forestry and fishing 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.3
Energy and water supply industries 2.8 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.6 2.5 2.3 2.2
Extraction of minerals and ores other than fuels; manufacture of metals, mineral products and chemicals 4.5 4.5 4.4 4.3 4.0 3.5 3.3 3.1 3.0 2.9
Metal goods, engineering and vehicles industries 12.9 12.9 13.0 12.8 12.3 11.1 10.5 10.1 13.5 9.6
Other manufacturing industries 11.1 11.0 10.8 10.7 10.0 9.2 8.8 8.6 8.3 8.2
Construction 6.1 5.8 5.8 6.0 6.1 5.7 5.5 5.4 5.4 5.3
Distribution, hotels and catering; repairs 17.9 18.0 18.1 18.4 18.7 18.3 18.3 18.4 19.0 19.3
Transport and communications 5.9 5.8 5.9 5.9 5.9 5.7 5.5 5.3 5.3 5.1
Banking, finance, insurance, business services and leasing 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.7 6.9 7.2 7.4 7.7 8.0 8.0
Other services 23.9 23.8 23.9 24.1 24.1 24.0 24.1 24.3 24.4 24.4

Mr. Gordon Brown

asked the Paymaster General what are his most recent estimates of the numbers of jobs created (a) for employees and (b) for the self-employed in both part-time and full-time jobs for each of the regional areas of England, and for Scotland and Wales.

Mr. Alan Clark

Information about job gains and job losses is not available from the Department's statistics, but an indication of the net changes can be seen by comparing levels of employment at different dates.

The following table gives the comparisons between levels of employment at June 1984 and June 1985, the latest date for which figures are available, for the areas specified. Estimates of part-time employees in employment at these dates are available only for females. The estimates of the self-employed do not separately identify those in part-time and full-time employment.

Net changes in levels of employment between June 1984 and June 1985
Employees in Employment Self-Employed
Total Part-time females Total
South East 83,000 58,000 49,000
Greater London (included in South East) 8,000 9,000 *
East Anglia 15,000 8,000 7,000
South West 11,000 18,000 3,000
West Midlands 9,000 11,000 12,000
East Midlands 9,000 5,000 6,000
Yorkshire and Humberside -2,000 12,000 12,000
North West 16,000 29,000 14,000
North -8,000 6,000 2,000
Scotland 6,000 22,000 12,000
Wales -4,000 7,000 9,000
* Not available.