§ Mr. Parryasked the Paymaster General if he will make a statement on the latest unemployment figures.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkThe following information is in the Library. On 10 October 1985 the number of unemployed claimants in the United Kingdom was 3,276,861.
§ Mr. Crowtherasked the Paymaster General how many people are (a) employed and (b) unemployed in the Rotherham and Mexborough travel-to-work area; and what were the corresponding figures one year ago.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkComprehensive employment statistics for travel-to-work areas are not available except for dates when censuses of employment are taken. Censuses have been taken triennially since 1978 and the latest results are for September 1981. At that time, there were 90,400 employees in employment in the Rotherham and Mexborough travel-to-work area. More up to date employment figures for travel-to-work areas will become available following the publication of the 1984 census of employment in the spring of 1986.
On 10 October 1985 the number of unemployed claimants in the Rotherham and Mexborough travel-to-work area was 22,700. The corresponding figure for October 1984 was 21,503.