HC Deb 02 May 1986 vol 96 cc529-31W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

asked the Paymaster General whether he will publish in the Official Report, a table showing such information as is available to him for the Group of Five countries relating to the latest figure for employment in the production industries compared with 1973 and 1979.

Mr. Lang

The available information is given in the following table:

Total employment in production and construction industries
Thousand
1973 1979 1985 Q4*
United Kingdom 10,493 9,722 7,776
France 8,238 7,717 †6,779
Germany 12,554 11,313 ‡10,262
United States of America 28,225 30,918 29,948
Japan 19,570 19,140 20,365

Source: OECD "Labour Force Statistics 1963–1983" and "Quarterly Labour Force Statistics", supplemented for United Kingdom by national sources.

* Seasonally adjusted.

† Figure relates to 1984 Q4.

‡ Figure relates to 1985 Q3.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

asked the Paymaster General whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the numbers employed in 1970, May 1979 and at the latest available date in man-made fibres, cotton, wool, hosiery, carpets, finishing trades, clothing, footwear, motor cars, heavy commercial vehicles, shipbuilding, coal, iron and steel, chemicals than other pharmaceuticals, aircraft and mechanical engineering; and if he will give such figures as are available for Germany and Japan.

Mr. Lang

Estimates of employees in employment by industry are not available on a comparable basis for dates prior to June 1971. Reliable estimates for each subdivision of industry are not available on a comparatable basis for dates prior to September 1981. The available information for the industries specified is given in the following table.

Some information for Germany and Japan, though at a more aggregated level, is published in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's "Labour Force Statistics 1963–1983," a copy of which is available in the Library, on pages 236 to 243 and 108 to 115, respectively.

Class or Group of the 1980 SIC June 1971 June 1979* December 1985
Aerospace equipment manufacturing and repairing 364 .. .. 155,400
Mechanical engineering 32 1,125,200 1,025,200 788,900
* Estimates are not available for May.
† The Department's employment statistics are analysed according to the 1980 standard industrial classification, which does not separately identify the manufacture of motor cars and heavy commercial vehicles.