HC Deb 15 December 1987 vol 124 cc470-1W
41. Mr. Devlin

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what regional variations there are in the rate of reduction of long-term unemployment.

Mr. Lee

The table shows the number of unemployed claimants who have been unemployed for over one year at 9 October 1986 and at 8 October 1987, together with the change over the year, expressed numerically and as a percentage.

Claimants unemployed for over one year
Region October 1986 October 1987 Change Percentage Change
South East 283,303 242,732 -40,571 -14.3
East Anglia 28,223 23,584 -4,639 -16.4
South West 68,843 57,563 -11,280 -16.4
West Midlands 161,417 136,272 -25,145 -15.6
East Midlands 80,917 69,755 -11,162 -13.8
Yorkshire & Humberside 130,122 118,711 -11,411 -8.8
North West 199,305 172,359 -26,946 -13-5
Northern 105,188 90,520 -14,668 -13.9
Wales 73,043 59,671 -13,372 -18.3
Scotland 146,394 136,185 -10,209 -7.0
Northern Ireland 64,251 64,884 633 1.0
United Kingdom 1,341,006 1,172,236 -168,770 -12.6

53. Mr. Fallon

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the reduction in the number of long-term unemployed since January 1987.

Mr. Lee

On 8 October 1987 the number of long-term unemployed claimants in the United Kingdom was 1,172,236, a fall of 162,194 since January 1987. The change will be affected by seasonal factors.

Employees in Employment in the Manufacturing industries
(a) Great Britain (b) Scotland
Number of employees Net change in number of employees since June of previous year Number of employees Net change in number of employees since June of previous year
June of each year
1974 7,722 — 683 —
1975 7,351 -371 645 -38
1976 7,118 -233 615 -30
1977 7,172 +54 622 +7
1978 7,138 -34 611 -11
1979 7,107 -31 604 -7
1980 6,801 -306 564 -40
1981 6,099 -702 510 -54
1982 5,751 -348 477 -33
1983 5,418 -333 444 -33
1984 5,302 -116 434 -10
1985 5,258 -44 430 -4
1986 5,137 -121 410 -20
1987 5,071 -66 398 -12

Some of the decrease in the figures will be the result of the reclassification of jobs such as industrial cleaning, catering, computer services, and road haulage, previously done by manufacturers' own employees and now done by subcontractors. This developing feature of our economy has the effect of exaggerating the extent of the move from manufacturing to service sector employment.