§ Mr. Georgeasked the Paymaster General if he will estimate the number of jobs lost in the Darlaston area of Walsall since 1979; what is his estimate of the current level of unemployment there; and how this figure compares with 1979.
§ Mr. LeeInformation about job losses is not available. My Department's small area statistics monitor only net changes in employment between census of employment dates, and the most recent figures are for September 1981. No census was taken in 1979 and the September 1984 census estimates for local areas are not yet available.
Following is the available information about unemployment which is also in the Library. On 12 February 1987, the number of unemployed claimants in the electoral wards of Bentley and Darlaston North and Darlaston South was 2,569. Statistics of unemployment for electoral wards are derived from the ward based system and are available only from June 1983.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Paymaster General what information he has as to the total level of unemployment in the European Economic Community at the most recent date for which figures are available, and as to the comparable figures 10 years previously.
§ Mr. LeeIn January 1987, there were 17.052 million people registered as unemployed in the European Community. This compares with an estimate of 6.642 million for the same countries in January 1977.