§ 16. Mr. YeoTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the increase in the numbers of those employed in service industries in the last five years.
§ Mr. LeeBetween June 1983 and June 1988, there was a net increase of 2,205,000 in employment in the service industries in Great Britain.
§ 17. Mr. HaywardTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current level of unemployment in the south-west of England.
§ Mr. NichollsIn October 1988 seasonally adjusted unemployment in the south-west region was 123,100, a fall of 36,600 over the last 12 months.
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§ 19. Mrs. RoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current unemployment levels in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. FowlerIn October 1988 the level of seasonally adjusted unemployment in the United Kingdom was 2,160,200, the lowest for more than seven years. Unemployment has now fallen by 973,000 since July 1986, the longest and largest sustained fall on record.
§ 20. Dr. TwinnTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current level of employment.
§ Mr. FowlerBetween March 1983 and June 1988 the work force in employment in Great Britain increased by 2,177,000 to 25,174,000, the highest level on record. Employment has now been on a rising trend for more than five years.
§ 21. Mr. BatisteTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current trend of unemployment in Yorkshire and Humberside.
§ Mr. LeeIn October 1988, seasonally adjusted unemployment in the Yorkshire and Humberside region was 214,800, a fall of 41,400 over the last 12 months.
§ 22. Mr. BowisTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the level of unemployment in the London region.
§ Mr. LeeIn October 1988, the level of seasonally adjusted unemployment in the London region was 267,100, a fall of 66,700 over the last 12 months. We know from the surveys carried out during the summer that there are also around 150,000 vacancies in London.
§ 24. Miss LestorTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people under the age of 21 years are currently unemployed in Eccles.
§ Mr. LeeUnemployment figures are not available for the requested age group. However, in October 1988 the number of unemployed claimants aged under 20 in the Eccles parliamentary constituency was 335.
§ 41. Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many local employment offices have unemployment under 4 per cent.; and in which standard planning regions these offices are located.
§ Mr. LeeThe information is not available in the form requested. The smallest area for which unemployment rates are calculated are travel-to-work areas. In October 1988, 27 of these had rates of unemployment of less than 4 per cent., expressed as a percentage of employees in employment plus the unemployed (south-east 19 travel-to-work areas, East Anglia, four, north two, south-west one and east midlands one).
§ 43. Mr. David NicholsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current levels of employment in the United Kingdom and other European Economic Community countries.
§ Mr. LeeIncreases in the level of employment in the United Kingdom compare most favourably with those in the European Community. Since 1983 our level of civilian employment has grown by well over 2 million. Between 135W 1983 and 1987 the increase in employment in the United Kingdom was greater than that for any other European Community member and was in fact approximately equal to that in the rest of the Community combined. Comparisons of the percentage of working age population in employment show that the United Kingdom is well ahead of our major European partners and second only to Denmark in the whole Community.
§ 55. Mr. AshbyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current level of unemployment in the east midlands.
§ Mr. LeeIn October 1988 seasonally adjusted unemployment in the east midlands region was 134,800, a fall of 30,900 over the last 12 months.
§ 54. Mr. Andrew MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the number of long-term unemployed in June 1983 and September 1988.
§ Mr. LeeUnemployment figures are analysed by duration quarterly. In October 1988 the number of unemployed claimants who had been unemployed for one year or more in the United Kingdom was 885,504, compared with 1,050,487 in July 1983, a fall of 64,983 over the period. This comparison is slightly affected by changes in the coverage of the count as well as seasonal influences.
§ 55. Mr. Harry BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to revise the basis for collecting unemployment statistics.
§ 61. Mr. Kenneth HargreavesTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current levels of unemployment in Lancashire.
§ Mr. LeeIn October 1988 the number of unemployed claimants in the county of Lancashire was 48,347, or 9 per cent. of employees in employment plus the unemployed.
§ 73. Mr. HoltTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current levels of unemployment in the north of England.
§ Mr. LeeIn October 1988 seasonally adjusted unemployment in the northern region was 165,700, a fall of 25,000 over the last 12 months.
§ 77. Mr. DunnTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the number of people currently in employment in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. LeeBetween March 1983 and June 1988 the work force in employment in the United Kingdom increased by 2,178,000 to 25,739,000, the highest level on record. This rising trend has now continued for more than five years. The figures have been adjusted for the effects of seasonal variations. The work force in employment is the sum of employees in employment, the self-employed, Her Majesty's forces, and participants in work-related Government training programmes.
§ 93. Mr. LeighTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment by how many, and as a percentage of those registered as unemployed, the unemployment figures have fallen for Lincolnshire over the past three years.
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§ Mr. LeeIn October 1988, the number of unemployed claimants in the county of Lincolnshire was 17,775 compared with 26,964 in October 1985, a fall of 9,189 or 34 per cent. over the three-year period. The figures are affected by the change in the compilation of the count in March 1986 to reduce over-recording and by the change in the coverage from September 1988 due to new benefit regulations for young people aged under 18.
§ 95. Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the number of(a) men and (b) women, over the age of 50 years who are at present unemployed in the Greater London area.
§ Mr. LeeOn 13 October 1988, there were 39,695 male and 14,178 female unemployed claimants, aged 50 or over, in Greater London.