§ 13. Mr. CummingsTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the anticipated trends in the numbers of 16 to 19-year-olds entering the employment market in the northern region of England over the next five years.
§ Mr. LeeThe population of 16 to 19-year-olds in the northern region of England is projected to fall by 41,000 or 22 per cent., between mid-1988 and mid-1993. My Department does not make projections of the numbers in this age group who will enter the employment market in the northern region, but it is clear that these numbers too must be expected to fall substantially as they will do in Great Britain as a whole.
§ 23. Mr. DuffyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on levels of employment in South Yorkshire.
§ Mr. LeeThe latest available employment estimates for the county are from the September 1984 census of employment. There were then 462,700 employees in employment in South Yorkshire.
§ 27. Mr. JackTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the changes in the numbers of people unemployed since June 1987.
§ Mr. LeeIn the 11 months between June 1987 and May 1988 seasonally adjusted unemployment excluding school leavers in the United Kingdom fell by 506,700 to 2,415,500, the lowest figure on a consistent basis since September 1981.
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§ 39. Mr. BurtTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will made a statement on the current levels of unemployment in the north-west of England.
§ Mr. LeeIn May 1988. Seasonally adjusted unemployment, excluding school leavers, in the north-west region was 336,100, compared with 401,000 in May 1987, a fall of 63,900 over the last 12 Months and the lowest since July 1981.
§ 41. Mr. FrenchTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement regarding the trend in unemployment in Gloucester over the past year.
Mr. Lee In May1988 the number of unemployed claimants in the Gloucester travel-to-work-area was 4,276 or 6.2 per cent., of all employees in employment plus the unemployed compared with 5,638 or 8.2 per cent. in May 1987, a fall of 1,362 over the last 12 months.
§ 53. Mr. Nicholas BennettTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the reduction in unemployment levels in the United Kingdom since May 1985; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LeeIn the three years between May 1985 and May 1988 seasonally adjusted unemployment, excluding school leavers, in the United Kingdom fell by 702,600. Within this period the total has fallen by 794,800 over the 22 months since July 1986, the longest and largest sustained fall since the war.
§ 85. Mr. Tim SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the percentage rate of unemployment in the United Kingdom; and what information he has about the corresponding figures for France, Italy and West Germany.
Region Number May 1988 Percentage rates May 1988 Change since May 1987 South East 528,500 5.7 -1.8 Greater London 300,900 7.0 -1.6 East Anglia 54,400 5.4 -1.9 South West 142,700 6.9 -1.8 West Midlands 243,200 9.4 -2.4 East Midlands 151,800 7.9 -1.7 Yorkshire and Humberside 237,900 10.1 -1.9 North West 336,100 11.3 -2.2 North 180,400 12.7 -2.2 Wales 132,200 11.2 -2.0 Scotland 291,300 11.9 -1.9 Northern Ireland 116,700 17.1 -1.4
§ 118. Mr. Simon CoombsTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current levels of unemployment.
§ Mr. LeeIn May 1988 the level of seasonally adjusted adult unemployment in the United Kingdom was 2,415,500, the lowest level on a consistent basis since September 1981. The figure has now fallen for 22 consecutive months, by 794,800 in total since July 1986, the longest and largest sustained fall on record since the war.
§ 137. Mr. YeoTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the level of unemployment in Suffolk at the latest estimated date.
§ Mr. LeeIn May 1988 the number of unemployed claimants in the county of Suffolk was 15,010, a fall of 5,867 over the last 12 months.
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§ Mr. LeeThe information is as follows:
Standardised unemployment rates1 April 1988, seasonally adjusted Per cent. United Kingdom 8.8 France 10.3 Italy 11.7 West Germany 26.5 1OECD standardised rates except Italy for which the latest harmonised rate published by the Statistical Office of the European Community has been given. 2 March, 1988 figure.
§ 107. Mr. HaywardTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the numbers of people employed in the south-west of England.
§ Mr. LeeThe civilian employed labour force in the south-west region has increased in each of the last five years. In 1987 there was a net increase of 32,000 to 1,868,000. The civilian employed labour force is the sum of employees in employment and the self-employed.
§ 114. Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the levels of unemployment in each of the United Kingdom regions.
§ Mr. LeeThe table shows for each of the standard regions in the United Kingdom, the seasonally adjusted level of unemployment excluding school leavers in May 1988 together with the percentage unemployment rates and the change over the last 12 months. The largest falls in the unemployment rates have been in the west midlands, north-west, north and Wales.
§ 138. Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what percentage of young people left school and went directly into work at 16 years without training in 1987.
§ Mr. CopeWe do not have any direct information on this point. However, a postal survey of young people aged 16 and 17 was conducted in spring 1987 as part of the youth cohort study. Twenty-three per cent. of those who replied said they were in full-time employment, and of those 25 per cent. said they neither received on-the-job training, nor attended courses at college.
§ 141. Mr. Andrew MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the level of unemployment in the east midlands.
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§ Mr. LeeIn May 1988, seasonally adjusted unemployment excluding school leavers in the east midlands region was 151,800, compared with 184,600 in May 1987, a fall of 32,800 over the last 12 months.
§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will detail the annual average for each year since 1979 of(a) the number of unemployed and (b)the number and percentage of this total who have been out of work for more than 12 months.
§ Mr. LeeDirect comparisons of unemployment by duration since 1979 are not possible because of changes in the coverage of the count. The following is the available information which is also in the Library. Table(a) shows the average number of unemployed registrants in the United Kingdom and the average number and percentage of these who had been unemployed for 12 months or more for each year from 1979 to 1982. Table (b) shows corresponding figures according to the average number of claimants, from 1983 to 1987.
Table A Average number of unemployed registrants in the United Kingdom Unemployed over 12 months Total unemployed Total Percentage of unemployed 1979 1,406,873 359,651 25.6 1980 1,738,250 368,651 21.2 1981 2,696,348 595,708 22.1 1982 3,167,161 1,059,665 33.5
Table B Average number of unemployed claimants in the United Kingdom Unemployed over 12 months Total unemployed Total Percentage of unemployed 1983 3,135,777 1,123,936 35.8 1984 3,158,256 1,229,378 38.9 1985 3,281,355 1,332,260 40.6 1986 3,312,383 1,354,252 40.9 1987 3,015,550 1,260,030 41.8 NoteFigures based on the average for January, April, July and October each year.