§ 16. Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current rate of fall in unemployment in East Anglia: and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LeeIn the standard region of East Anglia, defined as Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, unemployment fell by 19,100, or 34.3 per cent., over the 12 months to March 1989 on the consistent seasonally adjusted basis. It is now at its lowest level for well over eight years; and the unemployment rate at 3.5 per cent. is less than half of what it was three years ago.
§ 19. Mr. Andrew MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the recent rate of fall in unemployment in the east midlands; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LeeIn the 12 months to March 1989 unemployment in the east midlands fell by 35,500 on the consistent seasonally adjusted basis. At 118,200 unemployment in the region is now at its lowest level for eight years.
§ 20. Mr. PawseyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current rate of fall in unemployment in the west midlands; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LeeIn the 12 months to March 1989, unemployment in the west midlands fell by 67,800, or 27.2 per cent., on the consistent seasonally adjusted basis and is now at its lowest level for well over eight years. The unemployment rate in the west midlands is now down to 6.7 per cent. and has been falling faster than in any other region of the country.
§ Mr. Teddy TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current level of employment in the European Economic Community nations and in European Free Trade Association nations; and what were the comparable figures five and 10 years ago.
§ Mr. CopeThe latest published information available for all countries is for 1987. The figures are as follows:
Total civilian employment (Thousands) 1977 1982 1987 EC countries United Kingdom 24,538 23,584 25,060 Belgium 3,665 3,578 3,621 Denmark 2,414 2,476 2,663 Germany 25,014 25,177 25,440 Greece 3,262 3,501 3,597 Spain 12,253 11,043 11,383 162W
Table B. ILO/OECD unemployed by claimant status: Averages for four years: spring 1985 to spring 19881 Thousand ILO/OECD unemployed of which: Claimants Non-claimants Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total South East 380 283 663 296 126 422 83 157 241 (Greater London) 193 123 315 153 57 210 40 66 105 Rest of South East 187 160 347 143 69 212 44 91 135 East Anglia 40 38 78 34 19 52 7 19 26 South West 95 81 176 77 38 115 18 43 61 West Midlands 188 120 309 168 59 227 20 61 81 East Midlands 109 80 188 95 38 132 14 42 56
1977 1982 1987 France 21,188 21,240 20,976 Ireland 1,068 1,131 1,067 Italy 19,791 20,297 20,584 Luxembourg 157 158 169 Netherlands 4,701 5,009 5,251 Portugal 3,784 3,959 4,169 EFTA countries Norway 1,824 1,943 2,090 Sweden 4,099 4,219 4,337 Finland 2,221 2,367 2,414 Iceland 98 112 1117 Austria 3,222 3,229 3,297 Switzerland 3,036 3,190 3,273 1 Figure is for 1986. Sources:
United Kingdom—Department of Employment.
Other EC countries—EC Statistical Office.
EFTA countries—OECD.
§ Ms. ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish a table from the 1988 labour force survey, for each Great Britain region and Greater London, by male-female, and claimant status, showing the numbers of people without work who had looked for a job in the four week reference period, and were available to start work within two weeks.
§ Mr. LeeThe available information for 1988 is given in table A. A reliable analysis of the regional figures by claimant status cannot be provided for individual years, but averages for the four years 1985 to 1988 are given in table B.
163W
Table A People looking for a job in the four week reference period1 who were available to start work within two weeks (ILO/OECD unemployed). Great Britain, Spring 1988 (preliminary results) Thousand Male Female Total South East 293 240 533 Greater London 160 112 272 Rest of South East 133 128 261 East Anglia 28 30 58 South West 74 67 141 West Midlands 133 97 230 East Midlands 89 64 153 Yorkshire and Humberside 160 99 259 North West 222 138 360 North 126 72 198 Wales 91 54 145 Scotland 183 114 297 Great Britain of which: 1,398 976 2,374 claimants 1,160 460 1,620 non-claimants 238 516 754 1 Including some waiting to start a new job already obtained, as in the ILO/OECD measure of unemployment.
ILO/OECD unemployed of which: Claimants Non-claimants Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Yorkshire and Humberside 174 108 282 155 55 210 19 53 71 North West 246 155 401 215 82 297 31 73 105 North 133 73 206 121 39 159 13 34 47 Wales 102 63 165 91 31 122 11 31 42 Scotland 206 124 330 184 67 251 22 57 79 Great Britain 1,672 1,125 2,797 1,436 533 1,989 237 572 809 1 Including preliminary results for 1988. Note:
The figures from the labour force survey are subject to sampling errors. In some cases figures may not appear to add because of rounding.
§ 100. Mr. DuffyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are now employed in service industries in South Yorkshire, expressed as a percentage of the workforce; and what is the comparable figure for the south-east.
§ Mr. LeeThe available information about employment in the county, taken from the census of employment, is for employees in employment and the latest available figures are for September 1984. At that time, 58 per cent. of all employees in employment in South Yorkshire were employed in service industries; the comparable September 1984 figure for the South East region was 73 per cent.
More up-to-date employee estimates for counties, from the September 1987 census of employment, will become available later this year.
§ 90. Mr. DevlinTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a further statement on the level of employment in the northern region.
§ Mr. LeeI refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave on 18 April 1989.Official Report. column 153.
§ 84. Mr. DoverTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a further statement on the level of employment in the north-west.
§ Mr. LeeI refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Wyre (Mr. Mans) on 18 April 1989,Official Report, column 154.
§ 75. Mr. Roger KingTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a further statement on the level of employment in the west midlands.
§ Mr. LeeI refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby and Kenilworth (Mr. Pawsey) on 18 April 1989.Official Report, column 152.
§ 69. Mr. SimsTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the number of people currently in employment.
§ Mr. LeeIn December 1988 the work force in employment in Great Britain stood at 25,961,000, the highest level on record. This represents an increase of 2,964,000 or 13 per cent. since March 1983. 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.
§ 55. Mr. AitkenTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the changes in levels of unemployment on the last 12 months.
164W
§ Mr. LeeIn the 12 months to March 1989 the level of unemployment, seasonally adjusted, in the United Kingdom fell by 535,800, on a consistent basis. Unemployment has now fallen over 32 consecutive months by 1,215,100 since July 1986.
§ 51. Mr. IrvineTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the number of people currently self-employed in East Anglia.
§ Mr. LeeIn December 1988, the latest date for which figures are available, there were an estimated 138,000 self-employed in East Anglia. This represents an increase of 22,000 or 19 per cent. since December 1986.
§ 48. Mrs. GormanTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the recent rate of fall in unemployment in the south-east; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LeeIn the 12 months to March 1989, the level of unemployment, seasonally adjusted, in the south-east fell by 159,500, on a consistent basis. At 387,500, unemployment in the south-east is now at its lowest level for more than eight years.
§ 44. Mr. LordTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a further statement on the level of employment in East Anglia.
§ Mr. LeeI refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave to my hon. Friends the Members for Suffolk, South (Mr. Yeo) and for Norwich, North (Mr. Thompson) on 18 April 1989,Official Report, column 153.
45. Mr. StewartTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a further statement on the level of employment in the east midlands.
§ Mr. LeeI refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Stamford and Spalding (Mr. Davies) on 18 April 1989,Official Report, column 152.
§ 42. Mr. HagueTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a further statement on the level of employment in Yorkshire and Humberside.
§ Mr. LeeI refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave to my right hon. Friend the Member for Selby (Mr. Alison) on 18 April 1989,Official Report, column 151.
§ 36. Mr. MalinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on current levels of unemployment.
§ Mr. LeeIn March 1989 the level of unemployment, seasonally adjusted, in the United Kingdom was 1,918,100, the lowest for more than eight years on a consistent basis.