§ 13. Mr. HaywardTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment by how much the total number of jobs in the United Kingdom has increased since 1979.
§ Mr. HowardThe number of jobs in the United Kingdom increased by 1.8 million between June 1979 and March 1990, the latest date for which information is available. It now stands at 27,198,000—the highest level ever.
§ 17. Mr. FrenchTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total number of unemployed people in the Gloucester constituency for the last month for which figures are available; and what percentage of that figure are long-term unemployed.
Mr. JacksonThere were 2,149 unemployed claimants in the parliamentary constituency of Gloucester in June
Unemployed claimants by age in the United Kingdom Thousands April 18–24 year olds 25–49 year olds 50 and over Male Per cent.1 Female Per cent.1 Male Per cent.1 Female Per cent.1 Male Per cent.1 Female Per cent.1 1986 624 (27.3) 373 (36.1) 1,087 (47.5) 443 (42.8) 471 (20.6) 139 (13.5) 1987 567 (26.3) 331 (34.9) 1,053 (48.8) 422 (44.5) 466 (21.6) 140 (14.8) 1988 444 (25.1) 253 (32.9) 872 (49.4) 346 (45.0) 390 (22.1) 124 (16.1) 1989 352 (26.0) 179 (33.5) 691 (51.1) 256 (48.0) 307 (22.7) 98 (18.4) 1990 318 (26.6) 147 (34.3) 641 (53.5) 203 (47.5) 238 (19.9) 77 (18.0) 1 Figures shown in brackets give the proportion of total unemployment in the given age group. Note: The percentages do not add to 100 due to the exclusion from the table of those claimants aged under 18.
§ 47. Mr. DuffyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide the latest unemployment figures for Sheffield expressed as a percentage; and what is the national average.
§ Mr. ForthIn June 1990, the unemployment rate for the Sheffield travel-to-work area was 7.9 per cent. The comparable figure for the United Kingdom was 5.5 per cent. These figures are on the unadjusted basis.
§ 48. Mr. AmessTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest figure for unfilled vacancies in the Basildon constituency.
§ Mr. ForthVacancy data for parliamentary constituencies are not available. However, the number of vacancies in the Basildon jobcentre area in June was 326.
194W1990. For April 1990, the latest available date, about 27 per cent. of all claimants had been unemployed for more than a year.
§ 20. Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current level of unemployment in London.
§ Mr. ForthIn June 1990 unemployment in the London travel-to-work area was 186,168, 4.7 per cent. of the work force.
§ 23. Mr. SkinnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest unemployment figures; and what were the most nearly comparable figures for June 1979.
§ Mr. ForthIn June 1990 the level of unemployment, seasonally adjusted, in the United Kingdom, was 1,617,100 compared with 1,069,000 in June 1979 on the consistent basis.
§ 39. Mr. FlanneryTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the current unemployment figures; and what was the most nearly comparable figure in June 1989.
§ Mr. ForthIn June 1990 seasonally adjusted unemployment in the United Kingdom was 1,617,100, compared with 1,811,300 in June 1989.
§ 44. Mr. ViggersTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on changes in the age profile of unemployed men and women in recent years.
§ Mr. ForthAs shown by the table, all age groups have seen sharp falls in the numbers unemployed over the past four years.
§ 57. Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his latest estimate of the total number of employees who are counted twice in the employment totals.
§ Mr. ForthThe exact number of employees with two or more jobs included in the published employees in employment estimates is not known, since the estimates are based on figures collected from employers, who will not generally know if an employee is filling the post as an additional job.
However, evidence on the number of people with two jobs can be derived from the labour force survey (LFS). It is estimated from the preliminary results of the 1989 LFS that 623,000 employees (2.8 per cent. of the total) in Great Britain had a second job as an employee in spring 1989.
195W
§ 58. Mr. GrocottTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the level of unemployment in the west midlands(a) in 1979 and (b) in the latest year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. ForthIn June 1990 seasonally adjusted unemployment in the west midlands was 149,200, compared with 99,400 in June 1979.
§ 68. Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of unemployed claimants in(a) Birkenhead and (b) the urban programme area, on 1 June 1983 and 1 January 1990; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ForthThe table shows the number of unemployed claimants, in(a) Birkenhead parliamentary constituency and (b) Wirral local authority area, in which the Government target inner-city programme aid, for June 1983 and January 1990.
Total unemployed claimants June 1983 January 1990 Birkenhead 8,726 6,479 Wirral 23,554 16,025 Direct comparisons over the time are affected by various changes to the count and by seasonal influences.
§ 69. Mr. Bill WalkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of people in work in Scotland in 1979; and what is the number today.
§ Mr. ForthIn June 1979, the civilian work force in employment for Scotland was 2,262,000. In March 1990, the latest date for which information is available, it stood at 2,281,000, an increase of 19,000.
§ 71. Mr. AshtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest figure for people in full-time employment; and what was the comparable figure in 1979.
§ Mr. ForthThere were 20,232,000 people in full-time employment in Great Britain in March 1990, the latest date for which information is available. The earliest comparable information available is for March 1983 when there were 18,154,000 people in full-time employment. This represents an increase of 2,077,000 or 11 per cent.