HC Deb 26 June 1990 vol 175 cc184-6W
19. Mrs. Margaret Ewing

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the total unemployment figures and the rate of unemployment in May 1990, and May 1980.

Mr. Howard

In May 1990, the seasonally adjusted level of unemployment in the United Kingdom was 1,611,000 or 5.7 per cent. of the work force, compared with a level of 1,224,400 in May 1980 or 4.6 per cent. of the work force.

68. Mr. Flannery

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of unemployed in 1979; and what it is now.

Mr. Nicholls

In May 1990 the level of unemployed, seasonally adjusted, in the United Kingdom, was 1,611,000 or 5.7 per cent. compared with 1,088,500 or 4.1 per cent., in May 1979 on the consistent basis.

64. Mr. Devlin

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the unemployment rate in the northern region in each of the last three years.

Mr. Nicholls

In May 1990, the rate of unemployment, seasonally adjusted, in the north region was 8.5 per cent., compared with 10.4 per cent. in May 1989 and 12.4 per cent. in May 1988.

65. Mr. Fraser

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people in Lambeth below the age of 18 years are unemployed and not in training or in full-time education.

Mr. Nicholls

In May 1990 the number of unemployed claimants aged under 18 in the Lambeth local authority district was three.

1990. Mr. Beaumont-Dark

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the figure for unemployment in the west midlands in(a) 1980 and (b)

Mr. Nicholls

In May 1990 the level of unemployment, seasonally adjusted, in the west midlands, was 149,300 or 5.8 per cent., compared with 119,000 or 4.7 per cent. in May 1980 on the consistent basis.

50. Mr. Pawsey

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are employed in the Rugby-Daventry travel-to-work area; and what was the figure three years ago.

Mr. Nicholls

The latest available employment estimates for travel-to-work areas are from the September 1987 census of employment. There were then 46,200 employees in employment in the Rugby and Daventry travel-to-work area. This compares with a figure of 46,100 in September 1984 when the previous census of employment was taken. The figures exclude the self-employed and members of Her Majesty's forces.

51. Mr. Franks

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment by how much unemployment has fallen in Cumbria since June 1987.

Civilian work force in employment in each standard region of the United Kingdom
Thousands1
June 1979 December 19892
Males3 total Females total Full-time Part-time Males3 total Females total Full-time Part-time
South East 4,839 3,285 2,006 1,279 5,019 4,152 2,659 1,492
East Anglia 481 300 178 122 537 405 243 162
South West 1,032 712 417 295 1,151 926 538 388
West Midlands 1,452 920 550 370 1,357 1,055 616 439
East Midlands 1,013 658 393 265 1,024 826 474 352
Yorkshire and Humberside 1,302 842 480 362 1,189 966 530 436
North West 1,700 1,190 719 471 1,571 1,295 754 541
North 802 522 314 208 714 573 313 260
Wales 716 441 276 165 686 528 311 217
Scotland 1,333 929 597 332 1,254 1,027 618 410
Great Britain 14,677 9,803 5,789 4,015 14,504 11,752 6,705 5,047
Northern Ireland4 359 239 n/a n/a 329 262 n/a n/a
United Kingdom 15,036 10,042 n/a n/a 14,833 12,014 n/a n/a
1 Unadjusted for seasonal variation.
2 Latest available.
3 Regional full-time and part-time breakdown for males is not available.
4 Figures for full and part-time employment are not available for Northern Ireland.

47. Mr. Roy Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what recent initiatives he has implemented to reduce unemployment.

Mr. Tim Eggar

My Department's aim is to support economic growth through promoting a competitive, efficient and flexible labour market. As a result many of the initiatives that we implement will help to reduce unemployment either directly—through giving more effective help to unemployed people to help them find work, or improve their chances of doing so—or indirectly, by improving the working of the labour market in other ways and removing barriers to employment.

45. Mr. Hardy

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of the proportion of new jobs created during the last five years which are of part-time and low-paid character.

Mr. Nicholls

Between December 1984 and December 1989, part-time employment in Great Britain rose by 965,000. This represented 37 per cent. of the increase in the work force in employment.

There is no official definition of low pay.

32. Mr. Duffy

To 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. Nicholls

In May 1990, the unemployment rate for the Sheffield travel-to-work area was 8.1 per cent. on the unadjusted basis. The comparable figure for the United Kingdom was 5.5 per cent.

Mr. Nicholls

Since June 1987, the number of unemployed claimants in the county of Cumbria has fallen by 9,292 or 48 per cent. on the unadjusted basis. Direct comparisons are slightly affected by the change in benefit regulations for under 18-year-olds in September 1988.

52. Mr. Win Griffiths

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many men and how many women(a) full and (b) part-time there were in employment in each standard planning region in the United Kingdom in June 1979 and the latest date for which figures are available.

Mr. Nicholls

The information requested is as follows:

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