HC Deb 15 April 1991 vol 189 cc66-7W
Mr. Ralph Howell

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will state the total number of persons engaged in(a) agriculture, (b) steel industry, (c) coal mining, (d) the car industry, (e) the electrical goods industry, (f) local government and (g) the national health service in 1979, 1989 and 1990, showing the percentage increase or decrease in each case.

Mr. Jackson

The Department's estimates of employment are categorised according to the 1980 standard

Employees in Employment—Great Britain
Thousands (Unadjusted for seasonal variation) Percentage change
Industries (SIC 80) June 1979 June 1989 June 1990 1979–89 1979–90 1989–90
Agriculture and horticulture (Class 01) 339 263 260 -23 -23 -1
Iron and steel industry (Group 221)1 191 45 53 -76 -72 16
Coal extraction and manufacture of solid fuels (Group 111) 299 103 91 -66 -70 -12
Manufacture of motor vehicles and parts (Class 35) 464 262 245 -44 -47 -6
Electrical and electronic engineering (Class 34) 752 553 556 -26 -26 1
Local government service not elsewhere specified (Activity 9112) 662 539 557 -18 -16 3
Medical and other health services (Group 951, 952, 953 and 954) 1,170 1,377 1,380 18 18 0
'These estimates are based on small samples and are unreliable.

Mr. Worthington

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the unemployment rate in each European Community country.

Mr. Jackson

Following is a table which gives the latest available internationally comparable unemployment rates for the 12 member states of the European Community.

Comparisons of Unemployment between EC countries
Standardised unemployment rates1 seasonally adjusted
Per cent rate Latest month
Spain 15.8 November
Ireland 14.7 February
Italy 9.8 October
France 9.1 January
Belgium 8.4 February
United Kingdom 8.1 February
Denmark 1(7.9) February
Greece 2(7.4) April 1987
Netherlands 7.3 December
Portugal 4.5 November
Luxembourg 3(1.6) February
1 Note for those EC countries for which no OECD standardised rates are available, similar harmonised rates compiled by the Statistical Office of European Communities (EUROSTAT) are shown in brackets.
2 Recent comparable figures are currently not available for Greece the latest relating to April 1987.
3 There are no reliable figures available as yet for a unified Germany, the rate for the former West Germany is 4.5 per cent, for January.

Source: OECD "Main Economic Indicators", Labour Attache reports and Eurostat "Unemployment" Bulletins.