§ Sir Thomas ArnoldTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how he currently defines unemployment; how he currently compiles the unemployment figures; and if he will make a statement.
§ Miss WiddecombeThe Employment Department compiles and publishes two alternative and complementary measures of unemployment.
The monthly claimant unemployment count is based on people claiming unemployment related benefits, that is, unemployment benefit, income support or national insurance credits at Employment Service local offices, who on the day of the count were signed on as unemployed, available for and actively seeking work. Students claiming benefit during a vacation and who intend to return to full-time education and temporarily stopped workers are excluded. The claimant count is a by-product of the administrative system for paying unemployment-related benefits. It is compiled from records of unemployment claimants provided by the Employment Service local offices. Almost all the data used to compile the count are derived from the Department of Social Security's national unemployment benefit system computers.
In addition to the "unadjusted" claimant count the Department publishes a consistent seasonally adjusted 535W series. This series which is maintained to be consistent with the current coverage of the count, takes into account all relevant changes which, unless adjusted for, would distort comparisons over time. It thus allows meaningful comparisons with the past. The consistent seasonally adjusted series is available from 1971 onwards nationally, and from 1974 onwards for each standard region. It is this series which is the prime focus of economic analysis.
A measure of unemployment according to the internationally standard International Labour Organisation definition is obtained from the Department's quarterly Labour Force Survey. The ILO measure includes as unemployed those people who at the time of interview were without work—that is, working less than one hour per week—were available to start work within the next two weeks and had either looked for work in the four weeks prior to interview or were waiting to start a job they had already obtained. The figures are consistently extremely close to those provided by the unemployment benefit claimant count.
The Labour Force Survey has been conducted since 1973 and had provided a measure of unemployment consistent with the ILO measure since 1984. Quarterly results have been available from the survey since 1992. About 150,000 people in 60,000 households are interviewed each quarter. The survey covers a wide range of labour market topics on the basis of internationally standard concepts and definitions.
§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest figure for the ratio between the number of unemployed persons and the number of vacant jobs in(a) south-east England, (b) the whole of England, (c) Wales and (d) the United Kingdom.
§ Miss WiddecombeWhen making comparisons between claimant unemployment figures for an area and the corresponding jobcentre vacancy figures it should be borne in mind that, nationally, jobcentre vacancies represent only approximately a third of all vacancies, and this proportion is likely to vary between regions and between different skills and occupations. It is therefore not meaningful to express such figures as ratios. The extent of the available information is given in the table:
Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment and Vacancies January 1994 (£000's) Claimant Unemployment Unfilled Jobcentre vacancies South East Region 884.7 36.6 England 2,320.9 106.2 Wales 127.5 10.4 United Kingdom 2,787.6 141.8