§ Lord Bleaseasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will publish statistics for the 12 labour market regions of the United Kingdom for the periods March to May 1996 and March to May 1999 concerning the total number of people:
- (a) economically active (employed and unemployed);
- (b) defined as "economically inactive"; and
- (c) included in group (b), who do not satisfy the full International Labour Organisation job search criteria. [HL3775]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics who has been asked to reply.
Letter from the Director of the Office for National Statistics, Dr. Tint Holt, dated 26 July 1999.
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on the economic status of people by region for spring 1996 and spring 1999.
The information requested is shown in the attached table.
143WA
Labour market status for people of working age1, by Government Office Region, spring 1996 and spring 1999, not seasonally adjusted Thousands Economically active Economically inactive Wants a job Wants a job and seeking but not available to start2 Wants job but not seeking in last 4 weeks Total Total In employment ILO unemployed Total Does not want a job Total Total Available to start Not available to start2 Yorkshire & Humberside 3,048 2,368 2,174 194 681 482 199 22 176 74 102 East Midlands 2,522 2,026 1,873 154 496 345 150 14 136 59 78 West Midlands 3,212 2,518 2,280 238 694 479 215 22 193 78 115 Eastern 3,215 2,606 2,443 162 609 433 176 17 160 57 102 London 4,420 3,406 3,014 391 1,014 637 377 30 347 156 191 South East 4,705 3,875 3,636 240 830 588 241 29 212 95 117 South West 2,845 2,278 2,129 149 567 398 168 19 150 66 83 Wales 1,722 1,271 1,163 108 452 306 144 11 133 49 83 Scotland 3,149 2,412 2,198 214 737 498 239 23 217 85 132 Northern Ireland 969 690 621 68 279 223 56 3— 53 19 34 Spring 1999 United Kingdom 35,932 28,159 26,437 1,722 7,773 5,428 2,345 252 2,093 659 1,434 Great Britain 34,935 27,446 25,776 1,669 7,490 5,208 2,281 242 2,039 649 1,390 England 30,057 23,761 22,365 1,395 6,297 4,385 1,911 214 1,698 534 1,164 North East 1,570 1,133 1,017 116 437 298 140 15 125 45 80 North West 4,187 3,163 2,963 200 1,024 727 297 29 268 78 190 Yorkshire & Humberside 3,073 2,383 2,225 158 689 466 223 23 200 56 143 East Midlands 2.568 2,059 1,951 108 510 364 146 16 129 40 90 West Midlands 3,231 2,555 2,378 176 678 482 194 27 167 58 110 Eastern 3,259 2,654 2,541 112 605 442 163 16 147 43 103 London 4,476 3,467 3,204 263 1,009 662 347 37 311 102 209 South East 4,787 3,961 3,816 145 826 589 237 30 207 66 141 South West 2,905 2,386 2,270 116 519 355 164 21 143 47 96 Wales 1,739 1,279 1,186 92 461 321 140 10 130 44 86 Scotland 3,139 2,406 2,225 182 732 502 230 19 211 70 141 Northern Ireland 997 714 661 53 283 220 64 3— 54 10 44 1 Men aged 16–64 and women aged 16–59. 2 Not available to start work in next two weeks including a few people who did not state whether or not they were available. 3 Sample size too small for a reliable estimate Source:
ONS, Labour Force Survey.