§ Mr. EvansTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of(a) new jobs created and (b) jobs lost in Lancashire during the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [76356]
§ Ms HewittThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Nigel Evans, dated 17 March 1999:
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on jobs in Lancashire.The type of statistics you request are derived from the ONS Annual Employment Survey (AES). The latest results are for September 1997, which can be compared with those at September 1996.The number of Employee Jobs in Lancashire at September 1997 was 521,500, a net fall of 3,100 since September 1996. It is not possible to differentiate between the number of jobs created and lost over this time.