§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many new jobs have been created since 1 May 1997 in(a) Shrewsbury and Atcham and (b) Shropshire; and if he will make a statement. [110130]
§ Ms JowellThe information is shown in the table.
Employment level (Thousand) Employment rate (Percentage) Shropshire March-May 1997 186 74.0 March-May 1999 218 78.4 September-November 1997 200 73.8 September-November 1999 222 78.3 Shrewsbury and Atcham local authority district March-May 1997 48 78.9 March-May 1999 48 77.6 September-November 1997 49 70.8 September-November 1999 52 81.1 As these figures are seasonally unadjusted, it is only appropriate to make comparisons over whole years. In the two years to the latest figures (September-November 1999) the number of people in employment has risen by 22,000 in Shropshire and by 3,000 in Shrewsbury and Atcham. In the two years from March-May 1997, the number in employment rose by 32,000 in Shropshire and was unchanged in Shrewsbury and Atcham.
The Labour Force Survey is a sample survey, and sampling variation is greater the smaller the estimate; all the changes shown here are well within sampling variation.