§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many jobs have been created in Merseyside in the last five years. [124203]
§ John HealeyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply
Letter from Len Cook to Mrs. Claire Curtis-Thomas, dated 15 July 2003:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question about the number of jobs that have been created in the last five years in Merseyside. (124203)There are no figures for jobs created but an indication can be obtained by comparing the annual surveys of employee jobs. The Annual Business Inquiry (ABI) gives an estimate of the number of employee jobs in December of each year; the latest year for which figures are available is 2001.The ABI was preceded, prior to 1998, by the Annual Employment Survey. This inquiry had a different structure to the ABI and so direct comparisons cannot be made between the AES and ABI at a regional level.Between 1998 and 2001 the AB 1 data shows a net increase in the number of employee jobs in Merseyside of 21,000.