§ Chris RuaneTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the unemployment rate was in England and Wales on the latest date for which figures are available; what the unemployment rate was in each ward in each principal seaside town of England and Wales on the latest date for which figures are available, listed in descending order, with figures for Welsh seaside town clusters disaggregated; and if he will make a statement. [154962]
§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr Chris Ruane dated 23 February 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question on what the unemployment rate was in England and Wales on the latest date for which figures are available; what the unemployment rate was in each ward in each principal seaside town of England and Wales on the latest date for which figures are available, listed in descending order, with figures for Welsh seaside town clusters disaggregated. (154962)
The unemployment rate in England and Wales for the period October-December 2003, the latest date for which information is available, was 4.8 per cent. This rate is seasonally adjusted and calculated using the standard International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition of unemployment.
The most recent data on unemployment rates by ward are taken from the 2001 Census. They are based on the number of people aged between 16 and 74 who were unemployed and seeking work at April 2001 as a proportion of all economically active people aged 16–74, apart from full-time students, at that date. This 118W measure is not directly comparable with the rate using the ILO definition of unemployment above. The average unemployment rate at April 2001 for England and Wales as a whole was 5.2 per cent. on this basis.
Data on the number of unemployed people who were seeking work in England and Wales was released in Table KS09a of the Census Key Statistics. The table showing information for wards in England and Wales can be viewed from the National Statistics web site at: http//neighbourhoodstatistics.gov.uk/ Downloads.asp?nsid = = false&CE = True&SE = Tme&T: = D&d sid = 2891
I am placing in the House of Commons Library a table, which shows the figures for all wards which are situated on the coast, and ordered by the unemployment rate as measured by the 2001 Census.