§ Mr. EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many jobs in(a) engineering and (b) manufacturing have been lost in (i) the North West and (ii) Lancashire since 1997. [156983]
§ Mr. SutcliffeAlthough official statistics do not provide estimates of the number of jobs lost, the ONS Annual Business Inquiry does show the changes in the total number of employee jobs by region.
In the North West, there were 83,000 (or 16 per cent.) fewer employee jobs in manufacturing and 31,000 (or 15 per cent.) fewer employee jobs in engineering in 2002 compared to 1997.
985WIn Lancashire, there were 12,000 (or 11 per cent.) fewer employee jobs in manufacturing and 1,000 (or 2 per cent.) fewer employee jobs in engineering in 2002 compared to 1997.
This information is given in the following table.
Employee jobs in engineering and manufacturing for the North West and Lancashire 1997 2002 Net change Manufacturing North West 532,000 449,000 -83,000 Lancashire 106,000 94,000 -12,000 Engineering North West 197,000 167,000 -31,000 Lancashire 44,000 43,000 -1,000 Note: Engineering defined as SICs 27 to 35 Source: 1997 Resealed Annual Employment Survey, Office for National Statistics 2002 Annual Business Inquiry, Office for National Statistics