asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish the ratio between the percentage unemployed in each region and the percentage unemployed in the United Kingdom for each quarter in the past five years.
In the following table the rates of unemployment for regions have been expressed as ratios of the rates for the United Kingdom taking the United Kingdom figures as unity. In April 1974 the boundaries of the regions marked with an asterisk were revised, and the figures from June 1974 onwards are therefore not strictly comparable with those for earlier years.
September 1972
| December 1972
| March 1973
| June 1973
| September 1973
| December 1973
| March 1974
| ||||
| South East | … | … | 0·5 | 0·6 | 0·5 | 0·6 | 0·5 | 0·5 | 0·6 | |
| East Anglia | … | … | 0·6 | 0·7 | 0·7 | 0·7 | 0·6 | 0·7 | 0·7 | |
| South West | … | … | 0·8 | 0·9 | 0·9 | 0·8 | 1·8 | 1·0 | 1·0 | |
| West Midlands | … | 0·9 | 0·9 | 0·8 | 0·8 | 0·8 | 1·8 | 1·8 | ||
| East Midlands | … | 0·8 | 0·8 | 0·7 | 0·8 | 0·8 | 0·8 | 0·8 | ||
| Yorkshire and Humberside | 1·l | 1·1 | 1·0 | 1·0 | 1·1 | 1·0 | 1·0 | |||
| North West | … | … | 1·3 | 1·3 | 1·3 | 1·3 | 1·3 | 1·3 | 1·3 | |
| North | … | … | … | 1·7 | 1·7 | 1·6 | 1·7 | 1·8 | 1·8 | 1·7 |
| Wales | … | … | … | 1·3 | 1·3 | 1·3 | 1·2 | 1·3 | 1·4 | 1·4 |
| Scotland | … | … | 1·7 | 1·7 | 1·7 | 1·7 | 1·6 | 1·7 | 1·6 | |
| Northern Ireland | … | 2·2 | 2·1 | 2·2 | 2·4 | 2·6 | 2·5 | 2·1 | ||
June 1974
| September 1974
| December 1974*
| March 1975
| June 1975
| September 1975
| December 1975
| ||||
| South East* | … | … | 0·6 | 0·6 | — | 0·6 | 0·6 | 0·7 | 0·7 | |
| East Anglia | … | … | 0·7 | 0·7 | — | 0·9 | 0·9 | 0·8 | 0·9 | |
| South West* | … | … | 1·0 | 1·0 | — | 1·2 | 1·1 | 1·1 | 1·2 | |
| West Midlands | … | 0·8 | 0·9 | — | 0·9 | 1·0 | 1·1 | 1·0 | ||
| East Midlands* | … | 0·9 | 0·8 | — | 0·9 | 0·9 | 0·9 | 0·8 | ||
| Yorkshire and Humberside* | 1·0 | 1·0 | — | 1·0 | 1·9 | 1·0 | 1·0 | |||
| North West* | … | … | 1·3 | 1·3 | — | 1·3 | 1·3 | 1·3 | 1·2 | |
| North* | … | … | … | 1·8 | 1·8 | — | 1·5 | 1·5 | 1·4 | 1·3 |
| Wales | … | … | … | 1·4 | 1·5 | — | 1·4 | 1·4 | 1·4 | 1·4 |
| Scotland | … | … | 1·6 | 1·4 | — | 1·4 | 1·3 | 1·1 | 1·2 | |
| Northern Ireland | … | 2·3 | 2·3 | — | 1·9 | 2·0 | 2·0 | 1·8 | ||
*Owing to industrial action at local offices of the Employment Service Agency information is not available for December 1974. | ||||||||||
asked the Secretary of State for Employment what percentage increase in unemployment has occurred in the Greater London area over the last 12 months compared with Scotland and the United Kingdom.
Following is the information available:
| Percentage increase in the numbers unemployed between February 1975 and January 1976* | |
| Greater London | 102·2 per cent. |
| Scotland | 60·0 per cent. |
| United Kingdom | 80·6 per cent. |
| *Provisional. | |