Labour Statistics

asked the Paymaster General if he will publish a table based on the 1984 and 1985 labour force

People without jobs looking for a job in the four week reference period¹ who were available to start work within two weeks Great Britain
Thousands
	Men		Women		Total
	Spring 1984	Spring 1985	Spring 1984	Spring 1985	Spring 1984	Spring 1985
Claiming benefits	1,581	1,604	536	535	2,117	2,140
Not claiming	257	184	720	645	977	828
Total, Great Britain of which:	1,838	1,788	1,256	1,180	3,094	2,968
South East	416	406	343	301	759	707
(including Greater London)	(202)	(189)	(159)	(135)	(361)	(324)
East Anglia	40	45	34	43	74	87
South West	107	94	89	82	196	175
West Midlands	219	222	134	136	352	357
East Midlands	115	116	73	80	187	196
Yorks and Humberside	175	184	114	118	289	303
North West	277	264	169	161	446	424
North	147	143	89	75	236	217
Wales	110	105	73	62	183	168
Scotland	231	210	140	123	370	333
Note: The figures, from the labour force survey, are subject to sampling errors. In some cases figures may appear not to add because of rounding.
¹ Including some waiting to start a new job already obtained, as in the definition of unemployment using broad ILO guidelines.

asked the Paymaster General if he will publish a table, based on the 1985 labour force survey, showing by region including Greater London, and by male and female, the numbers of people who (a) were without jobs and who looked for work in the four weeks before their labour force survey interview and were available to

surveys, for each region in Great Britain and for Greater London, by male/female, and claimant status, the numbers of people who had looked for a job in the four-week reference period, and who were available to start work within two weeks.

The available information by claimant status from the 1984 and 1985 labour force survey is given in the following table. The surveys also showed that 938,000 and 1,080,000 people in 1984 and 1985 respectively were claiming benefits, so counting as unemployed in the monthly count, but either had a job or were not looking for work.It is not possible to provide a reliable analysis of the regional figures by claimant status.start work within two weeks who (i) wanted full-time jobs, (ii) wanted part-time jobs and (iii) who had no preference,

(b) were unemployed according to the standard labour force survey definition who were looking for full-time jobs and the number looking for part-time jobs and the number who had no preference, (c) were in part-time jobs who

were looking for a different job with longer hours or looking for an additional job, (d) were looking for a different job with shorter hours, (e) were claimants not unemployed by the definition using broad International

(a) People without jobs who had looked for work in the previous four weeks³ and were available to start within two weeks.
Great Britain Spring 1985		Thousands
	Men seeking:					Women seeking:					All seeking:
	Full time work	Part time work	No preference	Did not apply¹	Total	Full time work	Part time work	No preference	Did not apply¹	Total	Full time work	Part time work	No preference	Did not apply¹	Total
Great Britain	1,424	84	190	89	1,788	455	495	202	28	1,180	1,880	579	392	118	2,968
of which:
South East	303	31	36	36	406	115	134	40	12	301	417	166	76	48	707
(including Greater London)	135	14	20	19	189	54	56	17	²	135	189	71	38	26	324
East Anglia	34	²	²	²	45	14	21	²	²	43	47	23	13	²	87
South West	65	²	10	10	94	25	42	14	²	82	90	50	24	12	175
West Midlands	183	²	27	²	222	51	53	30	²	136	234	60	57	²	357
East Midlands	92	²	12	²	116	29	38	10	²	80	121	44	22	²	196
Yorkshire and Humberside	149	²	23	²	184	43	53	20	²	118	193	60	43	²	303
North West	214	11	28	11	264	65	60	31	²	161	279	72	59	15	424
North	119	²	14	²	143	29	29	16	²	75	149	32	30	²	217
Wales	91	²	²	²	105	27	22	13	²	62	117	27	19	²	168
Scotland	175	²	27	²	210	57	43	22	²	123	232	45	49	²	333
Note: The figures are subject to sampling errors. In some cases figures may appear not to add because of rounding.
¹ Those seeking work as self-employed were not asked whether they wished to work full or part time.
² Sample size too small to provide a reasonable estimate.
³ Including some waiting to start a new job already obtained, as in the definition of Unemployment using broad ILO guidelines.

(b) People unemployed according to conventional labour force definition
Great Britain Spring 1985		Thousands
	Men seeking:					Women seeking:					All seeking:
	Full time work	Part time work	No preference	Did not apply¹	Total	Full time work	Part time work	No preference	Did not apply¹	Total	Full time work	Part time work	No preference	Did not apply¹	Total
Great Britain	1,381	62	182	90	1,715	456	414	196	33	1,098	1,837	476	378	122	2,814
of which:
South East	299	23	34	36	393	124	121	38	13	295	423	144	72	49	688
(including Greater London)	136	12	19	20	187	62	53	18	²	140	198	65	38	26	327
East Anglia	33	²	²	²	42	14	15	²	²	37	47	16	13	²	79
South West	63	²	10	12	90	25	32	14	²	73	88	38	24	14	163
West Midlands	176	²	25	²	212	49	46	29	²	127	226	51	54	²	339
East Midlands	89	²	12	²	111	28	32	10	²	73	117	36	22	²	183
Yorkshire and Humberside	145	²	21	²	179	43	39	18	²	104	188	46	39	²	282
North West	203	²	27	²	247	62	48	31	²	145	265	55	58	13	392
North	114	²	12	²	134	29	27	16	—	71	143	29	28	²	205
Wales	86	²	²	²	101	25	16	13	²	56	111	20	21	²	157
Scotland	173	²	26	²	207	56	38	20	²	117	229	40	47	²	324
Note: The figures are subject to sampling errors. In some cases figures may appear not to add because of rounding.
¹ Those seeking work as self-employed were not asked whether they wished to work full or part time.
² Sample size too small to provide a reasonable estimate.
³ Including some waiting to start a new job already obtained, as in the definition of Unemployment using broad ILO guidelines.

People in part-time employment Great Britain Spring 1985 (thousands)
(c) Looking for a different job with longer hours or for an additional job
	Men	Women	Total
Great Britain of which	113	243	355
South East	35	80	114
(including Greater London)	13	28	40
East Anglia	¹	13	17
South West	¹	16	24
West Midlands	14	20	34
East Midlands	¹	18	26
Yorks and Humberside	¹	28	37
North West	14	32	46

Organisation guidelines on the grounds that they were employed, and (f) were claimants not unemployed by the conventional labour force survey definition on the grounds that they were employed.

The available information is given in the following tables.

	Men	Women	Total
North	¹	12	19
Wales	¹	¹	13
Scotland	¹	18	26
¹ Sample size too small to provide a reliable analysis of these figures by region.

(d) Looking for a different job with shorter hours
	Men	Women	Total
Great Britain¹	10	17	27
¹ Sample size too small to provide a reliable analysis of these figures by region.

See notes to table

(a).

(e) Employed claimants¹
Spring 1985 (thousands)

Men

Women

Total

Great Britain²

108

90

198

¹ Employed according to both broad ILO guidelines and conventional labour force definition.

² It is not possible to provide a reliable analysis of these figures by region.

Volume 113: debated on Wednesday 1 April 1987