To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the total unemployment figures and the rate of unemployment in May 1990, and May 1980.

In May 1990, the seasonally adjusted level of unemployment in the United Kingdom was 1,611,000 or 5.7 per cent. of the work force, compared with a level of 1,224,400 in May 1980 or 4.6 per cent. of the work force.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of unemployed in 1979; and what it is now.

In May 1990 the level of unemployed, seasonally adjusted, in the United Kingdom, was 1,611,000 or 5.7 per cent. compared with 1,088,500 or 4.1 per cent., in May 1979 on the consistent basis.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the unemployment rate in the northern region in each of the last three years.

In May 1990, the rate of unemployment, seasonally adjusted, in the north region was 8.5 per cent., compared with 10.4 per cent. in May 1989 and 12.4 per cent. in May 1988.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people in Lambeth below the age of 18 years are unemployed and not in training or in full-time education.

In May 1990 the number of unemployed claimants aged under 18 in the Lambeth local authority district was three.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the figure for unemployment in the west midlands in (a) 1980 and (b) 1990.

In May 1990 the level of unemployment, seasonally adjusted, in the west midlands, was 149,300 or 5.8 per cent., compared with 119,000 or 4.7 per cent. in May 1980 on the consistent basis.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are employed in the Rugby-Daventry travel-to-work area; and what was the figure three years ago.

The latest available employment estimates for travel-to-work areas are from the September 1987 census of employment. There were then 46,200 employees in employment in the Rugby and Daventry travel-to-work area. This compares with a figure of 46,100 in September 1984 when the previous census of employment was taken. The figures exclude the self-employed and members of Her Majesty's forces.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment by how much unemployment has fallen in Cumbria since June 1987.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what recent initiatives he has implemented to reduce unemployment.

My Department's aim is to support economic growth through promoting a competitive, efficient and flexible labour market. As a result many of the initiatives that we implement will help to reduce unemployment either directly—through giving more effective help to unemployed people to help them find work, or improve their chances of doing so—or indirectly, by improving the working of the labour market in other ways and removing barriers to employment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of the proportion of new jobs created during the last five years which are of part-time and low-paid character.

Between December 1984 and December 1989, part-time employment in Great Britain rose by 965,000. This represented 37 per cent. of the increase in the work force in employment.There is no official definition of low pay.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide the latest unemployment figures for Sheffield expressed as a percentage; and what is the national average.

In May 1990, the unemployment rate for the Sheffield travel-to-work area was 8.1 per cent. on the unadjusted basis. The comparable figure for the United Kingdom was 5.5 per cent.

Since June 1987, the number of unemployed claimants in the county of Cumbria has fallen by 9,292 or 48 per cent. on the unadjusted basis. Direct comparisons are slightly affected by the change in benefit regulations for under 18-year-olds in September 1988.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many men and how many women (a) full and (b) part-time there were in employment in each standard planning region in the United Kingdom in June 1979 and the latest date for which figures are available.

The information requested is as follows: