To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what his current estimate is of the percentage of the (a) male and (b) female population of working age currently in employment; and what the percentages are for each employment district and for each county and county borough in Wales; [35628](2) what his current estimate is of the percentage of the population of working age currently in employment; and what that percentage is for each employment service district and for each county or county borough in Wales. [35627]
In Autumn 1997, 68 per cent. of the working age population in Wales were in employment according to the Labour Force Survey. The equivalent figures for males and females were 72 per cent. and 64 per cent.The latest data available for unitary authorities in Wales are for 1996, these are given in the table; data are unavailable for employment service districts.
| Percentage of working age population in employment, 19961 | |||
| Males | Females | All persons | |
| Blaenau Gwent | 68 | 50 | 60 |
| Bridgend | 76 | 71 | 74 |
| Caerphilly | 67 | 56 | 62 |
| Cardiff | 76 | 73 | 74 |
| Carmarthenshire | 72 | 58 | 66 |
| Ceredigion | 78 | 72 | 75 |
| Conwy | 73 | 62 | 67 |
| Denbighshire | 75 | 67 | 71 |
| Flintshire | 81 | 69 | 75 |
| Gwynedd | 73 | 63 | 68 |
| Isle of Anglesey | 70 | 54 | 62 |
| Merthyr Tydfil | 66 | 62 | 64 |
| Monmouthshire | 76 | 65 | 71 |
| Neath Port Talbot | 65 | 57 | 61 |
| Newport | 71 | 63 | 67 |
| Percentage of working age population in employment, 19961 | |||
| Males | Females | All persons | |
| Pembrokeshire | 69 | 59 | 64 |
| Powys | 84 | 72 | 78 |
| Rhondda, Cynon, Taff | 65 | 59 | 62 |
| Swansea | 70 | 64 | 67 |
| The Vale of Glamorgan | 77 | 67 | 72 |
| Torfaen | 78 | 74 | 76 |
| Wrexham | 75 | 59 | 68 |
| Wales | 73 | 64 | 68 |
| 1 Including employees, self-employed, people on government training and employment programmes and unpaid family workers. | |||
Source:
Labour Force Survey annual database