The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 13 March 2007:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the unemployment rates for (a) white, (b) mixed Indian, (c) Pakistani, (d) Bangladeshi (e) other Asian, (f) Black Caribbean, (g) Black African and (h) other ethnic groups for which figures are available. (126133)
The table overleaf gives the unemployment rates by ethnicity. These rates are not seasonally adjusted. They are published each quarter in Table 10 of the Labour Market Statistics Historical Quarterly Supplement available on the ONS website:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_labour/LFSHQS/Tablel0.xls
Comparable estimates are not available for 1998 and 2000, and Q1 (January-March) and Q3 (July-September) for the years 1997-2004.
Estimates are taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. This is particularly true for the unemployment rates of some ethnic groups.
Percentage All origins White Indian4 Pakistani Bangladeshi Other Asian 1997 Q1 7 — — — — — Q2 7 7 8 23 19 5— Q3 7 — — — — — Q4 6 6 9 17 24 14 1999 Q1 6 — — — — — Q2 6 6 9 15 21 13 Q3 6 — — — — — Q4 6 5 7 15 22 12 2001 Q1 5 — — — — — Q2 5 4 8 18 20 11 Q3 5 — — — — — Q4 5 5 8 14 26 8 2002 Q1 5 — — — — — Q2 5 5 6 11 21 9 Q3 6 — — — — — Q4 5 5 7 15 5— 11 2003 Q1 5 — — — — — Q2 5 4 7 14 23 10 Q3 5 — — — — — Q4 5 4 8 13 18 11 2004 Q1 5 — — — — — Q2 5 4 6 14 15 10 Q3 5 — — — — — Q4 5 4 6 12 17 8 2005 Q1 5 4 5 13 17 7 Q2 5 4 6 12 17 7 Q3 5 4 9 14 16 9 Q4 5 5 6 14 19 10 2006 Q1 5 5 7 14 18 12 Q2 5 5 7 14 20 10 Q3 6 5 9 15 14 7 Q4 5 5 7 15 16 9
Black Caribbean Black African Other Black Chinese Mixed Other 1997 Q1 — — — — — — Q2 16 23 5— 5— 12 5— Q3 — — — — — — Q4 15 24 5— 5— 14 5— 1999 Q1 — — — — — — Q2 13 16 5— 5— 13 13 Q3 — — — — — — Q4 14 17 5— 5— 12 12 2001 Q1 — — — — — — Q2 13 14 5— 5— 9 10 Q3 — — — — — — Q4 12 14 5— 5— 15 10 2002 Q1 — — — — — — Q2 11 15 5— 5— 14 11 Q3 — — — — — — Q4 14 13 5— 5— 19 12 2003 Q1 — — — — — — Q2 13 14 5— 5— 11 14 Q3 — — — — — — Q4 12 12 5— 5— 13 13 2004 Q1 — — — — — — Q2 11 13 5— 5— 13 10 Q3 — — — — — — Q4 10 13 5— 9 11 11 2005 Q1 12 13 5— 9 10 10 Q2 11 14 5— 8 12 9 Q3 12 13 5— 5— 12 10 Q4 12 13 5— 9 13 11 2006 Q1 12 12 5— 5— 14 14 Q2 12 13 5— 5— 12 13 Q3 15 15 5— 5— 13 12 Q4 14 14 5— 11 14 11 1 Total unemployed as a percentage of all economically active persons. 2 This table uses the National Statistics standard classification of ethnic groups. 3 This table does not include people who did not state their ethnic group. 4 Includes mixed Indian. 5 Samples sizes are too small to provide reliable estimates. Note: Comparable estimates are not currently available for 1998 and 2000 and for quarters one and quarter three until 2005. Source: ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS).