The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 25 October 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about employment and unemployment. I am replying in her absence. (160041)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles employment statistics for local areas from the annual local area Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. The latest available data from the APS refer to April 2006 to March 2007.
For unitary and local authorities, the ONS produces estimates of total unemployment, following ILO definitions, from a statistical model. Annual estimates for other areas are compiled from the annual local area LFS and the APS following ILO definitions.
Table 1 attached, shows the number of people, aged 16 and over, resident in Sandwell and in Warley parliamentary constituency, who were in full-time and part-time employment for the 12 months ending in February from 1998 to 2004 from the local area LFS, and for the 12 months ending in March from 2005 to 2007 from the APS. The table also shows the numbers unemployed and the unemployment rates for the two areas for the same periods.
As these estimates are for a subset of the population in small geographical areas, they are based on small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty. In this case the sample sizes are not sufficient to give an accurate estimate of even the direction of the change over the period.
ONS also compiles statistics for local areas of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (ISA). Table 2, attached, shows the annual average numbers of people resident in Sandwell and in Warley parliamentary constituency for the same periods as the unemployment estimates provided from the annual LFS and APS.
The JSA claimant counts for Sandwell and Warley are also provided for September 2007 (the latest available data). The numbers of claimants are also shown as percentages of the resident working age populations of the areas.
Sandwell Warley parliamentary constituency In employment (1000s) Unemployment In employment (1000s) Unemployment 12 months ending Full-time Part-time Level (1000s) Rate (%) Full-time Part-time Level (1000s) Rate (%) February 1998 86 24 11 9 25 9 3 9 1999 86 28 12 9 26 11 3 6 2000 91 25 13 10 25 6 3 9 2001 89 24 11 9 27 4 3 10 2002 91 26 10 8 25 6 3 10 2003 85 28 10 8 23 7 3 9 2004 85 30 11 8 22 8 4 11 March 2005 84 30 10 8 23 7 4 11 2006 87 28 9 7 27 4 3 8 2007 90 24 9 7 27 5 2 7 Note: Data subject to sampling variability. Changes in the estimates over time should be treated with particular caution. Source: Annual local area Labour Force Survey; Annual Population Survey.; Model-based unemployment estimates
Sandwell Warley parliamentary constituency Period Number of claimants Proportion1 (%) Number of claimants Proportion1 (%) Average count for: March 1997 to February 1998 10,505 6.2 3,095 6.7 March 1998 to February 1999 9,489 5.6 2,733 5.9 March 1999 to February 2000 9,576 5.7 2,741 6.0 March 2000 to February 2001 8,843 5.2 2,598 5.7 March 2001 to February 2002 8,052 4.7 2,260 4.9 March 2002 to February 2003 7,773 4.6 2,197 4.8 March 2003 to February 2004 7,768 4.5 2,281 5.0 April 2004 to March 2005 7,011 4.1 2,040 4.4 April 2005 to March 2006 8,078 4.7 2,230 4.9 April 2006 to March 2007 8,820 5.1 2,456 5.3 Count for: September 2007 7,740 4.4 2,210 4.8 1 Number of claimants expressed as a percentage of the resident working-age population. Source: Jobcentre Plus administrative data