The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated December 2008:
As National Statistician. I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what the (a) employment and (b) unemployment rate for (i) women, (ii) men and (ill) men and women aged (A) 16 to 24, (B) 25 to 34. (C) 34 to 49 and (D) 50 to 60 years was in each month of the last 10 years. (241444)
The attached table provides estimated employment and unemployment rates for the categories requested, for each quarter since 1998. Monthly data is not available.
The estimates are derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
The figures have been derived from the LFS microdata which are weighted using the official population estimates published in autumn 2007. Consequently, the figures from quarter 3 2006 are not entirely consistent with the figures published in the monthly Labour Market Statistics First Release which are weighted using more up-to-date population estimates.