The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated April 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people were (a) claiming jobseeker’s allowance and (b) unemployed according to the International Labour Organisation survey in each quarter since 1979. (268743)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles unemployment statistics from the Labour Force Survey (LPS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions.
Table 1 shows the number of people who were unemployed in each quarter since 1979. It also shows the number of persons who were claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance and its predecessors adjusted on a consistent basis.
As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty, shown in a footnote to the table.
Unemployed Thousand (seasonally adjusted) January to March 1979 1,420 April to June 1979 1,405 July to September 1979 1,430 October to December 1979 1,471 January to March 1980 1,558 April to June 1980 1,700 July to September 1980 1,905 October to December 1980 2,169 January to March 1981 2,403 April to June 1981 2,588 July to September 1981 2,684 October to December 1981 2,761 January to March 1982 2,803 April to June 1982 2,841 July to September 1982 2,897 October to December 1982 2,960 January to March 1983 2,998 April to June 1983 3,049 July to September 1983 3,109 October to December 1983 3,167 January to March 1984 3,243 April to June 1984 3,265 July to September 1984 3,238 October to December 1984 3,217 January to March 1985 3,180 April to June 1985 3,152 July to September 1985 3,137 October to December 1985 3,135 January to March 1986 3,150 April to June 1986 3,159 July to September 1986 3,177 October to December 1986 3,156 January to March 1987 3,113 April to June 1987 3,021 July to September 1987 2,885 October to December 1987 2,741 January to March 1988 2,613 April to June 1988 2,490 July to September 1988 2,385 October to December 1988 2,293 January to March 1989 2,179 April to June 1989 2,083 July to September 1989 2,045 October to December 1989 2,021 January to March 1990 2,004 April to June 1990 2,002 July to September 1990 2,049 October to December 1990 2,158 January to March 1991 2,306 April to June 1991 2,492 July to September 1991 2,624 October to December 1991 2,697 January to March 1992 2,762 April to June 1992 2,778 July to September 1992 2,815 October to December 1992 2,929 January to March 1993 3,001 April to June 1993 2,932 July to September 1993 2,890 October to December 1993 2,890 January to March 1994 2,804 April to June 1994 2,736 July to September 1994 2,638 October to December 1994 2,520 January to March 1995 2,496 April to June 1995 2,444 July to September 1995 2,446 October to December 1995 2.353 January to March 1996 2.330 April to June 1996 2,339 July to September 1996 2,284 October to December 1996 2,230 January to March 1997 2,085 April to June 1997 2,050 July to September 1997 1,951 October to December 1997 1,865 January to March 1998 1,813 April to June 1998 1,791 July to September 1998 1,787 October to December 1998 1,765 January to March 1999 1,779 April to June 1999 1,743 July to September 1999 1,704 October to December 1999 1,684 January to March 2000 1,681 April to June 2000 1,600 July to September 2000 1,550 October to December 2000 1,519 January to March 2001 1,480 April to June 2001 1,470 July to September 2001 1,489 October to December 2001 1,519 January to March 2002 1,513 April to June 2002 1,521 July to September 2002 1,566 October to December 2002 1,514 January to March 2003 1,528 April to June 2003 1,468 July to September 2003 1,504 October to December 2003 1,457 January to March 2004 1,431 April to June 2004 1,439 July to September 2004 1,404 October to December 2004 1,423 January to March 2005 1,413 April to June 2005 1,438 July to September 2005 1,442 October to December 2005 1,566 January to March 2006 1,601 April to June 2006 1,687 July to September 2006 1,690 October to December 2006 1,698 January to March 2007 1,704 April to June 2007 1,662 July to September 2007 1,643 October to December 2007 1,602 January to March 2008 1,624 April to June 2008 1,685 July to September 2008 1,825 October to December 20081 *1,971
Thousand (seasonally adjusted) March 1979 1,107 June 1979 1,058 September 1979 1,034 December 1979 1,044 March 1980 1,125 June 1980 1,262 September 1980 1,492 December 1980 1,777 March 1981 1,984 June 1981 2,157 September 1981 2,283 December 1981 2,373 March 1982 2,426 June 1982 2,499 September 1982 2,583 December 1982 2,674 March 1983 2,723 June 1983 2,780 September 1983 2,788 December 1983 2,814 March 1984 2,858 June 1984 2,869 September 1984 2,925 December 1984 2.958 March 1985 2,977 June 1985 2,989 September 1985 3,005 December 1985 3,033 March 1986 3,086 June 1986 3,086 September 1986 3,072 December 1986 3,021 March 1987 2,925 June 1987 2,808 September 1987 2,678 December 1987 2,536 March 1988 2,406 June 1988 2,272 September 1988 2,156 December 1988 2,006 March 1989 1,877 June 1989 1,762 September 1989 1,685 December 1989 1,630 March 1990 1,584 June 1990 1,584 September 1990 1,681 December 1990 1,847 March 1991 2,080 June 1991 2,275 September 1991 2,435 December 1991 2,536 March 1992 2,636 June 1992 2,711 September 1992 2,808 December 1992 2,960 March 1993 2,923 June 1993 2,902 September 1993 2,856 December 1993 2,765 March 1994 2,712 June 1994 2,625 September 1994 2,525 December 1994 2,407 March 1995 2,342 June 1995 2,294 September 1995 2,234 December 1995 2,222 March 1996 2,179 June 1996 2,135 September 1996 2,044 December 1996 1,872 March 1997 1,704 June 1997 1,572 September 1997 1,498 December 1997 1,411 March 1998 1,365 June 1998 1,344 September 1998 1,327 December 1998 1,314 March 1999 1,298 June 1999 1,263 September 1999 1,223 December 1999 1,159 March 2000 1,144 June 2000 1,094 September 2000 1,045 December 2000 1,030 March 2001 991 June 2001 962 September 2001 946 December 2001 967 March 2002 948 June 2002 950 September 2002 944 December 2002 935 March 2003 941 June 2003 947 September 2003 929 December 2003 906 March 2004 881 June 2004 847 September 2004 833 December 2004 826 March 2005 830 June 2005 863 September 2005 876 December 2005 908 March 2006 936 June 2006 957 September 2006 958 December 2006 938 March 2007 905 June 2007 863 September 2007 835 December 2007 808 March 2008 799 June 2008 845 September 2008 944 December 2008 1,159 1 Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates. See Guide to Quality as follows. Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5 per cent. we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220. KEY Coefficient of Variation (CV) (percentage) Statistical Robustness * 0 = CV [le]5 Estimates are considered precise. ** 5 = CV [le] 10 Estimates are considered reasonably precise. *** 10 = CV [le] 20 Estimates are considered acceptable. **** CV = 20 Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes. Source: Labour Force Survey/Jobcentre Plus administrative system