Labour Market Status

Lord Blease

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish statistics for the 12 labour market regions of the United Kingdom for the periods March to May 1996 and March to May 1999 concerning the total number of people:

(a) economically active (employed and unemployed);

(b) defined as "economically inactive"; and

(c) included in group (b), who do not satisfy the full International Labour Organisation job search criteria. [HL3775]

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics who has been asked to reply.

Letter from the Director of the Office for National Statistics, Dr. Tint Holt, dated 26 July 1999.

As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on the economic status of people by region for spring 1996 and spring 1999.

The information requested is shown in the attached table.

Labour market status for people of working age¹, by Government Office Region, spring 1996 and spring 1999, not seasonally adjusted
Thousands
	Economically active					Economically inactive
							Wants a job
								Wants a job and seeking but not available to start²	Wants job but not seeking in last 4 weeks
	Total	Total	In employment	ILO unemployed	Total	Does not want a job	Total	Wants a job and seeking but not available to start²	Total	Available to start	Not available to start²
Yorkshire & Humberside	3,048	2,368	2,174	194	681	482	199	22	176	74	102
East Midlands	2,522	2,026	1,873	154	496	345	150	14	136	59	78
West Midlands	3,212	2,518	2,280	238	694	479	215	22	193	78	115
Eastern	3,215	2,606	2,443	162	609	433	176	17	160	57	102
London	4,420	3,406	3,014	391	1,014	637	377	30	347	156	191
South East	4,705	3,875	3,636	240	830	588	241	29	212	95	117
South West	2,845	2,278	2,129	149	567	398	168	19	150	66	83
Wales	1,722	1,271	1,163	108	452	306	144	11	133	49	83
Scotland	3,149	2,412	2,198	214	737	498	239	23	217	85	132
Northern Ireland	969	690	621	68	279	223	56	³—	53	19	34
Spring 1999
United Kingdom	35,932	28,159	26,437	1,722	7,773	5,428	2,345	252	2,093	659	1,434
Great Britain	34,935	27,446	25,776	1,669	7,490	5,208	2,281	242	2,039	649	1,390
England	30,057	23,761	22,365	1,395	6,297	4,385	1,911	214	1,698	534	1,164
North East	1,570	1,133	1,017	116	437	298	140	15	125	45	80
North West	4,187	3,163	2,963	200	1,024	727	297	29	268	78	190
Yorkshire & Humberside	3,073	2,383	2,225	158	689	466	223	23	200	56	143
East Midlands	2.568	2,059	1,951	108	510	364	146	16	129	40	90
West Midlands	3,231	2,555	2,378	176	678	482	194	27	167	58	110
Eastern	3,259	2,654	2,541	112	605	442	163	16	147	43	103
London	4,476	3,467	3,204	263	1,009	662	347	37	311	102	209
South East	4,787	3,961	3,816	145	826	589	237	30	207	66	141
South West	2,905	2,386	2,270	116	519	355	164	21	143	47	96
Wales	1,739	1,279	1,186	92	461	321	140	10	130	44	86
Scotland	3,139	2,406	2,225	182	732	502	230	19	211	70	141
Northern Ireland	997	714	661	53	283	220	64	³—	54	10	44
¹ Men aged 16–64 and women aged 16–59.
² Not available to start work in next two weeks including a few people who did not state whether or not they were available.
³ Sample size too small for a reliable estimate

Source:

ONS, Labour Force Survey.

Volume 604: debated on Monday 26 July 1999