Employment

Mr. MacShane
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the workforce is in permanent employment.

Angela Eagle
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 19 February 2008:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about the percentage of the workforce in permanent employment. (186773)

In July-September 2007, which is the latest period available, 94 per cent of all employees aged 16 and over had a permanent main job.

This estimate is taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). This figure covers employees only since the LFS does not ask self employed people, unpaid family workers or those on government supported training and employment programmes whether their job is permanent or temporary.

Permanency relates to the job itself rather than to the individual who does the job.

As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.