Written question asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Henley (Conservative) on Wednesday, 18 January 2012.

Immigration and Unemployment

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, Examining the Relationship BetweenImmigration and Unemployment using National Insurance Number Registration Data, which found there was no association between higher immigration and joblessness.

Answer: The Government will continue to consider the full range of evidence on the impacts of migration as we develop our policy proposals. The discussion paper by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, Examining the Relationship Between Immigration and Unemployment using National Insurance Number Registration Data, claims to present initial results only. The Government will focus on the wider report commissioned from the Migration Advisory Committee on the impacts of migration, which was published on 10 January.

Secondary information