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Treasury;Office for National Statistics

Answer

Caroline Flint: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he has taken to ensure that the unemployment statistics represent the numbers available for and seeking work. [59313] Ms Hewitt: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply. Letter from Tim Holt to Caroline Flint, dated 16 November 1998: As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on unemployment statistics. The ONS measure of unemployment, derived from the Labour Force Survey, is defined on a consistent and internationally recognised basis set out by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and counts as unemployed people who are: out of work, want a job, have actively sought work in the previous 4 weeks and are available to start work within the next fortnight or; out of work and have accepted a job which they are waiting to start in the next fortnight. The ILO methodology has been in use since 1984, and since April 1998 ILO unemployment estimates have been published every month. ILO unemployment, as measured by the LFS, has high sampling variability for areas below regional level and quarterly unemployment data is only published for larger local authorities. There is an annual Local Area Database (LAD) which, by combining four quarter's samples, provides more robust estimates down to Local Authority/Unitary Authority level. However, the estimates of ILO unemployment for many LAs/UAs are still below the ONS publication threshold of 6,000 for annual averages. ONS also publishes the monthly claimant count. The claimant count records the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits. These are currently the Job Seeker's Allowance (JSA) and National Insurance credits, claimed at Employment Service local offices. People claiming JSA must declare that they are out of work, capable of, available for and actively seeking work during the week in which the claim is made. They enter into a Jobseeker's agreement setting out the action they will take to find work and to improve their prospects of finding employment. The claimant count is accurate down to very small geographic areas, such as postcode sectors and wards, from which aggregations such as Parliamentary Constituencies can be made. It is unaffected by sampling variability since it is a 100 per cent count. ONS is currently investigating improving both the range of labour market indicators available at a local level and the range of geographies for which they are available.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

319 c358-9W; 59313

Session

1997-98

Subjects

Statistics Unemployment benefits Unemployment International Labour Organization