800,000 jobs ‘found’

Press, 3 December 1982, Page 6

800,000 jobs ‘found’

NZPA London New survey evidence shows that 800,000 more people have jobs in Britain than was previously thought. The surprise discovery of the “lost” workers means the number of jobs that have disappeared during the present recession is only half that shown by official figures. The new information, which comes from the Gov-

ernment’s 1981 labour force survey to be published, on Tuesday, has profound implications. It means that, contrary to assertions by the British Trade Union Congress and others, there is no vast pool of hidden unemployment which is not picked up by the present figures. It had been argued that because job losses exceeded the recorded rise in unem-

ployment, at a time when the population of working age was growing, the true number of jobless was as much as one million higher than the official figure, now more than three million. The survey figures show that, between 1979 and 1981, the rise in unemployment of 1.3 million almost matches job losses of 0.9 million and the 0.3 million extra people of working age.