GB Historical DB

Unemployment rates for Ministry of Labour "Divisions" 1926-39.

Table ID:
DIV_26_39_LABGAZ     (1247495)
Contents:
Unemployment rates for Ministry of Labour "Divisions" 1926-39.
Approx. number of rows:
566
Table type:
Raw Data
Documentation Author:
Humphrey Southall
Chronology:
The data cover the period 1926 to 1939.

Sources:

  1. These data are all transcribed from tables generally titled "Unemployment Summary by Districts" appearing in The Ministry of Labour Gazette. The Gazette and these tables appeared monthly but the transcriptions held here are quarterly, being taken from the issues for February, May, August and November, and each relating to a specific day in the previous month, as listed in the data_date columm.
  2. These data were transcribed by Humphrey Southall in October 2017. All data for 1929 are currently missing because that volume could not be found in the LSE Library.

Notes:

  1. This table holds a percentage unemployment rate for males, females and overall for all dates, but information on numbers of persons is limited and available for only some dates.
  2. These changes in format should be noted; and the months mentioned here are those in which the relevant tabulation was published:
    • Nov. 1926 to Nov. 1927: The tables list "Estimated Numbers Insured" for the preceding July (e.g. the data for August 1927 include estimated numbers insured for July 1926, but the data for November 1927) include estimates for July 1927), plus "Percentage Unemployed" for Males, Females and Total. The very first month included, Nov. 1926, lacks a row for "Special Schemes".
    • Feb. 1928 to Nov. 1933: Percentage data unchanged, but the first column is now "Estimated Numbers Insured, aged 16-64 inclusive, at July 19??", with the same time lag as before.
    • Feb 1934 to Aug. 1934: The table no longer includes a estimate of the insured, but adds a column after the percentages containing "Unemployed Persons on Registers of Employment Exchanges" at the same date as the count is for.
    • Nov. 1934 to Aug. 1936: The unemployment data now have the general heading "Percentage unemployed among Insured Workpeople aged 16-64", rather than just "Percentage unemployed among Insured Workpeople".
    • Nov. 1936 to Aug. 1937: An additional row now appears for the "Northern" Division. From February 1937 a row is added to the table to include rates for "Great Britain", i.e. excluding Northern Ireland.
    • Nov. 1937 to Aug. 1938: The counts of persons on the register no longer appear, but instead two separate sets of percentages are listed, for the "General Scheme (including Special Schemes)", and for "Agricultural Scheme". NB our transcription is of the data for the General Scheme.
    • Nov. 1938 to Aug. 1939: The table now includes three sets of percentages, for both schemes together, for the General Scheme and for the Agricultural Scheme. Our transcription continues to be of the General Scheme only.
    • Nov. 1939: The list of Divisions is substantially extended, adding Eastern, Southern and North Midlands while retaining all the names previously used.
  3. The Gazette for August 1936 includes, on p. 280, a listing of the new Divisions which were introduced on the 1st of that month:
    • London: Greater London, i.e. the City and Metropolitan Police Districts, approximately. [A footnote says "For certain statistical purposes figures relating to a a number of Local Offices of the Ministry of Labour in the Greater London area, which were included for administrative purposes in the South-Eastern Division, were extracted separately prior to the reorganisation referred to above. The area served by these Local Offices was described as the London Division; it differed slightly from the new London Administrative Division."; and the September issue (p. 325) adds a little more information by saying that the new Division is "somewhat larger".]
    • South-Eastern: The counties of Bedford, Bucks, Cambridge, Essex, Herts, Kent, Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey and Sussex (except those parts which are withing the London Division).
    • South Western: Berks, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hants, Oxfordshire, Somerset and Wilts.
    • Midlands: The counties of Derby (except Buxton, Glossop and New Mills), Hereford, Huntingdon, Leicester, Northants, Notts, Rutland, Salop, Stafford, Warwick, Worcester, the Soke of Peterborough, and the Stamford district of Lincoln.
    • North-Eastern: Lincolnshire (except the Stamford District) and Yorkshire (except Cleveland).
    • North-Western: Cheshire and Lancashire, and the Buxton, Glossop and New Mills districts of Derbyshire.
    • Northern: Cumberland, County Durham, Northumberland (except Berwick), Westmorland, and the Cleveland district of Yorkshire. [p. 325 of the September issue says: "The new Northern Division covers NNorthumberland (except Berwick-on-Tweed), Durham and the Cleveland district of Yorkshire, which were previously part of the North-Eastern Division, and Cumberland and Westmorland, previously included in the North-Western Division."]
    • Scotland: Scotland and the Berwick district.
    • Wales: Wales and Monmouthshire.

Checking:

  1. The columns containing counts of persons were checked as they were entered to ensure that the individual Divisions summed correctly to the reported national totals.
  2. At the time of writing no checking has been done on the percentage rates. Ideally this would be done through a more complete transcription, as most of the tables include additional columns reporting the changes in the percentages from the previous month. However, this would require that every month be transcribed. What could be done with the current data is look for sudden changes in the relationship between the male, female and overall rates for a given area.

Indices:

IndexTypeColumn(s) indexed
div_26_39_labgaz_pkey Primary key data_date, division

Constraints:

The table has the following associated constraints:

ConstraintTypeDetails
div_26_39_labgaz_pkey Primary Key See details above for primary key index


Columns within table:

ColumnTypeContents
data_date Database date value. Calendar date to which the unemployment percentages and, if present, the count of persons on the register refer. See above for the dates to which the estimate of the insured relates.
division Text string (max.len.=20). Name of the geographical area to which the data relate. See notes above.
est_insured Integer number. Estimated number of persons covered by National Insurance. Only included in the data up to the end of 1933.
pc_male Floating point number. Percentage unemployed for males.
pc_female Floating point number. Percentage unemployed for females.
pc_total Floating point number. Percentage unemployed for males and females together.
total_on_register Integer number. Total number of persons registered as unemployed at Employment Exchanges. Only in the data from the start of 1934 to August 1937.