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29 Jan 2003 : Column 944W—continued

Unemployment

Mr. Rosindell : To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on unemployment in (a) Romford, (b) the London Borough of Havering and (c) Greater London. [90300]

Mr. Nicholas Brown: Our policies have created a strong economy geared to delivering stability, low inflation and have helped deliver a high and stable level of employment benefiting every part of the country. Alongside this, through Jobcentre Plus and programmes such as the New Deal, our labour market policies promote attachment to the job market.

Our success is reflected in the fall in the unemployment figures for London, the London Borough of Havering and for Romford which are in the table:

Claimant unemployment (not seasonally adjusted)

	December 1997	December 2002	Percentage fall
Romford	1,093	835	24
London borough of Havering	3,295	2,350	29
Greater London	234,000	166,000	29

Source:

ONS

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