To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what his latest estimate is of the number of job vacancies in the economy; and what forecast he has made of the number of vacancies in the economy in October 2009.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated February 2009:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what the latest estimate is of the number of job vacancies in the British economy and what forecast has been made of the number of vacancies in the economy in October 2009. (258247)

The latest, seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of vacancies in the United Kingdom was 504,000, for the 3 month period November 2008 to January 2009. The Office for National Statistics estimates the number of vacancies from the UK Vacancy Survey. No forecasts are made of future vacancy levels.