Further to the answer to question S3W-7367 by John Swinney on 11 December 2007, what the most recent figures are for long-term unemployment…

The Claimant Count gives the number of people claiming unemployment related benefits and is produced by the Office for National Statistics.
(a) Table 1 shows the number of long-term unemployed people claiming unemployment related benefits in each local authority area in Lothians parliamentary region and also the long-term unemployed as a proportion of the resident working-age population and as a proportion of total unemployment in each local authority.
Long-term unemployed are defined as those claiming unemployment related benefits for over 12 months. The latest data available are for November 2008.
Table 1: Claimant Count Unemployment for Local Authorities in the Lothians Parliamentary Region, November 2008
Local Authority
| Number of Long-Term Unemployed
| % of Resident Working Age Population who are Long-Term Unemployed
| Long-Term Unemployed as % of Total Unemployment

East Lothian*
| 35
| 0.1%
| 3.4%

Edinburgh, City of
| 510
| 0.2%
| 7.8%

Midlothian*
| 55
| 0.1%
| 5.3%

West Lothian
| 195
| 0.2%
| 6.7%

All**
| 795
| 0.2%
| 6.9%

Source: Office for National Statistics
Notes:
1. Long-term unemployed defined as those claiming for over 12 months.
2. Data on number of long-term unemployed rounded to the nearest five.
3. *Only part of the local authority located in the Lothians Parliamentary Region but the data are for the full local authority area.
4. **The figure for ALL is a total of the local authorities in the table. It does not provide an estimate for the Lothians Parliamentary Region.
(b) Data on long-term unemployment by multi-member electoral ward is not held centrally.