§ 6. Sir ASSHETON POWNALLasked the Minister of Labour if she will give the average annual increase or decrease, as between the first week in June and the first week in December, for the years 1925 to 1928, inclusive, of the unemployment register figures?
§ Miss BONDFIELDAs the reply contains a table, I will circulate it, if I may, in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Sir A. POWNALLCannot the right hon. Lady give a summary showing the average for the four years?
§ Miss BONDFIELDI could give the figures—
§ Following is the table:
| Persons on the Registers of Employment Exchanges in Great Britain. | |||||||
| Year. | Second Monday in June, (a) | First Monday in December. | Increase (+) or Decrease (-). | ||||
| 1925 | … | … | … | … | 1,291,191 (b) | 1,161,257 | -129,934 |
| 1926 | … | … | … | … | 1,629,939 (c) | 1,506,320 | -123,619 |
| 1927 | … | … | … | … | 1,028,732 | 1,149,648 | +120,916 |
| 1928 | … | … | … | … | 1,149,943 | 1,350,806 | +200,863 |
| NOTES | |||||||
| (a) Figures are given for the second Monday in June because in the years 1926 and 1927 the first Monday in June was Whit-Monday and the numbers on the Registers were temporarily increased by holiday claimants. | |||||||
| (b) The course of unemployment in the second half of 1925 was affected by the abnormal situation in the coal mining industry in June of that year, when 314,639 insured persons were recorded as unemployed. Between 22nd June, 1925, and 23rd November, 1926, the numbers unemployed in that industry decreased by 126,174. There was also substantial improvement in other industries which are not subject to seasonal fluctuations in employment, more particularly in the cotton and woollen textile industries. | |||||||
| (c) The figures for 1926 are affected by the general dispute in the coal mining industry which began on 1st May. The increase in. unemployment in other industries due to that dispute was greatest in June, and from that date onwards there was continuous improvement which more than counterbalanced the normal decline in the second half of the year, due to seasonal causes. |
§ 20 and 21. Mr. LEESasked the Minister of Labour (1) the number of unemployed signed on at the following Employment Exchanges, Alfreton and Belper, during October, 1928, and October, 1929;
(2) the number of unemployed signing on at the Employment Exchange at Ripley; and how many reside at Heage and Nether Heage?
§ 18. Mr. BATEYasked the Minister of Labour the number of unemployed on the unemployment registers in each Employment Exchange area in the county of Durham?
§ Miss BONDFIELDI will circulate statements in the OFFICIAL REPORT as soon as the information desired can be tabulated.