HC Deb 07 December 1933 vol 283 cc1799-800
3 and 4. Mr. LAWSON

asked the Minister of Labour (1) the number of workers in Italy and the number unemployed at the latest date;

(2) the number of workers and the number unemployed in Germany at the latest date?

Mr. HUDSON

As the reply is long, and contains a number of figures, I will, if I may, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Mr. RHYS DAVIES

In giving figures about unemployment in those countries, does the hon. Gentleman bear in mind that there is a different measurement of unemployment in them?

Mr. HUDSON

Yes, and I think that when the hon. Member reads the rather long answer, he will find that due allowance has been made for that fact.

Following is the reply:

According to the census of the population taken on 21st April, 1931, the number of persons engaged in gainful occupations (including those unemployed) in Italy at that date was 17,131,281. This total includes 5,433,713 farmers under the various systems of land tenure in Italy; 2,475,949 agricultural wage-earners; 1,364,304 employers in industry and commerce; 724,697 persons working on their own account in occupations other than agriculture; 541,372 persons in the armed forces of the State; 533,295 persons classified under the heading "religion, the professions and the arts"; 5,132,381 manual workers; and 905,550 non-manual workers. The number of persons registered as unemployed at the Employment Exchanges in Italy at the end of October, 1933, was 962,868, including 215,373 persons normally employed in agriculture.

According to the census of the population taken on 16th June, 1925, the number of persons engaged in gainful occupations (including those unemployed) in Germany at that date was 32,009,300. This total includes 5,538,500 employers, persons working on their own account, directors, managers, senior public officials, military and naval officers, &c.; 5,274,232 non-manual workers (of whom 128,931 were employed in agriculture, 60,743 were in domestic service, &c., and 105,483 were non-commissioned officers and men in the army and navy); 14,433,754 manual workers (of whom 2,499,945 were employed in agriculture and 253,622 in domestic service); 5,437,227 family relatives assisting in the various enterprises; and 1,325,587 persons employed in domestic service and not classified under any of the foregoing headings. The number of persons registered as unemployed at the Employment Exchanges in Germany at the end of October, 1933, was 3,744,860. A small proportion of these persons (not yet exactly known) were agricultural workers and domestic servants.

Owing to differences in methods of compilation and of classification, as well as in the scope of these statistics, the figures quoted are not strictly comparable either as between the two countries named or as between these two countries and Great Britain.