§ 89. Mr. TOUCHEasked the Minister of Labour if he will state the latest information as to the number of unemployed persons in Germany and the United States of America, together with the corresponding figures for a year previous?
Mr. HUDSONAs the reply contains a number of figures, I will, if I may, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the reply:
§ The total number of persons registered as unemployed at the public Employment Exchanges in Germany at 15th January, 1933, was 5,966,242; the corresponding figure for the same date in the previous year was 5,966,215. The comparability of these figures is, however, affected by legislative and administrative changes, introduced in June, 1932, in the conditions governing the payment of unemployment benefit. There are no official statistics of unemployment in the United States. The general index of employment in manufacturing industries, compiled by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, was 58.3 in December, 1932, the latest date for which informa- 637 tion is available, and 66.7 in December, 1931, the average index of employment for the year 1926 being taken as equal to 100. In December, 1932, 34 per cent. of the membership of trade unions affiliated to the American Federation of Labor were unemployed, as compared with 30 per cent. in December, 1931. The Federation has estimated that there were over 11 million persons unemployed in December, 1932, as compared with about 10,300,000 in January, 1932, the earliest date for which a comparable estimate is available.