HC Deb 13 December 1937 vol 330 cc807-8
41. Mr. Cary

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will consider publishing comparable figures of employment, wages, and cost of living over an extended period, to enable Members to study their correlation?

Mr. E. Brown

Figures are regularly given, in the quarterly Supplement to the Ministry of Labour Gazette, showing the changes in the estimated numbers of insured persons, aged 16 to 64, in employment, in the average level of rates of wages, and in the average level of working-class costs of living, quarter by quarter over a series of years. The latest issue of this Supplement, which was included in the current (November) issue of the Gazette, contains quarterly figures covering the period from the beginning of 1928 to the third quarter of 1937. A chart illustrating the movements of employment, rates of wages, cost of living, and retail food prices has been prepared, and arrangements are being made to exhibit it in the Tea Room for the information of Members.