§ 20. Mr. Kellyasked the Minister of Labour the number of men and women registered as unemployed from the engineering industry at the last date available?
§ Mr. E. BrownAs the reply includes a table of figures, I will, if I may, circulate a statement in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Mr. BrownI prefer to circulate it, because a total figure is misleading. There are various branches and I have analysed it in that way.
§ Mr. KellyIn view of the reply indicating that there are many unemployed, will the information be conveyed to hon. Members who sit behind the right hon. Gentleman, and who declare that they cannot find engineers when they want them for their various shops?
§ Mr. BrownA general statement of that kind very rarely suits the problem as a whole. It may be possible that at any given time a number may be on the register as unemployed engineers, whereas in particular places there may be a shortage.
§ Following is the statement:
| Table showing the numbers of insured men and women aged 18–64 in Great Britain in each of the engineering industry classifications recorded as unemployed at 12th September, 1938: | ||
| — | Men. | Women. |
| General Engineering, etc | 46,011 | 3,697 |
| Electrical Engineering | 4,417 | 1,370 |
| Marine Engineering | 4,247 | 22 |
| Constructional Engineering | 5,258 | 54 |
| Construction and Repair of Motor Vehicles, Cycles and Aircraft. | 24,737 | 2,719 |
| Total of above | 84,670 | 7,862 |