§ 42. Mr. Peter Freemanasked the Minister of Labour the present number of unemployed in Wales; the areas and industries in which they occurred; and what steps are being taken to provide full employment for all concerned.
§ Mr. IsaacsAs the reply to the first and second parts of the Question contains a table of figures I will, if I may, circulate it the OFFICIAL REPORT. As to the last part of the Question, I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade on 1st April to my hon. Friend the Member for Central Cardiff (Mr. G. Thomas).
§ Mr. FreemanDo not these figures indicate that in some areas in Wales unemployment is still increasing? Does my right hon. Friend think that schemes now in hand will fully absorb the unemployed before long?
§ Mr. IsaacsI think it would be helpful if my hon. Friend 'would look at the answer before he presses that further question. The evidence of the last week for which we have returns showed that in certain parts of Wales the unemployment figures, whilst not dropping, show considerably less increase than has been the case for some weeks.
§ Following is the reply:
§ At 11th March, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 69,644 unemployed insured persons suitable for ordinary employment on the registers of employment exchanges in Wales and Monmouthshire. Of this total, 60,839 were in the South Wales and Monmouthshire Development Area, and 2,461 in the Wrexham Development Area.
§ In the Table below the number of unemployed insured persons in Wales and Monmouthshire at nth March is analysed for the principal industries:
| Industry. | Number of insured persons unemployed |
| Building | 983 |
| Civil Engineering Construction | 1,725 |
| Engineering | 8,325 |
| Construction and repair of Motor Vehicles Circles and Aircraft | 4,884 |
| Explosives | 18,747 |
| Steel Melting and Iron Puddling, Iron and Steel Rolling, etc | 1,042 |
| Brass, Copper Zinc, Tin, Lead. etc.,Manufacture | 1,238 |
| All other Metal Industries | 3,831 |
| Hotel, Boarding House, Restaurant Club, Catering, etc., Service | 1,060 |
| Coal Mining | 6,900 |
| Distributive Trades | 3,301 |
| National Government Service | 3,156 |
| Local Government Service | 1.299 |
| All other Industries and Services | 7,920 |
| Ex-Service Personnel not classified by Industry* | 5,233 |
§ *These are ex-Service personnel who have not yet been classified to a particular industry, although they may have had some employment since release or discharge from the Forces.