§ 32. Mr. Hurdasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how the current index figure of output per man, in the coal, steel and farming industries, respectively, compares with those of 1938.
§ The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. R. Maudling)The increase in output per man year between 1938 and 1953 is estimated at 2 per cent. in the coalmining industry and approximately 50 per cent. in steel melting and rolling. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture has not published a comparable figure for agriculture, since there are no reliable means of computing it. A recent unofficial estimate of the increase between 1937–39 and 1952–53 gives a rise of 30 per cent. in output per man year.