HC Deb 26 February 1970 vol 796 cc1379-80
18. Mr. John Page

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity what is her estimate of the level of unemployment at the end of January.

Mr. Dell

On 12th January the total registered as unemployed in Great Britain was about 628,000 or 2.7 per cent. of all employees. The corresponding provisional figure for 9th February was 624,000, also 2.7 per cent. I do not think that estimates of the level of unemploy- ment for any of the intervening dates would be reliable.

Mr. Page

Will the right hon. Gentleman confirm that those are the worst figures for January and February, except for 1968, since the very bad weather in 1963? That being so, is not the unsatisfactory nature of the figures underlined by the very good weather we had in January.

Mr. Dell

We had a debate on the question earlier this month, when I made the point that the current level of vacancies and overtime working shows that the figures for unemployment are no longer the sort of measure of the level of demand for labour as they were in the period to which the hon. Gentleman referred before 1966. This is probably in great part the result of wage-related unemployment benefits and redundancy payments.

Mr. Barnett

Will my right hon. Friend make an estimate of what the figure will be next January if there is no change in the economic circumstances before then? What representations is he making to my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer with a view to doing something about the economic situation to ensure that the level of unemployment falls?

Mr. Dell

It is not customary to make forward estimates of the sort for which my hon. Friend asks.

Mr. R. Carr

Does the right hon. Gentleman really believe that his very complacent answer makes any sense, for example to the very much larger number of disabled people who are unemployed?

Mr. Dell

The answer is not complacent. During the debate I indicated our concern for the level of unemployment. The figures, as I pointed out then, are due first to the level of home demand and second to wage-related unemployment benefits and redundancy payments. My right hon. Friend has already said in answer to a Question what we are doing about the question of disablement.