§ Mr. DAYasked the Minister of Labour whether he will give the total number of persons gainfully occupied in Great Britain as at the last convenient date, giving figures separately for unemployed at the same date?
§ Mr. E. BROWNThe total number of persons enumerated as gainfully occupied in Great Britain at the Population Census of 26th April, 1931, the latest date for which figures are available, was 21,054,686, of whom 2,524,514 were enumerated as out of work. The number of unemployed persons registered at Employment Exchanges in Great Britain on 27th April, 1931, was 2,520,113; but this figure is not strictly comparable with the total returned as out of work at the Population Census, since the Census figures covered all persons who described themselves as out of work, including those who were not registered at Employment Exchanges, whilst it seems probable, on the other hand, that some of the persons who registered at the Employment Exchanges as temporarily suspended from their employment did not describe themselves as out of work on the Census schedule.