§ Mr. Lewisasked the Minister of Labour whether he will now make a statement regarding the trend in national unemployment, and short-time working, giving particular details for Scotland, and the figures for mid-January, 1959.
§ Mr. Iain MacleodAt 12th January, 1959, 620,786 people were unemployed in Great Britain of whom 116,510 were in Scotland. At the end of December, the latest date for which figures are available, 172,038 operatives were on short-time in manufacturing industries in Great Britain, 14,666 of these in Scotland. There is always a large seasonal increase in unemployment in January, and this year particularly in Scotland, the increase in building and construction, and agriculture and fishing was very much larger than usual. The number of operatives on short-time has not varied much since last summer.