§ Mr. David Clarkasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what are the mean, median and modal wages of, 148W respectively, males and females, in the Huddersfield employment exchange area;
(2) what are the mean, median and modal wages of, respectively, males and females, in the woollen textile industry at the latest convenient date;
(3) what are the mean, median and modal wages of, respectively, males and females, in the Yorkshire and Humberside region;
(4) what are the mean, median and modal wages of, respectively, males and females, in the cotton textile industry at the latest convenient date.
§ Mr. BryanThe following, obtained from the regular October, 1970, inquiry, are the latest available estimates of average weekly earnings of full-time manual adults.
Estimates of median earnings relating to April, 1970, were included in the results of the New Earnings Survey, 1970, published in the Department's Gazette in November, 1970 (Table 10 for industries) and January, 1971 (Table 54 for regions). Precise modal values are not available. No earnings statistics for the Huddersfield area are available.
AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS OF FULL-TIME MANUAL ADULTS, OCTOBER, 1970 Men aged 21 and over Women aged 18 and over Industries (1968 Standard Industrial Classification) Spinning and doubling on the cotton and flax systems (MLH 412) £24.05 £13.93 Weaving of cotton, linen and man-made fibres (MLH 413) £23.75 £13.86 Woollen and worsted (MLH 414) £23.25 £12.52 Region: all industries covered by enquiry Yorkshire and Humberside £26.43 Not available
§ Mr. Ashtonasked the Secretary of State for Employment what evidence he has of wage increases causing unemployment, and whether he will list the factories in which he has been notified that this was the cause.
§ Mr. R. CarrThe Government's contacts with industry are usually on a confidential basis and I would not be justified 149W in disclosing the names of individual firms.
It has become increasingly clear in recent months, however, that the rise in production costs, of which the present high level of wage settlements has formed a substantial part, has been a direct cause of limiting sales and therefore of output. This is projected into future prospects and so reduces investment for creating extra capacity. In addition, rising labour costs intensify the pressure on firms to economise in the use of manpower and while this may be a healthy pressure in the long run, its immediate effect is to reduce the volume of employment.