§ 66. Sir G. Nabarroasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the level of male unemployment in the Midlands; and whether he will now 85W make a statement on the reduction of unemployment following the budgetary measures.
§ Mr. Chichester-Clark:At 10th April, 1972, the provisional number of males registered as unemployed in the West Midlands was 88,214 or 6.1 per cent. of the male employees in the region. Included in these figures are 11,213 male workers who were temporarily stopped on the day of the count.
This already represents a fall in the number of wholly unemployed males. It is too early for the effects of the budgetary measures to be seen though notified vacancies have increased. The Government have every confidence that the measures will lead to a substantial improvement in the unemployment position.