§ 19. Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people were unemployed in the United Kingdom at the most recent count; and how this compares with the figure in the comparable month in 1974.
§ Mr. BoothAt 9th March, 1,460,972 people were registered as unemployed in the United Kingdom compared with 628,812 in February 1974 and 618,413 in March 1974.
§ 22. Mr. Watkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he proposes to introduce any new measures to deal with unemployment.
§ 23. Mr. Arnoldasked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest figures for unemployment; and if he will make a statement.
§ 26. Mr. Patrick McNair-Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Employment 94W how many persons are currently unemployed; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BoothAt 9th March, 1,398,986 people were registered as unemployed in Great Britain.
Unemployment has fallen again this month but it remains high. The Government have taken further steps to alleviate the situation. On 15th March I announced additional special measures including extensions to the scope of the small firms employment subsidy and the job release scheme and the setting up of a scheme to subsidise short-time working.
§ 25. Mr. Kenneth Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many of those registered as unemployed in February have been unemployed for more than 12 months; and how many of these are men and how many are women.
§ Mr. BoothAt 12th January, the latest date for which the figures are analysed by duration, 333,917 people in Great Britain had been unemployed for more than a year of these 272,539 were male and 61,738 were female.