§ Mr. Hicksasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will state for each year since 1970 the unemployment figures expressed as a percentage for January and July for the United Kingdom, the southwest region, the south-west assisted area, and the following employment exchange districts, Bodmin, Liskeard-Looe, the Saltash and Torpoint sections of the Plymouth travel-to-work area and the Gunnislake section of the Tavistock exchange area.
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§ Mr. Golding,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 1st August 1978], gave the following answer:
1970 1971 1972 January July January July January July United Kingdom … 2.8 2.4 3.1 3.3 4.2 3.6 South West Region … 3.1 2.3 3.3 2.9 4.1 2.9 South West assisted area† … 5.3 3.7 5.0 3.9 5.8 3.9 Bodmin employment office area … 3.7 3.0 2.9 2.5 4.9 3.4 Liskeard travel-to-work area … 10.3 5.4 10.7 6.1 11.8 6.3 Plymouth travel-to-work area‡ … 4.1 3.5 4.0 3.9 4.6 3.5 1973 1974 1975 January July January July January* July United Kingdom … 3.5 2.4 2.7 2.5 3.3 4.2 South West Region … 3.1 2.0 2.7 2.3 3.8 4.5 South West assisted area† … 4.5 2.5 4.0 3.0 — 6.2 Bodmin employment office area … 2.6 1.6 2.7 2.2 — 5.5 Liskeard travel-to-work area … 9.1 3.9 7.5 3.8 — 6.5 Plymouth travel-to-work area‡ … 3.4 2.5 3.2 2.9 — 6.0 1976 1977 1978 January July January July January July United Kingdom … 5.5 6.1 6.1 6.8 6.5 6.6 South West Region … 6.3 6.5 7.0 7.2 7.4 6.8 South West assisted area† … 8.8 8.5 10.0 9.3 10.6 9.3 Bodmin employment office area … 7.1 6.5 7.9 8.1 9.0 7.6 Liskeard travel-to-work area … 12.4 9.4 14.2 9.0 13.2 8.2 Plymouth travel-to-work area‡ … 7.0 8.5 8.1 9.5 8.7 9.3 * Because of industrial action by some staff in the Department of Employment Group, figures for January 1975 are not available except for the United Kingdom and the South West region for which estimates have been made. † South West development area and intermediate area. ‡ Saltash, Torpoint and Gunnislake are parts of the Plymouth travel-to-work area. Unemployment rates can be calculated for the whole of this area but not separately for its constituent parts.