§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of the percentage of the British work force working in the sector of textiles and clothing at the latest convenient date; and what this figure was on 1 January and in each year since 1970.
§ Mr. Jim Lester[pursuant to his reply, 13th March 1980]: The following table expresses the numbers employed in the textiles and clothing industries as percentages of employees in employment in all industries and services at June each year from 1970 to 1979 and at December 1979, the latest date for which comprehensive estimates are available.
Per cent. June 1970 4.4 June 1971 4.2 June 1972 4.1 June 1973 4.0 June 1974 3.9 June 1975 3.6 June 1976 3.5 June 1977 3.5 June 1978* 3.4 June 1979* 3.3 December 1979* 3.2 * Provisional