§ Mr. Kennedyasked the Minister of Labour whether he can state the average monthly number of unemployed workers in the jute industry in Scotland for the years 1934, 1935, and 1936, respectively; and whether the figures are increasing during the present year?
§ Mr. E. BrownThe average numbers of insured persons, aged 16–64 years, in the jute industry classification recorded as unemployed in Scotland were 10,880 in 1934, 8,868 in 1935 and 7,996 in 1936. For each of the first six months of 1937 the figure was considerably lower than the figure for the corresponding month in any of the preceding three years. Since February of this year the numbers unemployed have shown a steady decline.