HC Deb 07 February 1939 vol 343 c757W
Mr. Lyons

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will indicate the approximate upswing of wages for the year ended 31st December, 1938?

Mr. E. Brown

In those industries for which statistics are regularly compiled, the changes in rates of wages reported to the Department during the year ended 31st December, 1938, are estimated to have resulted in a net increase of about £260,000 in the weekly full-time rates of wages of over 2,300,000 workpeople and in a net decrease of about £19,000 in the weekly full-time rates of about 320,000 workpeople. These statistics are exclusive of changes in the rates of wages of agricultural labourers, domestic servants, shop assistants, clerks and Government employés, and they relate in the main to changes collectively arranged between organised groups of employers and workpeople. It is estimated that, in the industries for which information is available, the average level of full-time weekly rates of wages rose by between 1 and 1½ per cent. during this period. Statistics, in further detail, of the changes which occurred during 1938 are given in a special article on pages 3 to 5 of the "Ministry of Labour Gazette" for January, 1939.