HC Deb 15 March 1946 vol 420
Sir W. Smithers

asked the Minister of Labour the numbers employed in the Armed Forces, in munitions, as civil servants, as employees of local authorities and unemployed respectively, for the years 1900, 1913, 1938 and at the latest available dates expressed as percentages of the total insured population.

Mr. Isaacs

There was no scheme of unemployment insurance in operation in

Category of Employment. Per cent, of occupied population.
1911. Mid-1939. End 1945.
Armed Forces 2.0 2.4 18.4
Non-Industrial Civil Servants Approximately 1.7* 2.2 3.3
Employees of Local Authorities 3.0 4.9 4.6
Manufacture of Equipment and Supplies for the Forces. Not available. 6.4 8.5
Unemployed Probably between 1.5 and 2.0* 6.4 1.4
* Precise comparable figures not available