§ 74. Mr. Gibsonasked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware of the extent of the growing under-employment and redundancy in various parts of the country among workers in the metal and allied trades; and if he will give the latest figures showing the amount of short-time working and of redundancy in these industries.
§ Sir W. MoncktonI assume that the hon. Member has in mind the metals, engineering and vehicles group of industries. In these industries the number of operatives reported by firms to be working short-time fell from 32,000 in the week ended 23rd May to 13,000 in the week ended 29th August (the latest date for which statistics are available). I am not aware of any general increase in underemployment in these industries since August.
The number of persons registered as unemployed in the same industries decreased from 75,000 in March to 45,000 in October.