HC Deb 13 May 1959 vol 605 cc145-6W
Mr. Randall

asked the Minister of Labour the figures of unemployment at the Gateshead Youth Employment Office for the months of January, February, March and April, 1958, and for the same months in 1959.

Mr. Wood

The following table gives the information desired:

1958 1959
January 76 149
February 29 71
March 29 58
April 83 112

Mr. Randall

asked the Minister of Labour the figures of the registered labour force in the Gateshead area for the month of March, 1958, and for the months of January, February, March and April, 1959.

Mr. Iain Macleod

Statistics of the total number of employees in local areas are available for the end of May only in each year. At end-May, 1958, the total numbers of employees in the area of the Gateshead Employment Exchange were about 34,230 males and 17,360 females. The numbers registered as unemployed at the Gateshead Employment Exchange and Youth Employment Office were as follows:

Males Females Total
12th January, 1959 1,631 509 2,140
9th February, 1959 1,518 460 1,978
9th March, 1959 1,419 418 1,837
13th April, 1959 1,308 417 1,725

Mr. Randall

asked the Minister of Labour the numbers and percentage of unemployed at the latest count at Gateshead Employment Exchange; and how these figures compare with those for the previous month and with the figures for the corresponding period last year.

Mr. lain Macleod

The numbers of unemployed persons on the registers of the Gateshead Employment Exchange and Youth Employment Office were 1,332 at 14th April, 1958, 1,837 at 9th March, 1959, and 1,725 at 13th April, 1959. A separate percentage rate of unemployment is not calculated for Gateshead alone, but for the Gateshead, Blaydon, Felling and Prudhoe area as a whole, the rates were 2.5 per cent., at 14th April, 1958, 3.7 per cent., at 9th March, 1959, and 3.6 per cent., at 13th April, 1959.