§ 48. Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he is aware that the country's unemployed figure in November, 1970, was 601,874, 3,972 more than the previous month; and, as this figure was the highest for 30 years, whether he will state what the latest trend is and what the figures are for the current month.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithDuring the past four years we have had the highest figure and most prolonged period of unemployment since the 1930s. The underlying trend at present is difficult to evaluate because of the unusually large numbers of adult students who registered for vacation employment this summer. Figures for the current month are not yet available.