§ Mr. Juddasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity whether she will make a statement on the current employment situation in Portsmouth with particular reference to the age and sex distribution of the unemployed.
§ Mr. DellThe main feature of the employment situation in Portsmouth continues to be the level of male unemployment, though there is a growing shortage of skilled engineering workers, and a high level of demand for female workers in almost all industries and services. On 9th February there was a total of 2,551 persons registered as unemployed—2,273 males, 278 females—at the Portsmouth Employment Exchange and the unemployment rate for the travel-to-work area was 3.5 per cent. These figures are provisional.
Details of the age distribution of those registered as wholly unemployed at the 427W Portsmouth Employment Exchange on 12th January, 1970, the latest date for which figures are available, are given in the following table:
AGE ANALYSIS OF THE NUMBERS REGISTERED AS WHOLLY UNEMPLOYED AT THE PORTSMOUTH EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGE ON 12TH JANUARY 1970 Males Females Total Under 18 … 54 48 102 18 and under 20 … 113 33 146 20 and under 25 … 320 45 365 25 and under 30 … 238 20 258 30 and under 35 … 224 11 235 35 and under 40 … 185 11 196 40 and under 45 … 183 16 199 45 and under 50 … 216 21 237 50 and under 55 … 178 24 202 55 and under 60 … 170 32 202 60 and under 65 … 421 1 421 65 and over … 6 7 Total … 2,308 262 2,570