§ Mr. Harperasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many men are at present unemployed in Pontefract, Castleford and Featherstone, respectively; what percentage rate of unemployment these numbers represent; and what where the respective figures and percentages at 18th June, 1970;
NUMBERS REGISTERED AS UNEMPLOYED Pontefract (including Featherstone) Castleford Males Females Males Females 8th February, 1971 (provisional) … 742 143 1,039 161 8th June, 1970 … … … … 641 80 911 102 Pontefract, Castleford and Featherstone are all within a travel-to-work area which consists of the Castleford, Knottingley, Normanton and Pontefract Employment Exchange areas. The percentage rates of unemployment for males in this area at 8th February, 1971, and 8th June, 1970, were 6.2 and 5.3, respectively. The corresponding rates for females were 2.1 and 1.3. Information is not available for 18th June, 1970. Percentage rates cannot be calculated for parts of a travel-to-work area.