HC Deb 06 May 1971 vol 816 cc427-9W
Mr. Sillars

asked the Secretary of State for Employment by how much he estimates production costs have risen in the past 12 months in percentage terms;

comparable. Because of these differences and also because social security systems vary so much from country to country it is not possible to produce a reliable measure of changes in the "real" value of wages in individual countries or of variations in the "real" value of wages from country to country.

The following are the average annual percentage (compound) increases in wages and consumer prices for the period 1958 to 1970 (except where otherwise stated.)

and what contribution to rising costs can be ascribed to import costs, interest rates, fuel costs, and wage settlements.

Mr. Bryan

Between the fourth quarters of 1969 and 1970 labour costs per unit of output are estimated to have risen by 11.7 per cent. During the same period, the largest constituent item, wages and salaries per unit of output, rose by 11.8 per cent. Changes in import costs, interest rates and fuel costs are not within the responsibility of my Department.

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