§ Mr. John Evansasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the level of unemployment in Scotland, Wales and each of the eight English regions which are served by regional economic planning councils to the latest available date; and what were the figures for each of the past five years.
§ Mr. John FraserThe following table shows rates of unemployment for the
PERCENTAGE RATES OF UNEMPLOYMENT January January January January January January 1975* 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 Scotland … 4.8 4.5 6.1 7.1 5.3 4.3 Wales … 4.7 3.8 4.6 5.5 4.2 4.3 South-East … 2.1 1.6 2.0 2.5 1.9 1.8 East Anglia … 2.9 2.0 2.5 3.6 2.9 2.2 South-West … 4.0 2.7 3.2 4.1 3.3 3.1 West Midlands … 2.7 2.1 3.0 3.9 2.3 1.9 East Midlands … 2.8 2.1 2.7 3.4 2.6 2.2 Yorkshire and Humberside 3.3 2.8 3.8 4.6 3.3 2.9 North-West … 4.3 3.4 4.7 5.0 3.3 2.7 North … 5.2 4.6 5.9 6.9 5.2 5.0 * Figures based on a simplified counting procedure and for revised regions.