§ Mr. Goodladasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what was the percentage of the working population who were unemployed in each of the employment 484W areas and sub-areas covering the Northwich parliamentary constituency at the most recent count; and what were the comparable figures for the five previous years;
(2) how many people were unemployed in each of the employment areas and sub-areas covered by the Northwich parliamentary constituency at the most recent count; and what were the comparable figures for the five previous years.
§ Mr. John FraserFollowing is the information for the employment office areas which are wholly or partly within the Northwich parliamentary constituency:
Numbers registered as unemployed Percentage rate of unemployment Per cent. Northwich March 1971 … 568 March 1972 … 893 March 1973 … 759 March 1974 … 609 March 1975 … 716 March 1976* … 969 Winsford March 1971 … 376 3.0† March 1972 … 584 4.4† March 1973 … 511 3.7† March 1974 … 445 3.l† March 1975 … 611 3.9† March 1976* … 749 5.l† Middlewich March 1971 … 73 March 1972 … 111 March 1973 … 72 March 1974 … 69 March 1975 … 101 March 1976* … 143 Chester March 1971 … 1,135 2.3 March 1972 … 1,641 3.2 March 1973 … 1,335 2.6 March 1974 … 1,278 2.4 March 1975 … 1,888 3.6 March 1976* … 3,073 5.9 *Provisional. †An unemployment rate can be calculated only for the Northwich travel-to-work area as a whole. Rates of unemployment are calculated by expressing the numbers unemployed as a percentage of the estimated total number of employees, including the unemployed. Rates can be calculated for travel-to-work areas as a whole but not separately for their constituent parts.