§ Mr. Arthur Lewisask to the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will give the latest figure for unemployment nationally and in the London borough of Newham; how these compare with last 651W month; to what extent this increase is due to large wage increases during the past few months; and what action he intends taking to reduce these figures.
§ Mr. GoldingThe number of people registered as unemployed in July in the employment office areas of East Ham, Stratford and Canning Town which most closely correspond with the London borough of Newham was 8,230; 1,545,063 people were registered as unemployed in July in Great Britain. The comparable figures for June were 7,055 and 1,390,401 respectively.
It is not possible to assess to what extent the increases in the numbers unemployed over the last month are related to recent increases in wages. A large part of the increases were, however, accounted for by school leavers.
So far over 600 people in Newham and 313,000 people in Great Britain have been helped by the special employment and training measures. The further man, power measures which my right hon. Friend announced on 29th June and which will come into operation during 1978 should benefit unemployed people both in Newham and in the country as a whole.