§ Mr. Lawsonasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide figures for the percentage unemployed in the public and private sectors of the economy in February 1977, on the same basis as those contained in the table published in Written Answers, Official Report, 22nd February 1977, column 557.
§ Mr. Golding, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 1st March 1977; Vol. 927, c. 161 –2], gave the following information:
Separate unemployment rates for the public and private sectors can be calculated only in an imprecise way by allocating the figures for each Minimum List Heading of the Standard Industrial Classification to the sector appropriate to the majority of those in that classification. On this basis, the unemployment rates for the public and private sectors at 10th February were 2.7 and 5.8 per cent. respectively. I am sorry the information was not available before now.