Mr. Nipponasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current rate of unemployment in the North-East Region at the latest available date compared with the rate of the same date in each of the years from 1970 to 1976, inclusive.
§ Mr. Golding, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 1st March 1977; Vol. 927, c. 171], gave the following information:
Rates of unemployment for the Northern Region, excluding Cumbria, at each February from 1970 to 1974 were as follows:
per cent. February 1970 5.0 February 1971 5.3 February 1972 7.0 February 1973 5.6 February 1974 4.8