§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the average hourly industrial wage level in each of the member States of the European Economic Community at the latest date for which figures are available.
§ Mr. GoldingThe latest available information is given in the table below.
Owing to differences in national definitions and methods of compilation, the figures given are not fully comparable. Moreover, international comparisons of earnings statistics are not meaningful unless account is taken of (i) differences in taxation and social benefits and (ii) differences in internal purchasing power which are not reflected by market exchange rates.
94Wlatest comparable percentage figures for unemployment in each of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries for which adjusted unemployment rates were available from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development sources; and what have been the previous quarterly figures during the last four years.
§ Mr. GoldingThe OECD publishes comparable seasonally adjusted rates of unemployment for 12 of the 24 member countries. The latest figures, which relate to the first quarter of 1978, are given below with such earlier information as is available on a consistent basis:
AVERAGE GROSS HOURLY EARNINGS OF MANUAL WORKERS (MALE AND FEMALE) IN MINING AND QUARRYING, CONSTRUCTION AND THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES: APRIL 1977 United Kingdom (£) 1.48 Germany (DM) 11.1 France (Fr) 14.9 Italy ֵ Netherlands (Fl) 11.6 Belgium (BF) 174 Luxembourg (LF) 197 Denmark (DKr) 36.1 Ireland (£) 1.37* Sources: Eurostat: Hourly Earnings; Hours of Work. Irish Statistical Bulletin. ֵ Not available. * Manufacturing only, including juveniles.