§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest official figures for unemployment in the employment offices in the area covered by the Macclesfield constituency; how these figures compare with the previous five years; and if he will give a breakdown of the unemployment figures by industrial classification.
§ Mr. Jim LesterThe following tables gives the numbers registered as unemployed in the areas covered by the Macclesfield and Congleton employment offices at May each year from 1974 to 1979. The numbers are analysed according to the industry in which those unemployed last worked.
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Industry group 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 Paper, printing and publishing … … … 12 41 36 47 65 55 Other manufacturing industries … … … 10 12 23 17 17 10 Construction … … … … … 62 142 183 176 158 128 Gas, electricity and water … … … 5 6 10 13 15 13 Transport and communication … … … 16 32 37 52 53 40 Distributive trades … … … … … 36 72 129 131 145 84 Insurance, banking, finance and business services … … 27 32 35 30 38 27 Professional and scientific services … … 34 41 65 80 106 81 Miscellaneous services … … … … 30 63 93 107 134 116 Public administration and defence … … 28 44 44 58 67 65 Not classified by industry … … … 54 77 107 163 164 137 Total … … … … … 436 886 1,104 1,186 1,346 1,018
CONGLETON EMPLOYMENT OFFICE AREA Industry group 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 Agriculture, forestry, fishing … … … 4 6 11 6 9 6 Mining and quarrying … … … … 3 4 5 5 10 4 Food, drink and tobacco … … … 7 9 10 5 9 9 Coal and petroleum products … … … — 1 1 1 1 — Chemicals and allied industries … … … 4 4 6 5 5 7 Metal manufacture … … … … — 1 — 1 — 4 Mechanical engineering … … … … 4 8 14 12 16 10 Instrument engineering … … … … — — 1 — — — Electrical engineering … … … … 5 7 10 6 6 11 Shipbuilding and marine engineering … … — — — — — — Vehicles … … … … … 1 2 2 3 6 2 Metal goods not elsewhere specified … … 4 2 13 5 6 4 Textiles … … … … … 7 33 29 17 44 16 Leather, leather goods and fur … … … — — 1 — — — Clothing and footwear … … … … 7 15 15 12 21 20 Bricks, pottery, glass, cement, etc. … … 2 6 3 3 7 1 Timber, furniture, etc. … … … … — 3 1 4 2 3 Paper, printing and publishing … … … 4 11 18 9 14 17 Other manufacturing industries … … … 1 2 5 5 4 6 Construction … … … … … 26 54 49 53 42 33 Gas, electricity and water … … … 3 5 2 2 3 2 Transport and communication … … … 3 8 11 18 12 11 Distributive trades … … … … … 9 23 40 29 23 41 Insurance, banking, finance and business services 8 5 7 10 8 9 Professional and scientific services … … 5 14 19 20 15 20 Miscellaneous services … … … … 9 17 18 17 16 19 Public administration and defence … … 6 9 6 17 17 11 Not classified by industry … … … 16 29 42 52 73 74 Total … … … … … 138 278 339 317 369 340