§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for each sector of manufacturing industry, the annual rate of increase in output, output per head and output per operative hour in the decade ending in 1973 and the period since May 1979; and if he will provide an estimate of the effect which the closure of plant in each sector has had on productivity by reason of the closure itself and by increasing capacity working in remaining plants;
(2) whether he will publish in the Official Report a comparative table showing, for the period since May 1979 and the decade ending in 1973, figures showing output, output per head, and output per operative hour in manufacturing industry as an annual rate; and what is his assessment of the reasons for the differences in trend between the two periods.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonThe available information on changes in output and output per head in manufacturing indutries is given in the following table. For the later period comparisons have been made between the second quarter of 1981, the latest quarter for which full information is available, and the first half of 1979; the individual figures for the first two quarters of 1979 were134W distorted because of the effects of bad weather and industries disputes. Preliminary estimates suggest that by the third quarter of this year output per head in all manufacturing industries combined was a little higher than in the first half of 1979.
Following is the table:
Percentage changes in output and output per person employed expressed at an annual rate: United Kingdom 1963 to 1973 First half of 1979 to second quarter of 1981 Output Output per head Output Putput per head All manufacturing industries +3.6 +4.2 -8.2 -0.8 Food, drink and tobacco +2.7 +3.3 -2.0 +1.9 Chemicals, coal and petroleum production +6.5 +6.8 -4.9 -0.4 Metal manufacture +1.3 +2.8 -13.7 -0.3 Engineering and allied industries +3.3 +3.6 -9.0 -1.4 Textiles, leather and clothing +2.8 +5.3 -13.4 -4.0 Other manufacturing industries +4.3 +4.1 -7.6 -1.6 Corresponding estimates of output per operative hour are not available. However, the average weekly hours worked by operatives in all manufacturing industries fell by annual rates of about 0.3 per cent. between 1963 and 1973 and about 1.9 per cent. between the first half of 1979 and the second quarter of 1981.
The main reason for the differences in the figures for the two periods given in the table is that those for 1979 to 1981 show the short-term effect of the current recession, while those for 1963 to 1973 more closely reflect the trend over that period. In addition, however, since the mid-1970s there has been a general slowdown in the trend growth of productivity in nearly all industrialised countries. Despite much research, this change in trend is not well understood. But it seems likely that the successive increases in real energy prices in the 1970s, together with the more rapid inflation, may have played some part in this.
My Department has no estimates of the effects of closures of plants on productivity.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many days were lost in manufacturing industry by strikes and by unemployment, respectively, in each of the past 10 years and the current year to date; and what are the corresponding figures for Merseyside.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonThe available data on working days lost through industrial stoppages in manufacturing industry in the United Kingdom are given in the table below. Corresponding figures for Merseyside are not available because for some national disputes it is not possible to disaggregate estimates below regional level.
However, from 1975 to 1978, Merseyside accounted for about 600,000 to 650,000 days lost in manufacturing industry per year on average. For 1979 the position is unclear because of the engineers' strike, for which separate estimates for Merseyside could not be made; but in 1980 Merseyside accounted for no more than about 100,000 of the recorded days lost in manufacturing industry, which is an improvement.
135WThere is no real relationship between unemployment and working days lost. While there are many job seekers offering their labour, unless the costs of output are competitive there is no real and economic demand for the goods and services on offer. If there is no economic demand for the labour offered, one cannot regard the unused labour as lost work.
Following is the table:
Working days lost through industrial stoppages Manufacturing industry: United Kingdom 1971–1981 Thousand 1971 6,577 1972 7,876 1973 5,701 1974 7,498 1975 5,002 1976 2,308 1977 8,057 1978 7,678 1979 22,552 1980 10,896 1981 (January to October)* 1,618 * Provisional.