§ Mr. Humeasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate average industrial unit wage costs in Northern Ireland on an annual basis since 1975 and how they compare with figures for the United Kingdom as a whole.
§ Mr. ButlerThe following index or wage and salary costs per unit of output in manufacturing industry, including quarrying, in Northern Ireland has been estimated for April each year since 1978, taking 1980 as the base year.394W
Index of Wage and Salary costs Year 1978 83.0 1979 88.9 1980 100.0 1981 116.9 1982 115.6 It is not possible to provide figures for earlier years, and because of the different bases of the calculations these figures are not directly comparable with the United Kingdom figures published in the Employment Gazette.