§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Paymaster General what information he has concerning the number of people employed in the textiles and clothing industries in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available; and if he will give comparable figures for each month in the last five years.
§ Mr. LangThe Department's employment statistics for the textiles and clothing industries are produced on a quarterly basis and cannot be expressed in precisely the manner required.
The latest available figures for employees in employment in the textiles (including man-made fibres) and clothing industries in Great Britain during the last five years are as follows:
Number 1980 December 585,000 1981 March 565,000 June 550,000 September 544,000 December 532,000 1982 March 521,000 June 510,000 September 501,000 December 491,000 1983 March 481,000 June 475,000 September 478,000 December 475,000 1984 March 470,000 June 467,000 September 467,000 December 465,000 1985 March 460,000 June 459,000 September 464,000