asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many building and construction workers were unemployed in the Northern Region at the most recent available date; and what were the figures for 12 months earlier.

At February 1975 there were 15,839 unemployed people who last worked in construction in the Northern Region compared with 13,446 at February 1974. The boundaries of the region were revised in April 1974 and the two figures relate to slightly different areas.