asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the levels of unemployment in England and Wales in January, April, July and October 1975, 1976, and in respect of 1977 for January and April only, expressed as a percentage of the total work force.

Following is the information available. Rates of unemployment are calculated by expressing the numbers unemployed as a percentage of the total number of employees, including the unemployed.

ENGLAND AND WALES
	1975	1976	1977
	per cent.	per cent.	per cent.
January	3·1	5·3	5·8
April	3·4	5·2	5·6
July	3·9	5·9
October	4·7	5·6

Because of industrial action by some staff in the Department of Employment Group, the full monthly count of the numbers unemployed in January 1975 was not made and the figure given is an estimate based on simplified procedures.