asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the latest available estimate of the number of (a) skilled construction workers and (b) workers whose last job was in the building industry who are unemployed (i) in the city of Salford, (ii) in the Greater Manchester area and (iii) in the North-West region; and if he will make a statement.

The following table gives for October 1981 the numbers of unemployed people registered for employment in skilled construction occupations. It also gives for August 1981 the total number of registered unemployed people who last worked in the construction industry. There will be a further industrial analysis of the unemployed in May 1982.

	Numbers of skilled construction workers unemployed October 1981	Total number unemployed who last worked in the construction industry August 1981
City of Salford*	690	2,305
Greater Manchester metropolitan county	6,103	19,743
North-West region	14,907	50,071
* The areas covered by the Eccles, Irlam, Salford, Swinton and Worsley employment offices.

Employment in the construction industry in the North-West region and in the country as a whole will benefit from the Chancellor of the Exchequer's recently-announced Budget measures, which are aimed directly at stimulating the industry. In the longer term, however, future job prospects in construction, as in other industries, depend on the development of a sound and competitive economy, which the Government's policies are designed to promote.