asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether the estimates of the rise in the unit labour costs of various countries given in figure 9 of the White Paper "Employment: The Challenge for the Nation," Cmnd. 9474, have been adjusted to allow the movements in each country's exchange rate; and whether he will publish an index for each of the countries cited showing the rise in unit labour costs in each year since 1974, or the nearest approximation available, taking 1974 as a base date and deriving the index in terms of United States dollars.

As the note to figure 9 of the White Paper "Employment: The Challenge for the Nation" (Cmnd. 9474) makes clear, the data portrayed relate to unit labour costs in local currency terms.The table gives figures adjusted for exchange rate changes. Although short run movements in exchange rates will affect competitiveness, movements in domestic labour costs are a crucial long run determinant. Over the period since 1974, unit labour costs adjusted for exchange rate changes have risen by more in the United Kingdom (+33 per cent.) than in the United States (+26½ per cent.). They fell in the Federal Republic of Germany (-8½ per cent.) and Japan (-18½ per cent.).