ABSTRACT
West Yorkshire provides employment for about one-twentieth of the insured population of the country. The smallest number of unemployed persons during the period covered by the table was in May, 1924. Allowing for unemployment in the smaller towns, the total number of workers in West Yorkshire who may be considered surplus to the needs of existing industries and services in a period of good cyclical trade is probably about 18,000 to 20,000. In concluding this chapter, trends of unemployment in West Yorkshire during the last twelve years may be compared with changes in the country as a whole. Five and a half per cent is probably an underestimate, as allowance must be made for the fact that the peaks of seasonal unemployment occur at different parts of the year for different industries, e.g. coal in summer and building in winter, and each industry must have its own reserve of labour to meet the needs of periods of high seasonal demand.
