Labour Minister the Hon. Irving Pearman told the House.

Mr. Pearman said 455 people "of varying skills and work background'' signed up for jobs. Of these, 130 had previously been registered with Government's Employment Office, and 325 were new registrants.

In addition to these 325, Mr. Pearman said, the Employment Office already had the names of 441 people who had registered since February but had not yet obtained jobs.

The special registration was conducted over three days last week in the eastern, western and central parishes, by enumerators working from post offices, schools and the Government Employment Office in Hamilton.

The busiest of the 14 sites was the Employment Office where 95 people signed up, followed by the Mangrove Bay Post Office which collected 60 registrations.

The lightest turnout was at the Harrington Sound Post Office where just three job seekers signed up.

"The information gathered will better define the numbers, as well as the skills and abilities, of those people who are actively seeking employment, and will be useful in determining how best the unemployed in Bermuda can be helped,'' Mr. Pearman said.

"In the meantime the Government Employment Office and the Board of Immigration will continue to work in close consultation to ensure that Bermudians are given the opportunity to fill jobs for which work permit applications are made.''