FURTHER PROGRESS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 266, 22 August 1936, Page 6

FURTHER PROGRESS.

INDUSTRY IN BRITAIN. DECREASE IN UNEMPLOYMENT. (United Press Association —Copyright.) LONDON, August 21. It was reported last night that the British index figure for industrial production during the second quarter of the current year was th% highest ever recorded, being 10.9 per cent, greater than for the second; quaitei of 1935. Other indications of returning prosperity following excellent overseas trade returns for July and better employment figures, are contained in improved earnings by retailers, whose receipts to date this year show an increase on 1935 of £2,871,000. Plans for factories and workshops have doubled in value, from £627,000 to £1,231,200, and the production of consumers' goods reflected in the recent advances in retail sales has reached new high levels.

The half-yearly analysis of the age distribution of unemployed men and women, made by the Labour Ministry, shows that while there was a reduction between May, 1935, and last May in the numbers of unemployed in nearly every age group, the reduction was greater proportionally among persons under 35 years. Men under 35 were 44.9 per cent, of all the unemployed men in May, 1935, hut this May the percentage has fallen to 41.6.—British Official Wireless.