UNEMPLOYED IN U.S.

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29942, 2 October 1962, Page 15

UNEMPLOYED IN U.S.

Second Highest Rate In West <NZ. Preu Association-Copyright) WASHINGTON, September 30. A United States Presidential committee reported today that unemployment has been running higher in the United States than in any other industrial nation of the nomCommunist world, except Canada.

The finding was the most surprising in a

book-length report issued by the Presidential committee named 10 months ago to judge the reliability

and usefulness of the Government’s monthly statistics on employment, the Associated Press said.

A.P. said that in the report made to President Kennedy the six-man team of professionals, including labour and industry economists, rejected emphatically the charges heard from time to time that the job reports understated or overstated unemployment significantly or were distorted for political purposes. However, the committee recommended many revisions and additions to the employment data.

"After careful investigation, the committee has unanimously and categorically concluded that doubt concerning the scientific objectivity of the agencies responsible,'* it said. It confirmed also the basic accuracy of studies showing that United States unemployment for years had been higher than that of her major Western partners. The difference usually had been explained away on the ground that different yardsticks were used for unemployment abroad, A.P. said. A.P. said this "comforting theory” was demolished by today's report. Reduced to the same terms as were used in the report, the composite unmployment rate of seven foreign countries in> 1960 average only 2.1 per cent, of the labour force. The rate in the United States was 5.6 per cent.

The rates were 7 per cent, for Canada, 1.9 per cent, for France. 1 per cent, for West Germany, 2.4 per cent, for Britain, 42 per cent for Italy. 1.1 per cent, for Japan, and 1.5 per cent, for Sweden. The report said: ‘The seven foreign countries with a combined labour force of 143 million—more then twice

ours—had only about 3,000,000 unemployed, whereas in the United States there were 4,000.000 unemployed." The study gave several possible explanations, the foremost being the phenomenal industrial expansion of Western Europe and Japan In recent years. The others Included: the far more rapid growth of the American labour force; the shrinkage of farm employment because of the United States' surpassing agricultural productivity; the higher pay scales in the United States, which made it possible for an American worker to leave his job while he looked around for a better one. In addition, the study pointed out. Europe, especially Italy, had some legal restrictions against laying off workers. French, British and German employers traditionally held on to their workers even during serious recessions, and Japanese employers generally assumed the responsibility of providing lifetime jobs for regular employees. In most of these countries there was a much closer employeeemployer attachment than in the United States. Nevertheless, President Kennedy told the committee members when they presented the report to him that the finding on unemployment levels was "very important." He concurred with the committee's recommendation for further study of the matter, A.P. reported.