EMPLOYMENT DURING MAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 139, 14 June 1909, Page 4

EMPLOYMENT DURING MAY.

LABOUR DEPARTMENT .REPORT. Reporting on the employment marketin Wellington for the month of May last, the Labour Journal refers to tifc building trades, pointing out that several large -buildings are in the course of construction. Clothing trades have been fair,, dressmaking being especially busy. Engineering trades have been doing fair business, and in other trades the amount of business done has been fair for the season of the year. 'Bfickhayers are fairly busy ; several large "jobs just starting; very few men are^out of work. Carpentry and joinery slack,, with signs of improvement in the near future. The foundations of several large\contracts are well under way, ami employment, no doubt, will shortly be found' for a number of hands. Painting fairly_ good, chiefly in jobbing- work ; th<> painting of various Government buildings having provided work for a considerable number of men. Plastering fairly busy ; there, are no hands out of employment. Plumbing and gasfitting fairly busy; all hands fully employed ; employers express themselves satisfied with the state of trade for the season of the year. Stonemasonry fairly busy; all hands fully employed. ■ "Woodworking : Boxmaking good ; factories working full time. Cabinetmaking and upholstering ftill sla«k, with faint hopes of improvement. Coopering good, with every prospect of continuance. Sash and door factories still slack; theie has been a shortening of hands, and, in consequence, some factories are working full time. Sawmilling very slack, and the outlook is not bright. Woodturning, etc. : Fair 'business is being done. Engineering : Boilermaking fairly busy ; in some cases good trade is reported. Braes and copper-smithing fairly | busy ; an improvement on last month is shown. Electrical engineering fair; shows a slight improvement on last month. Fitting and turning fair. Iron, and brass moulding slack ; in some ca-ses hands have been put off. Rangemaking: Fair trade is .being done. Leather : Bootmaking (factories) busy ; all hands fully employed. Bootmaking (repair-shops) gather slack. Saddlery and harnessmaking fair ; some factories report all hands -working full time, others only .part time. Clothing I'Diessmaking very." good ; one. firm reports; that it requires several good •hands. 'Millinery : Good business being done. , ■Shirtmaking very slack. Tailoring (factories and order) fair. Woollenmilling very-busy; all hands fully employed, and working overtime. ■Retail Trades : Clothing, boots, drapery, and groceries; fair business is bein^ done for this time of year. Printing Trades : Bookbinding ; failtrade doing. Printing rather slack : several men. out of employment. 'Meat-freezing, etc. : Tanning, currying, .and iellmongering good; all hands working full time. Slaughtering, freezing, and preserving busy, especially so towards the end of the month. Coachbuilding Trades: Blacksmithing fairly good ; no change from last month. Coach, carriage, and tram car building fairly busy; factories kept going chiefly on repair work. Cycle and 'Motor Trades : 'Motor sales very good; cycle-repairing quiet. In the country districts the building trade is reported as follows : — Greytown and Masterton, slack ; Taihape, quiet ; Palmerston North, Otaki, and Featherston, fair, Feilding, dull. Agricultural operations aro active at Otaki and P'eilding ; fair at Featherston ; quiet at Masterton, AVellington, and Palmerston North. Reports Avere received from Wellington union secretaries as follow :— Carpenters.— Trade is very bad. Sixty carpenters and joiners are signing the book. This means a bad outlook f or the winter. Many firms are reducing hands. Engineers. — There has been an increase in the number of men out of work this month, owing to some, small contracts being finished and fresh arrivals from Britain. There are at least twenty members out of work, distributed among Wellington, Masterton, Napier, and Wanganui. About twenty members are working at other occupations. Plumbers. — Trade is very quiet. There are three members of our union out of work besides some non-unioaijts. There have been some large buildings started, but these will not be ready for some considerable time.