LAST MONTH'S TRADE CONDITIONS. LABOUR DEPARTMENT'S REPORT.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXII, Issue 63, 12 September 1911, Page 8

LA ST MONTH'S TRADE CONDITIONS. LABOUR DEPARTMENT'S REPORT.

* Trad© condition* in Wellington during j|h© last month have been very fair, acittfding to the current report of the Department of Labour. In the same month j *f laeb year there had been A long sue- ] ieeeion of we* Saturdays ; this handicap | |o tb* ( *«tail trade* fiaa not obtained this ;jjfe*r. ' JReporte from shopkeepers- for «AugHßfc h»vo consequently been con♦iderably brightei 1 in tone, and there? is Every indication of th» standard being maintained for «ome time. In thertJrapery and clothing trades th* bright feather has enforced a demand for spring goods earlier than usual, causing m considerable improvement, particularly pn the dressmaking, millinery, and orderworkrooms, Boot and clofcUffiig factofi«e have had a busy month, 4bub these are- now stgn» 6t a ( slight, "falling away from ihe activity which has .prevailed for. the laet twelve month*. • l^h.6 inqiroveflietlfc reported lwt month, Nfih' the engirieering trades hae been fatiiy maintauwd. Woodisofking fa^roi»i«« have been kept goiflg, bub trade I m not brick. With the exception p^rllap« of paintirfg and plumbing, the -■ Budding kade chows no improvemont. on the previous month's report, ami at. .jMMent there i» nothing in sight to an- , licipate any #üb«tantial betterhient. 1 Phew hfl« been a* alight fallitig-off during ' ,h« month in bricklaying, bub sufficient w>rk atill offers to give all competent. i gsAentam fairly pennsnenfc employnent. In carpentry, trad© has \ecn Jelow the average, and a few men bay© • |fteen idle, Prooably on account of the food w«flth«f conaidepbh work h«« Wti MfteeeA in the painting line, " ami from fttow on to the end , of the aeaeon this wealthy state of trad? is expected to jteontiime. The plastering trade ie -not fftrfek, but corapetent men ft*v« beea •kept ffoing during th« month. Although fcuilding ie not. particular active, repair ftlnd other work hae offered freely, and report, thab trade is very good. | where has been an enquiry during the Jtooflth for good' stonemasons. Reports •how the cabineWnaking Itade to. be t T pholst«ring has been good. • (Box-making and coopering continue busy, JBII hands being fully employed.' There *a# been an improvement *ieee tho 'fefevioufl month in «a«h and door kcIfffriea and eawmilling, and employ«w» ex«ect this to increase ; thore ie no call, Joowever, fop extra hands, ami not likely 3K> be- for atme time. Owing to the de* Bnaad for furniture with square legs and finiihinss, tKvde ifl now much qtiiet«. '$ Th* liefalthy conditionn of tW engi-; } Mewing trades reported la«t month b»v«J ( peen w«ll maintained. All bt&e and i .copper smithfi have been kept m full ♦work. The boilermakiflg trade, h bi%y All found. Although all hand* ate t*>jported working, there has beVn a. slighf. ; ptalling-off in the fitting and turning • itfade. In the iron and h*M*« ftiwldini; ; ttrad© a very good* month is renotrteci, ( toarticalarly in the braiwwork. Bnskne«» ' ftag continued in. the trad© bul< the end j of th« buoy season it, now approAching,. [ tend quieter trade ia noon expected. Sev- 1 ieral farye country contract for eleftrifai ( (engineering works havo been recent j igiving trade a considerable impetus and :• creating A demand for competent hanth ■ [Bootmakiag factories have continued at i (high pressure, but at time of writing j ithere are sign* of a slight sk-ckotiiflf/. j OBoot-repair shop« have had a b«»y S (month. The excellent condition*, wv Sported lasb month in eaddlery and bar toeasmaklng hay* continued during AugK»t. Trade hAs been good in the izv* «ing, Cflrryiffg, and fellmon^eHn^. fttnl (hand* ar« fully employed. The season, \ \lot meat freeiiiog is ended. &*in <.he g«i*r»l «xodas of woAew to Atattfalia ha« occurred. Although there has 'been. » idrop in the <!oa«iibuiidiii^ /trade from #bat of the pTeviou* month, iJie e^ist.iiit.iconditioM are better" than- whaf. obfAined mt this time la«f> yeaf. The hwy s*m*ott for the cycle and motea' trades has aiow commenced, but $& have. fceen good throughout the win 4.*?,4 .*?, employers are pessimistic in their .tnticif>a.tion# of the season'a orders. The tinftfflibhing trade ie very busy, and considerable overtime ha« been worked. 'Confectionery and condiment factories fiiave had a busy month, and urgent en<jume« ate made foe boys and female jworkers. IN OTHER PLAOjES. Satis-factofy conditions generally ate jreported. , Auckland makes no complaint «i slackness of trade, and the bmldors tore* very 'busy, notwithstanding the fact (that there was excitement, >and, no doubt, some time lost, through tfhe scarcity of sand and shingle. " The (excitement appears to be dying out, jtind trade is going on now s»« usual. At Oisboffle the skilled trades have improved (it in noted) since last reptft, anore eepedally the building trades. - Generally speaking, business at Napier jhas been on an average with the corresponding period of lasb year, &hd the advent, of spring will materially a&isb trade. In addition to the large amount «f money already authorised to be spent (by the local authority, during the month tfche t atepttyer.3 have sancDioned a further iloan of £25,000. The business permits asstied during; the month, amount to 1£25,747. The building trade has had a good month, and there is every pro*ipect of ifc continuing busy for some ttiffle io come. Hastings reports tfad«# and employment in the town apparently ibetter thaa last month. Building per' imits issued during the month totalled i£6766; Hoase* ate id. course of erecttion ab New Plymouth, where the manufacturing trades have continued fairly iMgular. Most local unskilled workers, «ifc is reported, have had a fairly successIf ul winter. Work has been very plentiful <ab Wangamii, and all trades have been very busy. There is a prospect for local ihands of sufficienb work foj some time to come. Palmerston North reports trade fairly sabisfactory, and the flax milk in iuh swing. Sabisfaotory accounts emanate from Otaki, the building trade' in Masterton i» brisk, while for unskilled labour there is little work of. rfering- ■ Nelson reports few, if any, local unskilled hands out of employment, the ttimber industry is remarkably active at Greymouth, while at ChriKtchurch trade and labour conditions for the p'asb wionth have been quite up to the normal jfor the time of the year. Ashbufton ipe'aks of an improvement in business ,*nd a dearth of good ploughmen, the drainage Work and laying of new water mains in Timaru are affording employment for a number of men, and a further contract in connection with the drainage scheme is to be staortwi .shortly, At Oamaru trade is qtiwl generally, and Dunedin, which hsvs iofty or fifty idle men on ite hand*, says thai conditions are, however, not so bad as were experienced laeb year, and the flexfc few weeks (it is believed) will show * great improvement. Work has been plentiful in the majority of trade* at anyereafgill, the building contractor* Ijeing very active. The continued dry weather is having it* effect orv the snow on the ranges, ■which are being rapidly denuded of tfcheir whits covering (says the North Otago Times of yesterday). The fall „wa9 heavy during the winter, but more Aha-fl half of ib has now gone: A notice to members of the Wellington Employer** Aftsoefttion is advertised in lihu ittue, ■ '"