KERNEL OF UNEMPLOYMENT

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 68, 17 September 1936, Page 8

KERNEL OF UNEMPLOYMENT

What has been termed the "hard kernel of unemployment," the irreducible minimum below which the number of unemployed in a given country is not likely to fall, was placed for Britain by the distinguished economist Sir . William IBeveridge in an address to the British Association Congress at Blackpool on Tuesday, at somewhere between 800,000 and 1,000,000. These I figures represent a percentage of 6 to i 8 of the workers in employment, as compared with the 2 per cent, of ! normal periods before the War. The rise in this "irreducible minimum is a reflection on the economic changes in Britain since the War. Sir William Beveridge's observations were but briefly reported in the Official Wireless message which contained the reference, and no explanation is given of the causes of a con- ' dition of employment which is deemed permanent. Nor was it stated whether this "irreducible" 'minimum took account of the possible effects of increased mobility and versatility of labour. The economist was inclined to doubt whether the figures represented "a real increase of unemployment" or were "only the result of complete records not hitherto being available." A similar doubt lias been expressed with regard to the apparent increased incidence of certain diseases as to whether this was not clue to belter records being kept by health departments. Only twice since 1921, however, in Britain have the unemployment figures dropped below the million mark, and this would seem to bear out the argument that this minimum is more or less a permanent feature of industry. In other countries, the same phenomenon has been manifest in a greater or lesser degree. Whether the "hard kernel" would respond favourably to a resumption of international trade on the pre-War scale is a question for the expert economist to decide. The , general opinion is in the affirmative.