BUSINESS BAROMETER

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 75, 25 February 1938, Page 12

BUSINESS BAROMETER

PLACEMENT STATISTICS. VARIATIONS IN INDUSTRY, The weekly statistical record compiled by the State Placement Service gives some interesting details of fluctuation in the employment figures of many industries. Consulted over a lengthy period, this record is significant as a pointer of the direction of industrial activity. It. recommends itself especially to the student of commerce because of the fact that only skilled workers are dealt with, and because no account is taken therein of casual employments effected by the State Placement Service. The return for the week ended January 22 is dealt with specifically here, and an attempt is made to draw conclusions oh general industrial significance. For the purpose of effective analysis and comparison, a summary of unemployment registrations and placements is made. Registrations are divided into new enrolments and re-enrolments, the former denoting enrolment for the first time within a year and the latter signifying re-enrolment at least once within the period of a year. The placement return is also subdivided into temporary and permanent placements, temporary being taken as covering placements of from one week to three months and permanent as anything above three months.

The figures embracing only skilled workers and tradesmen of many industries show that in the week ended January 22 the total of unemployed enrolments through the placement offices of the Dominion amounted to 245, of which 130 were newly enrolled and 115 re-enrolled. Placements for the name period were 151, made up of 56 temporary and 95 permanent allocations. In toto, there was an excess

of 93 registrations over placements, j Tho two previous returns during the j month of January both showed considerable surpluses of registrations over placements, yielding a mean excess of 151. Tho considerable absorption of skilled labour indicated by the reduc- , tion of this excess from 151 to 93 is i Largely accounted for by seasonal activities, but some part of it is doubtless due to the progressive dovetailing of a general industrial activity steadily gathering momentum. Specific reference to the building trades, always reliable indices to industrial activity, evokes the fact that there was for the week ended January 22 an actual surplus of placements over enrolments and re-enrolments throughout the industry as a whole. Placements in the carpentry branch exceeded registrations by some 24, or eighteen if no cognisance is taken of youths apprenticed under the Government’s scheme 16. This result, viewed in conjunction with the apparent absence of unemployment among bricklayers, evidences marked’ activity iii either building construction or renovation, or both. However, figures in the finishing trades of the industry show a depression which is almost sufficient to counterbalance' the buoyancy i in the carpentry and, to a lesser extent, bricklaying trades. For instance, painters, and paperhangers, plumbers and plasterers all show, a surplus of enrolments and re-enrolments °yer placements. Apparently, much of tire present building activity is of a general nature and is not by any means solely related to house building. The boot and wearing apparel industries also provide interesting figures. While production, as reflected in placements, is being well maintained in the woollen manufacturing and taiforinf industries, there is an apparent slowing-up in boot manufacturing concerns. For example, enrolments and re-enrolments totalling ten, were noted during the week under review, but no placements at all were made.

The motor-car industry a typical ln- \ dex to prosperity or depression—is, 1 according to the figures supplied, maintaining activity, for 15 place-, ments .of motor-body assemblers were recorded as against ten enrolments 1 and re-enrolments. ~ , | In the distributive and _ retail spheres figures are more erratic and consequently less significant, variations in allied employments being so considerable in the short period observed as to render the return for this section of scant value. However, a falling-off in the _ employment. of transport workers is noticeable from the enrolment figures (18) and re-en-rolment total (4) of motor-car; and lorry drivers, which together exceed the total corresponding placements by some 15. The same instability is apparent in retail and wholesale industries, an easing in some branches notably drapery and hardware —being compensated for bv increased placements in others— mainly among storemen and general packers. • The figures for a host of miscellaneous occupations are also available, but they, too. are rendered almost nugatory by the diminutive industrial period they reflect so capriciously. However, some of the more noteworthy results are: During the week in question, two cabinetmakers enrolled and a similar number was placed; 6 clerks registered and positions .Hor four were found; three commercial travellers registered, but no placements were made; 1 mechanical engineer re-enrolled, while one fitter and two foundry workers were absorbed; two furriers obtained posts, but no registrations were recorded; five mill ' hands enrolled or re-enrolled, and work was found for two; no new enrolments in the soap- . manufacturing business were recorded, but three placements . were made; two tinsmith employees ! enrolled, and a similar number of sei cured billets, while eight timber yardmen were drafted . work, as against only four registrations.