DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20501, 31 August 1928, Page 12

DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR.

UNEMPLOYMENT DECREASING. QUESTION OF LEAD POISONING. (Special to Daily Times.) WELLINGTON. August 30. The report of- the Department of Labour, presented to Parliament to-day, states that, contrary to expectations, with the onset of winter the applications at the labour bureaux bad not increased; indeed, a decrease took place, due partly-to the improved trade balance, and to a large number of applicants for employment having been sent to Government works. It is - now considered by commercial men that the restored favourable trade balance should shortly have the effect of creating a demand for all the employable labour. It is mentioned that during the year the value of building permits showed ,a decrease of £1,359,000. The building trade has been busy in the four centres, but in Auckland and Christchurch the activities had been confined principally to bricklayers, structural steel workers, plasterers/ and others employed on large buildings. Unemployment is _ much greater in other countries than in New Zealand, but it is suggested that _ the estimates of unemployment are misleading, as the question depends on the duration of unemployment in each case rather than on the number of persons. It is found that many of the unemployed here have not been idle for a lengthy period. The question of apprenticeship is dealt with in the report at considerable length. The number of journeymen ip iht skilled trades to which the Apprentices Act applies is 29.943, and the number of apprentices 10,227. . ... .The report says that the position in regard to lead poisoning is being closely watched. In conjunction with the Health Department, tests were carried out on three adjoining house , to discover whether zinc is a satisfactory substitute for white lead. A recent experiment disclosed that the white lead waa proving-more durable than the zinc compound, the indications after four years being that the zinc compound was of no further utility either for decorative or protective purposes.