LABOUR MARKET.

Otago Witness, Issue 137, 31 December 1853, Page 3

LABOUR MARKET.

The demand for good mechanics and town labourers still continues greater than the supply. In some instances first-rate workmen have obtained another advance in their wages ; it is, however, the opinion of many who are considered judges in matters of this kind, that the price of mechanical labour has attained the highest point, and therefore, if the labouring classes expect any material addition to the present rates, it may lead to consequences seriously hurtful to themselves, by forcing the present employers to suspend operations for a while. Town Wages :-— Painters, about 12s. to 13s. a-ilay ; Carpenters, 13s. to 15a. ; Plasterers, 16a. to 205. ; Bricklayers, 16s, to 215. ; Masons, 16s. to 205. ; Quarrymen £5 to £6 a week ; Female servants £20 to £26 a year. Country wages : — Farm labourers £25 to £40 a year, with rations ; Shepherds and hutkeepcrs £24 to £30 a year, with rations. Maekets, November 11th. — Fine flour, £27 per ton; seconds, £25; bran, 3s. 6d. per bushel ; wheat, 11s. to 12s. per do. ; bread, per 2 lb. loaf, 7d ; potatoes, per cwt. 245. : new, 265. to 30s. Of the arrivak during the week, several have been from New Zealand ; and the intelligence from that colony, By each successive mail, inspires stronger confidence in its productive capabilities, and its ultimate importance to the Australian communities, as an agricultural country. — Sydney Empire Nov. 12.