NEW ZEALAND INDUSTRY.

Waikato Times, Volume 116, Issue 19450, 14 December 1934, Page 8

NEW ZEALAND INDUSTRY.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY. EMPLOYMENT QUESTION. (Special to'Times.) DUNEDIN, Friday. Speaking .at 'the annual meeting of the Dunedin Manufacturers’ Association last ■ evening the Prime Minister (Right Hon. G. W. Forbes) said, inter alia,: "When I received 'the invitation to address you I 'called for the returns of ~ the persons engaged in various branches of manufacturing Industries, together with, values of raw material and the finished product, so as''to see whether there were any indication as to which industries were employing more operatives than four years ago and in which industries the employment and production was de-

creasing . . . ” .-"From a general study of the figures supplied 'to me it is pleasing to note that In spite of the continuing slump ■the number of persons engaged in secondary industries, the value of the raw material used and also the value of the finished product all show a small but 1 definite increase between 1932 and 1933 and a further increase seems to be forecasted for the 193334 figures which are however not yet completely available. “I also notice that of the 68,000 odd employees in manufacturing industries well oyer one-third are engaged in the processing of the immediate products of primary industry—e.g., dairy factories, meat works, etc-, and .that in these industries employment has more than held its own. “For instance in the meat freezing

and preserving industry the numbers nf persons engaged have increased from 5890 in 1930 to 7650 in 1933, while in the dairy manufacturing industry the number of .employees has held its .own at about 4100. “The figures relating to such indus-

tries as biscuit and confectionery mak- * ing (2700). woollen milling (2400), ■boot and shoe making (2400), clothing manufacturing (7600) have about held their own or if anything shown a slight increase. In engineering howover," the figures show a very decided reduction In employment.’’