N.Z. FACTORIES

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20523, 13 June 1938, Page 9

N.Z. FACTORIES

1937 PRODUCTION NEW PEAK LEVELS MATERIALS AND WAGES New* peak levels under all the prin- ! cipal heads covered are shown in the | Census Department's annual report on factory production in the Dominion for the jear 1936-37. Other prominent features are the big upswing that took place in the number of persons employed approximately 10,000 more I than In the jear 1935-36, which was the previous highest registered—and the substantial rise in the value of production, which for the first time exceeded £100,000,000. Values at the factory are taken, and this applies to the dairy Industry. In regard to the cost of materials operated on, two semi-primary industries, meat freezing and butter and cheese making, accounted for £41,632,310 out of a total of £70,668,075, representing the cost of raw materials operated on In 1936-37. Constituting as they usually do well over 50 per cent, of the total cost of materials used in all industries, the figures for these two industries influence the Dominion total for any year. Indeed, a study of the total cost of materials over a number of years shows that the frequent and wide oscillations In the prices of primary products are clearly reflected. The total cost of materials used during the year 1936-37 aggregated £70,668,075 —the highest yet recorded —and exceeded the former record of 1935- (£59,940,393) by over £lO,700,000. Over 50 per cent, of this increase was contributed by the butter and cheese, and meat freezing and preserving industries with advances of £3,203,571 and £2.762.770 respectively. Other industries registering notable increases were :—Fellmongering and wool scouring, £546,792; coachbuilding and motor engineering, £337,682; electric supply, £278,469; clothing. £267.903; ham and bacon curing. £252.451 ; agricultural machinery. £225.041. Principal declines were.—Sausage casing, £61,687; chemical manufacturing, £10,524. Noarly 9 per cent. Return "Other expenses of operation” (including cost of coal, other fuel and power, insurance, depreciation), totalled £10.751,343, £1,144,519. or 12 per cent, higher than for 1935-1936. "It Is necessary,” says the statement, “when attempting to gauge the success or otherwise of an industry to give due attention to the items ‘other expenses*.” The production costs of an industry are arrived at by adding together the salaries and wages, cost of materials used, and other expenses. The result, when compared with the value of the output of the industry, indicates either a surplus or a deficit. Total production costs for the year 1936- amounted to £99,752,495 £18.333,077, salaries and wages; £70,668.075, cost of materials used; £10.751,343, other expenses) while the total value of production aggregated £105.941,722. showing, therefore, a surplus of £6,189,227. This surplus of £6,189.227 Is equal to 8.9 per cent, of the amount of capital invested in land, buildings, plant and machinery. The total value of products for 193637 (£105.941.722) establishes a newrecord high level and eclipses the previous peak attained in 1929-30

(£90,757,981) by over £15,000.000. It also shows an Increase of £15,926,974. or 17.7 per cent, over the 193536 figure (£90.014.748). Among individual industries the greatest absolute increase was disclosed by the figure for the butter and cheese industry —viz.. £3.504,049 followed closely by meat freezing and preserving £3.255,820. Other marked increases were: Coachbuilding and motor engineering, £*.111.610; sawmilling, £679.895; fellrnongering and woolscouring. £632.082: clothing. £573,080; agricultural machinery, £399.134; printing and publishing, £366,690. The only decrease of any consequence was sausage casing, £73,626. North Island Leads As between the North and South Islands it is interesting to observe tiiat 66 per cent, of the added value for the whole Dominion in the year 193637 was created in the North island; further, that 59.1 per cent, of the total was credited during the same period to the Auckland and Wellington districts together. Employees Increase For the jear under review 96,401 persons, including working proprietors, found employment in factories, mills, and works, a new high record level, exceeding the highest previous figure, which was for the previous year, by 9813. Industries chiefly responsible for the increase were clothing ,1532., coachbuilding and motor engineering 1454;, sawmilling (798), general engineering .401), and boot and shoe .321). There were slight decreases in meat freezing and preserving, sausage casing, and electrical engineering. Of tlie total employed 2569 were employers, 5208 managers, overseers, etc., 8607 clerical, and 80,017 earning employees. Almost threequarters of the employees were males. Increased Wages The statistics of salaries and wages included in Ihe report include overtime and bonuses, and cover •time” and “piece*' or contract wages. The amount paid in salaries and wages in the year 1936-37 was £18,333,077, an increase of £3.488.710 over tlie total in tlie previous year (£14,844,367). Among tlie individual industries the greatest increase (£461.756) was re- . corded in tlie coachbuilding nn I motor | engineering industry, other notable increases being: Sawmilling. £348.754; clothing. £296.878: meat freezing and preserving. £231.097: butter and cheese manufacture. £192.209; printing publishing. £173.939; general engineering. £172.239; furniture, £152.306. ; The distribution of the total amount of salaries and wages recorded in 1936-37 was:—Proprietors actively engaged, £554.174 3 per cent. : managers, overseers, etc.. £2.'*86.517 ,11. 4 r per cent : feuntants. clerks, etc.. |£1.783.18'* 9.7 percent. ; wnge-earn-i ins empi e ees. £13,909,206 75.9 per ! cent. While the number of wage-earners rep:nt. d 83 per cent, of the total | ’persons engaged, this class of workers * received in 1936-37 75.9 per cent, of the total amount distributed in salaries and \\»-Cv Managers and overseers, jotc.. who constituted 5.8 per cent, of I 1 the total persons engaged. received 11.4 per cent. As between the sexes,

Omals wnrkorp t'pi'eivert 12 r> pnr (’cut. ~f thp )>><:>! salaries and wages, while in j, ,i n L of numherß Iheso workerß represented 25. s per cent, of the total. Purina Mie week covered in 1036-37, the total number of wage-earning employees was 87.335, or 10.628 more 1 than in the corresponding- week in 1933-36. while the total earnings in the respective weeks were £329,980 and £2 iB.OOB respectively, an increase of £81,972 being shown. In 1936-37 the average weekly earnings for males for the week covered was recorded as £i 8s 9d. an increase of i3s id as compared with the pre- . reding year s figure. Tim average for females also advanced from £1 12s to £1 17s Gd