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1932. NEW ZEALAND.

DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR (REPORT OF THE).

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

REPOET.

The Acting-Secretary, Department of Labour, to the Hon. the Minister op Labour. Sir,' — Department of Labour, Wellington, 28th July, 1932. I have the honour to present herewith the forty-first annual report of this Department, for the information of His Excellency the Governor-General, and to be laid before Parliament, in compliance with the Labour Department Act, 1908, and the Factories Act, 1921-22. The report covers the financial year Ist April, 1931, to 31st March, 1932. Owing to the continued need for economy, the report has again been made as brief as possible. I have, &c., Henry E. Moston, The Hon. the Minister of Labour. Acting-Secretary of Labour.

UNEMPLOYMENT. On the 30th March, 1931, there were 38,028 applicants registered at the Department's employment offices throughout the Dominion. With slight fluctuations the number gradually increased to 51,408 on the sth October, 1931, thereafter decreasing steadily until the 29th February, 1932, when it stood at 44,107. The number on the Department's registers on the 28th March, 1932, was 45,383. This number is 7,355 in excess of the number on the registers at the close of the previous year. (Note. — Since the end of the year —viz., March last —the number of registered unemployed has continued to increase, the maximum figure up to the present being 55,203 on the 25th July, 1932 —i.e., 3,795 in excess of the peak figure for last year.) During the year 18,328 men were placed in employment, 3,403 on Government works, 12,171 in private employment, inclusive of those placed under Schemes 4 and 8, 679 with local bodies (apart from those employed on the Unemployment Board's No. 5 Scheme) and 2,075 in camps under the Unemployment Board's schemes. In addition, 325 were assisted by advances of railway fares. (Figures for the previous year were : 12,586 Government works, 9,245 local bodies, 7,320 private employment, 1,072 on temporary work immediately following the Hawke's Bay earthquake ; total, 30,223.) Of the 45,383 men on the Department's registers at the 28th March, 29,182 were employed under No. 5 Scheme, which then provided for three weeks' (out of every four weeks) temporary employment up to four days each week according to each man's circumstances. This figure does not, however, give an accurate idea of the number of unemployed who were assisted under the scheme, the maximum number securing relief during the year being 37,356 on the 21st December, 1931, when the total number of unemployed on the register was 45,524. The men employed under No. 5 Scheme are not regarded as " placements," and are not therefore included in the figure 18,328 {supra).

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