H.—llA.

as a result of which all men who were enrolled with the Placement Service before 29th January, 1938, were deemed, on the first occasion when they reported or re-enrolled after that date, to be new enrolees ; and this accounts for the non-inclusion of January enrolments in Table X. In Table XI, to render the figures relating to positions filled comparable with those depicting enrolments, the period 31st January to 31st December (as far as the year 1938 is affected) has been adhered to throughout. In the next annual report it will be possible to show all figures for the entire calendar year as well as those for the first quarter of 1940. The total placements effected during the calendar year 1938, 39,655, show a decline on the figures for the previous whole year of approximately 7,000 ; and if average monthly placements are examined it is found that during 1938, monthly placements of approximately 3,300 were recorded, as against 3,900 in 1937 and 3,300 in that portion of the current year for which figures are available. These figures indicate not that the Placement Service is doing less valuable work than it did in 1937, but that the labour-market has become more stable. Enrolments (exclusive of re-enrolments) from 31st January to 31st December of 1938 totalled 69,415, and for the period Ist January to 31st March, 1939, 36,927. The comparative increase on the 1938 enrolments shown in the figures for the first quarter of the present year is explained by the enrolment for the first time of approximately 17,000 workers then in. subsidized employment. In Table Xa of the Appendix of last year's report enrolments were shown mistakenly as 55,927 for the period Ist April, 1937, to 31st May, 1938. Actually statistics of this kind were compiled only from 31st July, 1937, so that the figure of 55,927 shown in last year's report represented enrolments for ten months, and not fourteen as suggested by the table in question. Enrolments over the last two odd years could then be said to be relatively stable. During the period 31st January to 31st December, 1938, Auckland Province records the largest number of enrolments, 23,081, an excess of roughly 8,000 over the next province, Wellington; 9,500 over the third province, Canterbury; and 14,000 over Otago Province. Wellington Province, on the other hand, over the whole year claims the highest number of positions filled, 12,625, Auckland being second only with 11,266, Otago occupying third place with 6,481, and Canterbury being but fourth with 4,040 positions filled. The detailed statement showing the movement of enrolments and placements between industries (Table XI of the Appendix) furnishes valuable information on the direction and extent of industrial activity during the periods surveyed—3lst January to 31st December, 1938, and Ist January to 31st March, 1939. In the former period a total of 86,194 new enrolments and 28,466 re-enrolments from industry are recorded. These enrolment figures in no way serve as a basis of comparison with the enrolment figures for the same period shown in Table X of the Appendix, because the figures in Table XI show enrolments for the first time from all the industrial groups listed, and many persons reporting on the second or third occasion during the year having come from employment of a particular nature for the first time have figured as new enrolments from the industrial groups Concerned, notwithstanding that in reporting to the Placement Office they are really re-enrolling. This explanation accounts for at least several thousand of the enrolments shown as "For the first time from industry during the year." Re-enrolments from industry for the portion of the year 1938, standing at 28,466, give a very fair indication of the extent to which the State Placement Service is used by persons obtaining employment of a temporary or casual nature only. Placements into industry as shown by Table XI of the Appendix total 70,714, the difference in placements between this number and that shown on Table IX, as well as that in the table appearing earlier in this section, being accounted for by the fact that the figure 70,714 includes many thousands of positions filled with local bodies, State Departments, &c., and is not, as in the case of the other returns mentioned, confined to placements in private industry. In the second period covered by Table XI —viz., the first quarter of the current year—new enrolments total 39,042 and re-enrolments 5,733. The remarks explaining the inflation of the new enrolments during the 1938 period also apply to the new enrolments during the first three months of 1939. Furthermore, new enrolments in this latter period are augmented to the extent of the 17,000 referred to in the remarks already made in connection with the enrolment figures for the first quarter of the current year appearing in Table X of the Appendix. Important conclusions can be drawn from Table XI regarding trends in industrial activity in the more significant industrial groups of the Dominion's economy. Group No. 24 (building and construction) shows new enrolments from 31st January to 31st December, 1938, totalling 6,692 and re-enrolments 2,753. Positions filled during the same period amount in this group only to 5,438. " A " grade tradesmen in the industrial group have been and are yet in short supply, therefore the conclusion that a number of building artisans enrolled with the State Placement Service have been able to place themselves without the aid of the Service is invited. All farm groups —2a (cropping), 2b (dairy, pig, and cattle), 2c (mixed), 2d (sheep), and 2e (other farming) —show enrolments much in excess of placements, but in view of the seasonal nature of these occupations and the shortage of labour felt in them during the summer months it is apparent that enrolees of these kinds are able to be absorbed to a great extent into seasonal employment without the actual assistance of the State Placement Service. This conclusion is also very well demonstrated in the comparative number of enrolments and placements in group 8 (meat freezing and preserving), an industry in which workers generally have an understanding with the various companies regarding employment-commencing dates. Group 32 (water transport) shows high enrolments and re-enrolments, with correspondingly high placements. Considering the casual nature of wharf labouring, which is included in this group, the near correspondence of placements and enrolments can be understood.

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