Civilian Labor Force, August 1943

THE civilian labor force declined seasonally by 600,000 persons between July and August 1943 to a total of 54,900,000, according to the Bureau of the Census Monthly Report on the Labor Force. At the same time, unemployment dropped by 200,000 to a level of 1,000,000, while employment declined by 400,000.

TABLE 1.-Estimated Civilian Labor Force, by Employment Status and Sex, in Selected Months, August 1940-August 1943 1

[Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census]

* Includes persons on public emergency projects prior to July 1943.

The decrease in the civilian labor force was concentrated almost entirely among persons 14-19 years of age. Although the usual seasonal pattern has prevailed this summer, the sex composition of teen-age participants in the civilian labor force has changed con

Footnotes (table 6)—Continued.

1943 to April 1943 average weekly hours to 47.3, 46.5, 47.4, and 47.6; August 1942 and December 1942 average hourly earnings to 86.2 and 89.0 cents.

Underwear and neckwear, men's.—April 1943 average weekly hours and average hourly earnings to 38.1 hours and 61.1 cents.

Work shirts.-March and April 1943 average weekly earnings to $18.34 and $18.71.

Butter.-January, February, and March 1943 average weekly earnings to $29.10, $29. 10, and $29.21; January and February average weekly hours to 45.7 and 45.3; March and April average hourly earnings to 62.1 and 62.9 cents.

Electric light and power.-March average weekly hours 41.0, average hourly earnings 102.0 cents.
Retail trade:

Food group.-Average weekly earnings, January $27.93, April $28.62; average weekly hours January 41.6, April 41.2; average hourly earnings, January 64.6 cents.

General merchandise group.-Average hourly earnings, January 53.7 cents; average weekly earnings, March $20.51, April $20.43.

Apparel group.-Average weekly earnings, January $24.80, March $25.28, April $24.64; average weekly hours, January 37.7, April 36.3; average hourly earnings, January 67.3 cents, April 68.0 cents. Furniture group.-Average weekly hours, February 43.5; javerage weekly earnings, March $33.43, April $34.62; average hourly earnings, February 77.4 cents.

Automotive group.-Average weekly earnings, January$33.83; [average weekly hours, January, February, and April, each 47.3; average hourly earnings, January 72.2 cents, February 74.3 cents. Lumber group.-Average weekly hours, February 42.6; average hourly earnings, February 79.1 cents; April 80.5 cents.

Hotels.-April, average weekly earnings, $19.54; average weekly hours, 44.7; average hourly earnings, 43.7

cents.

Dyeing and cleaning.-Average weekly earnings, March $26.30, April $28.57; average weekly hours, March 43.5, April 45.7; average hourly earnings, March 61.9 cents, April. 64.1 cents.

April 1943 average weekly earnings for firearms, as published in table 2, page 5, of mimeographed release dated August 16, 1943, should have been $57.36 instead of $47.36.

' Not available.

siderably during the past year. The number of boys aged 14-19 in August 1943 was 1,300,000 lower than the August 1942 figure, a development reflecting the entrance of many boys into the armed forces. On the other hand, the number of teen-age girls in August 1943 exceeded the August 1942 level by 500,000 to offset partially the exodus of boys.

Extensive changes also took place in the agricultural and nonagricultural composition of the employed group. The seasonal decline of 100,000 in agricultural employment between July and August 1943 was low compared to a 500,000 decrease for the corresponding period in both 1942 and 1941. Moreover, nonagricultural employment decreased by 300,000 between July and August 1943, in contrast to increases during this interval of 500,000 in 1942 and 600,000 in 1941.

TABLE 2.-Estimated Civilian Labor Force, Employment and Unemployment, by Age and Sex, in July and August 1943 and August 1942 í

[Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census]

Persons on public emergency work projects are included with the unemployed prior to July 1943.

Less than 50,000.

OCTOBER 1943

Agriculture and Agricultural Workers

Legal rights of farm workers. By K. T. Sutton and H. L. Mitchell. Memphis, Tenn., Southern Tenant Farmers Union, [1943]. 6 pp.; mimeographed. They saved the crops. By Carey McWilliams. (In Inter-American, Washington, August 1943, pp. 10-14; illus. 25 cents.)

Observations on and results of the United States-Mexican project to bring agricultural workers to the United States from Mexico. The article includes statistics as to number of workers transported and wages received, and discusses reception of the workers, their reactions, and opportunities offered them. Agricultural reconstruction in China. By Owen L. Dawson. (In Foreign Agriculture, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Foreign Agricultural Relations, Washington, June 1943, pp. 123-134; map. 10 cents.) The author discusses the basic problems of Chinese agriculture, the measures adopted by the Chinese National Government to meet these problems, and agricultural reconstruction measures in which the United Nations may lend aid to China.

Agriculture in the Dominican Republic. By Jane Swift Powell. Washington, Pan American Union, Division of Agricultural Cooperation, 1943. 27 pp., bibliography, illus.; mimeographed. (American agriculture series, No. 2.) Survey of agricultural conditions and policy in the Dominican Republic. Social and economic aspects discussed include rural housing, health, education, wages, land tenure and utilization, and credit.

Breve reseña de política agraria en el Paraguay. By Nicasio Martínez Díaz. (In Véritas, Buenos Aires, April 1, 1943, pp. 364–367.)

Brief analysis of recent agricultural relief measures in Paraguay including those relating to colonization, education, minimum prices, credit, and other matters.

Education and Training

Labor and education in 1942. Washington, American Federation of Labor, 1943. 31 pp.

Reports of the Executive Council, American Federation of Labor, and the annual convention of the Federation in October 1942, on the subject of education. Pre-induction training in vocational schools, vocational departments, and trade schools. Prepared jointly by the War Department and the U. S. Office of Education. Washington, U. S. War Department, 1943. 29 pp., illus. (P. I. T. 330.)

Training war production workers: Biennial report of the Michigan program of vocational training for war production workers, vocational training for rural war production workers, and training for youth employed on NYA work projects, for the biennium ended June 30, 1942. Lansing, State Board of Control for Vocational Education, 1942. 64 pp., illus. (Bull. No. 285.)

EDITOR'S NOTE.-Correspondence regarding the publications to which reference is made in this list should be addressed to the respective publishing agencies mentioned. Where data on prices were readily available, they have been shown with the title entries. The amounts do not include postage, and also they are subject to change.

Dominion-Provincial youth training program; Dominion-Provincial war emergency training program: Report of the Dominion Supervisor of Training for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1943. Ottawa, Department of Labor, 1943. 24 pp. Factory training manual. Edited by Reginald Pugh. Bath, England, Management Publications Trust, Ltd., 1942. 316 pp., diagrams, illus.

Second editon of a practical textbook, by a group of engineers, for use in connection with the British Ministry of Labor scheme for training skilled and semiskilled operatives.

Employment and Unemployment

Development and operation of employment stabilization programs.

(In Labor Mar

ket, U. S. War Manpower Commission, Bureau of Program Requirements, Washington, March-April 1943, pp. 10-17.)

Brief account of the employment-stabilization programs promoted in various areas by the U. S. War Manpower Commission.

Freedom from fear and want: A study of the unemployment problem. By Basil Smallpeice. Potters Bar, Middlesex, England, Gee & Co. (Publishers), Ltd., 1942]. 47 pp. 1s. 6d.

Full employment. London, Economist Newspaper, Ltd., 1943. 28 pp. (Reprint of articles in the Economist, October 3, 10, 17, and November 28, 1942, and January 2, 1943.)

Discussion of the possibility of full employment, the means to attain it, and the

cost.

Principles of employment supervision in war and peace. By Elizabeth M. Johnstone. (In International Labor Review, International Labor Office, Montreal, September 1943, pp. 277-307. 60 cents.)

The article covers one aspect of employment organization-principles governing supervision over entries into and changes of employment-in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, Union of South Africa, and the United States. Wartime controls of employment in Germany are briefly noted.

Proceedings of the thirtieth annual convention of the International Association of Public Employment Services, held at Louisville, Ky., May 5-8, 1942. [Cleveland, Ohio, B. C. Seiple, Secretary-Treasurer, 1242 West Third Street, 1943?] 99 pp.

Annual review of employment and pay rolls in Canada, 1942. Ottawa, Department of Trade and Commerce, Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1943. 71 pp., charts.

Shows employment and pay rolls, in both actual numbers and index numbers, and gives information by industries and by economic and geographic areas.

Food and Nutrition

Food management and inflation. By Mary J. Bowman and Albert H. Hart. Ames, Iowa, Iowa State College Press, 1943. 39 pp. 20 cents. (Iowa State College, Department of Economics and Sociology, Wartime farm and food policy series, pamphlet No. 8.)

Deals with the effect of food management in stimulating or checking inflationary rises in money incomes, and the handicaps imposed on food management by leav ing consumers with a huge excess of spending power over supplies of consumption goods.

Food strategy. By Margaret G. Reid. Ames, Iowa, Iowa State College Press, 1943. 40 pp. 20 cents. (Iowa State College, Department of Economics and Sociology, Wartime farm and food policy series, pamphlet No. 1.) Examines the necessity for planning food production, for rationing, and for building adequate reserves.

Food supply. By Harold Kellock. Washington, Editorial Research Reports, 1013 Thirteenth Street NW., 1943. 18 pp. (Vol. 2, 1943, No. 3.) $1. Subjects considered are food-supply dislocations in time of war, food control and the problem of subsidies, food supplies and controls in World War I, and present problems of demand and supply.

A guide to practical nutrition. Edited by Michael G. Wohl, M. D., and John H. Willard, M. D. Philadelphia, Philadelphia County Medical Society, 1943. 98 pp., bibliography.

A series of articles on nutrition, sponsored by Committee on Nutrition and Deficiency Diseases, Philadelphia County Medical Society, reprinted from issues of Philadelphia Medicine, 1941-42.

Mexico's dinner guests. By Belle Fligelman. (In Inter-American, Washington, July 1943, pp. 28, 29; illus.)

Description of the Comedor Familiar (Family Dining-Room) No. 1, and story of its 11⁄2 years' operation in low-cost feeding of families in Mexico City.

United Nations Conference on Food and Agriculture, Hot Springs, Virginia, May 18-June 3, 1943-final act and section reports. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1943. 61 pp. 20 cents. (Department of State publication 1948, Conference series 52.)

Contains a summation of the work of the Conference, its recommendations, and section reports as follows: Section I, Consumption levels and requirements; Section II, Expansion of production and adaptation to consumption needs; Section III, Facilitation and improvement of distribution. This material was also published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, in official documents (Cmd. 6451, 9d., and Cmd. 6461, 6d.).

Health and Industrial Hygiene

Industrial hygiene and plant efficiency through good lighting. Washington, U. S. Department of Labor, Division of Labor Standards, 1943. 51 pp., bibliography, illus. Limited free distribution.

Reprint of "American recommended practice of industrial lighting" approved by American Standards Association and published in 1942 by the Illuminating Engineering Society (New York).

Industrial manganese poisoning. By Lawrence T. Fairhall and Paul A. Neal, M. D. Washington, U. S. National Institute of Health, 1943. 24 pp., bibliography. (Bull. No. 182.) 10 cents, Superintendent of Documents, Washington.

Covers industrial exposure to manganese, symptoms of poisoning, and treatment of chronic industrial manganese poisoning.

The principles and practice of industrial medicine. Edited by Fred J. Wampler, M. D. Baltimore, Williams & Wilkins Co., 1943. 579 pp. $6. Collection of articles by 33 contributors on various phases of industrial medicine and industrial health hazards. One purpose of the volume is to provide information for the many practicing physicians who have not had experience in industrial medicine but are being asked to take on the medical care of industrial workers. Report of a committee appointed to consider methods of suppression and removal of dust containing silica in the tile making and the electrical porcelain fittings sections of the pottery industry. London, Ministry of Labor and National Service, Factory Department, 1943. 19 pp., illus.

Studies on the duration of disabling sickness: IV, Duration of disability from the nonrespiratory-nondigestive diseases among male employees with particular reference to the older worker. By William M. Gafafer and Rosedith Sitgreaves. (In Public Health Reports, Federal Security Agency, U. S. Public Health Service, Washington, June 25, 1943, pp. 969-979; charts. 5 cents, Superintendent of Documents, Washington.)

Industrial Accidents and Workmen's Compensation

Accident facts, 1943 edition. Chicago, National Safety Council, Inc., 1943. 96 pp., charts. 50 cents.

Data on all types of accidents, including occupational injuries, in 1942 and earlier years.

Annual statistical number, Accident Prevention Magazine, Portland Cement Association, Chicago, June 1943. 15 pp., charts.

This number of the Accident Prevention Magazine gives summary figures on the accident experience of the cement industry in 1942 with comparative figures for the 4 previous years. Detailed data for individual plants are given in a