TRADE AND EMPLOYMENT.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 484, 17 April 1909, Page 14

TRADE AND EMPLOYMENT.

g y OFFICIAL REPORT FOR MARCH, MANY TRADES STILL DULL, •i The following- is the Labour Department's •j report of trado and employment in Wellington during the month of March :— 3 TlT l i" rin g th <> month just ended trade in ,'. Wellington generally cannot be said to have ' x l been good. In some instancee an increase j in businoss has beon shown, while in others an absolute slackness haa been, experienced. Thero is at present littlo indication of any '> appreciable improvement taking place. ' B Building Trades.—Carpentry and joinery trades aro still on tho slack side, although e there aro indications of an improvement; at s. present a largo number of men aro out of :- work. An improvement in tho painting trade l- has boon shown, and it is now fairly good. Plastering, fairly good; no hands out of om- ; ployment. Plumbing and gasfitting generally havo not beon up to tho standard, althougn they are said to bo improving; several men "' are idlo. Stonomasonry fair; all hands aro '■ fully employed. Woodworking Trades.—Boxmalring, fairly ;• good; factories working full time. Cabinot- > making and upholstering, exceedingly slack, '• with practically nothing being done; hands are kept going on stock. Coopeiing, fairly e busy; little change since last month. Sash and door factories, slack, but showing signs of improvement; there are several hands out of work. Sawmilling, very slack, with little ■ prospect of an improvement. ' Wood-turning, j etc., fairly, good, and employers state that . fair business is being done. ' Engineering Trades.—Boilorraaking ~ only fair, although a slight improvement has been shown. Brass and copner-smithing, fairly ; good. Electrical engineering, rather on the ; slack sido; several hands idle. Fitting and ' turning, slack, with several men out of work. Iron and brass moulding, fairly good; an 5 improvement on last month is being oxperi- , enced. Range-making, slack; littlo business . being done. , Loather Trados.—Bootmaking (factories), ; busy; plenty of orders are coming in, and all hands are fully employed. Bootmaking (repair shops), satisfactory businoss being done. ' Saddlery arid harness-making, fairly good; all ; hands are fully employed.. ; Clothing Trades.—Dressmaking and mil- ' linery, fairly good; a great improvement on the previous month, especially in drcssmak- - ing, has been experienced. Shirt-making, - fairly good, with no hands out of employ- . mont. Tailoring (factories), rather slack; J somo factories aro kept going full time, but others are exceedingly quiet. Tailoring . (order), fairly good, and quite on a par with the corresponding month of previous years. Woollen-milling, fairly busy; hands fully em- ' ployed. ' Retail Trados.—Clothing, fairly good, and employers express themselves as quite satisfied with the amount of trade being done. Boots, satisfactory. Drapery and groceries, ' good business, with little change from tho 1 previous month. ; Printing Trades.—Bookbinding, fairly I good; factories working fulls time. Printing, some factories are busy, while others are on the slack side; generally speaking, trade is quiot, and several men are out of 1 work. Moat-freezing, etc.—Tanning, currying, and fellmoneering; good trade being done, and all hands fully employed. Coachbuliding Trades. — Blacksmithing, > fairly good; little change from the previous , month. Coach, carriage, andj tram-car building, slight improvement has boon shown, but employers are not at all hopeful of the ' coming winter. i Cycle and Motor Trades.—Rather slack; 1 factories kept* going on repair-work. Unskilled Labour.—There has been, if any- • thing, a slight increase in the number of applicants for employment during tho past month. Tliis is probably accounted for by 1 the fact that considerable amount of work has boen offered by tho t Public Works' Department in connection with the post office foundation and Legislative Council additions, A large number of married men wero sent to the works at tho post oflice. Many'of tho men applying aTe strangers to tho city, having arrived from abroad and from the South 1 Island, whero harvest operations have finished. The demand' for unskilled labour has been fairly "good during the ■ periods,- Ono huridred_ and forty married and 135 single men, with a total of 427 dependents, wero ; found employment' by tho Department, 138 bedng sent to private employment and 137 to public works. \', ' Auckland. Building trades ■ are very slack in all branches, but thore is,a slight improvement on the conditions ruling last month. Briok- ■ laying.—Thero are riot many tradesmen out of work et present, owing to the fact that soveral buildings are in course of construction; a number of men are reported to have* left tho district. Carpentry and joinory very slack, and thero aro a number of men out of work. Painting has improved vory considerably; there are now only about six names on the unemployed-book. Plastering and plumbing normal. -Stonemasonry in a,'normal oonditon; no hands are registered as out of work. ' Chrlstchurch., There is an improvement in several lines of business since last month. The meat- ■ freezing and allied trades, such as meatpreserving, fellmongery, etc:, are reported to be .having the busiest season on record stock in good condition is'coming to hand freely. Some of the works are being retarded through scarcity 6f bntchers, but the others are being worked up to thoir full capacity. There is a slight improvement in the building .trade. The retail trades

Y have improved, and inquiries show that in the majority of trades thero is very little difference in tho volumo of business at present being done from that of tho corresponding period of last year. ' Dunodln. g Spending-powers "are restricted to tho purr_ chase of necessities. Tho usual briskness at "" this soason in tho ooachbuilding," saddlery, and rangemaldng trades is fortunatey to bo n recorded. Tho building trades aro still e slack. So also aro the timber and forniture e trades. Owing to tho splendid wcathor no s difficulty has beon experienced in placing 1. all capable hands at unskilled work. Rey ports from the country state that harvesting is completed in tho north, and nearing com--7 plotion in tho south. ~ Tho usual exodus h trom the country to tho town has already •t set in. >f Naplor. i° There is no improvement in the retail " trades in Napier since last report, but cash " sales have been slightly better. Thoro has boen a considerable amount of overtimo n worked during the month in connection with stocktaking, etc. The building trados have not improved, but it is expected that a betterment *will take place during tho next fow J_ weoks. Tailoring has been much quieter than usual. Dressmaking, however, has kept g up to tho standard, and there are openings; for good .hands. The engineering trade l shows a. falling-cff, with no immediate: pros--3 poet of improvement. i e Clsborne. , Trade in Gisborne generally is still very t quiet-and shows no improvement since last month. Carpentering and painting trades v are very quiet. Bricklayers and plasterers i aro fully employed, and thero appears to bo p a' slight. improvement in this trade 1 and b enough work in view to keep all local hands 1 employed for at least a few weeks. Tailor- . ing is still very slack, and a number of jouri neymon are idle. . Coachbuilders still re- - main fairly busy, and all hands aro : em--3 ployed. . Both-iroezing- works still continue busy, and tho season should extond for, at , least another two months. 1 New Plymouth. : , In New Plymouth, tho fact that £12,000 1 passed through the totalisator during the two days' racing of the local club surely ' proves that mbnoy is not as tight as was 1 represented. Tho various retail trados aro " all doing a very regular business,, and there i are very few complaints. Tho building - trades, including carpentry, bricklaying, ! painting, and plumbing, are still very » slack, and thero aro a number of men out 5 of work in theso branches. The boot-manu--1 facturing shows an improvement since last • report; all hands aro now employed. Tailor- ■ ing and dressmaking continue busy; good tailoresses aro in demand. Wanganui. Business in Wanganui is reported to have > improved during the past month, although it is still quiet. A general tightness of money is complained of. A few manufac- ' turors report trade as busy, particularly " Boap-workors, biscnit and confectionery makers, sailraakers, tarpaulin-raakors, and > covermakors. Tho boot-repairing branch is ' also busy. Thore still remains a fair nuipber of local unemployed, particularly artisans i belonging to the building trades. Palmerston North. 3 Trade generally in Palmorslon North has . been fairly satisfactory during the past month. Tho retail drapery and boot shops ( been holding their change-of-season sales. There have also been additional sales . f hold as a result of the rocont fires in the ' town. During the last few weeks . thero have been more unemployed callers than r usual, and some difficulty has been experienced in placing them. [ Masterton. Trade throughout tho Masterton district 5 during the month has remnined decidedly quiet. Building trades at present show littlo l or no signs of improvement, and several j tradesmen cannot find work at their regular . occupation. 'The recent cutting-up of tho j Carrington Estate, near Carterton, should . oauso a certain'amount of building work to j bo commenced in the near future. In the j coachbuilding trados fairly good business is j reported throughout its several branches— sufficient to keep all in tho lino busy. Sawj milling is still very slack, and soveral men , faro forced to look for other, employment. The country (station and farm) throughout the Wairarapa is looking excellent, the recent rains being just i sufficient to brighten [ everything np. , t ' ' Reports from the Unions. , The reports of union secretaries with regard , to carpentry,' engineering, fnrniturc-making, . and'plumbing aro as follow:— i, Carpenters.—Trado is still very unsatis- ■ factory: there are 112 men unemployed to ■ date. During tho month several carpenters . wore selected and sent to work by the Labour , Department. Trade in Petono is bad; threo members are signing tho unemployed book. Enginoers.—Business is still very bad. A , argo number of men havo arrived from England. Five left for Sydnoy and Queensland in search of work; others are following. Eight fittors, threo turners, one machinist, » and one patternmaker are out of work. ■ Furniture Trado.—During the month trade ■ has been fairly quiot; somo of tho shops havo i ,beon working broken time, while others which were busy last month are practically doing I stock work this month. Napier and Hast- • ings report trado as very quiet, especially . in tho cabinetmaking line. Wanganui reports • fair trade ruling, with still a fow mon^dle - Plumbers.—Trade is very dull. Thoro are i about ten members of this union unemployed