WORKERS AND WAGES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1209, 18 August 1911, Page 2

WORKERS AND WAGES.

& ~ SOME INTERESTING FIGURES. The n>umb?r of persons employed in shops aud manufactories in New Zealand during tho year ended March 31 was 11J,04!>, and =£7,953,465 was distributed among them in wage?, an average of X'tii Ills. sd. per wage-earner. The number of factories registered was 12,T65, aii» increase of 460 on the number registers! in the previous year. In several factories more than one trade is carried on, and the total number of work-rooms is 13,114. The total number of hands employed in' the' registered factories was 78,790, an increase of 984. That, number included 12.38G employers of labour who wero personally engaged in the factories, and of the total number 16,132 wero females. tSawnjilling, joirasry, sash-making, and, coopering provided employment for 8709 persons. In the tailoring and clothing factories, 6755 persons weio employed, anil dress and millinery making were the means of livelihood for GIIG persons. The preservation of meat and similar work engaged 5G03 persons, but no other class of factory employed more than SCCO hands. The manner iu which tho wages wero distributed among tlw various industries is interesting. Thoso people engaged in tho preparation of all articles of food earnsd the largest amount, ,£1,220,817; the iron and metal trades distributed ,£1,005,444 iii, wages; hands employed in wood-working trades drew X 955,902; and thoso in clothing trades, JC547,665. The wages paid in the other industries wero as follow-.—Printing and stationery tracks, i! 379,434; leather trades, .£363,754; stone, clav, aud allied trades, .£214,543; light, ' heat, and power ' production, .£l63,3lsflaxiuilling, iE154,520; hide aiui wool-working trades, .£132.422; chemical aud by-products trades, il00,GS0; shipwrightmg trades, .£74,608; miscellaneous trades, .£341,466. The total number of persons engaged in the shops of the Dominion, which urn inhered 14.729, wa--, 382.255. That number comprised 15,428 malo and 7177 female empbyc-es, and 13,50S male and 1845 fsreaJo employers. The aggregate amount 'paid in wages was ,01,972,395. of which GIG 4 port-on® engaged in drapery and millinery stores diw tho largest portion, .£472.939. Nearly as large a sum, .£453.155, was paid to S3Bl 'grocers and storekeepers, while the wages of 2956 butchers amounted to .£198.439. The earnings of 14GS employees in ironmongery and hardware stores were .£135.715. In the following shops, the number of employees exceeded cue thousand !—Booksellers* and stationers, 1178, ,£46 551 ; boot and fhee dealers. 1713, -£41.307; clothiers, mercers, and hatters, 1410, .£67,092; fruiterers, 2060, <£18,195; hairdressers or.d tobacconists, 1376, ■£51,891; and refreshment-room keepers, 1590, ,£18,931.