TRADE & LABOUR.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1776, 14 June 1913, Page 11

TRADE & LABOUR.

OFFICIAL REPORTS FOR MAY. GENERAL CONDITIONS. The "Labour Journal," published yesterday, contains the following reports on trado and labour in the various contrea during May:— Wellinflton. Leather trades: Bootmaking (factories), slack. Bootmaking (repair shops) and saddlery and harness-making,-fairly busy; all tradesmen fully employed. Clothing trades: Dressmaking and millinery has been fairly busy, and a demand for good hands continues. Tailoring (factories and order).—There is a considerable number of orders in hand, and all operatives are fully employed.' Retail trades-. Clothing and draperyGeneral reports show that there, has beon little, if any, improvement on the previous month. Winter goods, however, have been in much better demand. Boots -A fair amount of trade reported. Gro-ceries-Business similar to the previous inenth, rather quieter. Woodworking trades:" Boxmoking, cabiuetmakuis and upholstering, and coopering trades, good. Sash and door lactones fair. Sawrailling, fairly busy. Engineering trades: Boilcrmaking, fair. Brass and coppersmithinjr, fair. Electrical engißttriuK. good. Fitting and turning—A'o demand for men. Iron and brass mciUdiag, goo:l.- Unugcmaking, fair. Leather trades: Bootmaking (factories) normal. Bootmaking (repair-shops) fair. Saddlerv and harncssmakins well up to the average, and an improvement, on the same period of last year haslbcen shown. Clothing trades: Dressmakjng, millinery, and shirtmaking, busy. Tailoring (factories), fair.. Tailoring (order) normal. Woollen milling, good. Retail trades: Clothing, boots,, drapery, and .groceries—Good average business has obtained. . ,„,,.,. ... Printing trades: Bookbinding, ; fairly good. Printing, busy. . Meat-freezing, etc.: Slaughtering, freezing, and preserving—Trade has slackened considerably, tho season having practically ended. Coaohbuilding trades: Blacksmithing, good. Coach, carriage, and tram-car building fairly good. Miscellaneous: Tho number of waterside workers offering for engagement far exceeds the number required. Employment (luring the month has been found for ninety-five men, twenty-five married and seventy single, having eev-enty-two dependents, eighty proceeding to pfivato employment and fifteen to Government works. There woro also threo wives assisted to join their husbands. Tho occupations of. those sent to work were as follow: Bricklayers, * carpenters, farm hands, hotel workers, miners,' and labourers, of whom. thirty-one hailed from the North Island, thirteen from the South Island, thirteen from the Commonwealth of Australia, and thirty-eight from Great Britain. !

Masterton. Tho conditions of trade and labour during the period just; ended have remained about normal. There has not been any special improvement, and conditions have not shown any particular falting-oft'. Some of the main industries throughout the country-districts—viz., meat-freezing, flaxmilling, and butter 'and cheese manufacturing—are just on the eve of. closing down for the season. This will throw a considerable number of men out of employment, and at this particular poriod of tho year it is often a difficult problem for some of these men to obtain work during the winter months. Ploughing operations for the winter feed are -now over for the time, but it is somewhat early for ploughing for annual cropping. The building trade coatinues fairly busy, principally country work, and all tradesmen aro making fairly good time. The textile trades report a fair amount of orders in hand, and operatives have bees fairly well : employed 'during the month, Conc'hbuildiag, bincksniithing,, and- general engineering trades havo.maintained a fair level. Ketajl business continues rather quiet throughout'..

..... Palmerston North. '■'[Retail' trade has been"<satisfactoryi for the' seaSoa of the year," though somo traders appear to havo felt a tightness of money and anticipate not too healthy a prospect. The weather, has been specially "good for outside work, and with-several big buildings in course of erection or being arranged for (a. church building to coat about' iIO.OOO, and a bank £15,000, aniong the nnmbor) employment has been plentiful for oarpenters and builders, and the outlook is fair. Farm work has been and is still scarco, and no change is likely for a fow months. Building trarlcs: Bricklaying fairly busy. Carpentry and joinery fairly busy, though soveral carpenters are unemployed, as too many nave flocked to Pafmorston North to supply present oontraots. Painting and plastering fair; gradually getting ilack for season. Ptuml- «£ and gasfitting Jceptbusy. Stonemasonry fair.

Wanganui. Trade and business have been slightly better during the month just ended than during tho previous period. Skilled men in. all trades appear to bo fairly woll employed, and reports for tho futuro are very optimistic. The building trado has picked up again, and work in hand at present will continue on well through the winter, The toxtllo trades are busier than usnal at this timo of the year, and, so far as can be gathered, no shortening of hands has yet occurred. Retailers report the month busy and quite up to the standard, sales of winter goods and warmer clothing having been exceptionally good. Tho unskilled workers are not so well employed, but there has been a diminution in the number of callers for employment during tho latter part of the period: now that the rush of.workers to the town, which usually follows the close of the dairying and harvesting seasons, has passed, less difficulty will bo found in dealing with unskilled labour.

New Plymouth. Trade and labour conditions still appear to be satisfactory. Tho building trade has taken a turn for the better, and all skilled workers are engaged. Labouring work is slack; Retailors report trade as well up to the average. The killing' and freezing works are running full time, and stock is plentiful. Work at the local sash and door factories continues brisk, and the new shirt factory is kept busy. At Hawera the building trade has been very busy for somo months, several large blocks of business premises and a number of dwellings having been erected. .

Napier, Carpentry and allied trades are slaok at present. There are eight or nine carpenters out of employment, and there is ■no immodiat© prospect of tho trade brightening. In tho town of Napier there is a number of empty houses, which is an ominous sign of declining industrial activity. Still, withal, the volume of trado is up to tho average, and tho.business transacted is deemed satisfactory, which speaks well for tho stability and prosperity of tho surrounding districts. Duiing a recent visit to Waipawa and Ongaonga districts the dry appearanco of the land was noticeable and denoted a poor rainfall, and what littlo had fallen came rather late to be of any material benefit to stock. Farther north, however, tho iield3 look greener and fresher, and the 6tock, in consequence, are in for a better timo.