EMPLOYMENT RETURNS

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1857, 17 September 1913, Page 9

EMPLOYMENT RETURNS

EFFECT OF EPIDEMIC. CENERAL CONDITIONS IN TOWN. , Trade and labour conditions generally wore dull in Wellington during August, according to tho "Journal of the Department of Labour." In explanation of this the journal says

"Tho cold and wot weather experienced has had a retarding effect on outdoor operations, whilst tho majority of indoor trades liavo not been very brisk. These conditions are, of course, usually looked for during August, and with tho commencement of bettor weather business and trade will no doubt brighten up. Reports recoivcd from 'manufacturers and state that tho month under review is considered to havci been about equal to the corresponding one of proviouß years, and, as a general rule, has been no worse. "Building ; trades: Bricklaying has boon fairly good—about tho same as last month —with all hands reported fully employed. Carpentry and joinery have been fair with a tendency towards quietness; trade has, however, been better than during last month. Tho wet weather experienced has kept back outside work to somo extent, and there are n few union men idle. Painting has remained slack, and there are about a • dozen men out of work. At tho beginning of tho'month trade was very dull, and there were sorao forty men idle; towards the end of the period, however, matters improved, and soveral men found engagements. Generally speaking, work was good until tho middle of July, when a considerable slackening eventuated. With the advent of spring employment will, no doubt, considerably increase. Plumbing and gas- ! fitting may be considered fair—about | tho same as last month; there are sis I mon idlo according to the union books. Stonemasonry has remained quiet there being 1 little work of this nature offering at present. . Plastering has been fair —about the same as last month, although in some instances a is reported. Builders' labourers 'have experienced a very slack 'month, with little prospect of immediate improvement. There aro at present about forty union men idle. August is considered to be the worst month of the year in this calling, and tho period just ended is not considered to have been worse than the corresponding month of last year. . > Timber Yards Busy. "Woodworking trades: Boxmaking— Tho usual amount of trade : has been done, with .all hands fully employed. Cabinetmaking and upholstering—Trade may bo classed as fair for the month_;<! there has been a slight falling-off since ;tbo last period, but oil tho whole busi- j ness has'been as good as during August in previous years. Mostly all men have been fully employed, and one firm statos that it could employ an additional couple of good cabinetmaker?, and' that difficulty has been experienced in getting competent tradesmen during the year. Sash and door factories, sawmillmg, and ' wood-turning, etc.—These branches generally' have been fairly busy, and about the usual amount of trade has been the rule. One firnij however, reports'having been very busy in the timber-yard, and could employ a few' more good yard labourers. • This activity is , attributed to the fact that one or two fairly largo firms'have recently gone out of business. Coopering'! —A fair averago amount of trade for this season of the year..lias been and there.has ' 'Engineering 'tWites',' Wlildihg boilei'- : inaking, fitting and turning, iron and brass moulding, "and range-inaking have fallen off siheo' July", ..and are 'reported 1 to have been on tho slow sido ;' all hands have, however, been on full timo generally. Brass- and copper-smithing has been very good throughout tho month, but.is now getting quieter; all tradesmen have been and are still well employed. Electrical engineering has been vory good, .with all hands regularly engaged. During tho winter months this branch of, trade, is always fairly good.

" "Leather trades: Bootmaking (factories) —Trade.. hris been slow generally. Reports from occupiers differ somewhat as to the conditions prevailing during tho month, one firm stating that it has been rather busy and working overtime, whilst others again say that trado has not been so good, and that compared with last August there lias been a fallinpj-off. All hands have, generally speaking,, been fairly well employed. Boot repair shops—Trade ha 3 been fair, although not so good as during previous winter seasons; this is said to be due to the fine aiul dry weather generally experienced during the. past three months. Saddlery and harness-making has maintained the usual average for the timo of year; all hands have been employed 'full time, and trado may be classed as fair for tho month. "Clothing trades: Dressmaking and millinery have, on, tho whole, been fairly good l , with tiho latter branch busier i]han tho former one. Shirtmaking has bum normal, >vrth the usual amount of trado offering and hands fully'employed. Tailoring (factories) —Trado has improved, andi has been rather good ; all hands have been einployed full time; an improvement is now eixpected as the busy season is coming on. Tailoring (order) —Very quiet, as usual, during this month of the year; there havo been ■somo hands idle, whilst some of thoso employed havo been on broken time; an improvement is cxpected about the middle of September. Woollen-milling continues busy, with all hands fully employed during tho month; no overtime lias been worked, and thero is still a shortage of boy and gill labour.

Business Slow in Retail Trada. ' "Retail trades: Tho reports received from s'hopkecpors generally, are to the oifect that business has been very slow, and with' some'it lias been worse than with others. This month is usually regarded as a quiet one, but tho general tone of trade has been quieter than usually experienced during August, and though sonio houses report fair trade, gooil business has not been general.. Theso remarks apply to the' general drapery, boot, mercery, clothing, grocery, books and stationery, housefurnisiiing, and jowcllery businesses. "Printing trades: Bookbinding and printing havo been fairly good, and ahout on a pair with last month ; as far as can be ascertained, • all lianas have been wall employed. "Meat-freezing, etc.: This is tho Black •season, and, very littlo has been done at tho local factories during tho month; practically nothing will bo dono for another six weeks. . . i "Coachbuilding trades: Blaeksmitlimj>. and coach, carriago, and tramcar btuldin.j;—There has boon no improvement since last month, and these brandies remain quiet-; tho hands have, however, been fairly well employed on stoclc work and repairs. "Cyclo iind motor trades: The average amount of trade for this time of the j%jir is reported to have been done —in fact, business is said to havo been rather better than during the samo month in 1912, and all men have been on full time. "Miscellaneous:* Employment nt tho waterfront has been very slack; this is, however, riot unusual for this time or year. July and August aro usually dull months, when there is generally a considerable influx of labour from various other oallings. Whilst there ■ were, roughly, fifteen hundred men seeking work, only about a thousand could bo accommodated. A gradual improvement from next month onward is expected. A Difficult Probloni. "Tho close of August, being practically the end of tho winter season,_ af- . fords a suitablo onportunity for'iovioty-

ing the position of unemployment in Wellington during the last iotir months. Tho statistics show that tho winter just passed has not, comparatively speaking, noon a specially ;icute one —it was rather a normal one, infinitely better than during tho winter of 1909, and about equal to that 'of 1012. During tho tour months just ended tho local offico has assisted 533 men to employment. Of this total 158 woro married and 375 were single men. Tho preponderance of applications made by single men 'for employment during this and tho last few years is striking/ Tho comparatively largo number of young men applying who are not trained in any particular handicraft is lilcoly to croato a problem in tho near future which will bo difficult to solve. Tho steadiness, of tho skilled trades has been a big factor in keeping all artisans steadily employed during tho winter, and, '-with tho exception of a few seasonal trades, especially painting, very little lost time, outside that lost through, wet weather, has been experionccd. "With the coming of spring there is an undoubted improvement in the demand for all classes of labour, although in'tho city itself tho call has not mado itself appreciably felt. There is still, unfortunately, a good deal of unomploy-' ment in Wellington, tho majority of applications being received from men who ore not fitted for heavy manual labour or farm work. The laying up of several i steamers, duo to slackness of passenger traffic following tho smallpox outbreak, has been responsible for rendoring a fairly largo number of seamen and others idle. For those capable of doing nuvvyinf work, employment "has been providocf on railway construction at Huntly. Fifty men have been sent forward in parties of about ten weekly. The demand for farm labourers now exceeds the supply; few men and youths are offering for this work. The Department mainly depends upon the arrivals from overseas to fill these vacancies. "During the month just ended employment 'has been found for 166 men (57 married and 109 singlo, having 147 dependents); 105 were sont to private employment and , 61 to • Government work. The occupations of those assisted were as follows *. —Boilermakers, carpentors, farm-hands, hotel hands, miners, and labourers. . Of these, 74 hailed from the North IslanH, '28 from tho South Island, 5 from the Commonwealth, 67 from Great Britain, and - from elsewhere. There were four wives (and seven children) assisted to join their husbands. Women's Employment. The report, of the Women's Employment branch states that ; during the montli 2CO applications were received and dealt with, 162 being from employers, and'9B from workers in need of employment: 82 of the latter _ were placed in suitable positions. Summarised,, the applications and engagements were as follow: — . _

Appli- Appli- Encations cations' gage1 from from mcnts ' employers, workers, made' Domestics .'.62 30 27 v Day workers .... 40 35 27 . Laclyhelps . 10 2 — Married couples 2 — — Seamstress 1 1 ' 1 Nurses 4 2 2 Cooks 13 5 5 Waitresses 5 5 o Laundress 1 — "~ 1 ' ■ Housekeepers .... 9 6 5 Pantrymaids 2 2 1 Caretakers :. 2 2 2 Factory hands ... 1 1 1 Housemaids 10 7 0 • ■Totals 162 98 82