GREAT REDUCTION

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 May 1940, Page 4

GREAT REDUCTION

UNEMPLOYMENT IN BRITAIN. LOWEST FIGURE SINCE 1920. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, Map 6. The number of unemployed on the registers in Great Britain fell below 1.000,000 during the month ended April 15 to the lowest figure recorded since the end of 1920, when the extended unemployment scheme came into operation.

The total was 982,095. fewer by 671,965 than at the same time last year. The number of wholly unemployed men on the register is now little more than half what it was in April. 1939, while the number of men temporarily laid off is little more than one-third the figure at the earlier date. The figure for women shows a slight improvement on a year ago. Unemployment is now very low in the metal goods, manufacturing for munition purposes, engineering, motorvehicle, and aircraft industries. The rate in the engineering and motorvehicle manufacture industries is not much above 2 per cent. In coal-mining, agriculture, and a number of textile trades there has been a very substantial decrease compared with a year ago. . ' Cf individual industries the distributive trades showed the greatest decrease, the total being 63,089 fewer than a year ago. partly duo. as in other industries, to the replacement by unemployed of workers called up for active service. Agricultural workers during the same period showed an unemployment fall of about 14,000.