H.—ll

APPENDIX TO REPORT OF DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR, 1912.

The purpose of the following tables is to give more comprehensive information than that published in previous years relative to the various manufacturing industries carried on in New Zealand throughout the year, as to —(1) The actual number of persons employed in each trade ; (2) their average duration of employment; (3) their average weekly rate of wages for a normal week (without overtime or loss of time) ; (4) their average weekly earnings in each trade during the period of employment; and (5) their average weekly earnings in each trade throughout the year. Hitherto the tables published by the Department, from its inception in 1891, have comprised merely the number of persons employed at a given date of each year—viz., at the time of the annual registration of factories —with the rates at which they were then employed. As many trades fluctuate considerably during the year, these figures cannot be regarded as giving satisfactory information on the subject. Moreover, for want of better data, the only means by which the approximate average earnings of the various employees could be ascertained was by dividing the total wages shown in the returns as having been paid during the year to all employees (male and female) by the total number employed at registration time. The system was also found defective in other respects, for the reason, for example, that in many cases factory-occupiers included, in the total wages paid during the year, the wages of employees other than those specified in the returns as employed at registration time, such as clerks, drivers, and so on, most of whom were not factory employees ; and where employees, engaged in different trades, were employed in one factory it was exceedingly difficult to ascertain precisely the amount of wages paid in each trade. For the first time it has been possible to show the average earnings in sexes and at different ages. The experience of the Department in the collection and publication of industrial tables has shown that it is inadvisable to ask factory-occupiers to compute the information desired in. regard to their respective factories, for the reason that they have, naturally enough, different ideas as to the manner in which the information should be computed ; such a method must inevitably open the door to all kinds of error. In order to ensure accuracy it was decided that the whole of the computation be carried out by the Department, the factory-occupiers merely furnishing the information in detail for the purpose. The collection and compilation of these statistics would, if carried out annually, necessarily involve more labour and expense than the previous method, but as it is proposed to make the system a five-yearly (simultaneous with the taking of the census) instead of an annual one, the amount of labour and expense entailed will eventually be less, while the information published will be of much greater value. Coming to the tables, the following explanatory notes are made : — Of Tables I, 11, and 111, the first (Table I) is now given, showing, as for each of the principal cities and the various districts,* the highest number of hands employed at any one time during the year in each trade, their duration of employment in that city or district, with particulars as to their earnings. In respect to the item " Average duration of employment " (column 3), it should be noted that for the purpose of arriving at this information it has been assumed that when there were occasional and short breaks in employment—generally not exceeding at any one time seven days —due to the fluctuation of the trade, to irregular attendance, to sickness, or other cause, he was not likely to have obtained other employment, and such periods have therefore been included in his " duration of employment " —viz., the period during which his total wages are earned ; for example, a worker may have performed but forty weeks' work during the year, but owing to occasional breaks it may have taken him forty-five weeks to earn the forty weeks' wages; in the tables the total wages thus earned have therefore been divided by forty-five instead of by forty, in order to arrive at the average earnings throughout the " duration of employment " (see column 7). The irregular attendance of female workers for reasons other than sickness has been the cause of frequent complaint by employers. It may be assumed that the average earnings of females as shown in column 7 would generally have been higher had they attended more regularly to their employment. In any case where an employee worked in more than one factory, although his employment was shown in the return from each factory, he has been counted as one employee only in these tables —viz., at the time when the greatest number were employed. In many cases workers were employed in more than one city or district during the year, and in order to ascertain the actual duration of employment in the trade generally throughout New Zealand, with the average earnings throughout that period, it will therefore be necessary to refer to Tables II and 111, which will be issued shortly and attached to the next Annual Eeport. For example, while in each of four districts there might have been 100 persons employed in a given trade for an average of 40 weeks, earning 50s. per week throughout that period, the result for the whole would be, say, 350 persons employed (not 400) for 45 weeks, and earning 50s. 9|d. per. week throughout that period. In Tables II and 111 the number of persons employed in each trade during each month of the year will also be printed, showing the fluctuations throughout the different months. Taking the meat-slaughtering industry as being probably the most fluctuating of all trades, the following results have been ascertained : The highest number employed in Wellington City was in January, 157 ; Christchurch, April, 195 ; Auckland District, February, 106 ; Hawke's Bay, December, 157 ; Canterbury (country), May, 314 ; and so on. Placing the returns for the various districts of New Zealand together, it has been ascertained that the number employed throughout New Zealand varied from 162 in September, 1910, to 1,155 in March, 1911. Therefore 1,155 has been taken as the actual number of employees; their average duration of employment was 33T2 weeks ; and the average earnings throughout that period was 645. 2|d., and for the whole year 40s. lid. per week. In respect to the average earnings in this industry, however, it should be explained that the 33T2 weeks " duration of employment " includes a number of occasions when the slaughtermen were employed for only an hour or two per day; so that, while during the main portion of the period the earnings averaged up to £7 per week, the actual average earnings throughout the whole period was 645. 2|d.

* It will be noted that the tables are compiled as for the several provincial districts in lieu of, as previously, for the industrial districts. This alteration was made in order to bring the figures into line in this respect with the industrial tables published by the Government Statistician.

I—H. 11 (App.).