H.—35.

This provides by far the most reliable indication of the movement in numbers of " unemployed " during the peak years of unemployment in New Zealand. The comparative position at the end of each quarter during this period is shown in the following summary :—

Total Numbers either wholly or partly a Charge on the Unemployment Fund.

The only satisfactory method of reviewing unemployment figures over a longer period, expecially prior to the constitution of the Unemployment Board, is to take the numbers remaining on the registers of Government Employment Bureaux at the end of each week. A certain amount of comparative value is lost because the more recent figures include Scheme No. 5 workers who are employed full time with a subsidy from the Unemployment Fund. These are retained on the registers for reasons explained in the previous report. In Table I of the Appendix will be found the numbers remaining on the registers at the end of each week from October, 1933, to the first week in July, 1934, inclusive. The numbers registered in each urban area are shown separately. A general summary of the totals on the registers at the end of each month since January, 1930, appears below:—

* This number recorded just prior to Christmas. In the following week the figure dropped to 7,596, owin<* to the placing of a considerable number of men on a special temporary scheme. These figures show month by month the numbers actually on the registers, whether receiving relief or not, and have no connection with the total number of recipients of relief from the Unemployment lund. Table IV in the Appendix dissects these figures to show registered unemployed receiving relief as distinct from, applicants who are ineligible or unplaced. In examining Tables II and 111 and the graph reproduced in this report, it should be noted that the retention in the unemployment figures of those workers engaged in industry with the aid of subsidies from the Unemployment Fund has the effect of exaggerating the unemployment position. It would be easier to understand this if it is pointed out that the unemployment figures for November, 1933, totalling 72,306, included 8,387 building tradesmen and labourers employed full-time on works subsidized under Scheme No. 10. It may be true to say that had it not been for the operation of Scheme No. 10 the majority of these men would have had to depend upon part-time labour on one or other of the Board's relief schemes, and it is certainly true to say that their employment on these jobs incurred a payment from the Unemployment Fund, but by no stretch of the imagination could these men be regarded as unemployed. The same circumstances apply to the workers engaged on farm schemes, &c., subsidized by the Unemployment Board. Attention is therefore directed to the graph accompanying this report, the middle line of which may be taken as the most reliable indication of the numbers of genuinely unemployed males at the dates mentioned. FARM SUBSIDY SCHEMES. During the financial year ended 31st March, 1934, the Unemployment Board expended an amount of £145,915 under Scheme No. 4a. The number of men employed on farms under this and other subsidy schemes at the end of each four weeks during the period under review will be

8

Annual Increase or Decrease. End of Quarter. 1931. 1932. 1933. 1934. r — ; : 1931-32. 1932-33. j 1933-34. March .. .. .. 47,520 61,067 62,114 .. 13,547 1,047 June .. .. 44,400 61,200 69,523 60,633 16,800 8,323 - 8's90 September .. 46,990 67,110 75,134 .. 20,120 8,024 December .. 47,285 64,082 67,740 .. 16,797 3,658 — Denotes a decrease.

1930. i 1931. i' 1932. 1833. ! 1934. _ i I ] Last week in— January.. .. .. 2,572 16,607 45,654 51,698 46,527 February.. .. .. 2,520 27,662 44,107 49,971 45,125 March .. .. .. 3,130 38,028 45,383 51,035 44,441 A P ril •• 3,379 36,981 50,093 53,171 45,052 May .. .. .. 5,084 42,523 53,543 55,477 45,952 June .. .. .. 5,491 45,264 54,342 56,563 48,393 July .. .. .. 5,360 47,772 55,837 57,169 August .. .. .. 5,463 50,033 56,332 56,750 September .. .. 6,025 51,375 55,728 56,173 October .. .. .. 6,018 50,284 54,549 54,173 November .. .. 7,402 47,535 52,477 50,140 December .. .. 11,371* 45,140 52,523 48,334