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in the coal-mining industry were maintained at the cost of prolonged man-power controls, this industry being one of the first and one of the last to be controlled. At 31st March, 1946, there were 300 notified vacancies for men in bush sawmilling and afforestation, and 183 in coal-mining. It has been estimated, however, that the bushsawmilling industry alone can absorb 2,000 men to meet post-war needs. The extent to which increasing numbers will continue to be required for the coal-mining industry depends upon the duration of the heavy demand for coal which arose during the war. This in turn depends upon the proportion of increased demand which was due to general industrial expansion as apart from wartime activities and shortage of alternative hydro-electric power. (viii) Deferment of Building and Construction 422. Due largely to the diversion of men to. defence construction work, there was a very marked reduction in numbers engaged in normal activities in the building and construction industry in the early years of the war the numbers falling to about 60 per cent, of the pre-war strength. A strong upward movement followed. Accumulated arrears of construction and repair work caused the numbers to increase rapidly after 1943, and by the end of 1945 the number of males in the industry had reached 87 per cent, of the pre-war strength. There are potentialities for further considerable increases, as is indicated by the fact that out of 7,106 unsatisfied vacancies as at 31st March 1946, 1,816 (or 26 per cent.), were in building and construction. Further expansion will, however, be restricted by a shortage of essential materials and by the difficulty in obtaining a sufficient proportion of skilled workers. (ix) Transport and Communication seriously affected 423. The over-all figures for transport and communication are influenced largely by the employment figures for Railways and Post and Telegraph Departments, where heavy losses of male workers prior to 1943 were in some measure compensated for by recruitment of females. By October, 1945, the total of males plus females employed in these two Departments combined had just returned to pre-war figures ; but whereas females made up 5 per cent, in 1939, their numbers had more than trebled by October, 1945, and represented 18 per cent, of the total number employed. No parallel change occurred in privately conducted transport concerns, and the recently conducted survey covering about four-fifths of such undertakings revealed an increase over 1939 of both male and female employees. By October, 1945, the total labour content in private concerns had increased by about 13 per cent, and the distribution of males and females remained comparatively stable, females representing 6 per cent, in 1939 and 7 per cent, in 1945. (x) Professional Services and Government and Local-authority Administration 424. Professional services and administration are similarly affected by the figures for Government Services. The Departments and local authorities falling into this group include the teaching profession and public hospitals, both employing more females than males. The number of women teachers increased by 20 per cent, over the war years, and there was a substantial increase in nursing staffs in public hospitals. In the Public Service, females employed in purely administrative Departments reached by October, 1945, more than double their pre-war numbers. Here again the survey indicated comparative stability in the privately conducted undertakings, but in this latter group the coverage was too small to be conclusive. (xi) Wholesale and Retail Distribution, Financial Institutions, &c. 425. In the wholesale, retail, and financial group, the survey covered a representative number of establishments, and indicated a decrease of 10 per cent, from 1939 to 1945 in the number of males employed. This decrease was offset by an increase in numbers of females by nearly 15 per cent., leaving the total number employed —males plus females—at approximately the pre-war level. The largest industries covered in this

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