Full text of Monthly Labor Review : August 1951, Vol. 73, No. 2

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Manpower Trends in Mining
Price Movements During Korean Hostilities
Length-of-Service Benefits in Union Contracts
Labor Situation in Finland

U N IT E D STATES D E P A R T M E N T OF LABOR
Maurice J. Tobin, Secretary

BUREAU O F LABOR ST A T IST IC S

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
M

a u r ic e

J.

T o b in ,

Secretary

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

E wan C lague, Commissioner
Artness J oy Wickens, Deputy Commissioner
Assistant Commissioners

H erman B. B yer
H enry J. F itzgerald
C harles D. Stewart
Chief Statistician

Samuel W eiss

H. M. D outy, Chief, Division of Wages and Industrial Relations
W. D uane E vans, Chief, Division of Interindustry Economics
E dward D. H ollandes, Chief, Division of Prices and Cost of Living
R ichard F. J ones, Chief, Division of Administrative Services
H eksey E. R iley , Chief, Division of Construction Statistics
Samuel H. T hompson, Chief, Division of Productivity and Technological Developments
F aith M. W illiams, Chief, Division of Foreign Labor Conditions
Seymour L. W olpbein , Chief, Division of Manpower and Employment Statistics
P aul R. K ebschbaum, Chief, Office of Program Planning
B oris Stern , Special Assistant to the Commissioner
M orris W eisz, Special Assistant to the Commissioner

Inguiries should be addressed to
The Editor, M onthly Labor Review
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington U , D . C.

The printing of this publicatiosi has been approved by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget
(October 9, 1950)

For sole by the Superintendent o f Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D , C. - Price 50 cents a copy


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Monthly Labor Review
U N IT E D STATES DEPARTM ENT OF LABOR • BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

KALAMAZOO

L awrence R. K lein , Chief, Office of Publications


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AUG 27 1951

CONTENTS

PUBLIC LIBRARY

Special Articles

133 Manpower Trends in tlie Mining Industries
141 Price Movements During a Year of Korean Hostilities
144 Labor Situation in Finland, 1949 to 1951

Summaries of Studies and Reports
148
152
156
159
163
164
166
170
176
177
180
182
183

Premium Pay: An Analysis of Industrial Practices
Collectively Bargained Length-of-Service Benefits
Collective Bargaining in the Meat-Packing Industry
The Thirty-Fourth Conference of the ILO
Ceiling Price Regulations Numbers 43-54
Changes in Price-Wage Policy and Administration, June 1951
Men’s Dress Shirts and Nightwear: Effect of Minimum Wage
Wage Chronology No. 17: North Atlantic Longshoring, 1934-51
Status of Child-Welfare Workers
Injury Rates in Manufacturing, First Quarter 1951
Causes of Roof-Fall Fatalities in Bituminous-Coal Mines, 1950
Rehabilitation of Workers with Hand Injuries, Puerto Rico
Reemployment Rights under Universal Military Training Act

Departments
hi

185
190
192
197
204

The Labor Month in Review
Recent Decisions of Interest to Labor
Chronology of Recent Labor Events
Developments in Industrial Relations
Publications of Labor Interest
Current Labor Statistics

August 1951 • Voi. 73 • No. 2

This Issue in B rief. . .

W h a t o r i g i n a t e s u n d e r the ground is almost
incredible. A partial enumeration indicates the
extent: gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron, oil,
gas, tin, bauxite, and their derivatives and amal­
gams, including a host of economic, social, and
political problems. M a n p o w e r T r e n d s i n t h e
M i n i n g I n d u s t r i e s (p. 133) examines some of
these problems, especially in the light of wartime
pressures. In war and in peace the economy is
literally geared to the ground, and in wartime
particularly it is the cascade of coal, iron, and oil,
which is a prime determinant of victory. Mining
in America has its manpower problems. These
result from the physical nature of the work and
its hazards, the frequent remoteness of mines from
centers of manpower supply, and the inability to
draw freely from such manpower reserves as
women, youths, and older and handicapped
workers. Employment in mines today totals
slightly more than 900,000 as compared with
about a million and a quarter in 1920, the long­
term decline being due to a combination of rising
productivity and changing market conditions,
especially in coal mining.
The hazards which are part and parcel of the
mining industry generally and of coal mining most
fatally are indicated in C a u s e s o f R o o f - F a l l
F a t a l i t i e s i n B i t u m i n o u s - C o a l M i n e s , 1950
(p. 180). About two-thirds of the underground
fatal accidents in these mines resulted from col­
lapsing of the roofs. There were 315 such deaths
last year.

Wartime conditions, it was noted, impose special
strains on the mining industry and the fabrication
of its products—on the price structure as well as
on production. P r i c e M o v e m e n t s D u r i n g a
Y e a r o f K o r e a n H o s t i l i t i e s (p.||141) offers
ii


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abundant evidence of such pressures and strains
throughout the economy. These pressures had
their effect on raw materials, semifinished items,
and finished goods, and prices for them rose to
new highs. It is not difficult, from the vantage
point of today, to glance back at the follies of the
summer and fall of 1950: the scare buying, the
anticipatory buying, the extra buying. By the
anniversary of the Korean war, wholesale prices
were up 15 percent and retail, 19 percent; and the
economy was operating under limited price and
wage controls.
How wage-price policies can become political
and what Communist pressure can really mean is
illustrated in T h e L a b o r S i t u a t i o n i n F i n l a n d
(p. 144). The Finnish unions not only have num­
bers of Communists within them, they have millions
of them just beyond the eastern border. Despite
this double threat, the dominant labor movement
of Finland had the courage to break with the Com­
munist World Federation of Trade Unions in June
1951. Inflation plagues the Finnish economy, and
the Communists have both exploited and helped to
cause this situation. Much of the economic stress
in Finland is, of course, due to the large share of
the national product which, by force of arms, was
committed to the Soviet Union in the form of
reparations exacted under the Armistice terms of
1944. The wage-price spirals have caused wide­
spread strikes, many of them wildcat ones fo­
mented by the Communists.
The essentials of a wage policy, Senator James
E. Murray stated at T h e T h i r t y - F o u r t h C o n ­
f e r e n c e o f t h e ILO (p. 159), is to maintain eco­
nomic stability “and at the same time achieve a
steady advance in real wages, within the frame­
work of freedom and full employment.” In two
Conventions adopted by the Conference, equal pay
for equal work and minimum wage machinery for
farm workers were recommended to the constituent
States for ratification. Polish and Czech delegates
again made futile efforts to bar a delegation from
' the Chinese Republic, but this year did not walk
out. Again over their protests, Western Germany
and Japan were admitted to membership.

The Labor Month
in Review
i m i t e d e c o n o m i c c o n t r o l s were enacted in the
new Defense Production Act on July 31. With in­
tensified labor emphasis on winning the union
shop, three National Labor Relations Board
decisions defined this union security relationship.
Although the month was free from large work
stopages, significant strikes appeared in key spots
in the economy. The Wage Stabilization Board,
assured of its continued tripartite structure,
moved to tie wages more closely to the cost of
living.

L

Collective Bargaining: The Union Shop

An estimated 4,700 established bargaining re­
lationships were jeopardized when the NLRB
invalidated CIO union-shop clauses consummated
before December 22, 1949, the date CIO officials
finally signed non-Communist affidavits. How­
ever, the NLRB, in an unprecedented action,
reheard the case from which the ruling had arisen,
and reversed its decision.
Senators Taft and Humphrey jointly intro­
duced legislation to validate existing contracts and
drop the Taft-Hartley Act requirement for unionshop elections unless 30 percent of a work group
petition for decertification.
After 2 months of negotiations, U. S. Rubber
Corp. agreed to the union shop for its 33,000
workers in 19 plants. The first union shop in
the rubber industry was arranged between the
CIO Rubber Workers and Goodyear last March.
Great Northern became the first major railroad
to agree to the union shop and dues check-off,
covering 10 nonoperating railroads unions. The
“ non-op’s” movement for the union shop on all
of the Nation’s carriers was being proceessd by the
National (Railway) Mediation Board.
Workers do not have to pay assessments to
remain in good standing under union shop agree­
ments, the NLRB ruled.
Economic Controls Legislation

A new Defense Production Act, effective until
June 30, 1952, was signed “ reluctantly” by Presi­

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dent Truman, who stated: “ The inflation control
provisions of the act are gravely deficient.”
Authority was continued for price ceilings and
rollbacks, but the base was broadened to include
virtually every cost rather than only direct mate­
rial and labor costs. Customary trade mark-ups
were required and the cut-off date for cost in­
creases was advanced to July 26, 1951. Further
rollbacks of beef prices and the use of slaughtering
quotas were prohibited.
Rent control was continued with authorization
for a 20-percent increase over June 30, 1947,
levels; imposition of rent controls was permitted
in certified critical defense housing areas. Con­
sumer credit for the purchase of automobiles and
household appliances was relaxed. Authorities to
control production, channel materials, aid business
in the interest of national defense, and stabilize
wages were continued with slight changes.
“ To the extent that this act permits prices and
the cost of living to rise, it will be necessary to
allow reasonable adjustments in wages,” the
President wrote. “ We cannot ask the working
people of this country to reduce their standard of
living just to pay for the higher profits this act
provides for business.”
The United Labor Policy Committee denounced
the new law and offered organized labor’s support
to the President if he chose to veto it.
Dispute Settlement by WSB

President Truman made the first use of his power
to obtain WSB assistance in settling strikes
“ which substantially threaten the progress of
national defense.” A dispute between the CIO
Steelworkers and the American Smelting & Re­
fining Co., Garfield, Utah, was referred to the
Board.
A special 3-man panel was named to hear the
issues of the dispute, which had idled 1,300 men
engaged in refining copper and producing sulfuric
acid, both important for defense production.
President Truman requested a return to work
before the Board’s panel heard the case. The
union complied. After hearing the dispute, the
panel was to submit settlement recommendations
to the WSB.
The Board requested a return to work before
the panel heard the case. The union complied.
After hearing the dispute, the panel was to sub­
mit its findings of fact to the WSB.
m

IV

TH E LABOR M ONTH IN R E V IE W

Wage Stabilization Program

An effort to transform the Wage Stabilization
Board into an agency having a clear majority of
public members was defeated in the House of
Representatives during debate on the DPA.
Leaders of organized labor, acting through the
ULPC, exerted special efforts to preserve the
principle of tripartitism in wage stabilization and
dispute settlement for defense industries.
Wage stabilization and prices were linked closely
when WSB continued its approval of escalator
cost-of-living allowances, covering 3 million wage
earners. The Board recommended to Economic
Stabilizer Johnston that firms and unions not
having escalator provisions in their collective
bargaining contracts be allowed to negotiate in
order to maintain existing “ real wages”.
WSB approved customary nonproduction bo­
nuses, within-grade wage adjustments based on
merit or on length of service, and upward revisions
of incentive or piece-rate wages, which, however,
are not to be used to support applications for price
advances. The Board continued study of possible
stabilization policy for health, welfare, and pension
plans.
The WSB ruled that four fringe benefits—paid
vacations, paid holidays, premium payments rela­
tive to days and hours of work, and call-in pay—•
may be approved on a catch-up basis. Adjust­
ments will be allowed bringing these up to pre­
vailing levels within the area or the industry, and
will not be charged against the 10-percent increase
allowable under the Board’s basic formula.
Temporary wage ceilings were set for some 2^
million building trades workers at “ prevailing
area rates” by the Construction Industry Stabili­
zation Commission, with WSB approval.
Union Leadership Disputes

During the month internal conflict came into
the open in two national unions.
David L. Behnke, founder and long-time presi­
dent of the AFL Air Line Pilots Association, was
removed by his union’s board of directors after
he discharged ALPA’s executive vice president.
In the CIO Textile Workers Union, a caucus of
400 union leaders pledged $100,000 to back moves
for a “ more democratic” union. Target of the
insurgent effort was Emil Rieve, TWU president,

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who recently discharged the TWU Canadian
director.
Economic Background

Industrial production during July declined more
than seasonally according to the Federal Reserve
Board. Chief factors in the drop were restricted
assembly of automobiles and extensive vacation
shutdowns in nondurable-goods industries (not
fully allowed for in the index). Increases in dur­
able-goods production offset curtailed output of
furniture and other household goods.
Expenditures for new construction in July were
nearly $2.8 billion, a 3-percent increase over June.
Private homebuilding was about 30 percent below
1950’s record figure. Public construction expendi­
tures were 6 percent above June 1951, and 37
percent above July 1950.
Gross hourly earnings of production workers in
manufacturing averaged $1.60 in June 1951, up
15 cents from June 1950. Average weekly earn­
ings were $65.44 in mid-June, $6.59 over a year
before, reflecting overtime work in high-wage in­
dustries and widespread advances in wage rates.
The average workweek of production workers
in manufacturing stood at 40.8 hours in midJune. Shortened workweeks in many consumergoods industries were more than counteracted by
increases for production workers in defense, con­
nected lines.
The number of employees in nonfarm establish­
ments rose slightly in mid-June, to 46.4 million,
a figure about 2.5 million higher than at the start
of the Korean war.
Factories hired workers at a rate of 48 per
1,000 in June. Lay-offs of manufacturing workers
declined in June to 9 per 1,000, while the quit
rate of factory workers dropped to 24 per 1,000
employees.
Retail prices of goods and services averaged
0.1 percent lower on June 15 than a month
earlier. BLS’ CPI dropped for the first time
since February 1950, from 185.4 to 18 5.2. An
0.2-percent rise in rent was more than offset by
slight declines in prices of food and of miscellane­
ous goods and services. The “ old series” CPI,
basis of many collective-bargaining escalator
clauses, rose at the same time from 185.4 to 185.5.
Spot market prices continued to show a decline
through July 24 for the thirteenth consecutive
week.

Manpower Trends in the Mining Industries
Manpower problem created by conditions of work and life,
and the use of the longer workweek
to maintain production requirements in emergencies
E dgar W e in b e r g *

As t h e N a t i o n turns to strengthening its de­
fenses, manpower developments in mining indus­
tries become a matter of prime importance.
Mining occupies a key position in the American
economy, both in peace and war.
Modern technology virtually depends on raw ma­
terials from mines, quarries, and oil and gas wells.
Iron, copper, lead, zinc, bauxite, and other metal
ores pass from mines to primary refineries, smelt­
ers, and mills, and then in the form of metal shapes
to durable-goods fabricators for producers and
consumers. Stone, gravel, and sand are the basis
of construction. From nonmetal minerals—sulfur,
phosphate rock, potash—come the raw materials
of the chemical industry. Coal, oil, and gas pro­
vide power for machinery, fuel for transportation,
and heat for dwellings. In this power age, these
sources furnish 92 percent of mechanical energy
used in the United States. The tremendous
growth in material living conditions in this country
is closely related to the development and applica­
tion of these sources of energy.
The military strength, alone, requires vast out­
put of minerals. The production and operation
of tanks, guns, planes, and trucks consume enor­
mous quantities of ores and fuels. From crude
petroleum, for example, come not only fuel and
lubrication for vehicles and machinery but also
toluene for TNT and asphalt for airfields. Of
great importance to the military potential are
large stockpiles of scarce minerals: e. g., mica for
electronic equipment; mercury for munitions and
medicines; fluorspar, manganese, pyrites, and
tungsten for steel manufacturing.


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Although the demand for mineral output has
increased substantially since the outbreak of hos­
tilities in Korea, total mining employment has
remained virtually unchanged. Weekly hours of
work, however, have been extended considerably
in all mining industries except anthracite and
bituminous-coal production. Shortages of skilled
metal miners have already been reported. Ex­
tension of the workweek was also among the
principal methods of meeting manpower needs
during World War II. Plans for mines to exploit
low-grade copper and iron ores promise increased
activity in various areas of Michigan, Montana,
Minnesota, and New York.
Manpower problems in mining industries are
substantially affected by the conditions of work
and of living in areas remote from centers of popu­
lation. Mine operators cannot draw on impor­
tant sources of emergency labor supply—women,
youths, handicapped workers, retired workers—
during periods of strong labor demand. Isolated
from urban centers, mines are not attractive to
urban factory workers displaced by cutbacks in
civilian goods production. Moreover, mining re­
quires specialized skills.
Postwar improvements in working and living
conditions may, to some extent, alleviate the tend­
ency of mine workers to leave the industry when
alternative opportunities are available. Mine
workers today receive, on the average, higher
hourly earnings than factory workers. Pension
and welfare programs are widespread. Many op­
erators have sold company-owned housing to their
miners. Medical services have been improved.
133

134

MANPOWER TRENDS IN MININO

Chari 1. Average Annual Employment in Mining
Establishments

Better roads and widespread automobile ownership
permit miners to live in towns. More surface
operations may make mining less hazardous.
Mining employment averaged about 904,000 in
1950,1 or about 1 out of every 50 workers in non­
farm establishments (chart 1). In 1920 about
1,230,000 persons were employed in mining, com­
prising 1 out of every 22 employees in industry
and commerce. In 1950 there was 1 miner for
every 167 persons in the United States; 30 years
earlier the ratio was 1 miner for every 86 persons.
Although mining is a small factor in national
employment, it forms an important sector of the
economy of particular States. In West Virginia,
23 percent of nonfarm workers were engaged in


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MONTHLY LABOR

mining in 1950; in Kentucky, about 11 percent;
in Wyoming, 11 percent; in Oklahoma, 9 percent;
and in Texas, 6 percent. Mining about equalled
manufacturing employment in West Virginia and
New Mexico, and was nearly twice as important
as manufacturing in Wyoming.
Coal production employs more than half of all
mine labor. Approximately 50 out of every 100
mine workers in 1950 were employed in coal min­
ing (42 in bituminous, 8 in anthracite); 28 in
crude-petroleum and natural-gas production; 11
in metal mining; and 11 in nonmetallic mining
and quarrying. Over the past decade employ­
ment in petroleum and natural-gas production
and nonmetallic mining and quarrying has in­
creased in relative importance while employment
in coal and metal mining has declined.
Every State had some mining employment,
but the bulk of the industry was concentrated in
a few States. The percentage distribution of
employment in mining industries, in the four
leading States, is shown below:
All mining industries:
Percent
Pennsylvania________________________ 22
West Virginia_______________________
14
Texas______________________________
9
Kentucky___________________________
8
Bituminous-coal mining:
West Virginia_______________________
28
Pennsylvania________________________ 28
Kentucky___________________________ 14
Illinois______________________________
7
Metal mining:
14
Minnesota_______
Arizona_____________________________ 12
Michigan___________________________
8
Alabama____________________________
8
Crude petroleum and natural gas:
Texas______________________________
35
Oklahoma__________________________
14
California___________________________ 12
Louisiana___________________________
8
Mining and quarrying of nonmetallic min­
erals:
Pennsylvania________________________
8
California___________________________
7
Texas_______________________________
6
Florida_____________________________
6

Some examples of extreme geographic concen­
tration of mined materials are chromite and mer­
cury produced in California, helium in the Texas
gas fields, and anthracite in Pennsylvania.

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

MANPOWER TRENDS IN MINING

Mine workers are located, to a great extent,
in communities or settlements in rural-nonfarm
areas, isolated from urban industries. A tabulation
of employment under the old age and sur­
vivors’ insurance program in mid-March 1948
showed that nearly 2 out of 3 persons employed in
mining industries were working outside the coun­
try’s 172 metropolitan areas.
Centers of mining employment, for the most
part, are located in single-industry areas where
mining dominates and few alternative oppor­
tunities, outside of lumbering and farming, are
available. Approximately a third of the mining
employment in mid-March 1948 within counties
having 250 miners or more was in those counties
where mining comprised at least 40 percent of
nonfarm employment. The isolation of the miner
is perhaps more acute in one-industry “company
towns” where the absentee mine owner is also
landlord and storekeeper, and furnishes public
utilities. In one-industry dominated areas, the
prosperity of trade and service (usually the only
other nonfarm employments) fluctuates with the
mining industry.
Shifts in the main locations of mining employ­
ment over the years, as exploration and discovery,
expansion of transport, development of tech­
nology, and depletion of deposits changed the
profitability of exploiting various areas of mineral
resources, drastically affected housing conditions
and community life of mining towns. The
opening of oil wells—for example, at first in
Pennsylvania, later in the Midwest and South­
west, and more recently in Texas, Louisiana, and
California—transformed isolated communities in­
to overcrowded boom towns, with skyrocketing
land values. By contrast, the closing of some
iron ore and copper ore mines left “stranded”
communities in the Lake Superior districts.
With the exhaustion of silver-ore deposits, once
thriving communities in Colorado became de­
serted “ghost towns.”
The dangers of injury and occupational disease
compel mine operators, unions, and government to
give close attention to safety and health protec­
tion. Nevertheless, underground workers still
face hazards of poisonous gases, explosive dusts,
dampness, extreme heat, and falling rock. Despite
encouraging improvements in their safety record,
mining industries, as a group, showed in 1949
injury-frequency rates considerably higher than

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135

rates for the manufacturing group. Since ex­
plosions, cave-ins, and floods in underground
mining frequently involve more than one miner,
the proportion of accidents resulting in fatalities
is also relatively high.
Harsh and hazardous conditions of underground
work create exceptional manpower problems in
mining industries. Mining States forbid the em­
ployment of women in mines except in a few
surface and technical operations. Most States
require a minimum age of 18 years for under­
ground mine work. In addition, many require
examination and registration or licensing of miners,
particularly managers, foremen, and hoisting
engineers. Preemploymen t physical examin ations
of job applicants are frequently conducted by
mine operators in order to determine fitness for
work.
Prewar Employment Problems

The record of mining in the years between
World Wars I and II points up the employment
problems of the industry under peacetime eco­
nomic conditions. Seasonal factors were an im­
portant source of variations in employment in
mining industries in the prewar period. In
bituminous-coal and anthracite and in nonferrous
metal mining, employment generally contracted
in summer months and expanded in the fall and
winter. In quarrying, crude-petroleum produc­
tion, and in iron-ore mining, where above-theground operations predominate, the slack season
occurred in winter.
The pattern of seasonal changes in coal mining
varied with uses and general conditions. Thus,
the demand for labor by “ captive” coal mines,
which operate relatively steadily throughout the
year, depended more on the flow of steel orders
than on seasonal factors. In contrast, mines pro­
ducing coal consumed in homes, utilities, and gas
companies reduced their employment in summer
months as the demand for heating fuel fell off.
Stabilization of mining employment by spread­
ing production over the year has been limited.
Production of coal, for example, is ordinarily
undertaken only when orders are received and a
supply of railway cars is assured. Consumers
(except public utilities) do not store coal to any
great extent, normally depending upon supply at
short notice. Efforts of the industry to educate

MANPOWER TRENDS IN MINING

136

consumers to order their coal supply in the summer
in order to spread demand for coal over the year
never proved effective.
During the decline in general industrial activity
in the 1930’s, employment in mining was severely
depressed. Between 1929 and 1932, average
employment in mining industries declined 33 per­
cent, from 1,078,000 to 722,000 (chart 2). This
compares with a decline of 35 percent in manu­
facturing employment and of 35 percent in con­
struction. However, employment in transporta­
tion and public utilities, trade, finance, service,
and government decreased by smaller percentages.
Chari 2. Indexes of Employment in Mining
INDEX

INDEX

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Among mining industries, the employment
decline was relatively sharper in those producing
raw materials used in construction or in the pro­
duction of durable goods for which the demand is
postponable and hence highly variable. On the
other hand, fuel-producing industries with a
diversity of industrial, utility, and domestic con­


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MONTHLY LABOR

sumers showed a relatively smaller decline. In
nonmetal mining and quarrying in 1932, employ­
ment was 49 percent of the 1929 level; in metal
mining, 37 percent; but in bituminous-coal mining
it was 76 percent, in anthracite, 68 percent, and
in crude petroleum, 55 percent. Hours of work
and workdays per year were also curtailed.
Thus, unemployment problems of serious pro­
portions were created for mining communities.
According to a study of the incidence of relief in
1933-34, about half of the 168 counties where min­
ing predominated had almost 16 percent or more
of the population on relief. Only about a fifth of
the manufacturing counties showed 16 percent or
more of the population on relief.
The decline in the demand for labor in mining
industries—particularly coal and metal mining—
after the end of World War I intensified employ­
ment problems. Mining employment in 1939
averaged 845,000 or 2.8 percent of total employ­
ment in nonagricultural establishments, compared
with 1,124,000 or 4.2 percent in 1919. Employ­
ment rose to 1,230,000 in 1920 and then moved
downward, in absolute and relative terms, during
the 1920’s, with minor fluctuations. Following
the 1932 depression low, employment recovered to
slightly over 1 million in 1937, and then declined
in 1938 and 1939.
Some of the contraction was due to mechaniza­
tion in coal mining. For example, the spread of
mechanized cutting and loading and strip mining
reduced unit manpower requirements. In addi­
tion, total output as well as the relative importance
of coal as a source of energy declined between 1919
and 1939 because of the substitution of fuel oil,
natural gas, or water power as a source of energy,
of fuel economies resulting indirectly from changes
in the manner in which coal was utilized, and of
direct savings of coal in existing uses.
In the major metal mining industries—iron ore,
copper, lead, and zinc—labor requirements per
unit of output were reduced substantially as opencut mining, with lower labor requirements, im­
proved extracting operations, and better trans­
portation of ore became more widespread. In­
creased use of scrap metal, instead of ores, and
greater economy in the use of raw materials
tended to slow down the growth of ore production
relative to industrial production.

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

MANPOWER TRENDS IN MINING

Wartime Employment Problems

Wartime employment developments in mining
may be divided into two phases. First, employ­
ment gained markedly following the outbreak of
war in Europe in 1939, as operators called unem­
ployed mine workers back to work in order to
meet greatly increased demand for fuels and
metals. By 1941, mining industries, as a group,
had made up a large part of the employment de­
cline following the 1929 high level. The adjust­
ment of mining industries to the needs of war pro­
duction involved a maximum expansion of existing
mines and finding new mines, in contrast to con­
version of factories in manufacturing.
The second and more crucial phase began with
the rapid expansion of the defense economy after
1941. Workers then began to leave mining indus­
tries for better jobs, recruiting of new workers
proved difficult, employment declined, and short­
ages of workers, especially in essential nonferrous
metal mining, became critical obstacles to expand­
ing production. The attraction of good jobs in
war production factories apparently overcame the
tendency of mine workers to remain in their local
communities. A number of measures were taken
to meet the manpower crisis in various mining
industries, but a shortage of mine workers per­
sisted throughout United States participation in
the war.
Beginning shortly after
Pearl Harbor, nonferrous metal mine operators in
Western States were confronted with a growing
shortage of manpower, primarily as a result of the
migration of workers from mines to coastal fac­
tories. Factors responsible for this movement
were lower wages in comparison with rates in
West Coast shipyards and plants, unfavorable
working conditions, housing shortages, and the
belief that occupational deferments would be
easier to obtain in aircraft plants. The seasonal
shift of miners into farming in the summer of
1942 further reduced the work force.
Efforts of nonferrous metal mine operators to
overcome shortages of labor generally proved in­
adequate. Some workers were transferred from
development work to direct production. Weekly
hours of work were lengthened. (See table, p. 139.)
Some companies reduced their physical standards
in recruiting workers.
N onferrous M e ta l M in in g .

9 5 8 5 5 4 — 51------- 2


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137

When labor shortages in nonferrous metal mines
began to limit essential output during 1942, various
Government agencies undertook concerted action
in the fall of 1942 to retain and expand the work­
force. The War Manpower Commission’s “sta­
bilization” order was credited with reducing some­
what the movement away from the mines. The
order, issued in September 1942, required a “cer­
tificate of separation” from the United States
Employment Service before a nonferrous metal
worker in any of the 12 Western States could be
released from his job and rehired. The Director
of the Selective Service System then advised local
boards to consider for occupational deferment any
worker in nonferrous metal mining in the 12
Western States, regardless of skill. Miners thus
deferred could be reclassified if they left their jobs
without authorization.
The National War Labor Board acted to main­
tain the workforce by authorizing general wage
adjustments in western copper, lead, and zinc
mines. In its decisions, the Board explicitly
recognized the emergency manpower situation in
the industry.
The War Production Board’s order stopping
“all nonessential domestic mining of gold other
than that incident to the mining of critical ma­
terials” was responsible for reducing by half em­
ployment in gold and silver mining. In putting
the order into effect, the War Manpower Commis­
sion directed the USES to refer gold-mine workers
to essential nonferrous metal mining activities.
It proved difficult, however, to direct gold miners
into copper, lead, or zinc mining to the extent
originally hoped. Many gold-mine operators
escaped shut-down by mining certain critical ma­
terials along with gold ore.
The War Department, at the WPB’s request,
furloughed 4,200 soldiers for work in essential
nonferrous metal mines of the West, but this
measure proved to be only partially effective be­
cause of inadequate selection and placement.
Again, when the withdrawal of miners in the
summer of 1943 threatened to cut the output of
essential metal ores, the War Department agreed
to furlough 4,500 servicemen for work in copper,
zinc, and molybdenum mines. This time, the
WPB and other agencies attempted to give pri­
ority to the most efficient mines in critical laborshortage areas in assigning soldiers.
The labor shortage in metal mining persisted to

138

MANPOWER TRENDS IN MININO

the end of the war. Declining employment during
1944 and 1945 became less serious, as military
requirements for nonferrous metals were gradually
cut back.
Coal Mining. Manpower shortages in coal min­
ing (in contrast to the situation in Great Britain
and other countries) never affected production
seriously enough to warrant a special Government
program. Unlike the previous trend in the in­
dustry, the relative importance of coal as a source
of fuel and power increased during the early years
of the war. Old mines were reactivated and new
ones opened. Employment declined as miners
left to take jobs in expanding factories or to enter
the armed forces. In the Pacific Northwest, the
heavy migration of bituminous-coal miners to
coastal plants and yards dangerously reduced the
badly needed local production of coal.
To maintain a high level of production, bitu­
minous-coal mine operators utilized their work
force more intensively. The union and operators
agreed early in 1943 to a 6-day week of 42 hours,
with premium pay for the sixth day and portalto-portal pay for inside workers. Average weekly
hours of production workers rose from 27.1 (ex­
cluding travel time, for inside workers) in 1943
to 43.4 (including travel time) in 1944. In addi­
tion, many mines eliminated seasonal shut-downs.
Vacations were suspended in 1943 and 1944. The
average number of days worked in bituminouscoal mines increased steadily from 178 in 1939 to
278 in 1944—the highest in any year since 1890.
In anthracite mining, employment of production
workers declined after October 1941. Mine opera­
tors (particularly of the deepshaft, underground
mines of northern Pennsylvania) were unable to
recruit workers to replace those leaving the in­
dustry. To meet production schedules, anthracite
operators lengthened weekly hours of work of
production workers from an average of 27.7 in
1939 to 40.7 in 1944. In addition, employers
lowered physical hiring requirements. Higher
earnings attracted “bootleg operators’7into legiti­
mate collieries.
Nonmetallic-Mineral Mining and Quarrying. Cur­
tailment of building and highway construction
during the war reduced the quarrying of sand,
gravel, and other construction minerals, but the
production of military equipment required a vast

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MONTHLY LABOR

output of certain nonmetallic chemical minerals.
Employment increased during the first year of
the war and after 1942, declined. The manpower
situation became especially critical in the small
but vital industries of fluorspar and mica mining.
A shortage of labor, limiting the expansion of
fluorspar output for the steel, aluminum, and
aviation gas industries, attracted the attention of
public agencies in 1943 to this small but vital
industry. The approximately 2,000 workers em­
ployed early in 1943 were considerably below
estimated labor needs of mines. Relatively low
wages, to a great extent, were responsible for a
movement of miners out of the industry. The
location of mines in isolated areas of Illinois and
Kentucky also made it difficult to recruit workers.
To relieve the shortage of fluorspar miners the
Federal Public Housing Authority constructed
housing units to attract new workers to the
Rosiclare, 111., mining area. The War Labor
Board in July 1943 authorized a wage increase for
workers in the Illinois and Kentucky fluorspar
mines. The Selective Service policy of granting
occupational deferments to fluorspar miners also
helped to maintain the work force.
Although the Nation’s requirements for highgrade mica for electronic equipment were filled
primarily from overseas sources, it was considered
urgent to expand domestic mining operations,
especially in North Carolina and New England.
As new mines were opened, employment increased
from about 600 just before the war to 6,000 to
8,000 in 1944. Unattractive wage and working
conditions, however, hampered the recruitment
of an adequate labor supply. The War Manpower
Commission attempted to meet the labor needs
of mica mines—particularly in New Hampshire
and Connecticut—by bringing in workers from
Newfoundland.
Iron-Ore Mining. With the enlargement of exist­
ing mines and the opening of new mines (for
example, in New York State) in response to in­
creased demand for ore by blast furnaces, employ­
ment in iron-ore mining rose steadily. But the
movement of workers to higher-paying war
factories and to the armed services reduced em­
ployment after 1943.
Except for eastern magnetite iron-ore mines, a
small but essential sector of the industry, mines
were not seriously hindered by labor shortages in

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

MANPOWER TRENDS IN MINING

meeting production schedules. The average
workweek in iron-ore mining was lengthened.
Hiring specifications were lowered. Ex-iron-ore
miners employed in less essential activities were
actively recruited. Instead of laying off workers
during the winter slack season of 1943, mine
operators in the iron ranges of northern Minnesota
maintained their work force. Increased use of
labor-saving machinery for handling ores also
offset the unfavorable effects of labor shortages.
Petroleum and Natural-Gas Production. Em­
ployment in petroleum and natural-gas produc­
tion declined steadily during the war years.
Having a high proportion of young males, the
industry lost a large number of workers to the
armed services. Weekly hours were extended.
Industry and Government war agencies at­
tempted to retain workers, especially technical and
highly skilled personnel, through upgrading and
training programs, through special recruitment
drives publicizing the essential importance of jobs
in the industry, and through efforts to obtain
deferments for technical personnel.
Postwar Trends in Employment

Employment in the mining industries during
the years immediately following World War II
expanded, then contracted, and with the defense
mobilization program, showed recovery and ex­
pansion.
Activity remained high from 1946 to 1948, in

139

order to meet the intense demand for metals and
fuel needed in manufacturing the large volume of
producer and consumer durables, in constructing
plants, highways, and homes, and in filling supply
lines depleted durmg wartime. With mines in
foreign countries not yet reconstructed, there
was a strong export demand for American metals
and fuels.
Mining employment rose from 833,000 in
September 1945 to a little over 1 million in Sep­
tember 1948—a high level compared with immedi­
ate prewar years, but still somewhat below 1929.
The unemployment rate among miners, accord­
ing to the U. S. Bureau of the Census, was rela­
tively low, 2.3 percent compared with 3.7 percent
for all wage and salaried workers. Factors
such as voluntary job shifting and seasonal
decline rather than lack of demand contributed
to most of the unemployment in this period.
With profits and sales rising, new firms opened
in 1947 and 1948 outnumbered failures in mining.
Anthracite was the sole mining industry in
which production-worker employment in 1948
was below the peacetime 1939 average. (See
table below.) Miners in all mining industries
had a longer workweek than in the prewar period.
Keduced business expenditures for plant and
equipment and a smaller foreign demand were
among the special factors in the decline in mineral
output and mining employment during 1949.
Between 1948 and 1949, the decline in
mining employment was 5.0 percent compared
with 7.5 percent in manufacturing employment.

Employment and average weekly hours of production workers in mining industries, 1989 and 1947 to 1950

Industry
Iron-ore mining:
Production-worker employment
Average weekly hours_____
Copper-ore mining:
Production-worker employment
Average weekly hours_____ ...
Lead and zinc-ore mining:
Production-worker employment______
Average weekly hours__________ .
Anthracite mining:
Production-worker employment
Average weekly hours_________
Bituminous-coal mining:
Production-worker employment___
Average weekly hours____________
Petroleum and natural-gas production:
Production-worker employment ____ _ .
Average weekly hours___________
Nonmetallic mining and quarrying:
Production-worker employment___
Average weekly hours___________ .


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Average
1939
21,100
35.7
25,000
41.9
16,300
38.7
83,600
27.7
371, 700
27.1
114,400
38.3
68, 500
39.2

Wartime peak
Number
37,000
46.4
35,400
47.4
24, 500
45.5
86,400
46.5
463,100
46.2
115,200
46.8
97,300
48.9

Date
June 1943__
June 1945__
Jan.1943__
Dec. 1944__
Sept. 1943—
Jan.1945__
Oct. 1941....
Feb. 1945....
Jan.1942__
June 1945__
Jan.1942__
Aug. 1945_
Aug. 1942. ..
Oct. 1944....

Average
1947
31,600
40.1
24, 600
44.4
20, 700
41.3
74,600
37.4
402,100
40.6
120,000
40.5
86,000
44.8

Average
1948

Average
1949
30, 400

non
44 7
19, 200
41 4
75,800
413 100
38.0
127,100
40.1
87, 600
44.2

24,300
18,100
41.4
72,800
373,400
127,100
83 700
43.3

Average
1950
31,900
40.9
24,800
17,200
70,600
32.1
351,000
125, 700
40.0
85,200
44.0

140

MANPOWER TRENDS IN MINING

Failures, especially of marginal mines, exceeded
the number of new firms. The unemployment
rate rose to 8.0 percent, a greater relative increase
than in any other industry division.
Production-worker employment declined in all
mining industry groups except in petroleum and
natural-gas production. The cut-backs in coal
mining and iron-ore mining were especially
severe. Communities in the high-cost iron-ore
and copper areas of the upper peninsula of Michi­
gan and in the coal areas of Pennsylvania, Illinois,
and Indiana were hard hit by unemployment.
Causes of the sharp drop in coal-mine employ­
ment included the postwar decline in the con­
sumption of coal relative to gas and oil because
of (1) the increased dieselization of railroads;
(2) the shift to oil heating in homes, and a re­
duction in unit man-hour requirements owing
to the spread of mechanized loading and stripping.
In contrast, the employment trend in petroleum
and natural-gas production was upward. Con­
sumption of petroleum products rose substantially
because of (1) the rising number of motor vehicles
in operation; (2) the growth of military and civil­
ian aviation; (3) the increased use of fuel oil for
heating; and (4) the greater use of Diesel engines.
Rising prices and sales stimulated new firms to
undertake oil exploration and drilling. The neces­
sity of drilling wells more deeply than formerly
and the spectacular growth of the natural-gas
industry were also important factors in the up­
ward trend of employment.
Recovery in mining employment in 1950 was
uneven. Total mining employment in 1950 was
3 percent lower than in 1949, compared with a
5-percent increase in manufacturing. Productionworker employment was slightly higher in 1950
than in 1949 in iron-ore, copper, and in nonmetallic
mining and quarrying, and slightly lower in lead
and zinc mining, anthracite and bituminous-coal
mining, and petroleum and natural-gas produc­
tion. Average weekly hours were longer in all
mining industries in 1950 than in 1949. According
to the U. S. Bureau of the Census, the unemploy­
ment rate for mining, however, was 6.2 percent in


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1950, compared with 5.6 percent for manufactur­
ing.
A marked lengthening of the workweek in metal­
mining and nonmetallic mining and quarrying
accompanied a moderate increase in employment
following the outbreak of hostilities in Korea.
Copper miners averaged 46.0 hours a week in
April 1951, compared with 43.9 a year earlier.
According to a special study of hours of work in
30 key industries in December 1950, about 75
percent of production workers in copper mining
and 25 percent in lead and zinc mining were
employed in mines with average workweeks of
46 hours or more.
By contrast, the workweek in coal mining was
at first lengthened in 1950, but as stocks of coal
accumulated faster than the amounts consumed,
weekly hours were cut back to 34.0 in bituminous
and 21.5 in anthracite. Very substantial labor
surpluses were reported in March 1951 in two
mining areas: Pottsville, Pa., and Crab Orchard,
111. Improved mining machinery is one of the
factors enabling coal miners to maintain a high
rate of output.
One notable effect of the mobilization program
has been the development of shortages of certain
types of skilled mine workers, especially in western
metal mines and oil fields. Because of the over-all
shortage of workers in the field, six occupations
related to mining—petroleum drillers, under­
ground metal miners, oil-well servicing technicians,
mining engineers, geologists, and geophysicists—
were included in the U. S. Department of Labor’s
list of critical occupations.

*Of the Bureau’s Division of Manpower and Employment Statistics.
1In this discussion, mining refers to the activities of persons engaged not
only in extracting coal and ores hut also in quarrying stone and producing
petroleum and natural gas. In the mining of metal ores, coal, and other
solid minerals, the principal technological processes are breaking, loading,
transporting, and purifying. Exploring and developing of mineral properties
are also parts of mining activities. The extractive operations of the crudepetroleum and natural-gas industry consist mainly of drilling into oil bearing
formations and controlling the free flowof liquids and gasses. A much larger
part of the workers are engaged in exploratory development and technical
work than in other mining industries. Workers engaged in coking of coal,
smelting of ores, refining of ores and petroleum, and dressing of stone belong
to manufacturing industries.

, Price Movements
During a Year of
Korean Hostilities
Louise J. M ack*

1951. Consequently, the Price Administrator
imposed the General Ceiling Price Regulation on
January 26. Like the General Maximum Price
Regulation of World War II, the GCPR froze
prices of all commodities and services subject to
price regulation under the act. As a stopgap
measure, the GCPR successfully contributed to
checking the drastic inflation after the end of the
first 8 months of warfare in Korea. For most of
the major categories of commodities at various
levels of distribution from producer to retailer,
specific price regulations gradually replaced the
GCPR.
Price Rises from June 1950 to GCPR

in Korea on
June 25, 1950, renewed the postwar inflation
which had subsided from the peak reached in the
summer of 1948. Prices of raw materials and
semifinished commodities on organized exchanges
and commodity prices quoted by producers reached
a new high in February and March 1951, according
to price indexes computed regularly by the Bureau
of Labor Statistics. The cost of living, measured
by retail prices paid for essential goods and services
by city families, surpassed its previous peaks in
October 1950 and reached an all-time high in
May 1951. It leveled off in June, dropping 0.1
percent, after 15 consecutive monthly increases.
The accumulated pressure of soaring commodity
prices on a broad front from June 1950 to February
1951, and mounting costs of some exempted agri­
cultural products, rents, and labor contributed to
this continuing advance of retail prices of finished
goods and services even after issuance of the
General Ceiling Price Regulation of January 26,
1951. After this, however, a marked slowing, and
even a reversal in some instances, occurred in the
upward price trend.
By the end of the first year of the Korean cam­
paign, primary market prices of 330 commodities
representing major groups of agricultural and
manufactured goods had risen 15 percent. Retail
prices paid by urban families for goods and services
had increased nearly 9 percent.
Trial of voluntary price controls under the pro­
visions of the Defense Production Act of 1950, was
required before mandatory controls could be
issued. These, however, proved ineffectual in
curbing price advances of most goods during the
trial period December 19, 1950, to January 25,
O

utbreak

of

the


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

armed

c o n f l ic t

When the United Nations decided to aid the
South Koreans in resisting invasion, the Nation
was enjoying exceptional prosperity. Home build­
ing achieved an outstanding record of 1,400,000
nonfarm units started during 1950 (surpassing
previous records as early as September); incomes
and liquid assets were unusually high; and un­
employment was around a postwar low. These
factors made possible the tremendous buying
splurge which industrial purchasers, as well as
family shoppers, engaged in from June 1950
through January 1951.
As soon as the United States’ participation in
the Korean campaign was announced, both in­
dividuals and businesses rushed to buy goods.
Consumers bought most heavily commodities
wdiich had been scarce or rationed, or which had
suffered quality deterioration, in World War II.
Brief flurries of scare buying of nylon hosiery,
coffee, and sugar were overshadowed by purchases
of houses, refrigerators, television sets, home freez­
ers, automobiles, sheets, and a number of other
household furnishings. Men bought extra suits
“for the future,” anticipating higher prices and
scarcity of worsted fabrics in the moderate and
medium price lines.
Many acquisitions of high price tag goods were
financed on liberal credit terms prior to the promul­
gation of Regulations W and X by the Federal
Reserve Board on September 18 and October 10,
1950, respectively. A significant proportion of
future buying power was committed by installment
purchases made during the last half of 1950.
In view of this phenomenal demand, supported
by unusually large disposable incomes, it was
141

142

PRICES DURING KOREAN HOSTILITIES

almost inevitable that prices of many goods should
rise sharply between June 1950 and the end of
January 1951, By December 18, the Bureau of
Labor Statistics daily price index had surpassed its
previous peak (of November 1947), and on Jan­
uary 26 was 46 percent above its pre-Korea point.
Quotations of commodities imported from the
Orient such as rubber, tin, and burlap advanced
immediately. On the other hand, list prices of
brand-name durable goods like household appli­
ances, construction and mining equipment, and
automobiles, as well as a few basic industrial ma­
terials like cement and pig iron, remained rela­
tively unchanged from pre-Korea levels for a
number of months.
Quotations for 11 imported raw materials in
the Bureau of Labor Statistics daily price index
jumped 59 percent from June 23, 1950, to January
26, 1951, while primary market prices of 17 do­
mestic raw commodities advanced 37 percent.
Much of the competitive bidding for imported
commodities was the result of fears that available
quantities might be insufficient to meet increased
needs both here and in other countries. For
example, Government stockpiling and increased
consumption combined to raise rubber quotations
187 percent from June 23, to December 28, 1950,
when the General Services Administration as­
sumed control of the purchase and sale of this
strategic material. Similarly, quotations for tin,
another imported stockpile commodity, advanced
from $0.76 on June 23 to $1.82 per pound by
January 26. Wool tops, which are made pre­
ponderantly from imported wool, more than
doubled in price, from $2 to $4.35 per pound in
the pre-GCPR period.
Exchange speculation, together with abnormally
large inventory buying by manufacturers, drove
up prices of most domestic raw materials. Spot
prices for raw cotton averaged a third higher on
January 26 than on June 23, as a combination of
large export allocations, an abnormally high rate
of cotton-goods production, and an unusually
small 1950-51 crop threatened to create a shortage
of the staple. Even byproduct commodities like
hides soared 69 percent from pre-Korea to Jan­
uary 25, when special ceilings were imposed on
them. However, domestic agricultural foodstuffs,
such as grains and livestock, rose less rapidly than
any other major group of commodities, largely as a
result of the favorable carry-over and good 1950

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MONTHLY LABOR

crops for the majority of important farm products.
Increased costs of materials during the seven
pre-GCPR months were reflected in varying de­
grees in prices of semimanufactured and manufac­
tured goods. Textiles, up a third, led the rapid
rise of primary market prices of processed goods,
from June 1950 to January 1951. Chemicals fol­
lowed, averaging 27 percent higher, and farm prod­
ucts rose 19 percent.
Appointment of Michael DiSalle as Director of
Price Stabilization on November 30,1950, occurred
several months after the passage of the Defense
Production Act. Within 3 weeks he imposed
ceiling prices on new passenger cars, freezing their
prices at December 1 levels. Voluntary pricing
standards for all other commodities subject to price
control, issued by the Director on December 19,
failed to curtail price advances of many important
commodities, especially raw materials. The Gen­
eral Ceiling Price Regulation issued January 26,
1951, when it was evident that self-restraint could
not be the major means of price control, froze
prices of all goods and services whose prices could
be regulated under the Defense Production Act
at the highest levels prevailing in the period from
midnight December 19, 1950, to January, 25,1951.
The rise of retail prices from June 15, 1950, to
February 15, 1951, is reflected in the 8-percent
increase in the Consumers’ Price Index for large
cities.1 Prices paid by urban families for housefurnishings were most sharply affected by the preGCPR inflation, rising 13 percent from June 1950
Primary market price behavior of individual commodities
from June 1950 to June 1951

Prices on specified dates
Commodity

Percent
change

Post-Korea
peak
June
June Pre- Peak
23,1950
to
29,1951 Korea
(preto June
peak 29,1951
Korea) Price Date

Steers________ 100lbs.. $29. 250 $37.875
Hogs__________ do--- 20. 250 25.250
Tallow.. . _____ _.lb_. .048 .182
Lard..................... do__ .109 .200
Hides___ _ ___ do__ .258 .435
Wheat, Kansas City.._bu.. 2.112 2. 520
Corn... _______ do__ 1.508 1.890
Coffee________
lb _ .485 .565
Cotton, raw______do__ .338 .452
Print cloth..... ..........yd.. .152 .240
Wool tops______ ...lb. 2.000 4.350
Rubber_________do__ .282 .875
.764 1,830
Tin.. ___ ___ do..
Steel scrap, Chicago.-.ton.- 37. 500 45.000

4/23/51 $35. 250
8/28/50 23. 525
1/16/51 .118
1/30/51 .155
1/17/51 .365
2/13/51 2.288
2/16/51 1.689
9/1/50 .536
4/24/51 .452
1/26/51 .182
1/19/51 2.475
11/9/50 .660
1/25/51 1.060
12/6/50 42. 500

+29.5
24.7
279.2
83.5
68.6
19.3
25.3
16.5
33.7
57.9
117.5
210.3
139.5
20.0

-6.9
-6.8
-35.2
-22.5
-16.1
-9.2
-10.6
-5.1
0
-24.2
-43.1
-24.6
-42.1
-5.6

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

PRICES DURING KOREAN HOSTILITIES

to February 1951. The cost of food purchased by
these moderate-income families increased 11 per­
cent, and the retail price of apparel averaged 9
percent higher in mid-February 1951 than in
mid-June 1950. Beef, veal, eggs, wool rugs,
sheets, refrigerators, stoves, wool suits and coats,
and shoes were important items in family budgets
for which prices in retail stores rose significantly
in the pre-GCPR months.
Post-GCPR Prices

Moderate contraction of consumer buying, heavy
inventories of goods in the hands of producers
and distributors, and increasingly tight regulations
on the use of metals aided the Office of Price
Stabilization in curbing prices from February
through June 1951. As the physical volume
of retail sales during the second quarter of 1951
dropped below that in the comparable period of
1950, retailers purchased merchandise more con­
servatively, and manufacturers felt less inclined
to buy materials at inflated prices. Since the
GCPR assured all purchasers that prices of goods
subject to price control would no longer rise unpredictably, anticipatory purchases to beat price
increases slowed down.
The Office of Price Stabilization issued tailored
price regulations for distributors and manufac­
turers of a variety of specific products such as wool
fabrics, beef, and soap. These regulations issued
from the date of GCPR through June 30 for indi­
vidual categories of goods or industries, commonly
permitted manufacturers to adjust their prices to
reflect increased costs of labor and materials from
June 1950 (or earlier) to December 1950 (or a
specified later month). Retailers in most instances
were protected from undue price squeezes by
being allowed to use their historical margins to
compute maximum prices for each category
of goods.
Quotations of many of the 28 materials compris­
ing the daily price index turned downward after
February 16—an all-time high—declining 12
percent by the end of June to a level 30 percent
above that of June 23, 1950. The favorable crop
outlook during the first half of 1951 enabled prices
of many farm products to return to lower levels.
Price declines of several imported commodities
such as raw wool, tin, and rubber exceeded the
average price decrease of domestic commodities

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143

from January 26 to June 29, 1951. Government
control of buying and selling, as well as allocation
programs of the National Production Authority,
resulted in a drop of tin prices from $1.83 to $1.06
a pound and of rubber from $0.81 to $0.66 a pound
by the end of June. An additional slash in rubber
quotations to $0.52 was announced in June to take
effect July 1. However, prices of many essential
basic commodities, such as livestock, hides, 1950
crop cotton, metals other than tin, wood pulp,
sulfur, and sugar, remained as high as price regu­
lations would permit. By the end of June 1951
the daily price index averaged 11 percent below
the GCPR level. The rate of price decline on
security and commodity exchanges was accel­
erated in June by rumors of, and later by pro­
posals, to cease fighting in Korea.
Demand for consumers’ goods declined to nor­
mal (or for many housefurnishings, even sub­
normal) toward the end of March. Distributors’
inventories began to bulge and manufacturers
sought and obtained in the second quarter lower
prices for a number of materials such as fats and
oils, wool, silk, cotton textiles, and coal. By the
end of June primary market prices averaged about
the same as the week the GCPR was issued, nearly
15 percent above their pre-Korea level.
By mid-June 1951 city families found that they
were paying 9 percent more for essential goods
and services than a year before. Consumers’
return to a normal buying pace and price regula­
tions had succeeded in stabilizing retail prices
after issuance of the GCPR. Only an 0.8-percent
rise in the general level of retail prices in large
cities occurred from mid-February to mid-June
1951. Rent and retail prices of housefurnishings
advanced over 1 percent, apparel prices moved up
1 percent, and food rose 0.4 percent in the 4
months preceding the Korean truce proposals.
The monthly rate of increase of the Consumers’
Price Index in that period dropped to an average
of one-fifth of a percent compared with a monthly
average of 1 percent during the preceding 8
months.

*Of the Bureau’s Division of Prices and Cost of Living.
1 February rather than January 1951 has been selected as a comparison
month because many pre-GCPR price increases occurred after prices were
collected for the January 15 Consumers’ Price Index; these increases, there­
fore were not reflected in the index until the February figures had been
collected.

It was wartime conditions under a Soviet in­
vasion rather than legislation which helped to
cement relations between labor and management.1

Labor Situation
in Finland,
1949 to 1951
A nna -Stina E ricson*

h e F in n is h
l a b o r m o v e m e n t , pushed by in­
flationary forces and Communist propaganda, has
made a number of demands for wage increases in
the last 2 years. Three general advances were
authorized in 1950; but, in recent months, the
Social-Democratic majority in the labor federa­
tion has agreed to join the Government in an
economic truce to promote stabilization. Two
factors accentuating this situation are Finland’s
proximity to the U. S. S. R. and the presence of a
large number of Communists within labor’s ranks.
However, trade-union and parliamentary elec­
tions in the spring and summer of 1951 gave the
Social-Democrats a greater majority than they
have had in the past few years, thus creating a
more congenial atmosphere in which to work out
an economic program to stabilize the national
economy.
At its June 1951 Convention, the Central
Federation of Trade Unions (SAK) voted to com­
plete its withdrawal from the Communist-domi­
nated World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU).
This decision represents the latest step in a pro­
gram which was initiated by the Social-Demo­
cratic majority among organized workers in Fin­
land late in 1949.
In many respects, Finnish labor-management
relations law resembles that of her Scandinavian
neighbors. However, industrial relations legis­
lation in Finland did not bring about a high
degree of industrial peace in the 1920’s and 1940’s.

T

144

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Communist Issue in Unions

Along with other democratically minded tradeunion federations in Europe, SAK joined the
WFTU at the time of its formation in the fall of
1945. Unionists then believed that labor move­
ments of different political orientation could
work together on a nonpolitical basis to improve
labor conditions in all parts of the world. At
that time, SAK was controlled by a SocialDemocratic majority in its executive committee,
although some of its largest member unions—
notably the Transport Workers, the Forest and
Floating Workers, the Textile Workers, and the
Wood and Furniture Workers Unions—were
Communist-dominated. After its 1947 Congress,
SAK continued to be controlled by a Social-Demo­
cratic majority, even though 6 of the 14 members
on the executive committee, elected for a 4-year
term, were Communists.
From June to September 1949, a series of Com­
munist-inspired strikes was undertaken without
the approval of the SAK executive committee.
This led to the break with WFTU. Rene Arrachard, then secretary general of the French
Building Workers’ Union and board member of
the WFTU trade department for wood construc­
tion materials and building trades, arrived in
Finland shortly after the strikes began, supposedly
to investigate the split in the Finnish labor move­
ment between Communist-led and Social-Demo­
cratic unions. The Social-Democratic majority
in SAK doubted WFTU’s right to interfere in a
purely internal problem. This group was espe­
cially displeased with Arrachard’s activities, which
were very strongly in favor of the striking Com­
munist unions and against the SAK position that
the strikes were illegal. Shortly thereafter SAK
stopped paying dues to WFTU, but decided to
leave the final decision to break with WFTU to
the 1951 SAK congress.
One immediate result of the wild-cat strikes in
1949 was the Executive Committee’s provisional
expulsion from. SAK of seven of the Communist
unions for illegal strike action.2 By the end of
September, five of these had been readmitted on

LABOR SITUATION IN FINLAND

condition that they would thenceforth respect
SAK statutes and decisions.3 Two large Com­
munist unions, the Finnish Transport Workers’
and the Forest and Floating Workers’ Unions,
had not been readmitted by July 1951.
Following the 1949-50 developments, Com­
munist organizations, both in Finland and in the
U. S. S. R., increased their efforts to gain a foot­
hold in the Finnish labor movement, but met with
little success. From within SAK, the Communists
tried unsuccessfully to get that organization to
join the Communist-front Partisans of Peace.
A WFTU delegation to Finland in June 1950
tried to restore good relations between SAK and
WFTU, while the Soviet Society for Cultural Re­
lations with Foreign Countries (VOKS) made
strong efforts to increase the number of Finnish
trade-union delegations visiting the U. S. S. R.
in 1950. Although the WFTU efforts were un­
successful, some trade-union delegations have
visited the Soviet Union.
In the meantime, the Social-Democrats had also
been active. From the beginning of the strikes,
Social-Democratic unionists had tried to enlist
non-Communists in Communist-led unions to join
Social-Democratic unions. Both the Truck
Drivers and the Workers Unions campaigned to
win members away from the Transport Workers’
Union; the Farm and Mixed Workers Union sought
to draw strength away from the Forest and Float­
ing Workers Union. They succeeded to the extent
that the combined membership of the two expelled
unions at the end of 1950 was estimated to be
only about 60 percent of their 1948 membership.
However, the membership of the two anti-Communist unions had not increased correspondingly.
In fact, membership of most Finnish tradeunions was lower in the second quarter of 1950
(the latest date for which figures are available)
than in 1948. Part of the drop was due to the
resignation of some anti-Communists from Com­
munist-dominated unions who did not join other
unions, and part to membership declines in unions
with Social-Democratic leadership—presumably
caused by dissatisfaction with the limited success
of the SAK economic program. In April 1950,
SAK had a membership of almost 265,000 in 37
national unions, compared with almost 307,000 in
1948 and 342,000 in 1947, the peak year.4


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145

In April 1951, the member unions of SAK
elected delegates to its quadriennial Congress.
The results showed that the Social-Democrats
won 152 seats, the Communists 65, and the Sea­
men’s Union (nonpolitical) 5. Compared with the
1947 Congress, this is an increase in the nonCommunist strength from 57 to 6 8 percent, and a
decline in Communist strength from 43 to 29
percent.
Economic Conditions

Economic problems in Finland have been com­
plicated since 1944 by the reparations which the
U. S. S. R. exacted from the Finns by the Armistice
Treaty signed in September of that year. These
reparations commit a large share of the products
of the Finnish economy to Russia and propor­
tionally lower the real incomes of the people of
Finland. One effect of the reparations payments
is to intensify the competition between various
segments of the economy for their shares in total
national income.
The Finnish Government, which had main­
tained wage controls all during the war years
1939-44, again established such controls on Decem­
ber 30, 1946, which were continued until January
5, 1950. In 1950, there were many demands from
labor for increased wages and two serious threats
of a general strike from SAK. Not only was the
cost-of-living index increasing rapidly (20.8 per­
cent in 1950 6), but no long-term collective agree­
ments were in force, and labor and management
were unable to arrive at new agreements satis­
factory to both parties. Escalator provisions,
whereby wages were adjusted to the cost-ofliving index, were incorporated into most collec­
tive-bargaining contracts as a result of agreements
negotiated by Speaker of the Diet, Mr. Fagerholm,
and Commerce Minister, Mr. Aura, in May and
October 1950, respectively.6 Because of the
steadily accelerating price-wage spiral, and after
the failure of repeated efforts to achieve some
sort of economic stability, the Government issued
a wage-freeze decree on November 7, 1950, sus­
pending the escalator provisions.
An economic stabilization program which be­
came the subject of negotiations between the
Agrarian and Social-Democratic Parties resulted

146

LABOR SITUATION IN FINLAND

in the formation of a coalition Cabinet in January1951.7 The wage-freeze decree, against which
SAK had protested strongly, was annulled by the
new Cabinet’s decree of January 21, 1951, author­
izing the payment of wage increases based on the
October and December 1950 cost-of-living indexes.
On May 2, 1951, the Finnish Government and
representatives of the Employers’ Federation,
the SAK, the Association of Intellectual Workers,
and the Agricultural Producers’ Association signed
a 4-month “economic truce” intended to assure
economic peace until the fall of 1951. Under its
provisions, prices are to be rigorously controlled,
no wage increases are to be granted even should
living costs rise, and all economic disputes are to
be settled by arbitration. Farmer participation
in the truce was conditioned on a Government
pledge to adjust agricultural prices from time to
time, according to changes in production costs.
The Government promised to ease taxes on indi­
vidual incomes, which are relatively high in the
middle- and lower-income groups. An economic
planning board is to be set up under the terms of
the pact to draw up a long-range stabilization
program.
Industrial Relations

The political and economic forces described
above have combined to produce a high rate of
man-days of idleness in industrial disputes. The
number of man-days lost in strikes was very high
during the 1920’s, reaching a peak for Finland’s
entire trade-union history in 1927 (1,528,182 mandays). The principal cause of these strikes was
the question of wages. Prior to passage in 1917
of hours legislation establishing the 8-hour day,
length of work time had been one of the chief
causes of disputes. Since 1920, there have been
practically no disputes over hours of work.
Relatively few man-days were lost due to strikes
in the 1930’s. During 1942-M5, strikes were pro­
hibited by the State of War Act and also (later) by
the Emergency Powers Act. Since the end of
World War II, strike incidence has again risen in
Finland, often without SAK authorization. In
fact, unauthorized strikes were so frequent that
the 1947 SAK Congress passed a resolution con­
demning them, but with little effect. Official
strike statistics for 1945-50 follow.


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MONTHLY LABOR

Disputes

1945 1 ---------1946 1 ______
19471---------1948 1 ---------1949 2---------1950 3______

102
42
228
84
49

69

Number of—
Workers involved

35, 762
18, 913
113,359
15, 057
5 8 , 800
112,085

Man-days lost

357, 664
115, 984
479,496
243, 544
1,000,000
(0

1Statistical Yearbook for Finland, 1949 (p. 215).
2Preliminary estimates by the Research Office of the Ministry
for Social Affairs.
3For the period January-November 1950, preliminary unoffi­
cial estimates.
4Not available.

Machinery for the negotiation of collective
agreements and the settlement of industrial dis­
putes in Finland was established by law after
World War I, and reenacted in 1946. This legis­
lation defines the provisions which agreements
must contain, provides for abrogating an agree­
ment, and for fines in violations of an agreement.
Collective agreements are in force in most indus­
tries, and generally cover wages, working time, rest
intervals, the scheduling of work, and contract ter­
mination, as well as other provisions.
Collective-bargaining rights for persons in
State employment or official positions were first
guaranteed by legislation passed in January 1942,
although white-collar workers had been organized
as early as 1922 (in the Intellectual Workers
Association) .8
Working relations between labor and manage­
ment were little affected by early legislation
(i. e., Collective Agreement Act of 1924). Favor­
able conditions for cooperation, which this legis­
lation had failed to create, were provided after the
1939-40 winter war with the U. S. S. R. A very
general agreement to negotiate confidentially
about common problems was signed by the top
federations of labor and management on January
24, 1940; however, it proved to be too general to
promote effective working relations.
A new general agreement, entered into by the
SAK and the Central Federation of Finnish Em­
ployers in 1944, was renewed in 1946. It defines
the basis for negotiations between the organiza­
tions, the disputes procedure (strike action during
an agreement is not permitted), the relations be­
tween employers and workers, and worker repre­
sentation at the plant level.
The 1946 Labor Disputes
Act authorizes mediators (appointed by the Gov-

D isp u tes Procedure.

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

LABOR SITUATION IN FINLAND

ernment for a 3-year period) to intervene at once
in important disputes over issues not covered by
collective agreements. The mediator may sug­
gest postponing a work stoppage until after the
conciliation results are made known. He may
intervene in a labor dispute if a private body is
unsuccessful or is unable to proceed with its task.
The act requires a 2 weeks’ notification period
before a strike may legally occur, during which
time the Ministry of Social Affairs may invoke
a temporary prohibition against the work stop­
page. In disputes affecting public utilities, means
of transportation, the national defense, or munici­
pal services, an additional 2-week prohibition may
be invoked. If the dispute is not settled at the
end of that time, the prohibition may be revoked
on application by either party.
During negotiations, the mediator acts as
chairman of the proceedings; if he fails to guide
the parties to a settlement on terms close to their
own proposals, he may suggest final terms of
settlement to them in writing, which they must
accept or reject by ballot within a specified time.
If the terms are rejected, the mediator must urge
the parties to refer the dispute to arbitration, and
must notify the Ministry of Social Affairs when
the parties do not agree. There is no compulsory
arbitration of such disputes. When a settlement
is reached, it must be embodied in a written con­
tract signed by both parties.
A 1946 law created a Labor Court
to deal with disputes over the interpretation of
agreements or otherwise arising out of agree­
ments (jural disputes). The judgment of the
Court is final and binding. The parties may,
however, agree upon some other method of dis­
pute settlement.

Labor C ourt.


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147

The president and the eight members of the
Labor Court are appointed by the President of the
Republic for 3-year terms. Three members,
respectively, are named on the recommendation of
the most representative organizations of central
employers’ associations, and of central employees’
unions. The president and one public representa­
tive must be qualified members of the legal pro­
fession, and the eighth member must have a special
knowledge of labor matters.

*0f the Bureau’s Division of Foreign Labor Conditions.
i See Labor-Management Relations in Scandinavia, by Jean A. Flexner,
Monthly Labor Review, May 1951.
}See Notes on Labor Abroad, No. 12, October 1949 (p. 2).
3Article 4of the bylaws ofthe SAK provides for the expulsion ofan affiliated
union if its activities are damaging to the SAK or if it does not abide by the
bylaws or the decisions of the federation congresses, executive committees, or
SAK council. Membership may be regained after expulsion or separation
by such compliance and, usually, by payment of the dues accrued during the
period of separation.
<SAK is a relatively new organization. It was founded in 1930as a federa­
tion of 7unions with a membership of 15,000. After the Russian Revolution
in 1917, when Finland gained its independence, it also acquired a vigorous
Communist movement, fostered by Russia. During the 1920’s, the Com­
munists captured the trade-unions, agitated for the overthrow of the social
order, and fomented much industrial unrest. The result was a retaliatory
native semi-Fascist movement (Lapua) which in the beginning of the 1930’s
brought about the dissolution of the Communist Party in Finland and the
end of the Finnish Trade-Unions Organization, founded in 1907. In 1932, the
Lapua Movement was itself dissolved, under the Sedition Law.
5This index differs from most other cost-of-living indexes in that increases
in child allowances are included in the index computation as a negative factor.
In this way, increase in child allowances compensates at least in part for any
rise in prices, and slows down the increase in the index which otherwise would
have occurred.
6See Notes on Labor Abroad, No. 19, March 1951 (p. 1): Finland—WagePrice Difficulties.
7In January 1951, the Social-Democrats returned to the Cabinet to
hold an equal position with the Agrarians (7seats) in a majority coalition with
two members from the Swedish People’s Party and one from the Progressive
Party; the Social Democrats had left the Cabinet in March 1950, after having
been the minority Cabinet under Mr. Fagerholmsince the 1948Diet elections.
8Its successor, the Central Federation of Intellectual Workers, was founded
in May 1944, and is composed of 30national unions with a 1949membership of
64,961. Two of the largest unions within this federation are the Communal
Employees Unions, with 6,100 members, and the Government Employees
Unions, with 20,200 members.

Summaries of Studies and Reports
Premium Pay:
An Analysis of Industrial Practices
r e m i u m p a y 1is designed in general to compensate
employees for conditions of work that are con­
sidered disadvantageous or burdensome. During
the past 20 years, the payment of premiums for
work after some standard number of hours in
the day or week, on certain days in the week not
scheduled as regular workdays, on late shifts,
and on holidays has become widespread in
American industry.
Overtime pay at time and a half for work after
40 hours a week is currently a predominant
practice; time and a half for work after 8 hours a
day is also widely established. Double time for
work on paid holidays is a frequent practice.
For Saturday and Sunday work, limited informa­
tion indicates that payment of time and a half
and of double time, respectively, are most general.
Provisions covering premium-pay practices in
private industry have developed through the
collective-bargaining process or by employer
personnel action, and through legislation. This
article traces both approaches from the period
immediately preceding World War II to early
1951.2 Before 1940, premium-pay practices were
developed almost entirely through private de­
termination, with the significant exception of the
Fair Labor Standards Act. During the war years,
the National War Labor Board exercised wide
jurisdiction over the entire field of wage practices.
From 1945 through 1950, development was
largely through collective bargaining or employer
personnel action. With the reestablishment of
wage controls in January 1951, Government
regulation has again become an important factor.

P

Before World War II

Great impetus to the spread of premium pay
fôr overtime was given by the Fair Labor Stand­
ards Act of 1938. Two years after its effective
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date, overtime pay, at time and a half after 40 hours
a week was required for most employees covered by
the act. Although this standard was not new, the
act served to give it the force of law and extend it
to many workers not previously subject to over­
time provisions. The act did not provide for
daily overtime, a principle recognized in other
Federal legislation. The Walsh-Healey Public
Contracts Act of 1936 3 required payment of time
and a half after 8 hours daily as well as after
40 hours weekly. The eight-hour law in 1940
which affected Federal public works required
time and a half pay after an 8-hour day.
Provision for premium pay for overtime on a
daily basis was typical in a variety of industries
in the early 1940’s. Time and a half after 40
hours weekly or 8 hours daily was overwhelmingly
found, for example, in 1941 in the aircraft,
aluminum, automobile, electric-equipment, steel,
machine-tool, metal-mining, rubber, and ship­
building industries.4
Extra pay for holiday work was a well estab­
lished practice by 1941. Double time 5 was the
most customary rate for work on holidays for
which employees received straight-time without
working. Rates of time and a half and double
time for working on unpaid holidays were about
equally prevalent among the union agreements
studied. 6
Premium pay for both Saturday and Sunday
work was commonly provided in 1942 7 among
union agreements in the following industries:
aircraft, automobile, electrical products, machine
tools, and shipbuilding (except on the Pacific
Coast). In aluminum, iron and steel fabrication,
rubber, and the building trades, premium pay was
generally allowed for work on Sunday but not on
Saturday. Both Saturday and Sunday premium
pay were rare or nonexistent in basic iron and
steel, chemicals, and nonferrous metal mining,
smelting, and refining—mostly continuous process
industries. The premium rates most frequently
specified were time and a half for Saturday and
double time for Sunday.

PREMIUM PAT PRACTICES

Information on the prevalence of night-shift
differentials before World War II is too fragmen­
tary to permit generalizations. However, in several
important defense industries—aircraft, automobile
manufacturing, and shipbuilding—a large percent­
age of union agreements provided shift differentials
in 1940.8
During World War II

The outstanding development affecting pre­
mium pay during World War II was Executive
Order No. 9240, which became effective October 1,
1942, and was operative until the end of hostilities.
“This Order was designed to facilitate round-theclock war production, to discourage absenteeism
resulting from the payment of premium rates for
work on particular days, as such, and to increase
the over-all efficiency of workers by encouraging a
day of rest in each workweek.” 9 The order per­
mitted the payment of a premium rate of time and
a half for work over 8 hours a day or 40 hours a
week, or on the sixth day of a regularly scheduled
workweek where required by law or contract. How­
ever, it required the payment of double time for
work on the seventh day of a regularly scheduled
workweek; and time and a half for work on 6 holi­
days.10 Thus, the order eliminated overtime pre­
miums greater than time and a half, except for
work on the seventh day of a regularly scheduled
workweek; it prevented payment of extra com­
pensation for work on Saturdays and Sundays, as
such, and limited premium pay on holidays.
The National War Labor Board did not evolve
a generally applicable policy on shift premiums
until late in the war. Under the policy finally
developed, the maximum shift differentials which
the Board would order or approve were 4 and 6
cents an hour for work on the second and third
shifts, respectively, in continuous process indus­
tries, and 4 and 8 cents in noncontinuous indus­
tries.11
Industry or area practice or a combination of
both usually determined the Board’s action on
voluntary applications for approval of new or
liberalized overtime pay provisions. “In general,
voluntary requests for daily overtime payment
after 8 hours’ work or more in any one day were
approved without question in view of the preva­
lence of a standard 8-hour day in American indus­
try. Board action on voluntary requests for

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149

weekly overtime for hours in excess of 40 and less
than 48 in a week was normally based on industry
practice in an area. Overtime for hours in excess
of 48 would ordinarily be approved irrespective
of industry practice in the absence of a finding
that such payment would be seriously unstabiliz­
ing to an industry or area. . . . Overtime issues
in dispute cases were handled by the Board on a
case-by-case basis, primary consideration being
given to the equities of a particular situation.” 12
Recent Practices2

The principle of daily overtime was recognized
in about 95 percent of the union agreements ana­
lyzed for 1948 and 1949. Nearly all of these set
premium pay at time and a half the regular rate.
A few agreements, mostly in the construction
industry, provided double time.
Overtime was paid after 8 hours’ work under
all but a tenth of the agreements providing for
penalty rates. Payment for daily overtime after
a regular schedule of less than 8 hours was largely
restricted to agreements in the apparel and the
commercial and newspaper printing industries.
For work beyond the regularly scheduled work­
week penalty rates were somewhat less customary
than for daily overtime. Three-fourths of the
agreements analyzed specifically provided for pre­
mium payment for weekly overtime work, almost
invariably at time and a half. Very few agree­
ments required double time. This does not mean
that premium rates were not paid for work in
excess of 40 hours in the remaining agreements,
inasmuch as time and a half must be paid to
workers to whom the overtime provision of the
Fair Labor Standards Act applies.
Of the agreements that called for weekly over­
time pay, 93 percent specified that such payment
was to be made after a 40-hour workweek; about
5 percent—mostly in apparel, lumber, printing,
and telephone and telegraph—specified overtime
pay after workweeks ranging from 30 to 37% hours.
A few additional agreements, with basic weekly
work schedules of less than 40 hours, stipulated
that overtime pay was not to begin until after
40 hours.
Data secured by field visit in 8 industries were
studied to supplement the analysis of union agree­
ments.2 In these industries, payment of time
and a half after 40 hours was almost universal.

150

PREMIUM PAY PRACTICES

Premium pay for daily overtime work, however,
was the prevailing practice only in the machinery
and the west coast lumber industries. Daily
overtime premiums were paid by plants employ­
ing about two-thirds of the workers in men’s cotton
garments and footwear, and less than half of the
workers in the remaining 4 industries: rayon,
nylon, and silk; southern cotton textiles; wood
furniture; and southern sawmills.
Firms employing almost all office workers
studied in 12 important cities during 1949-50
paid premium rates for overtime; 87 percent of the
workers were affected by the Fair Labor Standards
Act pattern—time and a half after 40 hours a
week—whether or not they were subject to the
act. An additional 10 percent received time and
a half after a shorter weekly schedule. Less than
2 percent were employed in establishments that
either provided no overtime rate or never worked
overtime. The principle of daily overtime ap­
plied to only about a third of the office workers,
largely concentrated in manufacturing establish­
ments.
Shift operations were mentioned in 84 percent
of the agreements analyzed, covering 92 percent
of the employees. Three-fourths of the workers
covered by shift-premium provisions were em­
ployed under contracts that referred specifically
to both second and third shifts.13 Most of these
agreements required a slightly higher differential
for work on the third shift. About a quarter of the
workers were covered by clauses that established
a uniform differential for any work other than on
the day shift.
The most common shift differentials were 4 and
6 cents for the second and third shifts, respectively.
Among the agreements specifying a percentage
premium, the most common combination of
second- and third-shift premiums was 5 and 7K
percent.
In the agreements providing a single nightshift differential, the amount most frequently
specified was 5 cents, but almost equally prevalent
were premiums of less than 5 cents or between 5
and 10 cents. Of the workers covered by a per­
centage differential, the majority received 10
percent; almost all of these workers were employed
in the electrical machinery and telephone and
telegraph industries.
About a tenth of the contracts providing shift
differentials allowed 8 hours’ pay for a night shift

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

MONTHLY LABOR

of less than 8 hours, in addition to the premium
rate for each hour worked.
Premium pay for work on Sundays not sched­
uled as regular workdays was specified in twothirds of the union agreements analyzed, covering
more than half of the employees involved. Dou­
ble time was specified in more than three-fourths
of these agreements, covering four-fifths of the
workers. The remaining agreements prescribed
time and a half. In general, premium-rate pro­
visions for Sunday work did not make payments
contingent on the number of hours or days pre­
viously worked during the week.
Firms employing almost 70 percent of the office
workers studied by the Bureau in late 1949 and
early 1950 indicated either that their office em­
ployees never worked on Sunday or that they had
no special pay provisions for such work. Of those
firms with a Sunday pay policy, virtually all paid
either time and a half or double time; the latter
rate was slightly more prevalent.
About 45 percent of the union agreements
analyzed, covering 25 percent of the employees
involved, specified extra compensation for Satur­
day work, usually at the regular overtime rate of
time and a half. About two-fifths of the workers
covered by Saturday premium pay provisions had
to meet specific work requirements in order to
qualify for such pay; typically they must pre­
viously have worked 40 hours or 5 days during the
week. Employees regularly scheduled to work
on Saturday or Sunday were often specifically
excluded from receipt of premium pay for such
work.
Observance of holidays was provided in all but
4 percent of the agreements analyzed. In 58
percent, all holidays recognized were paid for;
23 percent granted unpaid holidays exclusively;
and 15 percent provided both paid and unpaid
holidays.
Among the agreements providing penalty rates
for work on paid holidays, about two-thirds speci­
fied double time. Two and a half times the regular
rate was required by 16 percent of the agreements
and triple time by 6 percent. Most of the
remainder provided for time and a half.
About three-fifths of the agreements providing
a penalty rate for work on unpaid holidays speci­
fied a rate of time and a half. Nearly all of the
remaining agreements required double time for
holiday work.

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

PREMIUM PAY PRACTICES

Current Stabilization Program

Between March 1950 and March 1951, the
estimated increase in weekly overtime work, paid
for at premium rates, added an average of about
2 cents to hourly earnings in manufacturing.
The pressure of the defense emergency on man­
power resources had increased the importance of
premium pay for late shift, overtime, week-end
and holiday work as sources of worker income.
The significance of premium-pay practices has
been recognized in the wage stabilization program.
In fact, the Defense Production Act of 1950 (sec.
702 (e)), defines “ wages, salaries, and other com­
pensation” for stabilization purposes to “ include
all forms of remuneration to employees by thenemployers for personal services, including, but
not limited to, vacation and holiday payments,
night shift and other bonuses, incentive payments,
year-end bonuses, employer contributions to or
payments of insurance or welfare benefits, em­
ployer contributions to a pension fund or annuity,
payments in kind, and premium overtime pay­
ments.”
General Wage Regulation No. 1 of the Wage
Stabilization Board, adopted January 30, 1951,
required prior approval from the Board for in­
creases in overtime premium practices and rates
and in night-shift and other bonuses. In General
Wage Regulation No. 6, approved February 27,
1951, which permits, without prior approval,
general pay increases of 10 percent above the
January 1950 level of straight-time hourly earn­
ings, the policy on premium pay was outlined
more concretely. Under this regulation, increases
in premium rates which went into effect before
January 25, 1951, with one exception, do not
have to be charged against the 10-percent
allowance. The exception relates to shift bonus
rates, increases in which are required to be
offset against the 10-percent allowable increase.
Subsequent to January 25, 1951, the cost of
increases in premium-pay rates or other forms of
compensation must be considered in determining
the allowable increase. However, stabilization
policy limits only the liberalization of rates but
does not limit increased wage p a ym en ts arising
from increased work subject to premium-pay
arrangements already in effect. Thus, an in­
crease in premium overtime rates from time and
a half to double time made after January 25, 1951,

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151

must be counted as part of the 10-percent per­
missible wage increase; but an increase in overtime
earnings due to a rise in the number of man­
hours worked at already established premium
rates is not restricted.
At the time of writing, wage stabilization
policy as expressed in General Regulation No. 6
is under review by the Board. Present policy
relating to premium rates may be modified as a
result of this review.14
— F r e d e r i c k W. M u e l l e r
Division of Wage Statistics
— J a m es C. N ix
D ivision of Industrial Relations

1Premium pay, as used in this article, refers to compensation above the
regular rate of pay for overtime, week-end and holiday work, and work on
night shifts. These premiums, with the exception of those for night shifts,
are typically expressed in multiples of the regular rate; viz, time and a half,
double time, etc. Night shift premiums, commonly called shift differentials,
are usually expressed either in cents-per-hour or as a percentage of the regular
rate; thus, 5 cents an hour for second shift workers or 10percent of the regular
hourly rate for third shift workers.
2Further detail on premium pay practices is provided in a mimeographed
bulletin, “Premium Pay in Private Industry” U. S. Department of Labor,
Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 10,1951. The basic data for this article
and for the mimeographed bulletin were obtained by study of union agree­
ments and special tabulations of recent Bureau occupational wage rate sur
veys. Holiday provisions in 2,316agreements covering over 4million workers
in 1950and other premium pay provisions in 464 agreements covering almost
V A million workers in 1948-49 were analyzed. Since the analyses of union
agreements did not include nonunion establishments and included office
workers only to a minor extent, special tabulations were prepared based on
recent Bureau surveys of occupational wage rates and premium pay practices:
(1) foreight industries, employingin the aggregate largenumbers ofnonunion,
workers; (2) for 12cities, with an office-clerical worker employment ofapproxi­
mately 1,125,000.
1Applicable to Federal Government contracts in excess of $10,000 for the
manufacture or furnishing of materials, articles, supplies, or equipment.
4Overtime Provisions in Union Agreements in Certain Defense Industries,
Monthly Labor Review, April 1941.
6Throughout this article, the total rate for holidays has been used. Thus,
double time consists of the straight-time rate plus a premium rate equal to
straight time.
9Vacation and Holiday Provisions in Union Agreements (January 1943,
BLS Bull. No. 743, p. 7), based on a sample of approximately 12,000 agree­
ments in effect at the beginning of the war.
7Saturday and Sunday Pay Provisions of Union Agreements in Twelve
War Industries, February 1942, U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of
Labor Statistics. (Mimeographed.)
8Shift Operations Under Union Agreements, Monthly Labor Review,
October 1940.
8The Termination Report of the National War Labor Board, Vol. I,
p. 319.
10New Year’s Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas,
and either Memorial Day or one other holiday of greater local importance.
u The Termination Report of the National War Labor Board, Vol. I,
pp. 192-3.
12The Termination Report of the National War Labor Board, Vol. I,
pp. 309-310.
13In this report, the first shift refers to the morning shift, the second to the
afternoon or evening shift, and the third to the night shift.
MSubsequent to the writing of this article, the Wage Stabilization Board
adopted, July 19, 1951, General Wage Regulation No. 13. This regulation
provides that “premium pay relative to days and hours of work, shift differ­
entials,” among other fringe benefits, which donot exceed prevailing industry
or area practice either as to amount or type, need not be offset against the10-percent limit specified by General Wage Regulation No. 6.

152

LENGTH-OF-SERVICE BENEFITS

Collectively Bargained
Length-of-Service Benefits
S t a t u s a t t a i n e d owing to length of service is a
prized asset to the average worker, as it may
govern his claim to a job in the event of reduction
in force, or his chances for promotion to a better
job.1 Length of vacation or sick leave, eligibility
for a pension, or selection for work on the day or the
“lobster” or “graveyard” shift are other important
benefits determined or based on seniority.
To determine the prevalence of various lengthof-service benefits which make workers reluctant
to transfer to new jobs, 330 current collective­
bargaining agreements covering over 4 million
workers were analyzed by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics.2
In the minds of many workers, the rights and
benefits acquired through length of service serve
as a strong deterrent to changing jobs. A survey
made by the U. S. Employment Service in 1942
revealed that the most frequent reason for refusal
to transfer to new jobs, given by 40.6 percent of
the men interviewed, was loss of seniority rights
on their present jobs.3
At a time of national emergency, however,
worker reluctance to lose seniority by moving to
other jobs—while understandable from the indi­
vidual worker’s viewpoint—may prevent the most
effective allocation of manpower. This is especi­
ally true currently, when increasing defense pro­
duction at some plants and decreasing civilian
goods production at others call for a considerable
degree of labor mobility. Payment of higher
wage rates in defense industries tends to overcome
the reluctance of workers to give up their old jobs,
but this in turn increases the difficulty of stabiliz­
ing wages and preventing inflationary trends.

Seniority and Transfers to Defense Jobs

The problem of encouraging workers to transfer
to defense employment was encountered in World
War II. To promote this movement, the Office
of Production Management, and later, the War
Manpower Commission, worked out plans for pro­
tecting the seniority of a worker who transferred
from a less to a more essential job with another
firm.


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MONTHLY LABOR

In the automobile industry, for example, the
Office of Production Management and union and
industry representatives first agreed upon a senior­
ity protection plan in September 1941.4 Under
this plan, workers who transferred to a defense
job with another employer, or who began a defense
training program, continued to accumulate senior­
ity with the company from which they were laid
off or released. These workers were required to
return within 1 week if recalled by their original
employer.
The OPM program was replaced in December
1942 by a War Manpower Commission stabiliza­
tion plan, applying to all industry in the Detroit
area. Under its terms, employees who trans­
ferred to a higher skill or to full-time employment,
retained their seniority status with their former
employers, but did not accumulate seniority
during their absence. In other words, seniority
was frozen as of the date of transfer.
No similar arrangements had been developed
as of June 1951 to meet shifting manpower re­
quirements arising out of the Korean situation and
the accelerated defense program. However, a few
labor-management agreements currently in effect
provide for the protection of seniority rights of
employees who transfer to defense industries.
Such protection is usually afforded only if the
transfer is at the request of the Federal Govern­
ment. Thus, one agreement provides: “ When a
specific request for a specific employee is made by
the Government for transfer into another industry,
the employee will not lose seniority rights, if said
employee returns within 2 weeks after such service
has been completed.”
To facilitate labor mobility, other agreements
allow employees to take their accumulated service
if they transfer from plant to plant of the same
employer. Some of these agreements permit
transfer of service only for specified purposes, such
as vacations, severance pay, and protection of
pension rights.
Length-of-Service Benefits

Rights and benefits based on length of service
may be classified in two categories: (1) Benefits
or privileges earned by an employee’s length of
service without reference to length of service of
other employees; these include paid vacation, sick

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

leave, and automatic increases under a wage pro­
gression plan. (2) Rights and benefits which are
determined by seniority (i. e., employees’ length of
service relative to each other) ; examples are claims
to jobs in event of lay-offs, promotions, or trans­
fers, and choice of shift.
Unions generally favor seniority as the govern­
ing factor in selecting employees for lay-off, pro­
motions, etc. They maintain that a reasonably
close correlation exists between length of service
and efficiency, and that merit and other factors are
too difficult to measure objectively. A disadvan­
tage of seniority, from the union standpoint, is the
possibility that it may cause dissension among
members. Younger workers sometimes feel that
strict application of the seniority principle favors
older workers at their expense.
Many employers, on the other hand, assert that
to give seniority more weight than merit tends to
reduce efficiency by requiring the promotion, or
retention, of employees who are not best suited for
the jobs involved. They maintain that the dif­
ficulty of measuring merit can be overcome by such
devices as careful job analysis and merit rating,
trial periods for employees on new jobs, and resort
to the plant grievance procedure in case of disputes
over merit.
Over three-fourths of the
330 agreements analyzed required that varying
degrees of consideration be given to seniority in
establishing the order of lay-off (table 1). About
60 percent of the agreements made seniority the
governing factor in establishing the order of lay-off.
Almost half of these added a qualifying statement
to the effect that the senior employees must be
competent to perform available work.
Another group of agreements (12 percent of the
total) made seniority a secondary consideration,
i. e., seniority governed the selection of employees
for lay-off only if the employees involved were
approximately equal in ability.
Seniority was given most weight in lay-offs in
the mass-production industries, possibly because a
large proportion of employees have approximately
the same degree of skill and ability. More than
95 percent of the workers covered by agreements
examined in machinery, rubber, stone, clay, and
glass products, petroleum refining, food and
kindred products, and communications were em­
ployed under provisions which gave seniority
L a y - O f a n d R ehiring.


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153

LENGTH-OF-SERVICE BENEFITS

primary consideration in lay-offs. The propor­
tion exceeded 75 percent in tobacco, textiles, and
electric and gas utilities, and was over 50 percent
in transportation equipment, paper, and fabri­
cated metal products. In primary metal indus­
tries and chemicals, the majority of the workers
were covered by agreements which made seniority
the governing factor only where merit was equal.
Construction was the only industry group in
which none of the agreements studied gave con­
sideration to seniority in lay-offs. Absence of such
a provision in this industry is due largely to the
intermittent character of employment—construc­
tion workers move from job to job so frequently
that basing lay-offs on seniority is impracticable.
In the apparel industry, lay-off by seniority is rare
because it is customary to share available work
among all employees, rather than to lay off junior
employees in slack periods. In each of the follow­
ing industry groups, seniority was considered in
lay-offs for less than half of the workers: leather
and leather products, mining, transportation
(other than railroad), services, and hotels and
restaurants.
T able 1.— Consideration of seniority in determining order of
lay-offs

Agreements Workers covered
Degree of consideration
Total_______________________
Seniority governs--- -------- --------Seniority governs, provided senior em­
ployees competent to do available
work--------------------------------Seniority given equal consideration with
ability------------- ---------------Seniority secondary, i. e., governs only
if ability equal________________
Weight given seniority not clear--- ----No reference to seniority---------------

Num­ Per­ Number
ber cent

Per­
cent

330
119

100 4,179,000
36 1,095,000

100
26

83
2
38
211
77

25 759,000
7,000
1
12 500,000
3 343,000
23 1, 475,000

18
(9
12
8
36

1Less than 1percent.
2 Includes several agreements which give seniority different weights among
different groups of employees, e. g., for employees hired before February 1,
1941, order of lay-off is determined solely by seniority; for employees hired
after that date seniority is given secondary consideration. Also included are
a few multi-plant contracts which merely provide that seniority will be in
accordance with local arrangements.

In rehiring, seniority usually was given the
same weight as in lay-offs, because agreements
commonly provided for rehiring in reverse order of
lay-off. Application of seniority in rehiring may
decrease the mobility of labor reserves. Laid-off
workers often prefer to await recall by their former
employer rather than to move to another company,
where they would be at the bottom of the seniority

154

LENGTH-OF-SERVICE BENEFITS

list. Provision for rehiring by seniority gives
each firm a reserve of its own experienced workers
who are more likely to be available when needed.
P rom otions. Almost 60 percent of the agreements
required some consideration of seniority in pro­
motions. Most of them specified that seniority
would govern only if the employees were compe­
tent to perform the work or only if the employees
involved were of equal ability (table 2). An
example of the latter type of provision reads: “ In
making promotions, seniority shall prevail only
where other qualifications are equal. The ‘quali­
fications’ as used in this paragraph shall include
such matters as experience, physical fitness, skill,
knowledge, adaptability, efficiency, responsibility
integrity, and the like.”
Industry groups in which 90 percent or more of
the workers were covered by agreements making
seniority a factor in promotions were: food and
kindred products, chemicals, petroleum refining,
rubber, stone, clay, and glass products, primary
metal industries, transportation equipment, and
electric and gas utilities.
Particularly interesting—especially in light of
widespread popular conceptions that unions almost
universally seek to base promotions on seniority—
was the finding that 136 contracts covering almost
half (46 percent) of all the workers made no
reference to seniority.
T a ble 2. — Consideration of seniority in selecting employees

for promotion

Agreements Workers covered
Degree of consideration
Total_______ _______________
Seniority governs_______. . . _____
Seniority governs provided senior em­
ployees competent to do work_____
Seniority given equal consideration with
ability. ____________________
Seniority secondary, i. e., governs only if
ability equal______ _ _________
Weight given seniority not clear______
No reference to seniority... _______

Num­ Per­ Number
ber cent
330
9
91
5
77
12
136

100 4,179,000
3
48,000
28 717,000
1
26,000
23 1,368,000
4
86,000
41 1,934,000

Per­
cent
100
1
17
1
33
2
46

In general, employers hold that efficiency is
impaired and individual employee incentive is
stifled if seniority, rather than ability, governs
promotions. Unions, in contrast, often take the
position that seniority should be the primary


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

MONTHLY LABOR

factor in making promotions. They contend that
other factors are too difficult to measure objec­
tively—particularly if no joint machinery is set
up to review these factors.
T ransfers. Approximately a fifth of the workers
were covered by contracts which called for trans­
fers from one job to another according to seniority.
For example: “ To promote the orderly transfer of
employees to other jobs within the same wage
spread, the company shall post notice in the plant
requesting employees who wish to transfer from
their jobs to other jobs which may become avail­
able within the same wage spread. Employees
desiring such transfers shall fill out a form pro­
vided for this purpose by the company; thereby
creating a pool of available people who wish to
transfer. Transfers shall be made on the basis of
seniority.”

A fourth of the agreements,
covering about the same proportion of the work­
ers, provided that senior employees were entitled
to first choice of shifts. Owing to the general
preference of workers for the day shift, the effect
is to give older employees first consideration for
assignment to that shift.
Industry groups in which shift preference
according to seniority was most common were
transportation equipment, rubber, textiles, and
communications.

S h ift Preference.

V acation Dates. Choice of vacation periods was
determined by seniority in a third of the agree­
ments covering 26 percent of the workers. Thus:
“ In cases where a number of employees choose
the same vacation period and all of them cannot
be spared for that period, seniority will be the
determining factor in the allotment of vacation
time.”

Over four-fifths of the
agreements, involving 70 percent of the workers,
graduated the amount of paid vacation based on
employees’ length of service. For example: “ Each
employee who has completed 1 year of continuous
employment will receive 1 week’s vacation. Each
employee who has completed 5 years’ continuous
service will receive 2 weeks’ vacation. Each

L ength o f P a id V acation.

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

LENGTH-OF-SERVICE BENEFITS

employee who has completed 15 years of continu­
ous service will receive 3 weeks’ vacation.”
Length of Paid Sick Leave. Graduation of sick
leave according to length of service was provided
in only 14 percent of the agreements, covering
about the same percentage of the workers. An
example reads as follows: “ Each full-time em­
ployee who at the time of illness or injury is and
has been in the active service of the employer for
a period of 1 full year or more shall be entitled to
6 working days’ sick leave with full pay. Each
full-time employee who at the time of illness or
injury is and has been in the active service of the
employer for a period of 2 full years or more shall
be entitled to 12 working days’ sick leave with
full pay.”
Paid sick leave was most common in food and
kindred products (mostly meat packing) and
communications.
Automatic Wage Progression Plans. Slightly over
a tenth of the agreements had minimum and
maximum wage rates for the same job classifica­
tion and a definite schedule of length-of-service
wage increases within the rate range. In some of
these agreements, automatic wage increases were
based solely o n le n g th of service. In o th e rs, in­
creases were automatic up to a given point within
the range, with further increases on the basis of
merit alone.
Dismissal Compensation. Agreements covering
almost a fourth of the workers provided for sever­
ance pay in the event of termination of employ­
ment. Pay was usually graduated according to
length of service, as in the following example:
“ The employer agrees to pay 1 week’s severance
pay for each year of service.”
Dismissal compensation provisions were, how­
ever, concentrated in a relatively few industries—
rubber, food and kindred products (mostly meat
packing), primary metal industries (mostly basic
steel), and communications.


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155

Provision for severance pay gives employees
a limited degree of job security, by making dis­
missal of long-service employees costly to the
employer.
Pensions. Nearly two-thirds of the employees
were covered by agreements providing pension
plans. In all of these plans, employees must
have a specified minimum number of years’ service
in order to become eligible.
Other Benefits. Among the other benefits occas­
ionally determined by length of service were pref­
erence for premium pay work, such as overtime,
Saturday, Sunday, and holiday work; choice of
days off; preference for regular employment
(among part-time and seasonal workers); choice
of runs (in transportation agreements) or routes
(for driver-salesmen); eligibility for paid holidays
and guarantee of 40 hours’ work per week; amount
of Christmas bonus; and length of unpaid leave.
Some employers give privileges and awards in
recognition of long service, other than those which
are collectively bargained. Bonuses and non­
monetary benefits such as watches, insignia,
reserved parking space, etc.,5 are examples of such
employer recognition.
— J a m e s N ix *
Division of Industrial Relations

*Assisted by Rose Theodore and Dena Wolk.
1The courts have ruled in several cases that seniority is a property right
protected under the due process clause of the Federal Constitution. See
G r iff in v. C h ic a g o U n io n S t a t i o n C o . 13 F. Supp. 722 (1936).
2Of the 330 agreements, 198 covered a minimum of 5,000 workers each and
were applicable to slightly over 4,000,000 workers. The remaining 132 agree­
ments, selected at random from contracts of relatively small companies,
covered about 150,000.
2The study, based on interviews at 40 local Employment Service offices
in 21 States, is reported in a Short History of the War Manpower Commission,
Preliminary Draft (p. 57), U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Economic
Security, June 1948.
4Seniority in the Automobile Industry, Monthly Labor Review, Sep­
tember 1944.
4Recognition for Long Service. (Studies in Personnel Policy, No. 106,
National Industrial Conference Board, 1950.)

156

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING IN MEAT PACKING

Collective Bargaining in the
Meat-Packing Industry
G r a d u a l e m e r g e n c e of an almost industry-wide
pattern of collective bargaining in the meat-packing
industry was one of the more significant develop­
ments during the past decade. Agreements,
formerly limited to single organized plants of the
large meat packers, have become broader in cov­
erage with the adoption of “master” contracts
that relate to all plants of a company in which
workers are represented by the same union.
Wage adjustments, with some exceptions, have
tended to be uniform, although each of the “Big
Four” meat packers bargain separately. More­
over, despite past rivalries, the two major unions—
the AFL Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher
Workmen and the CIO United Packinghouse
Workers—have achieved an unusual degree of
cooperation in considering their joint problems.
While each of the unions conducts its own nego­
tiations, they discuss their mutual problems and
exchange information on the progress of their
individual bargaining.

Wage Stabilization Board Action

The most recent manifestation of the “industry­
wide” approach in collective bargaining agree­
ments in the meat-packing industry was reflected
in one of the first major cases of the reconstituted
Wage Stabilization Board in considering the per­
missibility of a 9-cent an hour general wage in­
crease. The proposed increase had been agreed
to by the “Big Four” packers and the unions with
which they had negotiated agreements. Four
unions were involved—the AFL meat cutters and
teamsters, the CIO packinghouse workers, and
the independent National Brotherhood of Pack­
inghouse Workers. The unions had obtained
general wage adjustments of 11 cents an hour in
August 1950 when they renewed their contracts
with the “Big Four.” In exercising the wage­
reopening rights of their existing contracts in late
1950 and early 1951, they sought further pay
increases. Such increases—amounting to 9 cents
an hour, together with an additional 2 cents to


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

MONTHLY LABOR

widen the spread between existing labor grades
or “brackets”—were agreed to by the “Big Four”
by February 1951, shortly after the general
stabilization of wages and prices had been author­
ized by the Economic Stabilization Administra­
tion.
To avert a threatened strike, the Economic
Stabilization Administrator appointed a special
panel to investigate the permissibility of the
agreed-upon increase. The panel reported in
mid-March that only 3 of the 11 cents was ap­
pro vable under the 10-percent formula of General
Wage Regulation No. 6. The Administrator
thereupon declared:
. . . the equities which have been advanced by
the parties to justify wage increases outside the 10
percent formula can be properly considered only by
a tripartite board. The 11-cent increase is recognized
by the parties as not coming within the 10 percent.
To take any other position—to approve such wage
increases above the 10 percent formula—would mean
that I would myself be dictating a new wage stabili­
zation policy that had not been considered by a tri­
partite board. Cases such as this should be handled
by a board. Today we have no board.

Accordingly, decision was postponed until the
Wage Stabilization Board was reconstituted in late
April. The WSB, on May 18, approved by an 8 to
4 vote, with industry members dissenting, an
across-the-board increase of 9 cents an hour. In
taking this action, the Board pointed out that the
parties had commenced tbeir negotiations in De­
cember 1950 pursuant to a valid contract reopen­
ing clause and that for the Board to draw a dis­
tinction between a broad form of wage-reopening
clause and a simple escalator type clause was not
“fair and equitable.” The parties, according to the
Board’s reasoning, could have chosen an escalator
clause type of reopening or some other narrow
form. Instead, they chose a form which permitted
them to “reopen for a n y reason and to reach an
agreement on an y criteria and without limit as to
form and amount.” The Board also observed
that the record indicated that in reaching agree­
ment, “the criteria used and the amount of in­
crease were tbe same as though, instead of a re­
opening clause, their contracts had included any
of the usual forms of cost-of-living escalator
clause.”

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING IN MEAT PACKING

Thus, the Board concluded that “it would not be
equitable to deny approval of the across-the-board
increase agreed to by management and labor in this
case.” 1 The industry members, in their dissent,
declared that the parties had made no showing of
“special hardship or inequity.” They also stated
that the contract reopening clauses—such as those
included in the meat-packing agreements—should
not be “twisted to mean the same as a ‘cost-ofliving’ escalator clause.” 2
The remainder of the negotiated 11-cent wage
increase, amounting to slightly more than 2 cenk
an hour and designed to adjust pay differentials
between jobs, was referred by the Board to its
intraplant equity committee for further review.
The Board announced the approval of these adjust­
ments on June 28, widening the differentials be­
tween existing labor grades from 3 to
cents an
hour.
In exceeding the 10 percent wage formula, the
Board announced that it was fully aware that its
decision “looks in the direction of a general
policy” and that it would be unfair “and in viola­
tion of our duty under the [Economic Stabiliza­
tion] Administrator’s statement . . . if action
were to be delayed pending development of such a
policy.”
The existing wage-rate structure in the meat­
packing industry, with its almost industry-wide
pattern of collective bargaining, is revealed in a
Bureau of Labor Statistics study of 50 agreements
covering 105,000 of the estimated 165,000 produc­
tion workers in the industry in 1950. It was de­
veloped during World War II by the Meat Pack­
ing Commission of the National War Labor
Board and continued in subsequent agreements
negotiated by the unions and the companies.
Prior to World War II, with few exceptions, only
common-labor rates had been negotiated through
collective bargaining. The WLB Commission
simplified the wage structure into some 25 to 30
labor grades or “brackets.” Such a simplification
of the industry’s rather intricate wage structure
became increasingly important with the growing
practice of negotiating “master” contracts. Dur­
ing recent years, also, geographical wage differ­
entials have been somewhat narrowed. Increas­
ing uniformity of nonwage contract provisions is
also revealed by the Bureau’s study.
Following is a summary of significant points in
that study.

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157

Industry Characteristics

The meat-packing industry, centered mainly in
the midwest, is classified into three general groups:
Large national packers (the “Big Four”—Swift,
Armour, Cudahy, and Wilson); independent me­
dium-sized packers whose products generally are
marketed over smaller areas; and small local pack­
ers. Of the more than 2,100 establishments in the
industry, 2 percent, each employing 1,000 or more
workers, accounted for slightly more than half of
the industry’s employment.
The combination of minute divisions of labor,
coupled with relatively few highly mechanized
operations, has led to an unusually high proportion
of unskilled and semiskilled jobs in the industry.
About 30 percent of the workers are common
laborers, and 30 to 40 percent are semiskilled
workers.
Women represent about 20 percent of the labor
force. Nonwhite workers account for about 30
percent of the work force as a whole, but consti­
tute more than half of the workers in and around
the important Chicago area. Employment of pro­
duction workers in 1950 averaged 165,000, or 40
percent higher than in 1939. Hourly earnings
averaged $1.46 and weekly earnings $60.94 in 1950,
showing an increase of 116 percent and 120 per­
cent, respectively, over 1939.
Union Organization

Currently, an estimated 90 percent of the produc­
tion workers in the industry are covered by collec­
tive-bargaining agreements. Organized on a
craft basis in the late 1860’s, local unions of
butchers united and formed the Amalgamated
Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North
America (AMC&BW) in 1896. An AFL charter
was granted to the union the following year.
The union met with a series of gains and reverses
until the 1930’s. The enactment of the National
Industrial Recovery Act in 1933 and the passage
of the National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act in
1935 helped its growth. In 1937, some local
unions left the AMC&BW to form the Packing­
house Workers Organizing Committee (CIO),
which, in 1943, became the United Packinghouse
Workers of America (UPWA-CIO).
A third union—the National Brotherhood of
Packinghouse Workers—represents a substantial
number of production workers in plants of Swift

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COLLECTIVE BARGAINING IN MEAT PACKING

& Co. It is a member of a national federation
of independent unions—the Confederated Unions
of America. There are, of course, numerous other
unions with contracts covering relatively small
special or skilled groups. The AFL teamsters, in
terms of workers represented, is probably the
largest of these groups.
Of its 175,000 members in 1950, the AMC&BW
reported about half in the meat-packing industry,
the other half primarily in retail meat stores.
Most of UPWA’s 80,000 members are employed
in plants of the “Big Four.”
About a decade ago the major unions began
to press for company-wide bargaining. Previous­
ly, negotiations had been conducted on an indi­
vidual plant basis. Since 1941-42, each of the
“Big Four” and a few of the independent packers
have negotiated “master” agreements. Currently
the UPWA has master agreements with Armour,
Swift, Cudahy, and Wilson; the AMC&BW with
Armour and Swift; and the NBPW with Swift.
The master agreements are fairly uniform, except
for a few provisions, such as wage rates, seniority,
and job standards, which are usually subject to
local ratification. Patterns established in these
contracts are reflected rapidly in agreements
negotiated with other packers.
Union Security

A large majority of the workers are covered
by agreements which simply state that the union
is recognized as the sole bargaining agent for all
workers in the bargaining unit, whether members
of the union or not. The “Big Four” agreements
and some others also contain clauses providing for
check-off of union dues. During World War II,
maintenance-of-membership clauses predominated.
Among the medium- and small-sized firms,
union-shop provisions were found in a majority
of the agreements. These covered only a fourth
of the workers, however.
Significant Contract Provisions

Minimum-wage guarantees are widespread in
the industry. They reflect attempts by both
management and labor to stabilize and regularize


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MONTHLY LABOR

earnings in an industry marked by seasonal, and
even daily, fluctuations in production arising
from irregularities in receipt of livestock.
Guaranteed weekly wages were inaugurated by
Swift & Co. as long ago as 1912.3 During
World War I, the major packers guaranteed a
40-hour week. The guarantee dropped to 32
hours during the NRA period; but, as a result of a
War Labor Board directive applicable to the large
packers, it was increased to 36 hours in May 1945.
Currently, four out of every five of the 50 agree­
ments analyzed by the Bureau, covering more
than 90 percent of the workers in the study,
assure employees a regular week’s work, commonly
36 hours.
Three agreements (plants of George A. Hormel
& Co.) guarantee income or employment on
an annual basis. Introduced by the company
in one department in its main plant, in 1931, the
plan was subsequently incorporated in its collec­
tive-bargaining agreements first negotiated with
the UPWA in 1938. Most workers are scheduled
to work an average of 38 hours weekly. The
annual wage plan is linked to a work budget
incentive system and a joint earnings (profitsharing) plan.
With few exceptions, workers receive 3 weeks’
vacation with pay, generally after 15 years’ serv­
ice. All are entitled to 1 week after 1 year, and
2 weeks after 5 years’ service. Since 1946, they
also have observed eight paid holidays. For work
performed on one of these holidays, the standard
compensation is three times the regular rate of pay.
Most of the workers are covered by paid sickleave plans, also first negotiated in 1946. The
amount of leave with pay is generally based on
length of service. The usual practice provides
for 2 weeks’ leave at half pay for each year of
accumulated or continuous service.
Dismissal pay for workers permanently laid off
was first jointly negotiated in 1949. Workers of
the “Big Four” and a few other packers, repre­
senting about three-fourths of the workers in the
BLS study, are eligible for such pay. In all cases,
the worker is entitled to 1 week’s pay after 1
year’s service with additional pay for greater
length of service.
Many packinghouse workers must change into
special work clothes before beginning their jobs.

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

159

ILO CONFERENCE

Their clothes are subject to unusual wear, neces­
sitating frequent replacement as well as constant
laundering. They are also required to use and
maintain such hand tools as knives and cleavers.
During World War II (1944-45), the War Labor
Board directed the “Big Four” packers to furnish
special outer garments and necessary tools, and
to maintain the latter. An average of 12 minutes
daily was also allotted for changing clothes; this
practice has been continued in current contracts.
Currently most of the workers are supplied with
some outer work clothes and necessary tools,
equipment, and safety devices, either by payment
of a monetary allowance or at no cost to the work­
ers. Many companies also launder the outer
work garments or grant a monetary allowance for
this purpose.
To break the monotony and fatigue of repetitive
operations, 9 out of every 10 workers get rest
periods. These are commonly 10 minutes for
each half shift.
Health and welfare plans are not customarily
incorporated in meat-packing agreements. It is
known, however, that a number of large packers
provide for some welfare benefits.

cumstances under which a strike may be called.
Work stoppages which occurred prior to World
War II, arose primarily from attempts to obtain
union recognition; but in the major stoppages
since the war, wage increases have been the most
frequent issue.
•— A n n a B ercow itz
D ivision of Industrial Relations

i Opinion prepared in the meat-packing case by Wage Stabilization Board
Chairman George W. Taylor on behalf of the public members of the Board.
s Nine specific reasons were advanced by the industry members, most of
which related to the undesirability of according preferential treatment to
“favored groups.”
3 Industrial Relations in Meat Packing by Edwin E. Witte, in Labor in
Postwar America, 1949 (p. 500).
For additional data on guaranteed wage plans see: Guaranty Plans in
Manufacturing Agreements, Monthly Labor Review, April 1945, p. 710;
Guaranteed Wage or Employment Plans, Bureau of Labor Statistics Bul­
letin No. 906, 17 pp. 1947; Economic Analysis of Guaranteed Wages,
Bureau of Labor Statistics Bulletin No. 907, 62 pp. 1947.

The Thirty-Fourth Conference
of the ILO

Disputes Machinery

To reduce the area of conflict as much as
possible, the grievance machinery in the meat­
packing industry is clearly defined. Both the
AMC&BW and the UPWA take an active part
in handling grievances. Especially designated in­
ternational union representatives handle disputes
arising between their local unions and the indi­
vidual “Big Four” packers. In plants of inde­
pendent packers, disputes are generally handled
by union district representatives. The final appeal
level, however, usually calls for participation of
international union representatives.
Arbitration, as a final step in settling grievances,
is now a well-established requirement in the in­
dustry. Agreements of the “Big Four” and sev­
eral others call for the appointment of a permanent
impartial chairman. Prior to World War II, only
the Swift agreements provided for permanent
arbitrators.
Under agreements covering more than 80 per­
cent of the workers (including the “Big Four”),
restrictions are placed on the conditions and cir­

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F in a l d e c isio n s on several international labor
standards were reached by the thirty-fourth session
of the International Labor Conference in Geneva,
June 6-30, 1951.1 Two Conventions, with supple­
mentary Recommendations, adopted by the Con­
ference, dealt with equal remuneration for men and
women workers for work of equal value, and with
minimum-wage fixing machinery for agricultural
workers. Two Recommendations on two phases
of industrial relations—collective agreements and
voluntary conciliation and arbitration—were also
adopted by the Conference. Conventions are
legally binding on all Member States which ratify
these instruments.
The Conference also held first discussions and
reached preliminary conclusions on proposals for
international labor standards which will come up
for definite action at next year’s session. These
dealt with cooperation on the plant level between
public authorities and employers’ and workers’
organizations; holidays with pay in agriculture;
and the objectives and minimum standards of
social security.

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1LO CONFERENCE

Several draft Resolutions submitted to the Con­
ference were either withdrawn by their authors or
rejected. Among those rejected were proposals by
the Czech and Polish delegates dealing with
purely political issues, such as the alleged re­
militarization of Western Germany and Japan
and the reduction of armament budgets. The Con­
ference adopted a Resolution prepared by the
Governing Body of the International Labor Office
which “reaffirms the firm intention of the Inter­
national Labor Organization to pursue the cause
of peace by all practicable means within its
power and declares that the . . . Organization
will cooperate with the General Assembly and the
Security Council . . . for this purpose . . . and
will render all appropriate assistance to those
organs of the United Nations.”
The Annual Report of the Director General was,
as usual, subject to extended discussion. Pro­
cedural issues handled by the Conference in­
cluded the election of Governing Body members
and changes in the Standing Orders of the Con­
ference. These changes are intended to assure
closer coordination between the International
Labor Organization, on the one hand, and the
United Nations and its other specialized agencies,
on the other.
Representation at the Conference

At the beginning of this year’s session 56 Mem­
ber States were represented, more than in any
foregoing Conference.2 The tripartite composi­
tion (with 4 delegates, 2 representing Government,
1 management, and 1 labor) was incomplete in
some instances. In all, the delegations totaled
104 Government representatives, 47 employers’
representatives, and 47 workers’ representatives.
The advisers to these three groups numbered 361.
Among the States represented was Yugoslavia,
which had withdrawn from the organization in
1947 and resumed membership in 1951 by formal
act.
Professor William Rappard, for many years
Swiss Government delegate to the International
Labor Conferences, was elected president of this
year’s session. Philip M. Kaiser, assistant Secre­
tary of Labor and one of the United States Gov­
ernment delegates to this session of the Conference,
was appointed chairman of the steering committee.

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MONTHLY LABOR

Government delegates from Poland and Czecho­
slovakia protested, as they had at the 1950 session,
against the presence of a delegation from the
Chinese Republic. The Conference’s Credential
Committee rejected this protest. It referred to
recent decisions by the General Assembly of the
UN providing that, pending an investigation cur­
rently under way, the representatives of the
National Government of China should be seated
in the Assembly and that “whenever more than
one authority claims to be the Government entitled
to represent a Member State in the United Na­
tions, the attitude adopted by the General Assem­
bly . . . should be taken into account . . . in
the specialized agencies.” In contrast to their
reaction last year, the Czech and Polish delega­
tions continued to participate in this year’s
Conference.
The Federal Republic of Germany applied for
admission to the International Labor Organiza­
tion, and Japan applied for readmission. Both
applications were extensively discussed in the
plenary meetings. Representatives of the Soviet
bloc protested against the admission of both
nations. The delegates of Israel (Government,
employees, and workers) also expressed their
strong opposition to the admission of Germany.
However, admission of both states was voted by
a great majority of the Conference. While the
German delegation was immediately seated in the
Conference, Japan’s reentry will become effective
as soon as the Japanese Diet has approved it.
Numerous observers attended the Conference,
representing the UN, its various specialized agen­
cies, and many nongovernmental international
organizations with which “consultative relation­
ships” had previously been established. Among
the latter were the International Confederation
of Free Trade Unions, the International Confed­
eration of Christian Trade Unions, and the Com­
munist controlled World Federation of Trade
Unions.
Action of the Conference

The international draft regulations finally adopt­
ed in the thirty-fourth session deal with indus­
trial relations and wages.
The Recommendation concerning collective
agreements proposes the establishment of “ma-

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

ILO CONFERENCE

chinery,” by legislation, regulation, or agreement,
for collective bargaining or for assistance in col­
lective bargaining. It leaves organization and
operation of such machinery to national laws or
regulations, or to the joint determination by the
parties. The Recommendation defines the legal
effects of collective agreements and provides, where
appropriate to national conditions, for the exten­
sion of an agreement to employers and workers
j who are not parties to the agreement, but “included
within its industrial and geographical scope.”
Establishment of voluntary conciliation machin­
ery is proposed by the second Recommendation
adopted in the field of industrial relations; some
details for the organization and operation of such
- machinery are also suggested. If an industrial
dispute has been submitted to conciliation or
arbitration with the consent of all parties con­
cerned, the parties should be “encouraged,” ac­
cording to the Recommendation, to abstain
from strikes and lock-outs while the procedure is
in progress. No provision of the Recommenda­
tion should, however, be interpreted as limiting,
in any way whatsoever, the right to strike.
According to a Convention adopted by the
Conference, the Member States shall promote the
principle of equal remuneration for men and
women workers for work of equal value. The
States shall go further and “ensure” the applica­
tion of this principle to all workers, if such action
is consistent with the methods by which rates of
remuneration are determined in the country. The
Convention indicates that an objective appraisal
of jobs may in many cases be helpful in applying
the principle of equal pay. It is supplemented
by a Recommendation which deals, among other
issues, with the remuneration of government
workers and workers in similar types of employ­
ment. The Recommendation suggests progressive
application of the principle of equal pay for all
categories of workers in countries where this
principle cannot be implemented immediately, by
measures such as the decrease of wage differentials
and the provision of equal pay increments for
men and women performing equal work. Finally,
it proposes various lines of action which might
raise the productive efficiency of women and
facilitate, thereby, application of the principle.
The measures proposed include vocational guid­
958 5 5 4 — S I­

'S


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161

ance, training, and placement, and the develop­
ment of welfare and social services.
A second Convention adopted by the Conference
obligates the States which ratify it to create or
maintain machinery for fixing binding minimum
wages in agriculture and in related occupations.
Under its terms, employers and workers shall be
consulted as to the nature and form of the machin­
ery and as to its methods of operation and shall
participate “on a basis of complete equality” in
its operation. All further details are to be decided
in each country by the competent authority. A
supplementary Recommendation contains specific
suggestions for the application of the Convention.
In the discussion of the latter Convention,
various speakers referred to the lapse of more
than 20 years since the International Labor Or­
ganization adopted regulations in the interest of
agricultural workers. They stated that the need
for such regulations in member countries is
greater than ever before because of the many less
economically advanced and less industrialized
countries which recently have joined the ILO.
In line with this renewed emphasis, the Con­
ference resolved to place the question of holidays
with pay in agriculture on the agenda of the
next general session of the Conference, with a
view to final decision in 1952 on an international
regulation. Other items placed on next year’s
agenda for final decision are the “Objectives and
Minimum Standards of Social Security” and the
“Cooperation between Public Authorities and
Employers’and Workers’Organizations at theLevel
of the Undertaking.” Maximum standards of
social security and cooperation on an industryand nation-wide level are scheduled for a first
discussion at the same meeting.
General Issues

Following established practice, the decisions of
the Conference on international labor standards
were preceded by thorough discussion in tripartite
committees of conclusions and of drafts prepared
by the Office. Among the recurring issues in the
deliberations are the following which are closely
interrelated.
(1) Form that a regulation should take—an
international convention, legally binding all

162

ILO CONFERENCE

Member States which ratify the instrument, or
an international recommendation deriving its
effectiveness only from the merits of its suggestions
and the moral authority of the Organization:
The advantages and disadvantages of each of these
two forms have been continuously debated during
the more than 30 years of the International Labor
Organization. It became apparent again at the
thirty-fourth session that the workers’ group
preferred, on the whole, the use of conventions
while the employers’ group in general favored
recommendations. Also frequently discussed is
the particular situation of Federal States, such
as the United States, Canada, Brazil, India,
Australia, and Switzerland with respect to con­
ventions dealing with labor issues that are partly
or entirely in the jurisdiction of their constituent
States or Provinces. Their special situation has
been recognized recently by special provisions in
the ILO Constitution.3
(2) Wide differences among Member States as
to economic structure and strength, levels of liv­
ing, and prevailing labor standards: This issue
too has preoccupied the Organization from its
beginning and in all its attempts at preparing inter­
national standards capable of being accepted by
at least a majority of the Member States. With
the increase in the number of less economically
advanced countries which are members of the
Organization it has become more and more diffi­
cult, if not impossible, to combine universality of
international regulations with uniformity of stand­
ards. The Organization is aware of these diffi­
culties and has tried in various ways to overcome
them, sometimes by limiting regulations to special
categories of countries, such as the dependent
territories. In other cases—as, for example, the
proposal for social security discussed in the thirtyfourth session—minimum and maximum standards
have been prepared.
(3) National differences in philosophy in the
field of labor between highly developed and less
economically advanced countries, and also within
each of these groups: A significant instance of
such differences is the deep-rooted belief in volun­
tary action by labor and management to which
the United States and certain other countries
adhere, and the emphasis on government inter­
vention prevailing in many other countries. The
International Labor Organization has learned by


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MONTHLY LABOR

experience that these differences in point of view
are as real and as important as differences in eco­
nomic development, and has included alternative
solutions which reflect these different approaches
in many of its recent proposals on labor standards.
Report of the Director General

David A. Morse, the Director General of the
I. L. O., in the introduction to his annual report,
restated the beliefs upon which the work of the
Organization is founded and defined as its “main­
spring the belief in the essential worth and dignity
of the individual.” He proposed that the dele­
gates focus again the general debate of the Con­
ference on a broad issue of social policy arising
out of current problems, and suggested as a signifi­
cant topic wage policy in conditions of full employ­
ment. This suggestion, and the whole report,
found a sympathetic response with the great
majority of the delegates. Not less than 109
speakers representing Governments, employers,
and workers from all continents participated in
the discussion.
Senator James E. Murray, United States Gov­
ernment delegate, expressed his full accord with
the fundamental beliefs stated by the Director
General in the introduction to his Report. Sena­
tor Murray defined as the essential issue in wage
policy “how to maintain economic stability, and
at the same time achieve a steady advance in real
wages, within the framework of freedom and full
employment.” He added that “at the present
time we are confronted with problems of wage
policy that go far beyond those arising out of full
employment and collective bargaining in a peace­
ful world. We are confronted with a situation in
which a defense effort of substantial magnitude
must be superimposed upon an economy in which
high levels of employment and output already pre­
vailed when the emergency began. The immedi­
ate effect of this situation is a rise in money in­
come not offset by an equivalent increase in the
goods and services available for consumption.”
Senator Murray emphasized that, while direct
price and wage controls were invoked in the U. S.,
“the principal key to a rising real wage level, or to
the maintenance of real wage standards in a period
of expanded defense expenditures, is expanded
production.”

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

CEILING PRICE REGULATIONS

Secretary of Labor Maurice J. Tobin referred to
his statement at the thirty-third session pledging
the “ determination of the United States to con­
tinue to take a major part in the struggle for free­
dom, for human betterment, and for world peace”
and reaffirmed this pledge. The Secretary empha­
sized that freedom, human betterment, and peace
are the three objectives of the United States for­
eign policy.
This program means that we are partners with
other countries in the International Labor Organiza­
tion in encouraging the efforts of peoples to obtain
living wages, fair and rising labor standards, full
participation in the benefits that result from in­
creased wealth, the removal of discrimination be­
cause of race, religion, nationality, color, or sex. It
means encouraging their struggle for freedom of
speech, freedom from want, the right to strike, and
the right to organize labor unions and other organi­
zations. It means encouraging land reform where
the people want it and where they need it. It
means applying the standards developed by the
International Labor Organization, and it means sup­
porting its growing operating programs which are
directed toward the better distribution and utiliza­
tion of our manpower resources.

Ceiling Price Regulations
Numbers 43-54 1
T w e l v e c e il in g price regulations covering numer­
ous commodities at various levels of distribution,
constituted price stabilization action by the Office
of Price Stabilization during June 1951. Among
these, five ceiling price orders cover various scrap
metals (zinc, copper, brass mill, battery lead, and
aluminum scrap), and a sixth deals with the manu­
facture of apparel, apparel furnishings, and apparel
accessories.
Various grades of zinc scrap were placed under
dollars-and-cents ceilings by CPR 43, issued June 1
and effective June 6. The regulation applied to
all sales and deliveries, including imports and
exports. Ceilings established are designed to
correct the existing price relationship by rolling
back zinc scrap prices to a level below that
prevailing for primary zinc.


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163

Mr. Tobin ended his address by stating his be­
lief that “in time the peoples behind iron curtains
will lift them in search for freedom and will be
able to enjoy with peoples all over the world a
bright and peaceful future.”
— O scar W e ig e r t
D ivision of Foreign Labor Conditions

1 For summary of 33d session of the ILO Conference, see Monthly Labor
Review, August 1950 (p. 210).
1 The United States Delegation to the Conference included the following:
Government delegates: Philip M. Kaiser, Assistant Secretary of Labor;
Hon. James E. Murray, United States Senator from Montana. Government
substitute delegates: Hon. Augustine B. Kelley, United States Representa­
tive from Pennsylvania; Arnold Zempel, Executive Director; Office of Inter­
national Labor Affairs, Department of Labor. Advisers: Arthur J. Altmeyer, John J. Babe, B. Harper Barnes, Robert Barnett, Clara M. Beyer,
James L. Case, Louis J. Ducoff, Ida Klaus, Frieda S. Miller, Otis E. Mulliken, Robert J. Myers, Edward B. Persons, Cleon O. Swayzee, Oscar Weigert.
Employers’ delegate: Charles P. McCormick, president of McCormick &
Co. Advisers: William B. Barton, L. E. Ebling, Carroll French, L. Roy
Hawes, Donald Knowlton, A. D. Marshall, W. L. McGrath, Charles B.
Shaw.
Workers’ delegate: George Philip Delaney, International Representative,
American Federation of Labor. Advisers: William Collins, Rudolph Faupl,
Edward Hillock, Martin Kyne, John T. O’Brien, Jacob S. Potofsky, Michael
Ross, Boyd Wilson.
3See ILO Constitution, art. 19, par. 7 as amended in 1946.

Contractors’ services rendered in connection
with the needlework industry in Puerto Rico were
placed under ceiling regulations by CPR 44, dated
June 4. It permits contractors to add to ceiling
prices the increased labor cost resulting from
higher minimum wages for needleworkers ordered
by the Wage and Hour Division of the U. S.
Department of Labor.
The Apparel Manufacturers’ General Ceiling
Price Regulation (No. 45), covering approximately
30,000 firms in the $10-billion apparel manufactur­
ing industry, was issued by the OPS on June 9
to become effective August 15. It requires all
clothing manufacturers in fixing ceilings to use as
a base period three selected consecutive months
in the pre-Korean period, with allowances for
price rises in material and labor costs. The
regulation applies to practically all sewn or
knitted apparel.2
CPR 46 through 49 established specific dollarsand-cents ceilings on copper scrap, brass mill

164

CHANGES IN PRICE-WAGE POLICY

scrap, pulpwood logging services, and wood pulp.
Copper scrap and copper alloy scrap were
covered under CPR 46, dated June 21 and effec­
tive June 26. The regulation applies to all sales
of industrial producers, railroads, Government
agencies, dealers, exporters, and importers. The
ceilings establish pre-Korean differentials between
the price of scrap and the price of corresponding
new metal.
All sales and deliveries of various grades of brass
mill scrap were placed under control by CPR 47,
issued on June 21 and effective June 26.
Contract logging services in the Northeastern
States were controlled by CPR 48, dated June 22
and effective June 27. Services covered are those
rendered in connection with the production of
pulpwood cut from mill-owned or controlled
stumpage in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York (ex­
cepting nine counties comprising the southern tier
of that State).
Ceilings for 12 standard grades of wood pulp
produced in the United States for domestic con­
sumption or for export and for four grades of wood
pulp imported from overseas, were established by
CPR 49, dated June 25 and effective June 30.
Control at the retail level for kerosene imported
in steel drums and sold in the Virgin Islands was
established by CPR 50, dated June 29 and effec­
tive July 5. This product is one of the principal
fuels used there and is the first petroleum product
to be removed from the provisions of CPR 13
(petroleum products regulation).
Sales of salted codfish, at the wholesale and
retail level of distribution, were put under specific
ceilings by CPR 51, dated June 29 and effective
July 5. The dollars-and-cents ceilings are de­
signed to reflect pre-Korean prices and mark-ups.
Sales of gum rosin and gum turpentine were
placed under uniform dollars-and-cents ceilings
by CPR 52, dated June 27. It does not apply to
sellers who sell principally to individual consumers
other than industrial, institutional, or govern­
mental consumers.
Dollars-and-cents ceiling prices for battery lead
scrap and other lead scrap materials, secondary
lead, and primary and secondary antimonial lead
were outlined in CPR 53 dated June 29. It
applies to all sellers of battery lead scrap and also
establishes ceiling prices for brokerage services


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

MONTHLY LABOR

rendered in connection with sale of scrap battery
lead plates.
Aluminum scrap and secondary aluminum ingot
were placed under ceiling regulations by CPR
54 dated June 29. The regulation rolls back the
price of secondary aluminum ingot and aluminum
scrap to levels reflecting value of metallic content
in terms of the ceiling prices prevailing for primary
aluminum. It applies to all persons who sell these
commodities.
1Federal Registers, vol. 16, No. 107, June 2, 1951, p. 5168; vol. 16, No. 108,
June 5, 1951, p. 5257; vol. 16, No. 117, June 16, 1951, p. 5753; vol. 16, No. 121,
June 22, 1951, pp. 5932and 5940; vol. 16, No. 122, June 23,1951, p. 5984; vol. 16,
No. 123, June 26, 1951, p. 6024; vol. 16, No. 126, June 29, 1951, p. 6312; vol. 16,
No. 127, June 30,1951, pp. 6378, 6379, and 6381; vol. 16, No. 128, July 3, 1951,
p. 6431; and OPS release June 15,1951.
2 Broad range of the regulation’s coverage includes men’s hats, coats, suits,
shirts, socks, pajamas, neckties, handkerchiefs, gloves, mufflers, belts, and
wallets; women’s hats, coats, dresses, underwear, night gowns, stockings,
handkerchiefs, gloves, scarfs, pocketbooks, and handbags; children’s wear;
work clothing; sportswear; athletic apparel; lounging wear; ecclesiastical
and academic vestments; theatrical and masquerade costumes. It does
not cover a number of miscellaneous items associated with the sale of apparel
such as costume jewelry, artificial flowers, thread, buttons, pins, hooks and
eyes, grippers, zippers, canvas bags, hair furnishings, umbrellas, and similar
miscellaneous products.
See article below for the action taken on this and other OPR’s after the
31-day extension of the Defense Production Act of 1950.

Changes in Price-Wage Policy
and Administration, June 1951
o n g r e s s i o n a l e x t e n s i o n of the Defense Pro­
duction Act for 31 days and a number of Wage
Stabilization Board decisions on a case-by-case
basis, together with administrative action designed
to expedite the WSB program, were the main
defense-mobilization developments affecting labor
in June 1951. Among the WSB policy decisions
were several resolutions dealing with productivity
which opened the way to the inclusion of “ produc­
tivity increases” in a new general wage policy
scheduled for formulation by the Board.1

C

Effects of Extension of DPA

The act extending the Defense Production Act
of 1950 through July 31 was signed by the Presi­
dent on June 30. It provides a ban on any
scheduled price rollbacks or any ceilings on com­
modities not previously covered (agricultural
products excepted under certain conditions).2

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

CHANGES IN PRICE-WAGE POLICY

165

Accordingly, the Office of Price Stabilization in
General Overriding Regulation 13, dated June 30,
froze price ceilings of manufacturers in effect June
30 by extending indefinitely the filing date for six
pricing regulations—CPR 22, 30, 37, 41, 45, and
18 (revised). These regulations cover the follow­
ing industrial groupings: general manufacturing;
machinery and related manufactured goods; pri­
mary cotton-textile manufactures; shoe manu­
facturing; apparel manufacturing; and wool, yarn,
and fabric manufacturing. Manufacturers who
had not established ceiling prices under the above
regulations, remained under provision of the Gen­
eral Ceiling Price Regulation, and legal price
ceilings remained at the levels of midnight June
30, 1951. In a statement clarifying the regula­
tion, OPS stated that existing ceiling prices were
frozen, rather than market prices.
Also extended for 31 days were existing wage
formulas, particularly General Wage Regulations
6 and 8 pertaining to the 10-percent limitation on
wage increases and to the approval of agreements
covering escalator-clause increases which were
signed prior to general wage stabilization. Both
these regulations would otherwise have expired
on June 30.

Currently, the National Mediation Board is
considering a type of productivity increase, in
connection with “ increased pilot productivity” as
a result of greater speed and complexity of modern
airplanes. (For discussion see p. 193 of this issue.)
Approval of a 9-cent-an-hour wage increase,
granted under the “ tandem relationship” pro­
vision of General Wage Regulation 10, to 100,000
workers of General Electric Corp. was issued on
June 19. The Board issued its approval on the
basis that a “ tandem relationship” had existed
prior to the signing of different contracts by two
unions. The unions involved were United Elec­
trical, Radio and Machine Workers of America
(Ind.) and the International Union of Electrical,
Radio and Machine Workers (CIO).
Simultaneously, the Board approved a 15-cent
hourly increase, together with three fringe benefits,
for the International Association of Machinists
(AFL) employed by the Republic Aviation Corp.
of Farmingdale, N. Y. Approval was granted
“ because of considerations of manpower and
defense needs under the ‘rare and unusual’ section
of General Wage Regulation 6, plus an evaluation
of rates for comparable jobs in the major aviation
plants of the area.”

Policy Decisions of WSB

Administrative Action

Approval, on June 12 of a May 25 agreement
(granting wage increases in excess of 10 percent)
between the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen
and the railroads, was the first important action
by the Board commencing in the second week of
June.3 Approval was granted under the “ base
pay period abnormalities” clause of General Wage
Regulation 6 and because of the “ long history of
the negotiations” involved in the case.
Following the policy set forth in a resolution
adopted June 6 and relating to “ productivity
increases” for wage earners, the Board, on June
19, approved this type of increase for non-exempt
salaried employees (those covered by the 40-hour
week and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor
Standards Act). The ruling applies in those
instances when the Board has approved similar
increases for hourly rated workers. In this initial
approval of such increases, the Board issued a
statement that, whatever form the general wage
policy finally takes, it will include provision for
this type of increase.

The Wage and Hour Division of the U. S. De­
partment of Labor was authorized by the WSB
on June 12 to receive and examine petitions for
wage action, and to make investigations of viola­
tions of wage stabilization regulations. In addi­
tion to the fact-finding authorization, the Divi­
sion’s 68 field offices are to receive all future peti­
tions for any wage action.
As part of a program to deal with violations of
wage regulations, the Board voted unanimously on
June 13 to establish a 3-member National En­
forcement Commission, and in addition, provided
for creation of similar commissions in each of the
14 regional WSB offices.
Action relating to equal treatment for all work­
ers (unorganized, members of independent unions,
or members of affiliated organizations) in the
administration of wage regulations was taken by
the Board on June 21. It took form in the desig­
nation of a public member of the Board to assume
responsibility for assuring equal treatment for all
groups in processing of cases, and the appointment


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

166

WAGES—MEN’S DRESS SHIRTS

MONTHLY LABOR

workers already above the 75-cent level. If only
the subminimum workers had been raised, the
average would have increased almost 5 cents.
The large concentration of workers at the 75cent level resulting from the higher minimum
rate in other low-paid industries such as southern
lumber and fertilizer, did not occur in this in­
dustry.4 Although the whole wage distribution
was affected to some extent, the proportion of
workers earning over $1.25 increased only 1 per­
i New York Times, June 30,1951; Federal Register, vol. 16, No. 128, July 3,
cent from August 1949 to March 1950. How­
1951, p. 6435; Wage Stabilization Board Releases 40, June 13,1951; 43, June 19,
1951; 44, June 19,1951; 38, June 12,1951; and 46, June 21,1951.
ever, over 10 percent of the workers moved from
5See p. 163of this issue for ceiling price regulations issued prior to the 31-day
below the 80-cent level to a higher hourly rate.
extension.
3 For action taken during the first week in June, see Monthly Labor Re­
Women received a higher average increase than
view, July 1951 (p. 57).
men as a result of the 75-cent minimum as could
be expected, since they were generally lower paid.
Their average increase from August 1949 to
March 1950 was 8 cents compared with only 4
cents for men.

of a top-level WSB staff member as liaison officer
for independent unions.
Establishment of an interim Appeals and Review
Committee, to act on railroad and air transporta­
tion cases, and appointment of an Airframe Com­
mittee, to study the special problems in that indus­
try, were additional administrative actions taken
by the Board to facilitate the wage-stabilization
program.

Men’s Dress Shirts and Nightwear:
Effect of Minimum Wage 1
o u r l y e a r n in g s 2 increased from 88 cents to
$1.02, or 16 percent, from August 1949 to Novem­
ber 1950, in the men’s dress shirt and night­
wear industry. Half of this increase was pri­
marily the result of the new 75-cent minimum
wage effective in January 1950. General wage
changes 3 in most of the plants from March to
November 1950 were largely responsible for
the remainder of the increase. •

H

Effect of Minimum on Earnings

The effect of the 75-cent minimum was re­
flected in a 7-cent increase in average hourly
earnings, from 88 to 95 cents an hour from
August 1949 to March 1950. Factors other than
the new minimum had very little influence on
wages during this period.
About three-fourths of the workers in the in­
dustry are paid on a piece-work basis. Many
firms increased their piece rates to enable the
subminimum workers to make the 75-cent rate.
These increases also benefited the fast piece
workers, who were already making 75 cents an
hour. Many of these firms also gave flat hourly
increases to the time-rated employees. As a
result, an appreciable part of the increase in the
average (over 2 cents) was due to wage raises to

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

General Wage Increases

From March to November 1950, average hourly
earnings in the industry increased from 95 cents
to $1.02 (table 1). Nearly all this increase re­
sulted from general wage increases, most of which
were made effective in the latter part of the period.
Although a great majority of the workers
received general wage increases between March
and November 1950, most of the companies did
not increase their minimum rates, and a sub­
stantial number of workers were still reported at
75 cents or below, in November 1950. This
group included new workers who were hired after
the general wage increase was granted or piece
workers who, even with the increase, still were
unable to make more than 75 cents. The general
increases did, however, reduce the percent of
workers at the 75-cent level from 30.3 in March
1950 to 19.8 in November 1950; the proportion
of those earning $1 or more rose from 32.4 in
March to 45.1 in November 1950. Many of the
general increases given from March to November
1950 were in percentage form. This resulted in a
slightly higher increase for men, whose average
increased 8 cents as compared with 7 cents for
women.
The general increase in wages and output after
June 1950 obscured the secondary effect of the
75-cent minimum during the latter part of the
survey. Over 6 cents of the 7-cent increase in

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

WAGES—MEN’S D R E S S S H IR T S

167

Percentage distribution of all plant workers in men's dress shirt and nightwear establishments, by straight-time
average hourly earnings,l United States and selected regions, August 1949, March 1950, and November 1950

T a b l e 1.

Percentage of workers with average hourly earnings 1 (in cents) of—
Region and pay period

United States:
August 1949___________
March 1950________ _
November 1950______ .
New England:
August 1949_____________
March 1950_____ __
November 1950_________
Middle Atlantic:
August 1949_________
March 1950___________
November 1950.___ _____
August 1949______________
March 1950____
November 1950___ __
Southeast:
August 1949___ __________
March 1950. _________
November 1950___________
Great Lakes:
August 1949__________ _____
March 1950_____
November 1950__________
Middle West:
August 1949__ ________ _
March 1950_____________
November 1950_____________
Southwest:
August 1949__________ _ ____
March 1950_______ ______ .
November 1950______ _______
Pacific:
August 1949_________
March 1950_______________
November 1950_____ ________

Number Average
of
hourly
55
65
75
80
85
90
100
120
130
110
140
workers earnings1 Under and
and
and
and
and
and
and
and
and
and
and
55
under under under under under under under trader under under under
65
75
80
85
90
100
120
130
140
110
150
7. 6
30.3
19.8

77

74

9 .8
7.1

9 .4
9 .3

6.7
19.3
10.3

8.0
5.2

8. 0

7 .5

14.4
14 5

1 .2

7 .7

5.9
1.8
1.3

15.1
1.1
1.4

7.0
22.2
9.2

8 .3
9 .1
4 .5

15.0
.1
.1

9.5
3.1
3.1

22.3
1.4
1.6

7.8
37.3
22.5

.74
.87
.89

17.7
.1
(2)

19.8
3.1
3.0

20.6
1.5
2.4

2, 739
2, 712
3,107

.88
.92
.98

2.2
(2)
.1

9.5
1.8
1.5

2,853
2,960
3,113

.76
.84
.88

11.1
.1
(2)

fi 2

44

25

18

86

7.1
9 .8

4 .8
7 .5

2 .8
4 .9

1 .9
3 .2

4 .1
6 .7

13.8
16 2
14.6

• 10 4
13.6

86

44

24

10.1

12.8

8 .7

6 .2

48
8.6

8 .1
9 .1
9 .1

15.0
15.9
15.3

13.0
13.5
14.8

8.0
9.1
12.8

5 .6
6 .0
10 .4

3 .3
3 .5
6 .7

2 .5
2 .7
4 .2

5.2
6.0
10.3

8 .4
10.5
10.0

8 .0
1 0 .2

8.8

12.1
13.2
15.7

7.2
10.3
12.7

3.9
5.4
10.0

2 .6
3 .6
5 .7

1 .0
2 .1
4 .0

.8
.8
2.4

1.4
2.0
3.4

9.1
42.8
36.6

6.6
10.1
10.8

5.1
10.1
10.0

8.1
13.8
14.5

5.4
8.5
9.6

3.2
4.2
5.5

1 .8
2 .5
3 .0

1 .2
1 .6
1 .8

.4
.6
1.4

1.0
1.1
1.4

17.1
1.9
3.1

7.8
26.8
18.3

13.4
10.5
5.5

11.9
13.9
10.8

13.0
16.4
19.2

10.0
12.3
15.6

6.6
6.9
9.0

6.8

3 .4
3 .5

1 .0
1 .6
4 .2

2.5
2.5
2.6

1.6
1.9
3.3

17.0
.9
3.3

24.1
.7
2.6

8.5
48.1
33.3

7.9
17.4
8.8

11.0
9.4
10.8

10.4
12.5
20.4

4.8
6.4
11.8

2.0
1.4
4.5

1.4
1.1
2.2

.5
.5
.7

.3
.5
.5

1.0
1.0
1.1

1,599
1, 401

.68
.83
.89

16.8

36.4
1. 7
1.9

19.8
.9
1.6

7.5
59.2
39.5

5.1
13.8
10.7

4.7
6.6
10.9

3.7
8.5
12.4

2.5
3.6
11.1

1.2
1.4
5.0

.9
1. 7
3.3

.3
.4
1 .4

.1
.2

1.14
1.16
1. 21

.1

7.3

4.0
14.8
11.9

4. 7
5.4
4.9

8.4
5.4
6.6

11. 7
12.3
10.7

16. 5
13.3
12.2

9. 4
9.3
8.3

10.3
10.0
10.9

9 .6
6 .3

4 .7
6 .3
5 .2

$0 88
.95
1.02

83
(2)
(2)

11. 0
2.2
2.0

17.3

5, 496
5,589
5j 797

.98
1.01
1.12

1.0

6.2
2.0
1.0

13.7
1. 9

30, 794
31,631
32,409

.96
1.00
1.11

3.0
(J)
(2)

6,680
6,737
7, 512

.79
.91
.98

17,974
17,986
20,025

1, 201

2,180
2,085

2.405

qg
11.7

13.0

70,315
71.101
75,569

.2

1 .3
1 .8

1.0
.6

8 .3

12 2
14.6
14.9

150
and
over

9 .9

7 .7

3 .9

6.8

2 .9

4 .0

1.0
2.0
2 .2

13.3
15.9
21.7

1 Excludes premium pay for overtime and night work.
2 Less than 0.05 percent.

average hourly earnings in the March-to-November period was attributable to general wage in­
creases. The remaining increase could be the
result of a variety of other factors, such as
increased earnings of experienced pieceworkers,
which usually rise in periods of expanded
production.
Effects on Occupational Averages

Nearly all the occupations selected for study
in the industry had Nation-wide average in­
creases from August 1949 to November 1950 rang­
ing from 10 to 16 cents. In the lower-paying
occupations, the increase was fairly evenly divided
between the two periods studied. In the higher­
paying men’s occupations, the bulk of the increase
resulted from general wage changes between
March and November 1950.
The new minimum narrowed differentials be­
tween occupations. However, the substantial
proportion of percentage increases among the

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

general wage changes granted from March to
November reestablished occupational differen­
tials to some extent by November 1950.
Labor turn-over is relatively high in the in­
dustry, even when employment is stable. Learner
permits are common, and therefore the number of
workers reported earning below 75 cents in
March 1950 (3.5 percent) was to be expected,
even though employment remained rather stable.
The increase in this group to 3.8 percent in
November 1950 reflected the increase in employ­
ment of over 6 percent from March to November.
With but few exceptions, all the occupations
studied had a significant proportion of workers
earning less than 75 cents an hour in August 1949.
Distributions of average hourly earnings in
selected occupations at the three payroll periods
give some indication of the direct effect of the new
minimum by occupation. Watchmen and janitors
were the only occupations in which very little
change above the 75-cent level occurred between
August and March. All other occupations showed

168

WAGES—MEN’S DRESS SHIRTS

considerable change in the distribution above that
level. When piece rates were adjusted to enable
the slow workers to make the 75-cent minimum,
the other pieceworkers in the occupations natur­
ally benefited. Time-rated workers above the
75-cent minimum were also given increases in
many establishments, to maintain, at least in part,
the normal skill spread.
Changes in distributions of average hourly
earnings, by occupation, from March to November
1950, reflect the application of general wage
changes, with large groups in each occupation
moving up the distribution scale about 10 cents.
Most of the general wage changes reported were
either 10-cent or 10-percent increases.
Earnings for selected office occupations in­
creased very little, if any, between August 1949
and March 1950, indicating that the new mini­
mum wage had little effect on these workers’
earnings except in a few plants. However, office
workers’ rates rose substantially between March
and November 1950. By the latter month, most
office occupations for women averaged close to
$1 an hour.
Regional Variations5

The percentage of workers earning under 75
cents in August 1949 ranged from 7.4 percent in
the Pacific region to 73 percent in the Southwest.
By March 1950, these proportions dropped to
1.0 and 2.6, respectfully. Increases in average
hourly earnings in the individual regions ranged
from only 2 cents in the Pacific region to 15 cents
in the Southwest and reflected, in large part,
adjustments to the 75-cent minimum. In addition
to the Southwest, the Border and Southeast
regions were greatly affected, with increases of
12 and 13 cents, respectively.
In a number of the regions, however, the in­
crease was much more than that required by the
new minimum rate. For example, only 6.6 cents
of the 12-cent increase in the Border States was
required to raise earnings below 75 cents to that
level.
Most of the regions and most of the areas
within those regions selected for separate study
showed over-all increases between August 1949
and November 1950 of from 11 to 16 cents. Both
the lower-paying and the higher-paying areas
were affected. However, the lower-paying areas

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

MONTHLY LABOR

reflected the greater increase in the period from
August 1949 to March 1950, presumably because
of the new minimum; and the higher-paying areas
reflected the greater increase from March to
November 1950, as a result of general wage in­
creases.
In the Pacific region, the effect of the 75-cent
minimum was not great; average hourly earnings
increased only 2 cents—from $1.14 to $1.16.
Concentration of about 15 percent of the workers
at the 75-cent level in that region in March 1950
probably was largely the result of some other
factor, such as a temporary decrease in produc­
tion in some plants, which affected the piece­
workers.
About 25 percent of the entire industry is
located in the Southeast region, where about 3
cents of the 13-cent rise in earnings between
August and March was caused by increases to
workers already above the 75-cent level. This was
true of nearly all occupations, but the increase
was smallest in those occupations which were
primarily time-rated. Many firms in the South­
east region reported a 5- to 15-percent increase
in piece rates to meet the new minimum; others
reported increases only to subminimum workers.
General wage changes between March and No­
vember 1950 in this region were not common, and
occupational averages increased only from 1 to
3 cents.
In the Middle Atlantic region, representing
nearly 45 percent of the industry, the general
level of hourly earnings increased by 4 cents be­
tween August 1949 and March 1950. Increases
in occupational averages were not consistent, and
some piecework occupations actually showed
decreases. However, from March to November
1950, the occupational wage movement was much
more consistent, reflecting the 10-cent hourly
increase granted by most firms. Some firms ad­
justed piecework rates on a percentage basis
instead of giving a cents-per-hour payment. Most
of the occupations showed increases of about 10
percent.
In the Southwest, 73 percent of the workers
were earning under 75 cents and 7.5 percent be­
tween 75 and 80 cents in August 1949. If only
those below the minimum had been raised, about
80 percent of the workers would have been con­
centrated in the 75- to 80-cent interval. The
March 1950 distribution, however, showed less

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

WAGES—MEN’S DRESS SHIRTS

169

T a b l e 2. —Average straight-time hourly earnings 1 for plant workers in selected occupations in men’s and boys’ dress shirt

and nightwear establishments, by region, August 1949, March 1950, and November 1950
U n ite d S ta te s
A ug. 1949

A v erag e h o u rly ea rn in g s 1 in —

M a rc h 1950

N o v . 1950
N ew E n g la n d

O ccu p atio n
A v e r­
A v er­
A v e r­
N um ­
N um ­
age
age
N um ­
age
b e r of h o u rly b e r of h o u rly b e r of h o u rly
w o rk e rs e a rn ­ w o rk e rs e a rn ­ w o rk ers e a rn ­
ings 1
ings 1
in g s 1

A ug. M a rc h
1949
1950

M id d le A tla n tic

B o rd e r S tates

N ov.
1950

A ug. M a r c h
1949
1950

N ov.
1950

A ug. M arch N ov.
1949
1950
1950

M en
C u tte r s , h a n d . .......................... ...............
C u tte r s , m a c h in e ................... ...................
J a n ito r s .. _________________________
P resse rs, finish, h a n d ___ .
____
R e p a irm e n , sew ing m a c h in e ________
S p re a d e rs...................................... .
S to ck clerk s______________
___
W a tc h m e n ____ ____ _ . . . _______
W o rk d is trib u to rs ___ ______

232
692
312
316
395
875
234
317
354

$1.59
1.46
.78
1.21
1.45
.91
.93
.74
.85

234
747
342
278
411
964
261
343
325

$1.61
1.47
.84
1.33
1.48
.94
.96
.81
.90

226
776
362
271
437
1,057
289
346
352

$1.74
1.58
.89
1. 42
1.53
1.01
1.01
.86
.99

$1.52
1.59
.83
1.21
1.57
.88
(2)
(2)
.97

$1.58
1.50
.87
1.29
1.56
.91
(2)
(2)
.98

$1.72
1.67
.91
1.44
1.68
.98
.92
(2)
1.09

$1.81
1.60
.81
1. 25
1.56
.99
1.04
.81
.90

$1.75
1.61
.87
1.41
1.54
.96
.98
.82
.93

$1.98
1.73
.95
1.47
1.65
1.08
1.06
.89
1.03

(2)
$1.30
.76
(2)
1.31
.86
.92
.75
.69

(2)
$1.28
.83
.89
1.35
.95
.97
.84
.90

(2)
$1.42
.87
.99
1.46
1.11
1.06
.91
1.17

B u tto n sew ers, m a c h in e _____________
1,464
B u tto n h o le m a k ers, m a c h in e ...
1,563
In s p e c to rs , final (ex am in ers)________
1,895
J a n ito r s _____________________________
168
P resse rs, finish, h a n d ___ ___________
6, 526
P resse rs, finish, m a c h in e ..
____
535
S ew in g -m achine o p erato rs:
D ress s h i r t s ... . ................. ._ .. 31,774
N ig h tw e a r____ _______ . . . . .
2,531
T h re a d trim m e rs ___ . .
________
1,878
U n d erp ressers, m a c h in e .......... ...............
259
W o rk d is trib u to rs _________________
540
W o rk in g foreladies, processing dep a r tm e n ts ......... ..
. . _________
579

.90
.90
.82
.70
.90
.89

1,426
1,527
1,738
164
7,074
335

.97
.94
.90
.80
.99
1.03

1,468
1,628
1,840
165
7,603
335

1.03
1.02
.96
.84
1.08
1.10

1.01
.99
.89
.81
1.04
(2)

1.03
1.02
.94
(2)
1.13
(2)

1.13
1.15
1.04
(2)
1.26
1.15

.96
.94
.91
.80
1.04
1.06

1.01
.96
.94
.81
1.09
1.13

1.10
1.08
1.04
.89
1.221.26

.82
.78
.76
.75
.89
.85

.94
.88
.86
.82
.99
.84

.99
.96
.92
.87
1.10
.90

.87
.86
.77
.90
.81

31, 965
2,583
2,176
270
590

.94
.92
.87
.98
.86

33,379
2,837
2,282
282
623

1.03
.99
.93
1.09
.93

1.00
(2)
.88
(2)
.86

1.02
(2)
.88
.95
.90

1.15
(2)
.95
1.07
.99

.94
.88
.80
.91
.85

.98
.93
.88
1.00
.86

1.11
1.01
.97
1.12
.96

.77
.84
.66
.81
.81

.91
.92
.86
.87
.82

.96
.99
.89
.91
.86

1.06

616

1.11

627

1.16

(2)

1. 25

1.38

1.19

1.17

1. 25

1.04

1.11

1.22

Women

A v erag e h o u rly earn in g s 1 in —
S o u th e a st

O ccu p atio n

G re a t L akes

M id d le W e st

S o u th w est

P acific

A ug.
1949

M a rc h
1950

N ov.
1950

A ug.
1949

M arch
1950

N ov.
1950

A ug.
1949

M arch
1950

N ov.
1950

A ug.
1949

M a rc h
1950

N ov.
1950

A ug.
1949

M a rc h
1950

$1.12
1.18
.66
1.17
1.34
.79
.85
.67
.81

$1.23
1.18
.77
1.03
1.40
.88
.92
.78
.87

$1. 23
1.25
.79
1.31
1.38
.85
.95
.81
.89

$1.15
1.32
.89
(2)
1.50
.85
.97
.89
.91

$1.23
1.37
.90
«
1.50
.88
.95
.89
.94

$1.21
1.40
.92
(2)
1.53
.96
.98
.94
1.01

(2)
$1.26
.73
.98
1.38
.86
(2)
.70

(2)
$1.24
.77
(2)
1.34
.93
.90
.78
.78

$1.35
1.29
.80
(2)
1.32
.99
.94
.83
.78

(2)
$1.45
(2)
(2)
1.33
.79
(2)
.76

(2)
$1.34
.75
(2)
1.66
.94
(2)
.85
(2)

(2)
$1.45
.77
(2)
1.69
1.03
(2)
.85
(2)

(2)
$1.99
(s)
(2)
1.77
1.37
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
$1.90
.94
(2)
1.86
1.51
(2)

.77
.77
.72
.58
.69
.79

.90
.88
.84
.76
.86
.87

.91
.90
.87
.77
.90
.95

.80
.85
.79
.75
.88
.95

.89
.88
.89
.79
.94
.90

.93
.97
.98
.80
1.07
1.17

.77
.81
.77
(2)
.85
.80

.91
.86
.87
(2)
.85
.90

.94
.92
.92
(2)
.92
.97

.76
.89
.69
(2)
.71

(2)

.90
.94
.75
(2)
.77

.92
.95
.77
(2)
.78

(2)

1.17
1.22
1.10
(2)
1.23
1.17

1.11
1.18
1.26
(2)
1.21
1.72

1.17
1.27
1.20
(2)
1.10
1.64

.76
.72
.65
.80
.77

.87
.86
.85
.86
.87

.90
.86
.85
.97
.92

.82
.93
.81
.87
.79

.88
1.03
.84
.93
.81

.95
1.12
.91
.96
.85

.68
.73
.69
(2)
.65

.82
.86
.78
(2)
.78

.88
.88
.82
(2)
.83

.58
(2)
.63
(2)
.74

.81
(2)
.77
(2)
.78

.87
(2)
(2)
(2)
.95

1.13
(2)
.89
1.03
1.03

1.13
(2)
.95
1.08
1.12

1.20
(2)
.94
1.29
1.14

.93

.99

1.01

1.09

1.13

1.19

.82

.88

.91

.94

.93

.97

1.56

1.62

1.75

N ov.
1950

M en
C u tte rs , h a n d ____________________ __
C u tte rs , m a c h in e ___________________
J a n ito r s _____________________ _____ _
P ressers, finish, h a n d _______________
R e p a irm e n , sew ing m a c h in e s_______
S p re a d e rs___________________________
S to ck clerk s_________________________
W a t c h m e n _________________________

Work distributors_______ ___ _

(2)

(2)

(2)

(2)

(2)
$2.02
.98
(2)
(2)
1.50
(2)

(2)

(2)

Women

Button sewers, machine________
Buttonhole makers, machine_____
Inspectors, final (examiners)_____
Janitors__ ________________
Pressers, finish, hand__________
Pressers, finish, machine_______
Sewing-machine operators:
Dress shirts____ _________
Nightwear............................
Thread trimmers_____________
Underpressers, machine________
Work distributors____________
Working foreladies, processing departments__ ________ _____

i Excludes premium pay for overtime and night work.

than 60 percent at this level, indicating that about
a fourth of the workers received more than the
minimum raise. This same tendency was reflect­
ed in nearly all the regions and for the industry as
a whole.
9 5 8 5 5 4 — 51-

-4


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(2)

2 Insufficient data to justify presentation of an average.

Among the special areas selected for study
(because of their importance in the industry),
the State of Georgia was most affected by the 75cent minimum. In August 1949, over 46 percent
of the workers in the industry in that State were

170

WAGE CHRONOLOGY NO. 17

paid less than 75 cents an hour, compared with
about 10 percent in the Troy, N. Y., area. South
Carolina exceeded Georgia in the proportion of
workers under 75 cents, but its level of earnings
from August to March did not increase quite so
much.
The tendency in some areas of giving a general
increase to all workers instead of raising only the
lower-paid workers changed the relative position
of wage levels between areas and also the extent of
the effect of the minimum. For example, the
Pottsville, Pa. area (94 cents) was one of the lowerpaying areas in the North, yet the increase be­
tween August and March was only 5 cents. On
the other hand, the increase in the New York City
area was 6 cents, from a relatively high average of
$1.08 in August 1949.
Tabulations by size of establishment showed no
consistent differences in occupational averages.
The larger firms were more consistent in their
wage movement, with most occupations showing
increases of from 10 to 16 cents, about evenly
divided between the two periods. Many occu­
pational averages in larger firms were no higher
than in the smaller firms. The tabulations indi­
cated that both large and small firms were affected
by the 75-cent minimum—probably to an equal
degree.
Larger firms in the Southeast and border regions
generally had the higher averages for comparable
jobs. A greater proportion of large establish­
ments were located in the lower-paying southern
regions.
Firms in cities of over 25,000 population almost
consistently paid substantially higher rates for
comparable work than did those in smaller cities.
The new minimum tended to narrow this differ­
ence, especially in the lower-paid jobs. From
August 1949 to March 1950, increases in the
lower-paid jobs ranged from 2 to 8 cents in the
larger communities and from 8 to 13 cents in the
smaller communities. By November 1950, the
difference between larger and smaller communi­
ties had again widened, reflecting the greater
number of general wage increases in the larger
cities.
A higher percentage of the establishments in
cities of over 25,000 population was found in the
higher-paying northern and Pacific Coast regions.
Changes in occupational averages by unioniza­
tion status were similar to those by size of com­

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

MONTHLY LABOR

munity during the two periods. In 1949, occupa­
tional averages in union plants were much higher
than those in nonunion plants. Establishment of
the 75-cent minimum, however, tended to de­
crease the differential, but by November 1950, it
was as great and in some cases greater than in
1949. Here again, the widening of the difference
was due to the greater number of general wage
increases in the March to November period in
unionized establishments. Much of the correla­
tion between size-of-community and unionization
probably is due to the greater prevalence of union­
ization in the larger than the smaller cities.
— J

am es

F.

W

alker

Division of Wage Statistics

1The Bureau of Labor Statistics conducted a survey of wages in the men’s
dress shirt and nightwear industry in August 1949 as part of its regular pro­
gram of industry wage studies. In order to evaluate the effect of the new
75-cent minimum, a follow-up study of identical firms was made covering two
payroll periods: March 1950, to reflect the immediate effect of the new mini­
mum; and November 1950, to permit study of the secondary effects of the
higher minimum rate. This latter aim was negated by the general wage
movement in the industry.
Effects of earlier minimum-wage legislation on the industry are discussed
in Bulletin No. 719, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1942.
2 Earnings figures are straight-time average hourly earnings, excluding
premium pay for overtime and night work.
s Individual plant increases were considered “general wage changes” when
they affected a large proportion of the employees. Individual merit increases
were not considered.
4 See Monthly Labor Review, September 1950 (p. 313 ), Effects of Minimum
Wage in Southern Sawmills, and January 1951 (p. 33), 75-Cent Minimum
Wage: Effects on Fertilizer Industry.
*Regions used in this study include: New England —Connecticut, Maine,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont; Middle
Atlantic —New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania; Border States—Dela­
ware, District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia, and West
Virginia; Southeast—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Caro­
lina, South Carolina, and Tennessee; Great Lakes—Illinois, Indiana, Michi­
gan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin; Middle West—Iowa, Kansas, Missouri
Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota; Southwest—Arkansas, Louis­
iana, Oklahoma, and Texas; Pacific—California, Nevada, Oregon, and
Washington.

Wage Chronology No. 17:
North Atlantic Longshoring, 1934-511
C o l l e c t i v e b a r g a i n i n g between the Interna­
tional Longshoremen’s Association (AFL) and
employers in the major North Atlantic coast
ports has developed a pattern having the effect,
if not the form, of coastwide bargaining over a
period of years. Since 1934, the terms of the
agreements negotiated by the New York Shipping
Association and the New York locals of the ILA

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

WAGE CHRONOLOGY NO. 17

have generally been adopted by employers and
union locals in major ports extending from Port­
land, Maine, to Hampton Roads, Va. Each port,
however, has maintained its own bargaining
committees, which negotiate separate agreements.
In Boston, there was no written agreement from
1935 to 1950. Actual terms under which the
men worked were the same or substantially simi­
lar to those in other ports.
This chronology describes the major changes in
wage rates and related wage practices put into
effect since 1934 in the ports of New York, Boston,
Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Hampton Roads.
It deals with the provisions of the General Cargo
Agreements covering “work pertaining to the
rigging of ships, the coaling of same, the loading
and unloading of all cargoes, including mail, ship’s

171

stores and baggage, and the handling of lines in
connection with the docking and undocking of
ships.” Cargo repairmen, checkers, clerks, gen­
eral maintenance, mechanical and miscellaneous
workers, horse and cattle fitters, grain ceilersr
marine carpenters, and port watchmen are not
covered in these agreements.
The current agreements, which became effec­
tive October 1, 1949, are to continue in force
until September 30, 1951. One reopening, on
wages onty, was permitted on or before September
1, 1950. The pension agreement is to continue
in effect for 5 years.
1For purpose and scope of Wage Chronology series, see Monthly Labor
Review, December 1948. Reprints of this chronology are available on
request.

A—General Wage Changes 1
Effective date

Oct.
Oct.
Oct.
Jan.
Oct.
Oct.
Oct.
Oct.
Oct.
Aug.
Oct.

1 , 1934________________
1 , 1936______________
1 , 1937_ _ __________
1 , 1940
1 , 1941__________
1 , 1942_ _
___________
1 , 1945__ __________
1 , 1946_____________
1 , 1947_____________
2 2 , 1948__________
1 , 1950_____________

Provisions

Applications, exceptions, and other related matters

1 0 cents an hour increase
5 cents an hour increase
5 cents an hour increase
5 cents an hour increase
1 0 cents an hour increase
5 cents an hour increase
25 cents an hour increase
15 cents an hour increase
1 0 cents an hour increase
13 cents an hour increase__ _______
1 2 cents an hour increase

1General wage changes are construed as upward or downward adjustments
that affect an entire establishment, bargaining rmit, or substantial group of
employees at one time. Not included within the term are adjustments in
individual rates (promotions, merit increases, etc.) and minor adjustments in
wage structure that do not have an immediate effect on the general wage
level.

10 cents at Hampton Roads.

Arbitration award Dec. 31, 1945.
_ _ _ __

The changes that are listed above were the major adjustments in wage rates
made during the period covered. Because of fluctuations in earnings occa­
sioned by premium and penalty rates and other factors the total of the general
changes listed will not necessarily coincide with the changes in average
hourly earnings over the period of the chronology.

B—Basic Hourly Rates For Longshoremen 1 In Selected North Atlantic Coast Ports
Effective date
Cargo classification and port

Oct. 1, Oct. 1, Oct. 1, Jan. 1,
1934
1936
1937
1940

General cargo
All ports____________________________ 2 $0. 95 $ 1 . 00 $1. 05 $ 1 .

10

Oct. 1, Oct. 1, Oct. 1,
1941
1942
1945

Oct. 1,
1946

Oct. l, Aug. 22, Oct. 1,
1947
1948
1950

$ 1 . 2 0 $1. 25 $1. 50 $1. 65 $1. 75 $ 1 . 8 8

$2 .

00

Penalty cargoes

New York:
Bulk cargo, ballast, and coal cargoes3. 1 . 0 0
Cement and lime in bags 4_
__
1 . 00
Damaged cargo 5 __________________ 1. 90
Explosives 6_ _ _____ _____
1. 90
Kerosene, gasoline, and naphtha 7___ 1. 15
Refrigerator space cargo 8__________ 1. 15
Wet hides, creosoted poles, ties and
shingles, cashew oil, soda ash in
bags, and naphthalene in bags 9___ 1 . 1 0
See footnotes at end of table.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

1. 05
1. 05
2 . 00
2 . 00
1 . 20
1 . 20

1.
1.
2.
2.

1. 15

1. 25
1. 25

1. 15
1. 15
2 . 20
2 . 20
1. 30
1. 30

1.
1.
2.
2.
1.
1.

1 . 20

1. 25

1. 35

10
10
10
10

25
25
40
40
40
40

1.
1.
2.
2.
1.
1.

30
30
50
50
45
45

1. 40

1.
1.
3.
3.
1.
1.

55
55
00
00
70
70

1.
1.
3.
3.
1.
1.

70
70
30
30
85
85

1.
1.

3.
3.
1.
1.

80
80
40
40
95
95

1. 93
1. 93
3. 66
3. 66
2 . 08
2 . 08

2. 05
2. 05
3. 90
3. 90
2. 20
2 . 20

1. 65

1.

80

1. 90

2. 03

2. 15

172

WAGE CHRONOLOGY NO. 17

MONTHLY LABOR

B—Basic Hourly Rates For Longshoremen1 In Selected North Atlantic Coast Ports—Continued
Effective date
Cargo classification and port

Oct. l,
1934

Oct. l,
1936

Oct. 1, Jan. 1,
1937
1940

Oct. 1,
1941

Oct. 1,
1942

Oct. 1, Oct. 1,
1945
1946

Oct. 1, Aug. 22, Oct. 1,
1947
1948
1950

Penalty cargoes—Continued
Baltimore: 10
Cement in b a g s ___
$ 1 . 1 0 $1.
Damaged cargo 5 __________________ $1. 90 $2 . Ò5 2 . 1 0
2.
Explosives 6___
_____
1. 90 2 . 00 2 . 1 0
2.
Old coal
__
_ _ _ _ _ _ 1. 425 1. 525 1. 575 1.
Manganese, iron and chrome ore in
bulk_
__ __
__
1 . 10
1.
Refrigerator space cargo 8__________ 1. 15 1 . 2 0
1. 25 1.
Wet hides, creosoted lumber, and
lumber products________________ 1 . 1 0
1. 15 1 . 2 0 1.
Boston : 11
Bulk cargo and ballast 3 _________
1 . 00
Cement in bags _
_ _ _ ___ 1 . 00
Damaged cargo 5 ---------------------------- 1. 90
Explosives__ __
1. 90
___ _
Grain 1 2 ___
1. 15
Naphthalene in b a g s . _____
Pickled skins, in casks from New
Zealand and Australia
Refrigerator space cargo 8__________ 1. 15
Scrap mica
_
_
_
_
Wet hides, creosoted products, cashew oil, soda ash, carbon black,
and cotton seed meal in bags__
1 . 10
Hampton Roads (including Newport
News and Norfolk):
Damaged cargo 5 _
__
___
Explosives 6______ _ __
_ __
Grain 14 _ _
__
Refrigerator space cargo 8__
Cement in bags, lime in bags, iron ore
when handled by hand, sulfur and
steel dust in bulk or bags, pitch in
bulk or barrels__________________
Wet hides, creosoted poles and ties,
cashew oil, and soda ash_________
Philadelphia:
Damaged cargo 5 _ _ _ _
____
Explosives 8
_
Grain 12 __
Kerosene, gasoline, naphtha in
barrels, drums, or c a s e s __ ____
Oil in cases, barrels, or drums 16____
Sulphur and bog ore in bulk____ __
Wet hides___________ ______ __

30 $1.
50 3.
50 3.
775 2.

55
00
00
025

$1.
3.
3.
2.

1. 55
1. 70

1. 70
1. 85

1.

80
1. 95

2.

1. 93
08

2. 05
2 . 20

25

1. 35

1. 40

1. 65

1.

80

1. 90

2. 03

2. 15

1.
1.
2.
2.
1.

1.
1.
2.
2.
1.

1.
1.
3.
3.
1.

1.
1.
3.
3.
1.

70
70
30
30
85

1.
1.

80
80
3. 40
3. 40
1. 95

1. 93
1. 93
3. 53
3. 53
2 . 08

2. 05
2. 05
3. 90
3. 90
2 . 20
13 2 . 75

1. 40

1. 85

1. 95

2.

1. 25

1. 15
1. 15
2 . 20
2 . 20
1. 30

1 . 20

1. 25

1. 30

25
25
40
40
40

30
30
50
50
45

1. 45

55
55
00
00
70

13

1. 70

08

1. 25

1. 35

1. 40

1. 65

1.

80
80
1. 05
1 . 10

2 . 00
2 . 00

2 . 10
2. 10
1 . 20

1. 25

2.
2.
1.
1.

2.
2.
1.
1.

2.
2.
1.
1.

3.
3.
1.
1.

00
00
65
70

. 95

1. 05

1 . 10

1. 15

1. 25

1. 30

1. 05

1. 15

1 . 20

1. 25

1. 35

1. 75
75
1. 05

1 . 80
1 . 80
1 . 10

1. 85
1. 85
1. 15

1. 95
1. 95
1 . 20

( 15)

( 15)

( 15 )

1 . 10

1. 15

1 . 20

1 . 10

1. 15

1. 05
1 . 20

1. 15
1 . 20

2. 25

1. 90

2. 03

2. 15

3. 30
3. 30
1 . 80
1. 85

3.
3.
1.
1.

40
40
90
95

3. 66
3. 66
2. 03
2 . 08

4. 00
4. 00
2 . 20
2. 20

1. 55

1. 70

1.

80

1. 93

2. 05

1. 40

1. 65

1.

80

1. 90

2. 03

2. 15

2. 05
2. 05
1. 30

2 . 10
2. 10

1. 35

3. 00
3. 00
1 . 60

3. 30
3. 30
1. 75

3. 40
3. 40
1. 85

3. 76
3. 76
1. 93

4. 00
4. 00
2. 10

( 15 )

(! 5 )

1 . 25
1 . 10

1. 35
1. 25
1. 35

(1S)
1. 40
1. 30
1. 40

1.
1.
1.
1.

1.
1.

1. 90
1. 90
1 80
1. 90

2.
2.
1
2.

2.
2.
2
2.

15
15
25
30

1. 25

40
40
35
40

50
50
40
45

65
65
55
65

80

2 50
2 . 20

13
1 . 20

1.

$1. 93 $2. 05
3. 66
3. 90
3. 66
3. 90
2. 405

1. 30
1. 45

1. 15

1.
1.

70 $ 1 . 80
30 3. 40
30 3. 40
175 2 . 275

1. 25
1. 40

1.
1.
2.
2.

10
10
10
10

25 $1.
40 2.
40 2.
725 1.

15
30

1. 05
1. 05
2. 00
2 . 00
1 . 20

1Contrary to the practice on the Pacific Coast, nonsupervisory longshore­
men, except in the ports noted, receive the same rate of pay regardless of the
particular function performed.
290 cents an hour at Hampton Roads.
3Including loading and trimming coal for ship’s own hunker.
4Lime added Oct. 1, 1947.
8Premium rate not paid on ship with damaged cargo for handling sound
cargo in separate compartment.
6When handled in the Bay pay to start when men leave the pier.
7In cases and barrels when loaded by case oil gang with a fly.
8When transported at temperature of freezing or below, rate paid entire
gang.
9Soda ash in bags added Oct. 1, 1947. Cashew oil added Oct. 1, 1947.
Naphthalene in bags added Feb. 15,1950.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

15 $1.
15 2.
15 2.
625 1.

80
80
1. 70
1 . 80

03
03
93
03

15
15
05
15

10Rates applicable to holdmen. Winch men, deck men, and leaders paid
an additional 5 cents an hour.
11Gangway men, winch men, and tractor operators receive a 5 cent an hour
differential, chisel and fork lift operators a 10 cent differential.
12Rate applicable to men in next hatch when there is no bulkhead or
partition.
13Rates established for first time. Prior practice was usually to pay
damaged cargo rate.
14Rate applicable on grain trimming when work continues for Y i hour
or more.
15Daily rates paid during this period.
16Rate applicable if cargo is handled for 2 hours or more.

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

WAGE CHRONOLOGY NO. 17

173

C—Overtime Rates
Hourly overtime rate for
longshoremen (general
cargo)2

Effective date

Oct.
Oct.
Oct.
Jan.
Oct.
Oct.
7rl

1,
1,
1,
1,
1,
1,

1934_________
1936_______
1937________
1940
1941_______
1942_________
x

_

3 $1. 35
1. 50
1. 60
1. 65
1. 80

1. 875

”A
-iA
w
i

nmciaico a ic ptuu aic iioluuill ocU. l J .

2After Oct. 1, 1936, the overtime rate for longshoremen was exactly l t f
times the basic hourly rate except for the period October 1937 to December

Effective date

Hourly overtime rate for
longshoremen (general
cargo)2

Oct. 1, 1945
Oct. 1, 1946
Oct. 1, 1947
A u g . 22, 1948

Oct. 1, 1950

$2. 25
2. 475
2. 625
2. 82
3. 00

paid for overtime work.
3$1.25 at Hampton Roads, Va.

D—Related Wage Practices 1
Effective date

Provisions

Applications, exceptions, and other related matters

Premium Pay for Night Work
Oct. 1, 1934_______

Overtime rate paid for work between 5 p. m.
and 8 a. m. on week days.2
Daily Overtime Pay

Oct. 1, 1934_______

Overtime rate paid for work in excess of 8
hours between 8 a. m. and 5 p. m.
Premium Pay for Saturday and Sunday

Oct. 1, 1934_______
Oct. 1, 1945_______

Overtime rate paid for work between 12
noon on Saturday and 8 a. m. on Monday.
Added: Overtime rate paid for all Saturday
work.

In accordance with arbitration award of Dec. 31.
1945.

Holiday Pay
Oct. 1, 1934________

Overtime rate paid for work on legal holi­
days. No pay for holidays not worked.

Oct. 1, 1937________

See footnotes at end of table.


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Holidays were: New Year’s Day, Washington’s
Birthday, Decoration Day, Independence Day,
Labor Day, Armistice Day, Thanksgiving Day,
Christmas Day. In addition:
Baltimore recognized Good Friday and Easter
Sunday;
Hampton Roads recognized Lee’s Birthday, Jeffer­
son Davis Day, and Election Day;
New York recognized Good Friday (on the Jersey
shore), Election Day, Lincoln’s Birthday, Co­
lumbus Day; Armistice Day (on the Jersey
shore) and such other national or State holidays
as may be proclaimed by Executive authority;
Philadelphia recognized Good Friday, Election
Day, Lincoln’s Birthday, and Columbus Day;
Boston recognized Patriot’s Day, Bunker Hill Day,
and Columbus Day.
Added: In Philadelphia, Flag Day; in Baltimore,
Lincoln’s Birthday; in New York and vicinity,
Armistice Day.

WAGE CHRONOLOGY NO. 17

1T4

MONTHLY LABOR

D—Related Wage Practices 1—Continued
Applications, exceptions, and other related matters

Provisions

Effective date

Meal Time Premium Pay
Oct. 1, 1934________

Overtime rate paid for entire meal hour if part of
hour is worked.
If entire meal hour is worked overtime continues
in effect until men are relieved.

Overtime rate paid for work during meal
hour.

Oct 1 1935
Oct. 1, 1945____

Changed to: Double time paid for work dur­
ing meal hours other than noon meal
hour.
Paid Vacations

___
Oct. 1, 1934 __ __ _ No provisions for paid vacation
Oct. i, 1945________ 40 hours’ vacation pay at straight time to
employees who worked 1,350 hours or
more in year.
Oct. 1, 1948- _ _ __ Changed to: 800 but less than 1,350 hours
of work— 40 hours’ pay; 1,350 hours or
more—80 hours’ pay.
Call-in Pay
Oct. 1, 1934

Oct. 1, 1935.
Oct. 1, 1937
Oct. 1, 1938

Oct. 1, 1945

3

4 hours guaranteed in Baltimore for Sunday night
work, in New York when employed at 7 p. m.
on ship which had not previously been worked
except to discharge mail and baggage on passenger
vessels when the minimum guarantee is 2 hours,
in Boston when employed at 5 p. m. on ship
which had not previously been worked.
Guarantees not applicable to men who worked
through the supper hour, on premises during
afternoon, or on a passenger vessel to discharge
mail or baggage.
Guaranteed minimum not paid when weather con­
ditions made work impossible.
Added: 4 hours’ pay guaranteed employees 4 hours guaranteed when employed at 7 p. m. to
discharge mail and baggage on passenger vessels.
ordered out on Sundays and holidays.
2 -hour guarantee not applicable when steamer or
hatch completes discharging in less time.
Added: 2 hours’ pay guaranteed for second Guarantee paid for second call to work regardless of
weather conditions but not if ship is completed
call to work if employed in the forenoon
before guaranteed period is over.
and reemployed in the afternoon and if
employed on a week-day afternoon and 1 hour straight-time and 1 hour overtime on week­
days and 2 hours overtime on Sunday and holi­
reemployed at 7 p. m.; 4 hours’ pay guar­
days paid men ordered out at 7 a. m. but pre­
anteed if employed on Saturday after­
vented from working before 8 a. m. by weather
noon, if employed at 5 or 6 p. m. or if em­
conditions. Pay to cover period from 7 to 9 a. m.
ployed at 7 p. m. without previous work
during the day.
2 hours straight-time and 1 hour overtime on week­
days and 3 hours overtime on Sunday and holi­
days paid men ordered out at 7 a. m. but pre­
vented from working between 8 and 1 0 a. m.
Changed to: 4 hours’ pay at the appropri­ On week-days 4-hour guarantee applies regardless
of weather except for ship arrivals or departures
ate rate guaranteed for the first call to
or on completion of work in less than the guar­
work. 2 hours’ pay at the appropriate
anteed period.
rate guaranteed for the second call to
On Saturday, Sunday, or holidays guarantees ap­
work during a day.
ply when work is not prevented by weather con­
ditions.
6 hours’ pay at overtime rate guaranteed when
men are called out to dock or undock vessels or
handle mail between 1 2 midnight and 6 a. m.
1 hours’ pay at the overtime rate guaranteed
men called out at 7 a. m. but prevented from
working by weather conditions before 8 a. m .4

2

hours’ pay guaranteed employees selected
to work.

See footnotes at end of table.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

In accordance with arbitration awards of Dec. 31,
1945. Details of plan negotiated by parties.

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

WAGE CHRONOLOGY NO. 17

175

D— Related Wage Practices 1—Continued
Effective date

Provisions

Applications, exceptions, and other related matters
Travel Pay

Oct. 1, 1934________

Workers required to report to specified piers
or locations in or about the port area com­
pensated for extra travel expenses and, in
specific situations, for time spent in
travel.

Not applicable to Boston because of compact pier
area.

Welfare and Insurance Plan
Oct. 1 , 1934-----------Jan. 1 , 1949------------

No provision for welfare and insurance plan.
Welfare and insurance plan established.
Financed entirely by employer contri­
butions as follows:
Boston—3 cents; New York— 3% cents;
Philadelphia— 2% cents; Baltimore—2%
cents; Hampton Roads—2}i cents.
Plan provided:
Life insurance—$1,000;
Accidental death and dismemberment—up to
$ 1, 000 ;

Surgery—up to $150;
Accident and sickness benefits—$25 for 13
weeks. Sickness benefits start on eighth
day; accident, on first day;

Jan. 1, 1950

Jan. 1, 1951

Hospitalization — $ 6 a day for 21 days and
$3 a day for 180 days;
Miscellaneous hospital services—sum based
on length of confinement;
First aid and out-hospital services—up to
$7.25 toward emergency first aid within
24 hours of accident and for use of opera­
ting room facilities.
Changed to:
Employer contributions: 3% cents at all
ports.
Surgery—up to $300;
Accident and sickness benefits—$26 for 13
weeks;
Hospitalization—Up to $ 8 a day for 31
days;

Miscellaneous hospital expenses—up to $248;
First aid and out-hospital expenses—elimi­
nated.
Added:
Dependents coverage—Hospitalization and
miscellaneous hospital expenses (exclud­
ing maternity cases) as provided for
employees.
Changed to:
Life insurance— $1,500;
Accidental death and dismemberment—up to
$1,500;
Accident and sickness benefits—$26 per week
in Philadelphia.

See footnotes at end of table.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Workers eligible for life insurance if employed by
employer-member of Shipping Association for at
least 800 hours between Oct. 1 , 1947, and Sept.
30,1948. In addition worker was eligible for other
benefits if employed between Jan. 1, 1949, and
Apr. 30, 1949. If employed after Apr. 30, 1949,
worker was insured for these other benefits through
Dec. 31, 1949. Accident and sickness benefits
payable only in cases where workmen’s compen­
sation or unemployment benefits are not paid.
In the New Jersey section of the New York port
benefits were $25 for 26 weeks. Both accident
and sickness benefits started on the eighth day.
In Hampton Roads the benefits were $24 for 13
weeks.
In Philadelphia the maximum hospitalization bene­
fit was $251.
Not included in Philadelphia plan.
Not included in Philadelphia plan.

In New Jersey benefits were $26 for 26 weeks. No
change in Philadelphia or Hampton Roads.
In Port of New York—additional reimbursement
for money actually paid to the hospital by the
employee not to exceed the amount equivalent
to room and board charge for 170 days at 50
percent of the published rate for semiprivate
accommodations, if fund has surplus. No change
in Hampton Roads.
Up to $80 in Philadelphia.

STATUS OF CHILD-WELFARE WORKERS

176

MONTHLY LABOR

D—Related Wage Practices 1—Continued
Applications, exceptions, and other related matters

Provisions

Effective date

Pension Plan
Oct. 1, 1934
Jan. 1, 1950
Jan. 1, 1951

No provision for pension plan.
Pension fund established; financed by em­
ployer contributions of 5 cents a man­
hour.
Pension plan put into effect providing, ex­
clusive of Federal old-age benefits:
$35 a month to employees aged 65 with
25 years of employment in the longshore
industry.
Disability pensions to employees 45 years
or older with 15 years’ service.

1The last item under each entry represents the most recent change.
and subsequent agreements made no provision for additional pay
for night work (between 5 p. m. and 8 a. m.) in excess of 40 hours a week.
Under an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, approved on
July 20,1949, and made retroactive to the effective date of this act, the lia­
bility of employers to pay for work in excess of 40 hours a week at the rate of
time and one-half the regular rate was removed in cases where the rate paid
was already a premium rate equal to time and a half.
3Longshoremen seeking work at North Atlantic coast ports are hired as
required by foremen stevedores of shipping lines and stevedoring companies.
The system of employing labor in these ports, as differentiated from the
hiring hall common to most maritime trades, is termed the “shape.” Under
the “shape,” longshoremen congregate and are hired at the pier on which
work is available. Although employers of longshore labor do not ordinarily
maintain permanent staffs, longshoremen tend to seek work at a specific
pier or for an individual employer. Over a period of years this practice has
established a precedent which entitles regular workers to employment pref­
2 This

Employees to be eligible must have averaged 800
hours a year since Jan. 1, 1937; subsequent to
Jan. 1, 1962, employees will have had to average
800 hours a year during the 25 year period.

erence at their chosen piers. The most recent contracts acknowledged this
right by providing that men “who regularly work” on a pier must be given
“preference in hiring”.
During the early 1900’s men seeking longshore work were required to be
available at the piers all day. Since then, the union and the employers have
established fixed periods during which employers may hire labor. The most
recent agreement provides “shaping” periods as follows: (1) From Monday
to Friday: at 7:55 a. m. for work between 8 a. m. and 12noon; at 12:55 p. m.
for work between 1p. m. and 5p. m., and for work starting at 5, 6, or 7p. m.
(2) On Saturday, Sunday, or legal holidays: Additional men at the 12:55
p. m. shape of the previous day, if a ship was worked at the pier on the pre­
vious day. Men working on the previous day receive their orders before
leaving work. (3) On a Saturday or legal holidays preceeded by a day on
which no ship was worked at the pier: at 7:55 a. m. (4) On a Sunday pre­
ceded by a day on which no ship was worked at the pier: Before 12 noon of
the preceding Saturday.
4 In Boston men do not work before 8 a. m.
— A lber t A . B elm an
D ivision of Wage Statistics

Status of
Child-Welfare Workers1
child-welfare workers in the United
States increased steadily over the past 5 years.
This was due in part to a substantial annual
increase in the Federal appropriations for such
service under the Social Security Act, beginning in
1946. In June 1950, according to a study made by
the Children’s Bureau of the Federal Security
Agency, such workers numbered 4,146. Of
these, 3,154 were case workers. The remaining
992 were executives, supervisors, consultants, or
specialists.2
Half of the professional child-welfare workers
were concentrated in seven northern States—New
York, Ohio, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Indiana,
Illinois, and Wisconsin—which account for 28
percent of the Nation’s population under 21
years of age. Of the total 2,499 full-time work­
ers serving single-county areas, 1,299 were in

P r o fe ssio n a l


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

counties with cities of 100,000 or more population.
The average case worker in public child-welfare
programs, in June 1950, cared for 50 children and
received $277 a month. From June 1946 to
June 1950 the average salary had increased 26
percent compared with a 28-percent rise in the
Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumers’ Price
Index. This rate of pay, the Children’s Bureau
states, is not “ in line” with the responsibilities
of the work and the required educational back­
ground.
Federal funds pay the salaries of 1,108 of the
child-welfare workers; the remaining 3,038 are
maintained by State and local funds. In addi­
tion, 93 full-time public-welfare clerical workers
are paid from Federal funds and 1,185 from State
and local funds.
1Federal Security Agency, Social Security Administration, Children’s
Bureau. Release, April 25, 1951.
2 The services provided by child-welfare personnel include help for neglect­
ed or abused children or those in danger of becoming delinquent; arranging
for children’s adoption; placing children in foster homes and institutions;
and also stimulating organization of services for children by communities.

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

IN J U R Y R AT E S IN MANUFACTURING

177

Injury Rates in Manufacturing,
First Quarter 1951

permanent impairments, and from the hospital,
medical, and other costs incidental to treatment of
these injuries.

W o r k i n j u r i e s in manufacturing were higher,
both in actual number and in relation to man­
hours worked, during the first quarter of 1951 than
in the fourth quarter of 1950, according to pre­
liminary reports.
The average injury-frequency ra te 1 for all
manufacturing establishments reporting for the
first quarter of 1951 was about 4 percent above the
rate for the fourth quarter, and 16 percent above
that for the first quarter, of 1950. Averages for
January, February, and March 1951 were 21, 16,
and 13 percent higher than for the corresponding
months of 1950. Thus, the short-term 1951 trend
was downward, following the usual seasonal pat­
tern, but the level in general was considerably
higher than in 1950.
An estimated 110,000 employees in manufactur­
ing suffered disabling work injuries during the
first quarter of 1951. This was an increase of
about 4 percent over the preceding quarter, and 38
percent over that for the first quarter of 1950. The
estimated volume of work injuries has steadily in­
creased during the five most recent quarters. The
volume of injuries rose for two reasons: the in­
crease in exposure—greater employment and
longer hours of work—and, chiefly, the higher
inj ury-frequency rates.
Some 400 of these workers died as a result of
work injuries. Another 5,600 were known to have
suffered some permanent body impairment which
will disable them to some extent for the remainder
of their lives. The remaining 104,000 workers in­
jured during the first quarter were disabled for
1 or more days. Although the majority of the
latter fully recovered, the final outcome of some
of the injuries was not known at the time of report­
ing. Later information may indicate a slight
increase in the number of more serious cases.
Over 2,200,000 man-days were lost during the
quarter by the injured workers. Wage losses alone
amounted to approximately $22 million—a cost
partly paid by the employers in the form of work­
men’s compensation and partly absorbed by the
workers in the form of reduced income during
disability. The total loss was much greater, how­
ever, if account is taken of the continuing eco­
nomic losses arising from the many deaths and

Industry Rates


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Of the 127 individual industry classifications for
which comparable data were available, 48 showed
increases of 1 frequency-rate point or more be­
tween the fourth quarter of 1950 and the first
quarter of 1951. Decreases were reported by 31
industries and changes of less than 1 point by the
remaining 48.
Increases over the previous quarter of five fre­
quency-rate points or more were shown by nine
industries (table 1). Four of these industries also
reported substantial increases over the year—
from the first quarter of 1950 to the first quarter of
1951. Logging showed an increase from 87.8 in­
juries per million man-hours in the first quarter
of 1950 to 94.6 in the fourth quarter, and to 102.2
in the first quarter of 1951. The injury rate for
general machine shops almost doubled over the
Percent Change in Injury-Frequency Rates in
Manufacturing

INJURY RATES IN MANUFACTURING

178

T a b l e 1.—Industries showing principal changes in injury-

frequency rates, first quarter, 1951

Points differ­
Injury-frequency rates ence
between—
Fourth
quarter
First Fourth First 1950
quarter quarter quarter and
1950 1950 1951 first
quarter
1951

Industry

as good a showing in comparisons over the 12month period (table 1).
Industries reporting the highest injury-frequency
rates for the first quarter of 1951 were:
I n ju r y fr e q u e n c y
r a te

First
quarter
1950
and
first
quarter
1951

Logging_______________________________ 102. 2
Sawmills______________________________ 63. 5
Saw and planing mills, integrated----------- 43. 9
Boatbuilding and repairing_____________ 43. 2
39. 6
Wooden containers____________________
Veneer m ills__________________________
39. 5
Clay products, structural_______________ 37. 1
Foundries, iron------------------------------------- 35. 0

Increases of 5points or more
Office, store, and restaurant
fixtures_______________
Leather products, not elsewhere
classified--------------------Logging............................. General machine shops--------Clay products, structural____
Furniture, metal__________
Iron and steel products, not
elsewhere classified - - ___
Veneer mills--------- - --Plate fabrication and boiler-shop
products-------------------Trimmings and fabricated tex­
tile products, not elsewhere
classified---- -----------------

17.9
(>)
87.8
14.7
27.3
22.1
(')
«
17.7

13.4
7.9
94.6
21.5
29.7
18.8
17.6
34.2
15.9

7.1

8.3

25.5 +12.1
15.8 +7.9
102.2 +7.6
29.0 +7.5
37.1 +7.4
24.6 +5.8
23.3 +5.7
39.5 +5.3
21.0 +5.1

+7.6
(')
+ 14.4
+14.3
+9.8
+2.5

12.1

+3.8

+5.0

Outstandingly low rates were reported by the
following industries:
I n ju r y fre q u e n c y

(>)
0

)

rate

+3.3

Synthetic textile fibers_________________
Synthetic rubber______________________
Electric lamps (bulbs)__________________
Communication and signaling equipment,
except radio________________________
Explosives____________________________
Optical and ophthalmic goods---------------Soap and glycerin--------------------------------Clothing, women’s and children’s_______

Decreases of 5points or more
S a w m ills _ -------------------- -------P l a n i n g m ills __ ------------------A lu m i n u m a n d m a g n e s i u m
p r o d u c t s _______________________
B o tt lin g , s o ft d r i n k s ____________
S h ip b u il d in g a n d r e p a i r i n g ...........

M ONTHLY LABO R

6 3 .7
35 .1

7 4 .7
4 4 .2

6 3 .5
34 .7

- 1 1 .2
-9 .5

- .2
- .4

16.9
19.8
2 1 .2

26 .7
27.3
22 .3

1 8 .0
21 .7
17.0

- 8 .7
-5 .6
- 5 .3

+ i- 1
+ 1 .9
- 4 .2

i Insufficient data.

year, increasing from 14.7 in the first quarter of
1950 to 21.5 in the fourth, and to 29.0 in the first
quarter of 1951.
Only five industries recorded decreases of as
much as 5 frequency-rate points between the
fourth quarter of 1950 and the first quarter of
1951. None of these industries, however, made

1. 4
2. 1
2. 9
3.
4.
4.
4.
4.

4
0
2
7
8

i
The injury-frequency rate is the average number of disabling work in­
juries for each million employee-hours worked.
A disabling work injury is an injury arising out of and in the course of
employment, which results in death or any degree of permanent impairment,
or makes the injured worker unable to perform a regularly established job
open and available to him, throughout the hours corresponding to his regular
shift, on any 1 or more days (including Sundays, days off, or plant shut­
downs) after the day of injury. The term “injury” includes occupational
disease.
These data are compiled in conformity with the American Standard
Method of Compiling Industrial Injury Kates, approved by the American
Standards Association, 1945.

T a b le 2. —Industrial injury-jrequency rates 1 for selected manufacturing industries, first quarter 1951, with cumulative rates

for 1950
I n j u r y - f r e q u e n c y r a t e s fo r—

In d u s try

A p p a r e l:
D lo th in £ m p.n’s n.nd h o y s ’
_ ________________________________
C Io th in °- wOFnon’s a n d c h i ld r e n ’s
_______________________
A p p a r e l a n d a c c e s so rie s not. e ls e w h e re c la s sifie d
____ __________ _ _ _ -T r i m m i n g s find, fa b r ic a te d te x til e p r o d u c t s not, e ls e w h e r e c la s sifie d
________
C h e m ic a ls :
C o m p re s s e d a n d liq u e fie d c a se s 4
___
__
_ ___ _____ __
P r n g s tm M r i ^ s a n d in s e c tic id e s
________ ____________
K xplosive.s
_ __________ ___________________________
F e r tiliz e r s
__ ___________ - _________________
I n d u s t r i a l c h e m ic a ls
________________ ____________
F a i n t s v a r n is h e s a n d co lo rs
_____ ____ __________ __________
ru b b er
__ ________ _______ —
g ly c e rin
__ ____________________________
S y n t h e ti c r u b b e r
_
____________________________
fib e rs
______________________________

Plastics materials except
Soap and
Synthetic textile
Chemical products, not elsewhere classified----- -------------------.............

See footnotes at end of table.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

N um ber
of e s t a b ­
li s h m e n t s

2

350
296
44
108
21
77
38
88
214
81

30
41
19
18
61

Jan u ary

(3)

7 .8
3 .5

14.7

(3)

13.3
2 .9
21 .4
8 .3
9 .2

7.0
4.3
2.1
1.3
5.8

F e b ru a ry

(3)

M a rc h

0
8 .3

(3)

14.5
5 .0
22.3
8 .4

11.3
8.2
6.1
2.1
1.2
15.6

Ja n u a ry D ecem ber
1950 c u m u ­
la tiv e (p re ­
l i m in a r y )

12.8

7 .4
4 .8
9 .4
12.1

6 .0
4 .0
5 .0
8 .1

10.1
4 .1
3 2 .0
8 .3

< 8 .2
12.6
4 .0
2 5 .6
8 .3

< 8 .8
9 .5
3 .9
2 5 .0
7 .4

6 .5
4 .5

8 .1
6 .5

F irs t
q u a rte r

<0

8.9
5.0
3.8
1.9
1.6
7.1

9.8
6.7
4.7
2.1
1.4
9.5

8.8
6.4
5.3
2.6
1.9
9.6

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

179

INJURY RATES IN MANUFACTURING

T able 2.— Industrial injury-frequency rates 1for selected manufacturing industries, first quarter 1951, with cumulative rates
for 1950— Continued

Injury-frequency rates for—
Industry

Electrical equipment:
Automotive electrical equipment__________ ... _______________
Batteries_____________________________________________
Communication and signaling equipment, except radio . ____________
Electrical appliances_______ . _____________ ______________
Electrical equipment for industrial use_____________________ ____
Electric lamps (bulbs)________________ _____ ______________
Insulated wire and cable________________________ __________
Radios and phonographs.. _. _______ ... ----------- -------------- ----Electrical equipment, not elsewhere classified___ _________________
Food:
Baking _________________________________ ___ ______
Bottling, soft drinks ! .. ________________ . ________ _____ .
Breweries.. _____________ _________ ________________ ..
Canning and preserving___________________________________
Confectionery_______ __________________ ____ ___________
Dairy products_________________________________________
Distilleries________
____________ _____ ... __________ ..
Flour, feed, and grain-mill products ------ --------------------------------Slaughtering and meat packing_____________________ __ ______
Sugar, beet6. _________ . ------------------ ------------------------...... - --. .. ... .
Sugar, cane6___ _ ...........
Wineries 5___ _______ ____________ ________ ________
Food products, not elsewhere classified___ ___ ___ ____ __________
Furniture and lumber products:
Furniture, metal_________ .. ... .. ----------------------------------Furniture, wood---- ----------------------- -------------------------- -----Mattresses and bedsprings... ----------------------------------------------Office, store, and restaurant fixtures----------------------------------------Wooden containers----------------------------------------------------------Miscellaneous wood products, not elsewhere classified________________
Iron and steel:
Bolts, nuts, washers, and rivets..----- ------------------------------------Cold-finished steel_______________________________________
Cutlery and edge tools------- ----------------------------------------------Fabricated structural steel__________________ ______ _____
Forgings, iron and steel------------------------- --------------------------Foundries, iron_____________ ______ ___________ . ---------Foundries, steel____________________ ___ _________ ______
Hardware____ _____ ___________ _____ ... ---------------------Heating equipment, not elsewhere classified____ ________________
Iron and steel__________________________________________
Metal coating and engraving____________ . . . ---- ... ---------------Ornamental metal work_____________________ ______________
Plate fabrication and boiler-shop products-----------------------------------Plumbers’ supplies--------------------------------------------- -----------Screw-machine products___________________ _______ _____ .
Sheet-metal work______________________________ ___ ____ _
Stamped and pressed metal products---------------------------------------Steam fittings and apparatus-------------------------- ------------ . . . --Steel barrels, kegs, drums, and packages-------------------------------------Steel springs_____ . ------------------------ --------------------------Tin cans and other tinware________________ ____ ___________
Tools, except edge tools______________ ... . . . ... ----------------Wire and wire products_____________________ ______________
Wrought pipes, welded and heavy-riveted--- -- ... ______________
Iron and steel products, not elsewhere classified.. ... ----------------------Heather:
Boots and shoes, not rubber. _______________________________
Leather _______ ______________ _______ ___ _________
Leather products, not elsewhere classified.._ --------- ... ----------- -----Lumber:
Logging................... ................................... ......................... .........
Miilwork, structural-------------------------------- ----------------------Planing mills. . ---------- ----------------------- ----------------------Plywood mills----------------- -------------------------------------------Sawmills. --------- .. ------------ ----- ---------------------- --------Saw and planing mills, integrated _____ . . -------------- . . . ------Veneer mills___________________________________________
Machinery, except electric:
Agricultural machinery and tractors__ ______________________
Bearings, ball and roller ---- -------- --------------------- ------------Commercial and household machinery... . ______________________
Construction and mining machinery. .. ____ ___________________
Elevators, escalators, and conveyors ___. . .
___ ...
_____
Engines and turbines-------------------------------------------------------Food-products machinery------------- _ _ ... .. -------------------------General industrial machinery and equipment, not elsewhere classified_____
General machine shops (jobbing and repair). ______ ____ ___ _____
Mechanical measuring and controlling instruments _ ____________
Mechanical power-transmission equipment, except ball and roller bearings__
Metalworking machinery _________________________________
Pumps and compressors_______________ ... _______________
Special-industry machinery, not elsewhere classified _ ... . .. _____
Textile machinery_______________________________________
;See footnotes at end of table.

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Number
of estab­
lishments 2 January

25
26
26
31
263
19
30
105
17
137
129
31
183
38
139
51
138
330
12
10
24
94
30
143
108
49
213
198
47
33
38
210
107
348
108
58
83
146
64
47
119
46
101
77
232
41
18
15
17
53
146
18
24
299
48
34
131
243
62
57
290
139
33
95
29
140
120
27
44
57
191
129
57
69
421
83
137
26

5.0
13.7
3.0
9.7
7.1
2.2
15.2
7.6
5.9
14.4
16.1
26.6
15.0
10.9
23.7
8.6
7.9
17.6
0
18.1
0
9.3
16.4
22.6
14.5
28.0
42.1
25.4
12.5
15.8
18.4
17.6
19.4
35.1
29.0
9.9
19.2
6.1
17.4
17.0
21.1
15.4
12.5
17.3
17.2
17.6
(3)
22.8
10.5
19.5
18.0
15.0
(3)
9.8
20.8
(3)
109.0
30.7
(3)
30.8
66.5
41.9
0
13.3
13.8
10.2
19.3
12.2
12.5
17.1
13.4
30.9
19.8
20.6
13.4
15.7
20.6
10.6

February

6.8
17.1
3.9
12.4
6.5
4.2
10.3
5.9
11.6
11.1
21.1
17.5
18.3
7.8
17.3
8.9
10.3
14.8
0
19.0
0
10.5
29.7
24.3
16.2
16.5
39.8
33.0
14.6
17.2
15.4
18.8
18.1
37.9
30.9
11.0
17.5
6.7
23.3
16.9
20.4
22.7
10.9
14.2
17.5
18.0
0
19.1
8.4
22.6
16.8
14.9
0
10.3
28.1
0
101.1
24.7
0
37.2
67.2
45.3
0
11.8
11.6
8.7
20.4
10.1
11.2
11.8
15.4
30.7
9.0
16.8
13.8
18.6
18.8
12.2

March

6.7
11.0
3.2
11.0
6.2
2.5
7.7
6.1
10.0
9.3
27.2
24.2
19.1
6.6
18.0
5.1
8.7
14.0
0
13.8
0
14.2
27.2
24.1
14.7
31.0
37.0
22.9
16.3
18.3
15.6
21.8
20.4
32.4
26.5
13.7
19.7
5.1
25.4
16.8
21.6
18.3
12.4
26.9
16.3
16.8
0
19.5
14.1
16.8
18.2
13.8
0
9.0
20.2
0
96.0
26.1
0
26.2
57.2
44.8
0
14.5
11.7
8.5
20.2
6.7
11.5
14.6
15.9
25.7
9.5
15.7
15.3
15.0
19.7
11.0

First
quarter

6.2
13.9
3.4
11.0
6.6
2.9
11.1
6.5
9.2
11.6
«21.7
22.9
17.4
8.5
19.7
7.6
8.9
15.7
(36)
816.8
(35)
11.3
24.6
23.7
15. 1
25.5
39.6
26.9
14.5
17.1
16.5
19.4
19.3
35.0
28.7
11.5
18.8
6.0
22.1
16.9
21.0
18.8
11.9
19.6
17.0
17.4
9.6
20.5
11. 1
19.5
17.7
14.6
23.3
9.7
23.0
15.8
102.2
27.3
34.7
31.2
63.5
43.9
39.5
13.2
12.4
9.2
19.9
9.5
11.7
14.6
14.9
29.0
9.4
17.7
14.2
16.4
19.7
11.2

JanuaryDecember
1950 cumu­
lative (pre­
liminary)
6.0
16. 6
3.9
10.9
6.1
3.1
11. 7
5.7
9.0
10.4
525.9
22. 5
17.1
9.6
17.0
6.3
10.0
15.1
836.7
620.1
317 8
10.6
19 0
21 0
14 0
15 7
36 2
2L2
15 5
18 7
16 5
17 4
18 5
30 7
23 0
11 1
21.2
6. 0
24.0
18 6
19 3
17. 7
14. 9
17 5
15. 5
14 9
13.6
15.0
14. 9
16. 2
16. 9
15 9
13.8
7.9
19 6
8.1
92.1
25 3
41.5
31.2
67.8
40.8
34.7
13.7
13. 7
9.2
17.6
8. 2
10. 7
15.7
13.6
16.6
8.1
16.3
11.1
14.3
16.2
9.9

180

MONTHLY LABOR

ROOF-FALL FATALITIES IN BITUMINOUS COAL

T a b le 2.—Industrial injury-frequency rates 1 for selected manufacturing industries, first quarter 1951, with cumulative rates

for 1950— Continued

Injury-frequency rates for—
Industry

Nonferrous metals:
Aluminum and magnesium products___________________________
■pouudries, uonferrous
__ _ __________________
Nonferreus basic shapes and forms
_ __
_____
___________________
Watches clocks, jewelry, and silverware
Nonferrous metal products, not elsewhere classified
___ _
Ordnance:
Ordnance and accessories
____________________
Paper:
Paper boxes and containers
_ _ ______________________
Paper and pulp
__ _________________________
Paper products, not elsewhere classified. _ __________________
Printing and publishing:
Pook and job printing
_
_ ______________
Bookbinding
___ ________ _____ ____
News and periodicals
_ ___________________________
Rubber:
Rubber boots and shoes
_____ _______________
Rubber tires and tubes
__ _____________
___________ _____
Rubber products, not elsewhere classified.
Stone, clay, and glass:
Play products, structural
___ ________ ______________
Concrete, gypsum, and plaster products________________________
Glass
-- ______ _________________________________
Pottery and related products.- _- ___________ __________ ____
stnnp elay and glass products, not elsewhere classified- ___________
Textiles:
Cotton yarn and textiles_____________ ____________________
Dyeing and finishing textiles_______________ ______ __ _______
Knit goods___________________________________________
Rayon other synthetic, and silk textiles____ - _- _ __________ - Woolen and worsted textiles________________________________
Miseellanenns textile goods, not elsewhere classified - ______________
Transportation equipment:
Aircraft
___________________________________________
Aircraft parts
__ _____________________________________
Boatbuilding and repairing_________________________________
Motor vehicles_______ __________________________________
Motor-vehicle parts______________________________________
Railroad equipment . ___________________________________
Shipbuilding and repairing_____ _____ _________________ _____
Miscellaneous manufacturing:
Fabricated plastics products________________________________
Optical and ophthalmic goods_ ____________________________
Photographic apparatus and materials_______ ______ _______-.......
Professional and scientific instruments and supplies_________________
Miscellaneous manufacturing, not elsewhere classified__

Number
of estab­
lishments 2 January

21
227
31
41
87
15
307
368
51
223
26
87
13
30
89
164
162
76
32
58
192
53
73
68
169
49
19
43
68
124
126
38
72
38
25
34
69
179

13.5
24.8
10.3
4.6
11.6
6.5
20.5
15.8
11.2
7.8
(3)
10.0
6.9
5.5
16.2
37.2
33.2
9.4
18.6
21.1
10.1
13.6
9.0
9.5
12.8
15.9
4.8
6.3
(3)
6.1
13.0
16.4
16.8
15.1
3.3
4.3
9.7
14.4

February

24.8
24.3
12.2
6.8
14.6
5.2
16.3
16.2
12.2
8.8
(3)
10.2
6.2
6.2
13.5
39.2
22.3
8.8
14.6
20.4
9.5
14.8
8.1
8.0
13.2
12. 2
5.2
6.4
(3)
7.3
13.1
13.8
19.0
10.1
4.0
6.1
6.5
12.2

March

16.1
27.6
10.6
4.6
16.1
6.4
16.0
15.9
10.7
10.3
(3)
9.4
5.7
4.5
12.2
35.0
28.0
9.3
16.0
18.4
7.7
12.8
7.7
9.1
13.7
20.8
5.0
6.0
(3)
6.5
11.8
11.8
15.4
12.7
5.2
6.1
8.5
11.5

First
quarter

18.0
25.6
11.0
5.3
14.1
6.1
17.6
16.0
11.4
9.0
(3)
9.8
6.3
5.4
13.9
37.1
28.0
9.2
16.4
19.9
9.1
13.7
8.3
8.9
13.2
16.4
5.0
6.2
43.2
6.6
12.6
14.0
17.0
12.7
4.2
5.5
8.2
12.7

JanuaryDecember
1950 cumu­
lative (pre­
liminary)
20.5
22.2
13.1
6.1
13.7
5.2
16.9
15.3
12.7
8.3
8.8
8.1
5. 8
5.1
14.7
31.8
26.9
9.9
15.4
15.1
8.7
11.2
6.4
8.5
12.2
17.0
4.6
5.3
29.2
6.7
12.3
14.0
22.5
11.1
2.9
5.3
5.5
11.3

1The average number of disabling work injuries for each million employeehours worked.
2Number of establishments reporting for first quarter 1951.
2 Insufficient data.
< Rates not comparable with those published prior to September 1950,
because of changes in composition of sample.

8 Formerly included in “Beverages, not elsewhere classified”; rate for in­
dustries combined was 21.8 for first quarter, and 23.8 cumulative for 1950.
6Formerly included in “Sugar refining”; rate for industries combined was
19.3 for first quarter, and 23.8 cumulative for 1950.

Causes of Roof-Fall Fatalities in
Bituminous-Coal Mines, 1950

ployee failure for 29 percent, and joint or undeter­
mined failure for 12 percent. Unforeseeable acci­
dents accounted for only 11 percent of fatalities.
In at least 80 of the 127 fatalities ascribed to
management failure, the foreman, according to the
analysis, was aware of the situations which led to
the accidents.
Of the 76 fatalities ascribed to employee failure,
43 resulted from failure to correct a dangerous
situation which developed during the foreman’s
absence; 11 because supports were removed for

F a i l u r e of management and workers to prevent
foreseeable accidents was responsible for 89 per­
cent of 263 fatalities to bituminous-coal miners
which resulted from mine roof-fall accidents in
1950, according to a comprehensive investigation
of the U. S. Bureau of Mines.1 Management
failure accounted for 48 percent of the total, em­


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REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

ROOF-FALL FATALITIES IN BITUMINOUS COAL

freer movement of equipment or operation; 5 from
employees’ failure to carry out the foreman’s in­
structions; and 5 because miners voluntarily and
unnecessarily exposed themselves to great danger.
Other kinds of employee failure accounted for the
remaining 12 fatalities.
Inadequate supervision at the face-boss or mineforeman level was responsible for 32 percent of the
fatalities studied; and 16 percent resulted from
management failure at an undetermined level.
According to the report, “it is very likely that
some of the fatalities charged to employee failure
to correct conditions that developed in the absence
of the foreman would have been prevented if the
official inspections of working places had been
made more frequently during the shift.”
Falls of roof, face, or rib caused 67 percent of
all fatalities occurring underground at bituminouscoal mines in 1950.
This fact again brands roof-fall accidents the ‘No.
killer’ of mine personnel and further emphasizes
[the fact] that a major effort must be made to prevent
this type of accident if the total number of fatalities
is to be reduced to any appreciable extent. This
record is a challenge to all the forces that are interested
in forwarding safety in the coal-mining industry, in­
cluding management, labor, and State and Federal
inspection agencies.
1

Only 1 of the 263 fatalities investigated resulted
from the fall of a mine roof in which roof bolts
were directly involved; in this case the bolting
plan was not strictly followed. Seven other fatal­
ities occurred in places where roof bolts were used,
but failure of roof bolting was not involved. A
number of the fatalities investigated might have
been prevented, according to the study, if a more
intense application of well-known roof-support
measures had been carried out.
The most dangerous area of a soft-coal mine is
near its working face; almost three-fourths (74
percent) of the 263 fatalities investigated resulted
from accidents which occurred within 25 feet of
the working face.
Half of all face roof-fall fatalities studied oc­
curred in places where coal was loaded mechan­
ically, although fewer men were engaged in such
operations than in hand loading. This indicates
that mechanical operations are more dangerous
than manual from the standpoint of roof falls, in
spite of management’s ability to maintain closer


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

181

supervision over mechanical than over hand oper­
ations.
Based on number of workers employed, roof-fall
fatalities in hand loading were somewhat below
those in mechanical loading, even though roof falls
accounted for the greatest number of fatalities in
hand loading. Hand loaders, numerically greater
than other occupations, suffered the largest pro­
portion of roof-fall fatalities—31 percent. Load­
ing- and cutting-machine operators and helpers
together accounted for 28 percent. Considering
the relatively small number employed, timbermen
also had a bad record—10 percent. Foremen
constituted 8 percent of those fatally injured.
The remainder included a variety of occupational
groups.
The average age of workers fatally injured by
roof falls was 42 years; their average length of
mining experience was 18.5 years.
Mines employing less than 25 men were nearly
twice as dangerous as those in any other size
group, as shown below:
F a t a li t ie s
I n v e stig a te d

group:
...
1-24 workers.
...
25-99 workers.
100-299 workers _ _ . . .
...
300-499 workers.. _
500 workers and over. _. . .

51
34
79
50
49

P e r 1,0 0 0
w orkers
e m p lo y e d

1 . 10

.
.
.
.

58
62
67
60

The study emphasized the need for management
to provide, first of all, competent supervisors,
particularly for mine-face areas, and for employees
to cooperate fully in carrying out effective roof
support measures.
Management should, the Bureau of Mines rec­
ommended, adopt minimum standards, regardless
of roof conditions, for systematic roof support
suited to the conditions and the mining system of
each mine ; adhere strictly to these standards, and
instruct and safeguard workers accordingly. The
Bureau also recommended the adoption of roof
bolting in areas where controlled experiments,
made in conformance with the procedures worked
out by the Bureau of Mines,2prove this method to
be feasible and practical.
Examination of roof, ribs, and face of each
entry, room, or pillar where men work and of roof
and ribs of passageways where they work or

182

REHABILITATION—HAND INJURIES

travel, was also recommended. Such examina­
tions should be made by a certified official as often
as necessary to insure the safety of workmen, and
the dangerous conditions should be corrected
promptly.
Management was also urged to conduct safety
training programs for supervisors and, when
advisable, to supplement its program by utilizing
outside facilities for safety education.3
Workers should cooperate fully with manage­
ment, the Bureau stated, in developing a suitable
roof-support plan and in obtaining compliance
with it. In areas where roof supports are supposed
to be installed by regular timbermen, other
workers should not enter or work there unless the
roof is properly supported.
Further, workers were counseled not to remove
roof supports deliberately to facilitate loading or
to allow free movement of equipment unless
equivalent protection was provided.
In the absence of the foreman, workers were
cautioned to be constantly alert for changes in

Rehabilitation of Workers with
Hand Injuries, Puerto Rico
v e r a g e total incapacity of 814 workers with
seriously injured hands was reduced by about 18
percent under an integrated physical-medicine
and rehabilitation program, administered under
the Workmen’s Compensation Act by the State
Insurance Fund of Puerto Rico.1 These workers,
who received physical-medicine treatment at the
medical and rehabilitation center of the Fund at
San Juan, during the fiscal year 1948-49, were the
most severely injured among 4,003 workers
awarded permanent-partial compensation for hand
wounds during that period.
On coming to the center,2 the workers were
initially treated by the attending physicians of
the medical division, who furnish both surgical
and medical care. These physicians recommended
treatment under the department of physical medi­
cine and rehabilitation. The treatment prescribed
was carried out by a staff of 12 physical and 7

A


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M ONTHLY LABO R

roof conditions and to take immediate steps to
eliminate any danger that might arise. When
workers are in doubt as to what to do, they should
vacate the area and notify the foreman.
Miners were also urged to take special training
in accident prevention.3
1Falls of Roof: The No. 1Killer in Bituminous-Coal Mines, by J. J. Forbes
and others. Washington, U. S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines,
1951 (Information Circular 7605).
The study covered 263 of the 315 fatalities resulting from falls of roof, face,
or rib in the calendar year 1950. It was undertaken by the Bureau after
adoption of the policy, on February 10, 1950, of investigating all coal-mine
fatalities. The investigations in behalf of accident prevention are conducted
by Federal inspectors under the Coal Mine Inspection and Investigation
Act; reports are distributed to management, the State mine inspection agency
and representatives of mine workers organizations having jurisdiction at the
mine.
The type of analysis utilized is designed for wide use by various groups and
individuals concerned with accident prevention and safety education in coal
mines.
2 Since 1947, the Bureau of Mines has conducted intensive experiments on
roof-bolting to supplement or supplant conventional timbering of roofs in
coal mines; by the end of June 1950, such methods had been adopted in 354
coal mines.—Annual Report of the Director, Bureau of Mines to the Secretary
of the Interior, Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1950, Washington 1951 (pp.jl41,
154).
3The Bureau of Mines conducts accident-prevention courses for super­
visors and miners, respectively. For numbers trained, see Annual Report
(above), p. 156.

occupational therapists, in addition to two chief
therapists.
The 814 workers were divided into 19 diagnostic
groups according to types of injuries. “ All groups
received daily massage and manipulation, usually
both active and passive movements. Occupa­
tional therapy, in the form of active and activeresistive hand classes, and corrective therapy, in
the form of specific exercises and calisthenics,
were prescribed.” Treatments lasting from 4 to 6
hours daily were given on 5 days a week and aver­
aged 17.5 days per worker. At the end of every
10 treatment days, the worker was rechecked.
When it was decided that a worker had received
maximum benefit from physical-medicine and re­
habilitation treatment, he was examined and his
incapacity noted. He was then discharged to the
medical division. As a result of an average period
of 17 physical-therapy and 18 occupationaltherapy treatment days, an average reduction of
17.95 percent of total disability was brought
about.3 This was the equivalent of a reduction of
34.10 weeks of total incapacity for each worker.

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS UNDER UMTA

Calculating the average saving of 34.10 weeks
of workmen’s compensation at the workers’ aver­
age weekly rate of $9.66, the gross per capita
saving in compensation was $329.41; the net
saving per capita was $251.53 after deducting the
cost of physical-medicine and rehabilitation treat­
ment. The Fund calculated this cost at $77.88
per capita, based on an average of 17.5 days at
about $4.45 a day.
The saving was attributed solely to the over-all
plan, which provided the injured workmen “with
a complete surgical and medical program, includ­
ing modern methods of physical medicine and
rehabilitation.”
Incapacity Rating

Extent of disability as a basis for establishing
the amount and duration of workmen’s compensa­
tion was determined by attending physicians of
the medical division, both before physical-medicine
treatment was given and after final discharge.
Incapacity ratings were also made by the director
of the department of physical medicine and re­
habilitation the day treatment was begun in that
department, and again when the patient was
returned to the medical division for final decision.
The medical division either discharged the worker
(with or without a disability rating), or sent him
to a local dispensary in his town to continue

Reemployment Rights Under
Universal Military Training Act
A system of universal military training, the first
to be instituted in the United States, was provided
for by the 1951 Amendments to the Universal
Military Training and Service Act (Public Law
51, 82d Cong., 1st sess.). The 1951 act, approved
June 19, 1951, amended the title of the Selective
Service Act of 1948, changed various provisions of
the 1948 law as previously amended, including re­
employment provisions, and extended it until
July 1, 1955.
Young men become liable to registration require
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183

treatment at rest or at work. Eventually, the
latter workers were rechecked and finally dis­
charged.
The worker had the privilege of appealing the
Fund’s decision to the State Industrial Commis­
sion. The Commission may refer the worker
back for more treatment, or may increase the
stated amount of his incapacity.
Thirty workers appealed successfully to the
Industrial Commission, after undergoing physicalmedicine treatment. They received an average
increase of 5.8 percent over the disability ratings
determined by the medical division of the State
Insurance Fund.
1Physical Medical and Rehabilitation Therapy of Hand Injuries, by Her­
man J. Flax, M. D., director of department of physical medicine and rehabili­
tation, State Insurance Fund, San Juan, P. R. (Abridgment of a thesis; in
A. M. A. Archives of Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Medicine, Chi­
cago, March 1951, p. 236.)
In the fiscal year 1918-49, a medical, surgical, and rehabilitation center was
started at San Juan operated by the State Insurance Fund. This consisted
of a ward for special and orthopedic surgery, with a capacity of 90 beds, and
a department of physical medicine, or rehabilitation clinic, which was equip­
ped to take care of 200 cases. (State Insurance Fund of Puerto Rico, Four­
teenth Annual Report, 1948-49, p. 11.)
2Whenever possible, injured workers coming from other localities were
permitted to stay with their families during treatment; their transportation
was paid to and from the center. Desirable living accommodations, food
and recreation were provided for those who could not make the trip.
3The average reduction in disability was computed for the total number
of workers as a whole, and includes 65 workers (8 percent) whose incapacity
increased after physical-medicine treatment. The waiting period after
injury before the 8 percent received this special treatment averaged more
than 6weeks, as compared with the average period of 5.2 weeks for the entire
group.

ments at age 18 under the 1951 amendments, as
under the 1948 law. Classification and examina­
tion, under the amendments, must take place as
soon as practicable after registration. Registrants
can be drafted at the age of 18 years and 6 months.
Local draft boards will not be permitted to induct
men under 19, however, unless there are no remain­
ing eligible registrants under their jurisdiction in
the 19 to 26 age group.
The minimum standards for physical accept­
ability, it is specified, shall not be higher than
those applied to persons between 18 and 26 years of
age in January 1945, and the requirement for pass­
ing the Armed Forces Qualification Test is fixed
at a percentile score of 10 points.
Active training and service will be required of

184

r e e m p l o y m e n t r ig h t s

those entering service after June 19, 1951, for
a period of 24 months (instead of 21 months as
formerly required), plus service in a Reserve com­
ponent for 6 years.
The President is authorized to provide for defer­
ment of those who have dependents, but those
having no dependents other than wives are
excepted from this provision “except in cases of
extreme hardship.”
Provisions of the 1948 law permitting deferment
of students satisfactorily pursuing full-time courses
of instruction—in high schools, until graduation or
the twentieth birthday, whichever is earlier, and in
college or university, until the end of the academic
year—are continued. However, persons in the
college or university category who have previously
been granted such deferments, may not be further
deferred “by reason of pursuit of a course of in­
struction at a college, university, or similar in­
stitution” except under regulations prescribed by
the President.
Authority is given the President to provide for
deferment of any or all categories of persons whose
employment in industry, agriculture, or other
occupations or employment, or whose activity in
study, research, or medical or other endeavors, is
found to be necessary to the maintenance of the
national health, safety, or interest.
An individual who is deferred for any reason will
continue to be liable to service or training until
he is 35 years of age.
Instead of the provision of the 1948 law for de­
ferment of conscientious objectors, the 1951
amendments provide for assignment of such per­
sons by the local draft boards, according to “ such
regulations as the President may prescribe” to
“ civilian work contributing to the maintenance of
the national health, safety, or interest.”
Reemployment Rights

Reemployment rights and privileges granted by
law for those inducted under Selective Service
were not changed by the 1951 Amendments. With
regard to enlistees, however, reemployment rights
under the former law were granted only to those
who enlisted (or in the case of reservists, went on
active duty) for not more than 3 years. Under the
amended law, this limit on length of time in service
is raised to 4 years, regardless of the time of initial


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under

um ta

enlistment, and the change is made retroactive to
June 25, 1948.
The amendment added a provision granting re­
employment privileges, on certain conditions, for
those rejected by the Armed Forces and those
released from training, as follows:
A person permanently employed by a private
employer or by the Federal Government, the Dis­
trict of Columbia, or a Territory or possession of
the United States, “ shall be granted a leave of
absence by his employer for the purpose of being
inducted into, entering, determining his physical
fitness to enter, or performing training duty in,”
the Armed Forces.
If he is rejected, or if he is released from training
duty, he “ shall, if he makes application for rein­
statement within 30 days following his release, be
reinstated in his position without reduction in his
seniority, status, or pay except as such reduction
may be made for all employees similarly situated.”
National Security Training Corps

The 1951 Amendments to the UMT&S Act pro­
vided for Presidential appointment, by and with
consent of the Senate, of three civilians and two
members (active or retired) of the Armed Forces,
to serve as members of a National Security Train­
ing Commission. Immediately after signing the
bill, the President sent to the Senate nominations
of members. Under the act, the Commission is to
recommend to Congress, within 4 months of con­
firmation of the members’ appointments, legisla­
tion to provide a program for operation of a
National Security Training Corps.
Registrants under the 1951 Amendments to the
UMT&S Act who meet certain age, physical, and
mental requirements will be inducted into the
Corps for a 6-month period of training, in accord­
ance with provisions to be formulated, under gen­
eral supervision of the Commission. After training
in the Corps, additional service either in the Armed
Forces or in a Reserve component will be required
until a total term of 8 years has been served.
Types of basic military training to be given in
the Corps will be determined by military depart­
ments, subject to the Commission’s policies and
to approval by the Secretary of Defense.
Trainees in the Corps will receive $30 a month
plus dependency allowances when required.

Recent Decisions
of Interest to Labor

Wages and H ours2
Government Suits Subject to Limitation Statute. In affirm­
ing a district court decision, a United States Court of
Appeals h eld 3 ( 1 ) that the 2-year statute of limitations
established by the Portal-to-Portal Act applied to suits
brought by the Government under the Walsh-Healey
(Public Contracts) Act, and (2 ) that the 2 -year limitation
period runs from the date of violation rather than the
date of the final administrative decision when damages
are found due.
On January 8 , 1947, the Secretary of Labor formulated
a complaint, under the Walsh-Healey Act, against a
company which manufactured garments and mosquito
bars during World War II, under Government contracts
continuing from 1942 to 1945. The company, it was
claimed, had failed to pay proper overtime wages and had
employed four minors. A hearing examiner was ap­
pointed, who rendered his decision on December 29, 1947.
The company appealed to the Administrator of the Wage
and Hour and Public Contracts Divisions, who affirmed
the trial examiner’s findings.
On December 28, 1949, on the Attorney General’s
direction suit was filed under provisions of the WalshHealey Act, claiming that the company had breached the
contracts by violation of the overtime and child-labor
provisions. Liquidated damages claimed by the Govern­
ment amounted to $6,796.90. The trial court upheld the
company’s defense that the suit was barred under the
limitation period of the Portal Act. On appeal, the upper
court considered only the question of “bar by limitation.”
First, the appellate court considered whether the Portal
Act was intended to apply to the Government. It quoted
section 225, the limitation provision of that act, which
expressly mentions the Walsh-Healey Act. Even though
the Government was not named specifically in this sec­
tion, the court decided that since only Government actions
could be brought under the Walsh-Healey Act, the period
of limitation in the Portal Act was intended to apply to it.
The only question remaining was whether the Govern­
ment had avoided the effect of that limitation by bringing
suit in time. This, in turn, raised a question as to when
the cause of action in the suit had accrued. The company
contended that when the contract was breached, a cause
of action arose and time started running from that moment.
According to the Government, a cause of action had not
arisen (and hence time could not start running) until after
the administrative hearing had been completed and a
“finding of fact” had been made under provisions of the


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Walsh-Healey Act. The court did not agree with this
contention, however. Under the Walsh-Healey Act, the
suit is on the contract, and not on the Secretary’s or any­
body’s order, the court stated. The appellate court
pointed out that evidence as to pertinent facts concerning
which there had been no sustainable finding, could be
offered at the trial.
The court concluded: “We are, therefore, of opinion
that these causes of action under the Walsh-Healey Act
accrued before the date of the Portal-to-Portal Act, that
the United States is affected by the limitation, that the
failure of the Secretary to have an earlier hearing and
finding if he wished them is no excuse for delaying the
suit, and that it was filed too late and was ‘forever barred’
in the emphatic language of the limiting Act.”
Work of Guards and Firemen During Lunch Period Covered
by FLSA. A United States district court in the District
of Nebraska, held 4 that plant guards and firemen who
performed many of their regular duties during their 30minute lunch period, and consequently worked 8 % hours
each day, were covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act
of 1938, as amended. They were, therefore, entitled to
compensation at time and a half for overtime work.
During 1942, the United States Government erected an
airplane assembly plant near Omaha, Nebr. Contracting
with the Government, the Martin Co. agreed to assemble
medium and heavy bombers on a cost-plus-fixed-fee basis.
To protect its plant from sabotage and espionage and to
preserve order in case of emergencies, the company hired
guards and firemen who worked in 3 shifts, 24 hours a day.
At first, these men worked 8 -hour shifts and ate their lunch
while on duty; but from March 3, 1943, to September 17,
1944, they worked 8)4 hours on overlapping shifts. The
extra 30 minutes was supposed to allow them to go to
plant cafeterias for lunch. They were, however, still paid
for only 8 hours’ work.
The guards and firemen claimed that their 30-minute
lunch period was not free time but instead was overtime
for which the company should pay time and a half because
they ( 1 ) were always on call, (2 ) had to wear their hats
and sidearms during their meal, (3) had to be on the look­
out for employees who did not have on badges, (4) were,
many times, not relieved by another guard to allow them
to go to a cafeteria. Firemen had to carry telephones to
the cafeteria so that they could be contacted immediately,
and also had to wear their uniforms.
First, the court decided that the guards and firemen
were employees not of the United States Government,
but of the Martin Co., since the company and not the
Government, had control over them. It was “apparent”,
the court stated, that these employees were “engaged in
the production of goods for commerce within the mean­
ing of the Fair Labor Standards Act.” On the question
of whether they “worked” within the meaning of the
FLSA, the court answered in the affirmative, saying:
“The definition of ‘hours worked’ has not been limited
to encompass only those situations in which an employee
is engaged in affirmative action.” And in many cases,
the court continued, the guards and firemen were not
merely “on call” but were on duty. Freedom during
185

186

DECISIONS OF INTEREST TO LABOR

lunch periods, as usually enjoyed by other employees,
was denied the guards and firemen, the court stated; the
company required them to be constantly vigilant during
their lunch period, thereby insuring protection at all times
for itself. In concluding, the court stated that the halfhour lunch period was not negligible, that compensable
working time was involved, and that therefore, the com­
pany should pay time and a half for the resulting overtime
work.
In defense, the company relied on section 2 of the Portalto-Portal Act, but the court pointed out that the guards’
and firemen’s activities during their lunch period were not
preliminary or postliminary matters but their principal
activities during the workweek. Therefore, section 2
was not applicable, the court decided; the employees were
not “required to plead and prove a contract, custom, or
practice to compensate them for the hours worked during
the lunch period.”

Labor Relations
Concerted Activity Necessary for Secondary Boycott. In the
first of four decisions relating to secondary boycotts, the
Supreme Court of the United States held 5 that a union
did not engage in unfair labor practices in violation of
section 8 (b) (4) of the National Labor Relations Act as
amended by the Labor Management Relations (TaftHartley) Act, by preventing a customer’s truck from
entering a plant it was picketing.
The union, in a strike against a Louisiana mill, was
attempting to gain recognition as bargaining agent for
the mill’s employees. It had established a picket line in
front of the mill and when a customer’s truck approached,
the pickets formed a line across the road and prevented
the driver from entering.
The mill involved in
this dispute later filed a complaint with the National
Labor Relations Board, charging that the union or its
agent had engaged in an unfair labor practice contrary
to section 8 (b) (4).
With one member not participating, the NLRB had
ruled there was no violation and dismissed the complaint.
The court of appeals, however, set aside the dismissal and
remanded the case for further proceedings. The Supreme
Court granted certiorari “because of the importance of
the principle involved and because of the conflicting views
of several circuits as to the meaning of section 8 (b) (4).”
A part of section 8 (b) (4) provides: “ (b) It shall be an
unfair labor practice for a labor organization or its agents—
. . . (4) to engage in, or to induce or encourage the em­
ployees of any employer to engage in, a strike or a concerted
refusal in the course of their employment . . . to perform
any service, where an object thereof is . . . forcing or
requiring . . . any employer or other person . . . to cease
doing business with any other person . . . .”
The Board found that the pickets were acting within the
scope of their employment as agents of the union when they
refused to allow the truck to enter the mill’s premises.
The most that could be concluded from the foregoing, the
Court stated, was that the union had encouraged two
employees of a neutral customer to refuse to transport
certain articles. It may be assumed, the Court continued,

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MONTHLY LABOR

that the purpose of this action was to prevent this customer
from dealing with the mill and thereby to force the mill
to recognize the union.
However, the Court pointed out, encouragement of the
two men on the truck “did not amount to such an induce­
ment or encouragement to ‘concerted’ activity as the
section provides,” nor was it widespread enough to fall
within the meaning of a secondary boycott as defined in
section 8 (a) (4). The occurrence of the entire incident
in the “restricted area near the mill,” the Court thought
significant. The picketing involved was in the traditional
sense and, under the existing circumstances, could in no
way be construed as a violation of section 8 (a) (4) of
the LMRA.
Secondary Boycott Against General Contractor Unfair Labor
Practice. In the second case involving secondary boy­
cotts, the United States Supreme Court h eld 6 that a
building-trades union violated section 8 (b) (4) (A) of the
LMRA by engaging in a strike with the object of forcing
a general contractor to terminate its contract with a
nonunion subcontractor. Three justices dissented.
The general contractor, who was erecting a commercial
building in Denver, had subcontracted the electrical work
to a firm that had hired nonunion workmen for 2 0 years.
These were the only nonunion workmen on the building,
hence the only ones not affiliated with the Denver Building
and Construction Trades Council. In November 1947 a
union representative discovered this situation and pro­
tested to the general contractor. On January 8 , 1948, the
Trades Council instructed its representative to place
pickets around the building. Picketing was started the
next day and continued for 2 weeks, during which only
the nonunion men worked. On January 22, before the
subcontractor had completed his contract, he was notified
by the general contractor to get off the job so the union
men could go back to work on the building. The sub­
contractor complained to the regional director of the
NLRB. The latter then issued a complaint against the
Trades Council and its union workers, alleging that one
of the strike’s objects was to force the general contractor
to cease doing business with the complaining subcontractor.
Before the NLRB heard the complaint, the regional
director petitioned the United States District Court of the
District of Colorado for an injunction against the Trades
Council and the union members under section 10 [1] of the
LMRA. The court, however, turned down the petition,
on the ground that the activities complained of did not
affect interstate commerce.
Hearing the merits of the case, the NLRB decided that
not only did it have jurisdiction of the case (since the
activities of the Trades Council did affect interstate com­
merce), but also that the council had committed an unfair
labor practice. It ordered the council to “cease and de­
sist” from the activities charged. The appellate court,
reviewing the case, decided the Board had jurisdiction, but
that the activities complained of were “primary” in char­
acter. It therefore refused to enforce the Board’s order.
Mr. Justice Burton, speaking for the majority of the
Supreme Court, agreed with the Board and the court of
appeals that the NLRB had jurisdiction. Commerce was

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

DECISIONS OF INTEREST TO LABOR

affected, as the subcontractor purchased 65 percent of his
raw materials outside of Colorado, and as most of the
materials purchased in the State had been produced out­
side that State. Although the building when completed
would be used for local purposes, its construction affected
interstate commerce, the Court stated.
The majority, in holding, contrary to the appellate
court, that the Trades Council had committed an unfair
labor practice within the meaning of section 8 (b) (4) (A)
of the LMRA, found that one of the objects of the strike
was to force the general contractor “to cease doing busi­
ness with” the subcontractor. It stated, however, that
“if there had been no contract between” the two contrac­
tors, there would be some substance in the contention that
the dispute involved no secondary boycott. The Court
concluded that the NLRB had conformed to Congress’
dual objective “of preserving the right of labor organiza­
tions to bring pressure to bear on offending employers in
primary labor disputes and of shielding unoffending em­
ployers and others from pressures in controversies not
their own.”
Justices Douglas and Reed, in a dissenting opinion,
charged that the presence of a subcontractor did not alter
the realities. The union’s protest would have been the
same, whether or not a subcontractor was involved.
Therefore, they concluded, whether or not a strike is legal
may depend upon “fortuitous business arrangements that
have no significance so far as the evils of the secondary
boycott are concerned.” Justice Jackson did not write a
separate opinion, but thought the opinion of the appellate
court should be affirmed.
Freedom of Speech Protection by L M R A Does Not Prevent
Ban on Secondary Boycott. In a companion case to the one

preceding, with remarkably similar facts, the Supreme
Court held 7 that section 8 (c) of the LMRA did not pre­
vent the operation of section 8 (b) (4) (A). Therefore,
secondary boycotts could be prohibited even though ( 1 )
only encouragement and persuasion were used, with no
attempt to “restrain or coerce” employees, and (2 ) free­
dom of expression was guaranteed by the act in section 8
(c). This conclusion was reached with the same three
justices dissenting as in the preceding case.
A general contractor, an electrical subcontractor who
hired nonunion men, and a carpenter subcontractor who
hired union men, were involved. The carpenters were
informed by a representative of an electricians’ union,
which did not have any members working on the job, that
nonunion men were doing the electrical work. The car­
penters said they didn’t know that, but kept on working.
When picketing by a representative of the electricians’
union began the next day, the carpenters walked off the
job. The electrical subcontractor, although he had not
finished the job, released the general contractor, saying he
would step aside for a union firm.
On a complaint filed by the subcontractor, the case came
before an NLRB trial examiner, who recommended dis­
missal of the charge on the ground that the action com­
plained of was protected by section 8 (c) of the act. The
NLRB overruled the trial examiner, and expressly held
that section 8 (c) did not immunize the electrical union’s

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187

conduct from the effects of section 8 (b) (4) (A). A United
States court of appeals affirmed the Board’s order to the
electrical union to “cease and desist” from the activities
complained of in the charge.
The Supreme Court pointed out that the principal
feature which distinguished this case from the one above
was the element of peaceful inducement and encouragement
of other employees (the carpenters) to quit working. In
the former case, a strike was called, on a prearranged sig­
nal, by affiliated unions in a trade council. The electrical
union, in the present instance, did not have any members
working on the job, was not affiliated with the carpenters’
union in any way, and only by peaceful picketing induced
the carpenters to walk off the job.
Following the Board’s argument, the Court decided that
to exempt peaceful picketing from the reach of section
8 (b) (4) would quickly open the door by indirection to the
very thing Congress wanted to prevent—secondary boy­
cotts. The Court quoted the Board’s statement: “It was
the objective of the unions’ secondary activities . . . and
not the quality of the means employed to accomplish that
objective, which was the dominant factor motivating Con­
gress in enacting that provision. . . . In these circum­
stances, to construe section 8 (b) (4) (A) as qualified by
section 8 (c) would practically vitiate its underlying pur­
pose and amount to imputing to Congress an unrealistic
approach to the problem.”
As the Supreme Court’s opinion demonstrates, the con­
flict between the two sections can be readily perceived
when it is realized that section 8 (b) (4) (A) prohibits
inducement or encouragement of workers to engage in a
secondary boycott and section 8 (c) protects “the express­
ing of any views, argument, or opinion, or the dissemination
thereof, whether in written, printed, graphic, or visual
form . . . so long as there is no threat of reprisal or force
or promise of benefit.”
The three dissenting Justices wrote no opinion. They
merely stated that they wanted the judgment of the
Court of Appeals reversed.
Boycott, Continued After, Taft-Hartley Act, Illegal. The
fourth secondary-boycott case decided by the Supreme
Court merely reaffirmed the principles already decided in
the other three cases, but presented a slightly different set
of facts.
George D. Stanley contracted with D. F. Parker, on
August 7, 1947, to improve and renovate his Chatta­
nooga home. Parker agreed to act as contractor, super­
vise the workmen, and select the materials. He was a
union man and hired union carpenters, but could not hire
union men to install wall and floor covering, since Wat­
son’s, the only company in Chattanooga that sold those
materials, installed them with its own nonunion labor.
On Sunday, August 17, Watson’s began its installation
when no other workmen were present. The carpenter’s
union learned of the nonunion work being done and called
its men off the job on August 21, but allowed them to
finish that day’s work. Watson’s men continued on the
job and finished their work by August 28. The entire
renovation was completed by the end of August. On
August 22, 1947, however, the LMRA, and consequently

188

DECISIONS OF INTEREST TO LABOR

section 8 (b) (4) (A) of that act, became effective.
Watson’s promptly filed a charge with the regional
director of the NLRB, who, in turn, sought injunctive
relief in the courts pursuant to section 1 0 ( 1 ) of the act.
The United States District Court for the Eastern District
of Tennessee denied relief under section 8 (b) (4) (A) on the
ground that the action complained of took place before
August 22 and was therefore lawful.
After hearings on the merits, the NLRB ruled that the
carpenters’ union had engaged in an unfair labor practice
and that it should “cease and desist” from continuing such
practice. One Board member dissented, on the ground
that the effect upon interstate commerce of the actions
complained of was too remote and inconsequential, and
that the Board should not take jurisdiction of cases having
such limited significance.
The Supreme Court 8 upheld the Board’s decision. It
decided, first,, that the NLRB had jurisdiction. The
volume of Watson’s business ($100,000 from sales and in­
stallation jobs; 26 or 27 Watson retail stores in 7 different
States) clearly established the fact that interstate com­
merce was affected. Secondly, the Court decided, in
accordance with the preceding decision, that section 8 (c)
[freedom of speech section] offered no protection to the
union’s activities and that “it is enough that one of the
objects of the action complained of was to force Stanley
[the owner] to cancel Watson’s contract.”
Regarding the union’s claim that all its action took
place before August 22, and therefore before the LMRA
became effective, the Court agreed with the Board’s con­
clusion, which it quoted: “ Nor is it material . . . that the
labor dispute had its origin before the effective date of the
amended act, for we are convinced that it was continued
and prolonged after the effective date by the very same
factors which originally created it and for the same original
objective which, as found above, section 8 (b) (4) (A)
declares unlawful. Thus, at material times both before and
after the effective dates of the amendments . . . the
[union’s] strike order, which admittedly was never re­
scinded, was outstanding and effectively prevented the
carpenters from officially working on the job as long as
Watson’s men were also working. . . . ”
Refusal to Bargain. In a 3 to 2 decision, the NLRB ruled 8
that a company violated section 8 (a) (5) of the LMRA by
refusing to bargain collectively with a union the question
of pensions, during wage-reopening negotiations. Chair­
man Herzog agreed with this ruling, but wrote a separate
opinion holding that the company did not violate the act by
refusing to discuss the union’s group-insurance demand.
Board members Reynolds and Murdock, each writing his
own dissenting opinion, thought the company had not
violated the act by refusing to discuss pensions or group
insurance plans.
A 2-year contract, signed by the union and the company
in July 1948, included a provision that it could be reopened
for a discussion of wage rates 1 year after its execution. In
July 1949, when the union invoked the reopening clause, it pre­
sented in addition to its wage-rate demands, a request that
the company undertake the entire cost of the existing group
insurance, and another for a pension program. The insur­

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M ONTHLY LABO R

ance program had been discussed during the 1948 negotia­
tions ; but although the union obtained certain benefits, no
mention of insurance was made in the contract. Pension
plans had not been discussed in the 1948 negotiations. The
company, in the 1949 reopening of the contract, refused to
discuss or bargain collectively either of the questions—
insurance or pensions.
The 3-man majority agreed that the company should
have bargained collectively on the question of pensions.
It decided that the company did not sincerely intend to
discuss pensions even though it had claimed it would at
a separate meeting. The company was convinced that
the contract could be opened up for a discussion of wage
rates and for no other purpose. The Board agreed that
the contract did not impose on the company the
obligation to discuss any subject other than wage rates.
However, the Board held that the LMRA imposed on the
company the duty to discuss pensions.
The only question that remained was whether section
8 (d) of the act absolved the company from bargaining
on this issue. Section 8 (d) provides in part: “. . . the
duties so imposed shall not be construed as requiring either
party to discuss or agree to any modification of the terms
and conditions contained in a contract for a fixed
period . . .” The majority thought the important phrase
was “terms and conditions contained in a contract”
[emphasis added], and that since pensions were not con­
tained in the contract, they could be discussed. Using
the Tide Water case 10 as a precedent, the Board stated
that section 8 (d) did not allow a party to a contract to
refuse, during the life of the contract, to discuss collective­
bargaining subjects unless those subjects had been made
a part of the contract. Applying that precedent, the
Board decided the company was “obligated to discuss the
union’s pension demand.”
Chairman Herzog did not agree with the two other
members of the majority on the question of group insur­
ance. Members Houston and Styles, continuing their
test, decided that since the question of group insurance
was not contained in the contract, the company should
have been willing to bargain collectively on this problem.
Dissenting on this point, Chairman Herzog pointed out
that group insurance, although not mentioned in the con­
tract, had been discussed during the 1948 negotiations and
as a consequence certain beneficial changes had resulted.
Therefore, he concluded, it would be “an abuse of this
Board’s mandate to throw the weight of Government
sanction behind the union’s attempt to disturb, in mid­
term, a bargain sealed when the original agreement was
reached.” Any other holding, he stated, would encourage
a labor organization “to come back, time without num­
ber” to demand further discussion of a question the other
party had reason to believe was put at rest for a certain
definite period.
Member Reynolds, dissenting on the ground that the
company was not required to discuss either pensions or
an insurance program, stressed the need for contract
stability. He asserted that the contract should be viewed
as freezing all aspects of the employer-employee relation­
ship for the period of the contract except for the individualgrievance procedure, which should function continuously.

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

DECISIONS OF INTEREST TO LABOR

The majority agreed that contract stability was very
desirable. They stated that it would be fine if all aspects
of labor-relations problems were reduced to writing; but
asked, what happens when that is not done, as in the
present case, and when the problem of best effectuating
the policies of the act still remains. They feared that to
follow the contract-stability proposal of member Reynolds
would only lead to industrial strife, which the act attempted
to avoid.
Member Murdock, dissenting separately, interpreted
the facts differently but agreed with member Reynolds
that the company was not obligated to discuss pensions or
an insurance program. Unlike member Reynolds, how­
ever, he thought the company had not violated section
8 (a) (5), because the union never requested bargaining
on the above two subjects divorced from a discussion of
wage rates. The company did not have to discuss pen­
sions and insurance programs under the contract, and
therefore, he concluded, the company’s “willingness to
bargain thereon independently was never put to test.”

Veterans’ Reemployment
“Step-Rates” Based on Experience Distinguished From
Seniority Rights. The Court of Appeals for the Fifth
Circuit 11 recently affirmed a decision of a district court
denying to reemployed veterans credit for time in military
service toward eligibility for pay increases.
When the veterans concerned in this case were inducted,
wire photo operators were receiving a weekly base wage,
with night and seniority differentials. During their
military service, a “step-rate” system of pay was provided
through collective bargaining, with the seniority premium
retained. Under this system, in effect when they returned, the
veterans claimed credit for military service in terms of higher
step rates. It was not shown that their military service
included wirephoto work. The veterans argued that,
although the agreement related to the step rates to time
in “wirephoto employment,” the increases were automatic
and depended only on seniority, because no test of skill or
aptitude was applied. They contended that they would
have progressed to the rates they claimed, if they had not
been in military service. The employer and the union
had at all times concurred in holding that the new pro­
vision contemplated increases upon the attainment of
periodic steps of actual wirephoto experience.
The court was convinced by the evidence that the
increases were based on actual, on-the-job, wirephoto
experience and not on seniority. The language in the
agreement did not outweigh the other evidences of inten­
tion. All seniority rights had been allowed to these
veterans, based on the statutory credit for military service.
The court said that the reemployment statutes do not
require that the veteran be put in a position which he
could not have attained, if not in military service, without
a certain specified amount of experience.


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189

Unemployment Insurance
A pplication of Labor-Dispute Disqualification to Workers
in Other Departments. The Indiana Appellate Court held 12

that workers in the finishing department of a steel mill
were disqualified for unemployment benefits, because they
were unemployed owing to a work stoppage caused by a
strike of operators in the weld-mill department. The
statute exempts from the labor-dispute disqualification
individuals who are not members of the same grade or
class as those participating in, financing, or directly
interested in the dispute. While claimants were not
directly interested, the court held they were members of
the same grade or class of workers as the strikers, since
the union to which the strikers belonged was the exclusive
bargaining agent for the entire plant.
Individual P aid Lump Sum on Severance, Unemployed.

The Minnesota Supreme Court held 13 that a claimant,
who had received over $1,000 in lump-sum severance pay,
was unemployed and hence was eligible for unemployment
compensation. The $1,000 payment was made under
a union contract negotiated in contemplation of an exten­
sive mechanization program by the employer. The con­
tract provided for 4 weeks’ pay at the rate of the last
position occupied, for each year of service. The court
held that claimant was “performing no services” and that
“no wages were payable” to her with respect to weeks
after the separation. It rejected both the argument that
the severance pay was wages for past services and the
argument that it was solely to ease the employee’s financial
burden in looking for a new job. It held that there were
other objectives: partial compensation for loss of seniority
rights, for loss of pension rights, and for retraining; as
well as assurance to the employer of the worker’s con­
tinued service until such service was no longer needed.

1Prepared in the U. S. Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor.
The cases covered in this article represent a selection of the significant
decisions believed to be of special interest. No attempt has been made to
reflect all recent judicial and administrative developments in the field of
labor law or to indicate the effect of particular decisions in jurisdictions in
which contrary results may be reached, based upon local statutory provisions,
the existence of local precedents, or a different approach by the courts to the
issue presented.
2This section is intended merely as a digest of some recent decisions in­
volving the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Portal-to-Portal Act. It is
not to be construed and may not be relied upon as interpretation of these
acts by the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division or any agency of
the Department of Labor.
2United States v. Lovknit (C. A. 5, June 1,1951L
4Culkin v. M artin Nebraska Co. (D. C. Nebr., Apr. 30, 1951).
5N L R B v. Rice M illing Co., 28 LERM 2105 (June 4, 1951).
6N L R B v. Denver Bldg. Trades Council, 28 LEEM 2108 (June 4, 1951).
7Electrical Workers v. N L R B , 28 LEEM 2115 (June 4, 1951).
8Carpenters Union v. N L R B , 28 LEEM 2121 (June 4, 1951).
9Jacobs M fg. Co. (94 NLRB No. 175, June 18,1951).
10Tide Water Associated Oil Co., 85 NLRB 1096.
11Altgens v. Associated Press (C. A. 5, May 4,1951).
12Adam s v. Review Board (Ind. App., June 17,1951).
13Acker son v. Western Union Telegraph Co. (Minn. Sup., June 1,1951).

Chronology of
Recent Labor Events

wage increase and other benefits. (Source: CIO News,
July 9, 1951; for discussion of the above, see p. 192 of this
issue.)

June 18
T he N a tio na l L abor R e l a t io n s B oard , in the case of

June 13, 1951
s t r ik e
of the International Ladies’ Garment
Workers Union (AFL) (see Chron. item for June 12, 1951,
MLR July 1951) ended with the union and manufacturers
agreeing to a uniform system of wages, hours, and produc­
tive methods designed to insure continued industrial sta­
bility. (Source: New York Times, June 14, 1951.)

T h e 2- day

Ju ne 14
of L abor announced that, effective June
19, an exemption under the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts
Act, will permit small manufacturers to pool their produc­
tive resources in order that they may receive contracts re­
sulting from the defense program. (Source: Federal Reg­
ister, vol. 16, No. 118, June 14, 1951. p. 5847.)

T h e S ecretary

T h e A d m inistra to r of the Wage and Hour Division of

the U. S. Department of Labor established a minimum
piece rate of 32 cents per gross for hand-braiding of
leather buttons, 24 to 30 ligne, by home workers in Puerto
Rico, effective July 23, 1951, under provisions of the Fair
Labor Standards Act. (Source: Federal Register, vol. 16,
No. 120, June 21, 1951, p. 5896.)
On July 10, the Administrator established minimum
wage rates of 58 cents an hour for the banking, insurance,
and finance industries and 30 cents an hour for the deco­
rations and party favors industry in Puerto Rico, effective
August 13, 1951. (Source: Federal Register, vol. 16, No.
139, July 19, 1951, p. 6917.)

Ju ne 16
T h r ee CIO m aritim e u n io n s , the National Maritime
Union of America, the National Marine Engineers Bene­
ficial Association, and the American Radio Association
were involved in a work stoppage, following the lapse of
their contract at midnight. (Source: New York Times,
June 17, 1951.)
On June 22, the National Maritime Union and shipown­
ers reached an agreement providing for a 40-hour work­
week after Dec. 15; an 8 -percent wage increase over Jan.
15, 1950, levels; paid vacations; and other benefits.
(Source: New York Times, June 24, 1951.)
On June 24, the American Radio Association agreed to
the equivalent of an 18-percent wage increase and other
benefits. (Source: New York Times, June 25, 1951.)
On June 26, the last of the three unions, the Marine
Engineers Beneficial Association, obtained an 8 -percent

190

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Jacobs Manufacturing Co. and Local 379, United Automo­
bile, Aircraft, and Agricultural Implement Workers of
America (CIO), ruled that an issue advanced by the union
as part of negotiations leading up to an agreement is not
bargainable during the life of the contract, unless the agree­
ment so specifies. (Source: Labor Relations Reporter,
vol. 28, No. 16, June 25, 1951, LRRM p. 1162.)
T he 59- day s t r i k e of 3,800 streetcar and bus operators
in Detroit terminated with resumption of work based on
contract provisions existing on April 21, the strike date,
pending settlement by the State Mediation Board.
(Source: BLS records; for discussion see p. 192 of this issue.)
On July 3, the 3-day strike involving 3,400 transit work­
ers in Washington, D. C. ended with acceptance of a com­
promise agreement on seniority and pension provisions.
(Source: Washington Post, July 4, 1951.)

June 19
T he P r e sid e n t approved the Military Training and Service

Act of 1951 extending selective service to July 1, 1955,
lowering the draft age to 18^ years, and setting up the
first system of universal military training in the Nation’s
history. (Source: Public Law 51 of 82d Cong., approved
June 19, 1951; for discussion, see p. 183 of this issue.)
A ppr ox im a tely 900 pilots of the International Air Line

Pilots Association (AFL), employed by United Airlines,
went out on strike. (Source: AFL News, June 26, 1951.)
On June 23, the President sent the union a telegram
urging that the pilots resume work. (Source: New York
Times, June 24, 1951.)
On June 29, the strike was ended, pending settlement of
issues involved by the National Mediation Board. (Source:
Washington Post, June 30, 1951; for discussion, see p. 193
of this issue.)
T he NLRB, in the case of Electric Storage Battery Co. and

International Union of Electrical Radio and Machine Work­
ers (CIO), ruled that an existing contract does not bar an

election, when the majority of employees vote to disaf­
filiate from the union because of their dissatisfaction with
its political position making bargaining relations confusing
and uncertain. (Source: Labor Relations Reporter, vol.
28,No. 16, June 25, 1951, LRRM p. 1192.)

June 20
250 top officials of the CIO assembled in
Washington for an anti-inflation conference. (Source:
CIO News, June 25, 1951.)
On the same day, representatives of the International
Association of Machinists (AFL) met in Washington stress-

A p p r o x im a t e l y

CHRONOLOGY OF RECENT LAB O R E VE N TS

ing the critical need of housing facilities in aircraft produc­
tion centers. (Source: The Machinist, June 28, 1951.)
On July 9, the United Labor Policy Committee assem­
bled in Washington to advocate the need for a stronger De­
fense Production Act. (Source: CIO release, July 9, 1951.)
On July 10, the President called a closed meeting with
1 0 top labor leaders to discuss their views on a satisfactory
Defense Production Act. (Source: New York Times,
July 12, 1951.)

191

June 30
T h e P r e s i d e n t signed the Act extending the Defense
Production Act of 1950 (see Chron. item for Sept. 8 1950
MLR October 1950) for 31 days, and preventing any
price roll-backs or any new price ceilings. (Source:
Public Law 69 of 82d Cong., approved June 30, 1951- for
discussion, see p. 164 of this issue.)

July 1
NLRB, in the case of Printz Leather Co. and the
International Fur & Leather Workers’ Union of U. S. and
Canada (Ind.), Local 80, ruled that both the union and
the company violated the Labor Management Relations
Act, when the company complied with the union’s demand
that an employee be discharged for refusal to limit pro­
duction. (Source: Labor Relations Reporter, vol. 28,
No. 28, July 2, 1951, LRRM p. 1198.)
T

h e

June 21
T h e O f f i c e of Price Stabilization issued Ceiling Price
Regulations 46 and 47, effective June 26. CPR 46 estab­
lishes dollars-and-cents ceiling prices for copper scrap and
copper alloy scrap. CPR 47 fixes specific ceilings for
various grades of brass mill scrap. (Source: Federal
Register, vol. 16, No. 121, June 22, 1951, pp. 5932, 5940.)
On June 22, the OPS issued CPR 48, effective June 27,
establishing specific ceiling prices for contract logging
services in the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York (excepting
nine counties). (Source: Federal Register, vol. 16, No.
122, June 23, 1951, p. 5984.)
On June 25, the OPS issued CPR 49 establishing specific
dollars-and-cents ceiling prices for 1 2 standard grades of
wood pulp, effective June 30, 1951. (Source: Federal
Register, vol. 16, No. 123, June 26, 1951, p. 6024.)
On June 27, the OPS issued CPR 52 establishing ceiling
prices for sales of gum rosin and gum turpentine. (Source:
Federal Register, vol. 16, No. 126, June 29, 1951, p. 6312.)
On June 29, the OPS issued CPR’s 50, 51, 53, and 5 4 .
CPR 50 establishes retail ceiling prices for kerosene sold
in the Virgin Islands of the U. S. CPR 51 fixes ceiling
prices for salted codfish at various levels of distribution
in Puerto Rico, effective July 5, 1951. CPR 53 estab­
lishes ceiling prices for battery lead scrap, other lead scrap
materials, secondary lead and primary and secondary antimonial lead. CPR 54 fixes ceiling prices for aluminum
scrap and secondary aluminum scrap and secondary
aluminum ingot. (Source: Federal Registers, vol. 16,
No. 127, June 30, 1951, pp. 6378, 6379, and 6381, and
No. 128, July 3, 1951, p. 6431; for discussion, see p. 163
of this issue.)
T h e NLRB, in the case of the International Brotherhood
of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of
America (AFL), and Jack Smith Beverages, Inc.— The first
ruling on company domination of an affiliate of a national
labor federation—ordered disestablishment of the local as
a bargaining agent because it was company dominated.
(Source: NLRB release R-376, June 25, 1951.)


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A N a t i o n - w i d e s t r i k e by 30,000 members of Commercial
Telegraphers’ Union (AFL) was averted with the signing
of a tentative agreement providing wage increases to adult
workers and messengers. (Source: New York Times
July 1 , 1951.)

July 4
1 h e S e c o n d C o n g r e s s of the International Confederation
of Free Trade Unions met in Milan, Italv, with 300 dele­
gates representing 53 million workers in 66 countries in
attendance. (Source: New York Times Julv 5 1951and CIO News, July 9 , 1951.)
’
’

July 5
h e
E c o n o m ic
S t a b il iz a t io n
A d m in is t r a t o r
issued
General Salary Stabilization Regulation 1 incorporating the
provisions of General Wage Regulations 1 through 1 0
(see Chron. item for Jan. 26, 1951, MLR Mar. 1951 and
Feb. 15, 1951, MLR Apr. 1951) to salaried employees
(see Chron. item for May 8 , 1951, MLR June 1951) under
jurisdiction of the Salary Stabilization Board. (Source:
Economic Stabilization Agency, Salary Stabilization Board
GSSR 1 , July 5, 1951, p. 1 .)

T

July 10
T h e D i r e c t o r of the OPS announced appointment of
John K. Meskimen of the Brotherhood of Railway &
Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express & Station
Employees (AFL), as his labor adviser. (Source- AFL
News, July 10, 1951.)

July 11
T h e NLRB, in the case of Ford Motor Co. (Canton Forge
Division, Canton, Ohio) and International Brotherhood of
Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers, and Helpers (AFL), ruled that
an existing contract, approved by the majority of the
employees before national officers of the union filed nonCommunist affidavits (see Chron. item for May 14, 1951,
MLR July, 1951) is no bar to a pending petition for
election by another union. (Source: Labor Relations
Reporter, vol. 28, No. 2 2 , July 16, 1951, LRRM p. 1283.)

July 12
T h e P r e s i d e n t approved the Act authorizing the impor­
tation of Mexican farm workers to labor shortage areas.
(Source: Pub. Law 78, 82d Cong., approved July 1 2 , 1951.)

Developments in
Industrial Relations1

e a d i n g d e v e l o p m e n t s during June and early
July 1951 included a Nation-wide maritime strike
and a brief 2-day work stoppage by AFL ladies’
garment workers, the first major walkout in that
industry in 25 years. Strikes and contract settle­
ments by city transit, airline, communications,
and fur workers also gained widespread public
attention. The Wage Stabilization Board ap­
proved several significant wage agreements under
existing wage regulations, while continuing its
efforts to formulate new basic wage policy.

L

Negotiated Settlements

Operation of passenger and non­
defense cargo ships on the East, West, and Gulf
Coasts was curtailed for 11 days beginning June 16
when three CIO maritime unions struck, after
more than a month of unsuccessful negotiations
with ship operators. An estimated 50,000 to
80,000 workers were involved in the dispute,
although a substantially smaller number were
actually idle. The walkout was terminated by
June 26, when the last of the three unions—the
Marine Engineers Beneficial Association—reached
an agreement with ship operators.
The National Maritime Union and East and
Gulf Coast shippers concluded a 2-year agreement
on June 22. On the same day, the American
Radio Association (the only union to strike on the
Pacific Coast) came to terms with West Coast
operators; 2 days later, the ARA settled with East
and Gulf Coast shipowners.
The NMU contract includes the following
major provisions: An immediate reduction of the
present base 48-hour workweek at sea, to 44 hours,
with a further reduction to 40 hours on December

15, 1951; a wage increase of 8 percent, to be
added to the 6.38-percent wage increase which
seamen and other maritime employees obtained
last fall; a 3-week paid vacation for workers con­
tinuously employed by the same company for at
least 1 year, and a 2-week vacation for those
working for more than one employer.
Major provisions in the ARA agreements were
similar to those in the pace-setting NMU contract,
except for a more liberal wage increase; monthly
wages of radiomen were increased by flat amounts
ranging from $39 to $45, to which an 8-percent
general increase was applied.
Wage-and-hour terms of the MEBA settlement
matched those of the NMU contract, but vacation
provisions differed somewhat. Engineers em­
ployed by one company continuously for 1 year
will receive a 3-week paid vacation while those
working less than a year for the same employer
will receive vacation allowances of 7 to 11 days,
depending on length of service. Other major
terms of the new contract provide for hiring
engineers, up to and including second engineers,
through the union hiring hall, and the payment of
overtime to men on watch between 5 p. m. and 8
a. m. when cargo is being worked.

M a ritim e.

192


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C ity T ransit. Settlements in Detroit and Wash­
ington, D. C., were reached after resort to strike
action on local streetcars and buses. In Phila­
delphia and New York, however, strikes were
averted by agreements reached on the points at
issue.
A 59-day strike in Detroit by 3,800 streetcar
and bus operators employed by the municipally
owned street railways ended on June 18. The
operators adopted a union recommendation to
return to work on the basis of the contract terms
in effect on April 21, when the strike began.
The wage issue will be mediated under the
auspices of the State Labor Mediation Board. If
no settlement is reached within 30 days, an
arbitration board will make a binding decision.
Employees on strike had been dismissed by the
city in accordance with the 1947 Hutchinson Act
prohibiting strikes by public employees. They
were temporarily reinstated, pending appeal from
a lower court ruling upholding the constitutionality
of the State law.

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

In Washington, D. C., a strike by some 3,400
streetcar and bus employees of the privately
owned Capital Transit Co. occurred on July 1
when contract negotiations became deadlocked.
The work stoppage was terminated on July 3, by
a compromise agreement on seniority and pension
provisions, the central issues in the dispute.
A strike by 36,000 employees of the municipally
owned New York transit system, scheduled for
July 1, was averted on June 28, when the Trans­
port Workers Union (CIO) accepted the recom­
mendations of a special transit committee. This
committee was established to mediate the dispute
over the union’s principal demand for a basic 40hour workweek without a reduction in pay. Its
recommendations included provisions for a twostep transition from the present 48-hour workweek
to a 5-day, 40-hour workweek, at no reduction in
pay, to become effective for all transit employees
on July 1, 1952.
In Philadelphia, a transit stoppage was averted
when the Transport Workers Union (CIO), in
early June, accepted a 6-point plan offered by the
Philadelphia Transportation Co. It settled a
controversy over extension of 1-man trolley service
thus avoiding a system-wide strike by more than
10,000 employees. The proposed plan included
assurances that job security would not be jeop­
ardized by extension of the system.
A 2-year wage agreement was reached on June
22 by the municipally owned and operated Chicago
Transit Authority, and the Street, Electric Rail­
way and Motor Coach Employees (AFL), which
represents 13,000 surface-line transit workers.
An arbitration board awarded 3,000 AFL
transit employees in St. Paul and Minneapolis a
12-cent hourly wage increase, retroactive to
January 1, 1951, plus an additional 10 cents an
hour, effective a year later.
Some 900 United Airlines’ pilots and
copilots ended a 11-day Nation-wide strike on
June 29. The Air Line Pilots’ Association (AFL),
pursuant to a truce arranged by the National
Mediation Board, ordered its members to return
to work under the wage and working conditions
that prevailed at the time of the walk-out. The
union’s principal strike demand was payment of
pilots on a mileage basis, rather than on the basis
of the number of flight-hours worked in a month.

A irlin e s.

9 5 8 5 5 4 — 51-

5


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193

The union claimed that, as the company’s new
planes carry more passengers than prewar planes
and cover the same distance in fewer hours, the
pilots are entitled to a larger share of revenue
resulting from this “ increased pilot productivity.”
Under the truce terms, this will be one of the first
issues to be negotiated.
Approximately 1,000 Pan-American World Air­
way’s mechanics and ground-service personnel at
two New York City airports were idled by a 2-day
work stoppage in mid-June. The strike was called
when 89 mechanics were dismissed following a
transfer of heavy maintenance and repair work to
the company’s main overhaul base at Miami, Fla.
Under the terms of settlement with the Transport
Workers Union (CIO), the company offered the
mechanics comparable jobs in Miami, or in
Brownsville, Tex., with company-paid moving
expenses. Mechanics who decline to move will
receive severance pay averaging $1,000, or a
company guarantee to compensate for any wage
loss involved in taking another job, up to July
1952.
C om m unications. A Nation-wide strike involving
approximately 30,000 Western Union employees,
scheduled for July 2, was postponed indefinitely
following a tentative agreement, reached on July 1,
by the company and the Commercial Telegraphers’
Union (AFL). The settlement, subject to ratifi­
cation by the entire union membership, provides
for an immediate hourly wage increase of 13 cents
for 22,000 adult employees (including telegraph
and teletype operators, technicians, and clerks),
plus 4 cents an hour effective September 1; wages
of 8,000 messengers are immediately increased by
7% cents an hour, with an additional 2% cents on
September 1. The future wage increases are sub­
ject to WSB approval, since the immediate in­
creases are about equal to the 10-percent increase
allowable under existing wage stabilization regu­
lations. The union had sought an ac oss-theboard increase of 25 cents an hour.
The company also reached a wage settlement
with the American Communications Association
(Ind.) which represents approximately 6,000 em­
ployees in the company’s New York division.
ACA negotiations were not directly involved in
the CTU strike threat. The union accepted an
immediate 13-cent hourly increase for adult em-

194

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

ployees, with another 3% cents on September 1,
subject to WSB approval; messengers received a
5-cent hourly increase.
A 1-year contract reached on June 27 by the
American Telephone & Telegraph Co., parent
company of the Bell System, and the Communica­
tions Workers of America (CIO) provides for a
10-percent increase in wages for some 20,000 longlines employees. WSB approval is necessary for
1.6 percent of the increase.
Approximately 10,000 repairmen and plant
workers at the southern California facilities of the
Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co., also repre­
sented by the CWA (CIO), were idle June 25-29.
The strike ended when the union accepted a
wage increase averaging 10 percent.
W o m en ’s Clothing. Long-established traditions
of peaceful and stable industrial relations in the
ladies’ garment industry, going back over 25
years, were disrupted temporarily on June 12
when some 20,000 garment workers left their
jobs in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
and Connecticut. The 2-day stoppage grew out
of a dispute over two pivotal contract provisions
in the process of negotiations between the Cloak,
Suit, and Reefer Makers Joint Board of the
International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union
(AFL), and several employer associations. The
union claimed that the employers had accepted,
and then reneged on, union proposals calling for
(1) an “equitable distribution” of work among
contracting shops in New York and in nearby
areas, for purposes of spreading employment
opportunities more fairly, and (2) the determina­
tion of wage rates on mass-produced goods, on
the premises of the manufacturers or jobbers in
New York City, rather than in outlying contract­
ing shops. New York garment manufacturers
contended that they could not meet union wage
standards unless similar conditions were enforced
in outlying shops which employed assembly-line
methods.
The strike ended when the parties agreed on
revision of the language of the disputed provi­
sions, thereby eliminating the misunderstanding
which had precipitated the walk-out. The em­
ployers agreed also to replace weekly wages in
mass-production shops with piece rates, except


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M ONTHLY LABO R

where prohibited by the union, and to add 1 per­
cent to the present 3% percent health and vacation
fund.
Unresolved Dispute

Approximately 8,000 fur workers in 650 New
York City shops, affiliated with the Associated
Fur Manufacturers, were made idle on June 25
in a strike called by the Furriers’ Joint Council,
an affiliate of the International Fur and Leather
Workers’ Union (Ind.). The union asked for a
10-percent wage increase for all classes of fur
workers and a reduction in weekly working hours
from 40 to 37% for 1,300 floor workers (the other
union members are currently on a 35-hour week).
The employers rejected a union proposal that
additional vacation pay and o ther issues in dispute
be discussed only after disposition of the wage and
hour issues. The dispute was still unresolved
during the first week of July.
Controls and WSB Action

Federal controls over wages, as well as other
aspects of the defense mobilization program were
extended temporarily when the President, on June
30, signed a Congressional resolution extending,
and restricting, the present Defense Production
Act, for 31 days.2 Debate on a revised act
continued during July.
Before extension of controls, the House Educa­
tion and Labor Committee approved a bill which
would (1) deprive the Wage Stabilization Board of
any power over labor-management disputes and
confine its functions to the formulation and in­
terpretation of basic wage stabilization policy, (2)
reconstitute the present 18-member tripartite
board to give public members a majority over
labor and industry members combined, and (3)
provide representation on the Board for independ­
ent unions. This bill was to be offered as an
amendment during House consideration of a
revised Defense Production Act.
In a resolution unanimously adopted on June
27, the WSB declared its opposition to the House
proposal to alter its tripartite character.
Meanwhile, the Board continued its efforts to
develop basic wage policy in the face of uncertain­
ties attending congressional debate on revision of

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

the DPA. A step in this direction was the ap­
proval of “productivity” wage-increase provisions
included in agreements similar to the General
Motors-UAW (CIO) contract. (See Monthly
Labor Review, July 1951, p. 76.) Other key wage
problems under consideration by the Board relate
to an upward adjustment in the allowable limit
for cost-of-living wage increases; deferred or
“installment” wage increases provided for in
existing contracts; and exemptions from wage
controls of those industries exempt by law from
price controls.
W S B W age-Agreem ent A pprovals. Wage increases
for 150,000 railroad workers were unanimously
approved on June 12. The increases which
exceeded the Government’s 10-percent wage
formula by 5.3 percent were included in a contract
negotiated on May 25 by the Brotherhood of
Railroad Trainmen (Ind.) and the Nation’s major
railroads.3 The Board held the increases approvable under its base date abnormality policy, “in
the light of the lengthy and complex negotiation
procedures provided by law for the railroad
industry.”
An average hourly wage increase of slightly
more than 2 cents for some 200,000 meatpacking
workers was authorized by the Board on June 28.
The adjustments, designed to correct intraplant
inequities, result from a provision in contracts
recently negotiated by the “Big Four” meatpackers (Swift, Armour, Cudahy, and Wilson)
and AFL, CIO, and independent unions. Approval
was granted earlier for a 9-cent hourly wage in­
crease provided for in the meat-packing contracts.3
A wage increase of 9 cents an hour, to cover the
increased cost-of-living from September 15 to
March 15, was authorized on June 15 for approx­
imately 100,000 General Electric employees (of
whom about a half are unorganized) .4 The United
Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers (Ind.) was
the major union involved in the action. In March
70,000 General Electric employees represented by
the International Union of Electrical, Radio &
Machine Workers (CIO) had received the same in­
crease under an escalator clause in their contract
with the company.
A similar increase agreed upon by the Westinghouse Electric Co. and the International Union of
Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers (CIO), was


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195

approved in late June, under the Board’s “ tandem
wage relationship” regulation. In this case, the
standard for the increase had been set by the
General Electric Co.
On June 15, the Board also approved a 15-cent
hourly increase, plus 3 fringe benefits, for 9,600
members of the Machinists’ Union (AFL), em­
ployed by the Republic Aviation Corp., manufac­
turer of fighter aircraft. Although the increase
exceeded existing wage stabilization limitations,
approval was granted because of “ considerations
of manpower and defense needs. . . . plus an eval­
uation of rates for comparable jobs in the major
aviation plants in the area.”
Wage increases of 4 cents an hour, to compen­
sate for a rise in plant productivity, were approved
in mid-June for an estimated 50,000 salaried em­
ployees. These increases may be granted pro­
vided that they are not used as basis for price
rises and that they have been previously author­
ized by the Board for hourly rated production
workers. Salaried employees affected by this or­
der are those covered by the 40-hour week and
overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards
Act, and those represented by recognized labor
organizations in relations with their employees.
The WSB authorized the
establishment of a 12-member tripartite commis­
sion in the U. S. Department of Labor to adminis­
ter wage stablilization in the building and con­
struction industry because of its special character­
istics. Under this procedure the Labor Depart­
ment, responsible under the Davis-Bacon Act for
setting wage rates on Federally financed building
projects, will defer to the commission.
A 6-member tripartite Airframe Committee was
appointed on June 22 to investigate the special
wage stabilization problems existing in that indus­
try.
The Wage and Hour Division of the Depart­
ment of Labor was formally authorized, on June
12, to investigate violations of wage stabilization
regulations and to receive and examine petitions
for WSB action.
In order to grant independent unions direct
access to the Board and to expedite the handling
of their cases, the Board, on June 21, unanimously
designated one of the public members to be
“responsible for administering the policy of the
A d m in istra tive A ctions.

196

IN D U S T R IA L R E LA TIO N S

Board to insure equal treatment in the processing
of cases, whether involving unorganized em­
ployees, independent unions, or affiliated unions.”
A top-level staff member was also appointed as
liaison officer for independent unions.
Two new industry members were named by the
President to fill vacancies created by the resigna­
tions from the Board of Reuben B. Robertson,
Jr., and J. Ward Keener. The new appointees
are George W. Armstrong, Jr., president, Texas
Steel Co., and G. Maynard Smith, attorney.
A five-member Salary Stabilization Board (in­
stead of the 3-member board originally announced


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early in May) was named by the Economic
Stabilization Administrator on June 25. The
members are Dr. Raymond B. Allen, president,
University of Washington; V. Henry Rothschild,
II, attorney, and SSB counsel; Ellsworth Alvord,
U. S. Chamber of Commerce; Clinton S. Golden,
Harvard University; and Charles P. McCormick,
president, McCormick & Co.
• Prepared in the Bureau’s Division of Industrial Relations.
5See p. 164 of this issue.
aSee Monthly Labor Review, July 1951 (p. 74).
* See Monthly Labor Review, July 1951 (p. 75).

Constructive policies in labor relations are the current measure
of a process of evolution growing out of the experiences of the years.
The policies of today must have their roots in the experiences of the
past, but they must be able to grow with the experiences of the
future. Three fundamental needs in achieving truly constructive
policies are: the acceptance of a concept which goes beyond the field
of collective bargaining; the appraisal of any policy in terms of
content, not in terms of the group or agency which conceived or
proposed it; and acceptance by all parties of the fact that labor
relations are relations between people, not between organizations.
— From Constructive Policies of Labor Relations, by Alexander R. Heron.
(In Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science,
March 1951.)

Publications
of Labor In te re st
E ditor’s N ote.—Correspondence regarding publications to which
reference is made in this list should be addressed to the respective publish­
ing agencies mentioned. Data on prices, if readily available, were shown
with the title series.

Special Reviews
By William Foote Whyte.
New York, Harper & Brothers, 1951. 245 pp. $3.50.
This book is a highly valuable addition to the fairly
rapidly growing lists of contributions in the field of con­
structive relations between labor and management, ini­
tiated by the National Planning Association projects on
“ Causes of Industrial Peace.”
Professor Whyte has entered so completely into his
account of the events and personalities involved in the 10year transition in the plant under survey, from open war­
fare to “bargaining for cooperation”, that the reader can
almost see and feel the changes and the human responses
brought about by this transition. The improvement was
brought about by a change in management, coupled with
the native intelligence of a self-educated Negro worker
who, against his own wishes, was forced by the chain of
events to take up the leadership within the union.
We are first reminded that unions are not necessarily
the outcome of a decision by union leaders to organize
the workers in a given plant. Often management, through
disregard for the welfare and sensitivity of its workers,
literally opens the gate for the union organizer. Such was
the case in the Inland Steel Container Co., whose labormanagement relations are the subject of the present study.
As indicated by Professor Whyte, “the rewards of work
are not paid off in money alone. There is deep satisfac­
tion in knowing that you have done a good job and that
you are doing an increasingly good job. . . . Manage­
m ent’s gains here are obvious—and so are the union
gains, up to a certain point. But note the great change
in worker contributions. In the conflict period the
workers gave little thought to ways of making the plant
more economically efficient, and they felt that manage­
ment was not interested in their ideas. Now they are
not contributing their physical energy alone. Through
their union they are playing a creative role in building
up the economic effectiveness of the plant.”
The reactions of individual workers to the changed
atmosphere in the plant are illustrated by several quoted
Pattern for Industrial Peace.


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statements, of which the following is typical: “It gives
you peace of mind. You can go about your business
without worrying all the time what is going to happen
next. Before there was always something being cooked
up. You’d see people talking together and you’d want
to know what was going to happen next. It took your
mind off your work.”
The conclusions drawn by the author from his 2-years’
survey are: “If the American businessman could turn his
ingenuity and experimental bent toward the field of labor
relations, then we might see many more cases to match
the success achieved in Inland Steel Container Co. . . .
The challenge to union leadership is equally clear. . . .
The evolution of enduring and mutually satisfying agree­
ments demands imaginative leadership on both sides of
the bargaining table.”
— B oris Stern .
Productivity in the Blast-Furnace and Open-Hearth Seg­
ments of the Steel Industry: 1920-1946. By William

T. Hogan. New York, Fordham University Press,
1950. 150 pp., bibliography, charts, diagrams, illus. $4.
The author analyzes changes in plant equipment and
technology and their relationship to productivity changes
in the blast-furnace and open-hearth segments of the steel
industry. He presents a technological history for each of
the two segments of the industry. A description is pro­
vided of changes in processes, raw materials, capacity, re­
fractories, auxiliary equipment, etc. Two plants— a blast
furnace and the associated open-hearth furnace—are given
detailed treatment. The blast furnace is described as to
growth and development; changes in number of furnaces
and annual figures on productivity in terms of man-hours
per ton of pig iron are presented. Similar treatment is
accorded the open-hearth plant and figures on man-hours
per ton of ingot are shown. In the blast-furnace plant
studied, man-hours per ton fell 54 percent between 1923
and 1946. In the open-hearth plant, a 49-percent decline
occurred during the same period. Comparisons with labor
cost per ton are also made.
While descriptions are included of technological changes
which have influenced the entire industry, no attempt is
made to estimate quantitatively the contribution of these
improvements. The author concludes that, for the in­
dustry as a whole, the most important factors affecting
unit man-hours have been improved and enlarged fur­
naces, improved auxiliary equipment, use of more durable
refractories in furnace linings, installation of automatic in­
struments, and improved furnace practice. In openhearth furnaces, aids in reducing furnace re-building time
also have been important.
— Allan D. Searle .
The Structure of Labor Markets: Wages and Labor M obility
in Theory and Practice. By Lloyd G. Reynolds. New

York, Harper & Brothers, 1951. 328 pp., charts.
(Yale Labor and Management Center Series.) $4.50'.
Professor Reynolds’ book reports the results of an inten­
sive labor market study of a major Connecticut manufac­
turing city, carried on during the years 1947-50 by a group
of trained investigators of the Yale Labor and Management
Center. The determined advocates of the full-blown
inter-disciplinary approach to such studies may be disap197

PUB LIC ATIO N S OF L AB O R IN T E R E S T

198

pointed at its failure to psychoanalyze its subjects; the
economic orthodoxy may in similar fashion dismiss many
of the findings regarding wages because of failure to delve
below observed facts far enough to produce the patterns
of established indifference curves; the study will never­
theless stand as a landmark in the inductive development
of a generalized approach to the problems of labor mobility
and wage-setting.
Many of the conclusions reached will not be new to
those who have had opportunity to observe the actions of
the labor market closely, but they have rarely been written
down or documented in such detail. The discussions of
the relative immobility of the labor force, of the composi­
tion and characteristics of the group that is mobile, of
the relative insignificance of wages as an influence on mo­
bility, and of the importance of getting a job—any job—
should be required reading for officials who have to make
decisions which involve assumptions as to the kind and
degree of mobility that exists in the American labor force.
The facts developed by the investigation are sufficiently
revealing to permit the author to begin a more generalized
approach to mobility and wage problems. The suggestions
presented for the improvement of Employment Service
operations, for the development of an inter-industry
approach to problems of evaluating the wage relationships
of jobs, and for the possible further narrowing of occupa­
tional wage relationships, are examples of the manner in
which generalization is directed at problems in the areas
of current policy decision.
While provocative generalizations have been attempted
by the author, it is clear from much of the study’s detail
that no adequate general formulations can be made until
similar investigations have been completed in other labor
markets under other circumstances. The middle-sized
New England community studied during the inflationary
period 1947-50 had characteristics that are common to
many areas, but there are other situations that will prob­
ably reveal different characteristics: those in the labor
markets for agricultural labor, in the centers of massproduction industry, on the West Coast, and in the
Southwest.
— P hilip Arnow

Arbitration and Conciliation
Labor Arbitration: The Need for Norms and Standards.
By Morton Singer. {In CCH Labor Law Journal,

Chicago, April 1951, pp. 270-278.

50 cents.)

Proceedings, Second Conference on Labor Arbitration,
Philadelphia, November 17, 1950. Philadelphia, Uni­

versity of Pennsylvania, Labor Relations Council,
[1951?]. 132 pp.; processed.
The Voluntary Arbitration of Labor Disputes. By George
W. Taylor. {In Michigan Law Review, Ann Arbor,

April 1951, pp. 787-804.

$1.)

Comparative Study of the Legislation on Conciliation and
Arbitration. {In Industrial Relations, Laval Univer­

sity, Department of Industrial Relations, Quebec,
Canada, June 1951, pp. 72-78.)
This article, third in a series, gives a brief review of such
legislation in Great Britain and the Irish Free State; the

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MONTHLY LABOR

preceding article, in the March 1951 issue of Industrial
Relations, dealt with the United States, and the first, in
the December 1950 issue, with Canada.

Cooperative Movement
Cooperative Housing: A Bibliography on Housing Built or
Managed Cooperatively. Washington, U. S. Housing

and Home Finance Agency, Office of the Administra­
tor, Library, February 1951. 21 pp.; processed.
Free.
Supplement No. 1 to a bibliography issued in February
1950 under the same title. Both bibliographies give refer­
ences for the United States and several European countries.
The Cooperative Movement in Negro Communities of North
Carolina. By Nathan Alvin Pitts. Washington,

Catholic University of America Press, 1950. 201 pp.,
bibliography, maps. (Studies in Sociology, Vol. No.
33.) $2.25 (paper).
Descriptive and analytical study of the organization and
operation of the Negro cooperative movement in North
Carolina. Covers credit unions, cooperative stores, curb
markets, etc. One part deals with the sociological impli­
cations of the movement.
Industrial Cooperatives in the Postwar Ukraine. By V. J.
Tereshtenko. {In American Slavic and East Euro­

pean Review, Philadelphia, February 1951, pp. 26-37.
$1.25.)
Discusses how the industrial cooperatives (i. e., workers’
productive associations) in the Ukraine are organized, how
they operate, methods of financing, etc.

Education and Training
Edited by
Arthur H. Brayfield. New York, Appleton-CenturyCrofts, Inc., 1950. 526 pp., bibliographies, charts.
(Century Psychology Series.) $5.
The 46 readings were selected primarily for counselors
concerned with a wide range of adjustment problems.
Emphasis was placed upon articles illustrating research
findings and methodology. The selections are grouped
into five categories: The clinical method, diagnosis, treat­
ment, interviewing, and evaluation.

Readings in Modern Methods of Counseling.

By
John A. McCarthy. Chicago, American Technical
Society, 1951. 397 pp., illus. $5.75.
Historical and systematic exposition of the principles,
purposes, and goals of the vocational education movement.
Both the philosophy and the administration of federally
aided programs of industrial and agricultural education are
subjected to critical evaluation. The book was organized
as a text. Four chapters are devoted to detailed discus­
sions of organizing and effectively carrying out a vocational
education program. Other chapters deal with the effects
of social and economic changes in relation to training
programs, and point out the problems facing vocational
education. The principal Federal legislation on vocational
education is reproduced in an appendix.
Vocational Education: America’s Greatest Resource.

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

199

PUBLICATIONS OF LABOR INTEREST

Apprenticeship Programs and Apprentices in Training
in New York State on December 81, 1950. New York

State Apprenticeship Council and State Department
of Labor, Division of Research and Statistics, 1951.
67 pp.; processed. (Publication No. B-43.)
Washington, American Federation of
Labor, Workers Education Bureau, 1951. 28 pp.,
illus. 25 cents.

Films for Labor.

The February 1951 issue of the Industrial Hygiene
Digest gave “highlights” of the 11th annual AMA congress
on industrial health, held at Atlanta, Ga., February 26-28,
1951.
Lectures Presented at the Inservice Training Course in Radio­
logical Health, University of Michigan, School of Public
Health, February 5 -8 , 1951. University of Michigan,

School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, 1951.
diagrams, maps, illus.

139 pp.,

Handicapped

Pneumonoconiosis : Beryllium, Bauxite Fumes, Compensa­
tion. Edited by Arthur J. Vorwald, M.D. New York,

Effects of Early Workmen’s Compensation Legislation on
the Employment of the Handicapped, 1897-1915.
By Rachel Marks. (In Social Service Review,

Paul B. Hoeber, Inc., 1950. 659 pp., bibliographies,
diagrams, charts, illus. $7.50.
Consists of papers and discussions at Sixth Saranac
Symposium held in fall of 1947 (bibliographical material
of later date). Describes industrial uses of beryllium
during World War II, industries and processes in which
workers were injuriously exposed, and clinical aspects of
cases investigated. Included are studies of beryllium
hazards made in connection with atomic energy produc­
tion, and of aspects of Shaver’s disease (from bauxite
fumes) in the synthetic abrasive industry, and a symposium
on workmen’s compensation for occupational diseases.

Chicago, March 1951, pp. 60-78.

$1.75).

By Robert D. Melcher.
Los Angeles, University of California, Institute of
Industrial Relations, 1951. 33 pp., bibliography.
25 cents.

E m ploying the Seriously Im paired.

A iding the Cardiac Patient in Industry. By Edward M.
Kline, M.D. (In A. M. A. Archives of Industrial

Hygiene and Occupational Medicine, Chicago, May
1951, pp. 454-460. $1.)
Describes management experience which led to establish­
ment of a centralized clinic in Cleveland for testing work
abilities of cardiac patients.
How to A nalyze the Rehabilitation Needs of Blind Persons
on the Farm. By J. Hiram Chappell. Washington

Federal Security Agency, Office of Vocational Re­
habilitation, [1951]. 30 pp.; processed. (Rehabilita­
tion Service Series, No. 160.) Free.
Edited
by Salvatore G. DiMichael. Washington, Federal
Security Agency, Office of Vocational Rehabilitation,
1950. 184 pp., bibliographies. 45 cents, Superin­
tendent of Documents, Washington.

Vocational Rehabilitation of the Mentally Retarded.

Physical, Medical, and Rehabilitation Therapy of Hand
Injuries [in Puerto Rico, 1948-49], By Herman J.
Flax, M.D.
(In A.M.A. Archives of Industrial

Hygiene and Occupational Medicine, Chicago, March
1951, pp. 236-244. $1.)
Summarized in this issue of the Monthly Labor Review
(p. 182).

Industrial Hygiene
Activities of State and Local Agencies in Industrial Health.
By Victoria M. Trasko. (In A.M.A. Archives of

Industrial Hygiene and Occupational
Chicago, May 1951, pp. 483-494. $1.)

Medicine,

Highlights of Industrial Health Conference, [Atlantic City,
N . J., A p ril 21-28, 1951]. (In Industrial Hygiene

Digest, Industrial Hygiene Foundation, Pittsburgh,
Pa., May 1951, pp. i-viii.)
The conference brought together annual meetings of
national associations of physicians, dentists, and nurses,
and the U. S. Navy Industrial Health Organization.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

The Role of Periodic Examination in the Prevention of Coalworkers’ Pneumoconiosis. By A. L. Cochrane and
others. (In British Journal of Industrial Medicine,

London, April 1951, pp. 53-61, bibliography, chart.
7s. 6d.)
From 1931 to the end of 1949, some 36,000 men in Great
Britain had been officially diagnosed as disabled by the
disease; over 80 percent of these cases had arisen in the
South Wales coal field.
Report on a Country-Wide Study of Silicosis in the Metal
M ines of Japan.
By Mikio Yamamoto, M.D. (In

A.M.A. Archives of Industrial Hygiene and Occu­
pational Medicine, Chicago, April 1951, pp. 339-349,
charts. $1.)
(In National Safety News, National Safety
Council, Chicago, May 1951, pp. 39, 40, 92-95,
bibliography; Data Sheet D-Chem. 49.)

Sulfuric Acid.

Industrial Relations
By S. Avery
Raube. New York, National Industrial Conference
Board, Inc., 1951. 120 pp. forms. (Studies in
Personnel Policy, No. 115.)
Highlights of this report have been published in a sep­
arate pamphlet by the Conference Board.
Experience with Employee Attitude Surveys.

Listening ? Washington, Bureau of
National Affairs, Inc., 1951. 13 pp. (Personnel
Policies Forum, Survey No. 3.) $1.
Report on a BN A questionnaire survey of management
policies and methods with respect to discovering employee
attitudes.
Is

Management

Why They Quit: A Survey of Illinois Employees Who Quit
Their Jobs in 1949 —Retail, Clerical, Manufacturing.

By Robert D. Loken.

Urbana, University of Illinois,

MONTHLY LABOR

PUBLICATIONS OF LABOR INTEREST

200

College of Commerce and Business Administration,
Business Management Service, [1950?]. 52 pp.,
charts.
Labor Problems in the Emergency. By Leonard A. Keller.
{In Michigan Business Review, University of Michi­

gan, School of Business Administration, Ann Arbor,
March 1951, pp. 7-10.)
Labor-Management Contract Provisions, 1949-50. Preva­
lence and Characteristics of Selected Collective Bargain­
ing Clauses. Washington, U. S. Department of

Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1951. 36 pp.,
map, charts. (Bull. No. 1022.) 25 cents, Superin­
tendent of Documents, Washington.
Collective Bargaining Settlements in New York State, 1950.

New York, State Department of Labor, Division of
Research and Statistics, 1951. 19 pp.; processed.
(Publication No. B-41.)
Collective Agreements in the Chemical Products Industry,
[Canada]. {In Labor Gazette, Department of Labor,

Ottawa, April 1951, pp. 472-485; Collective Agree­
ment Study No. 15.)
{In Planning, P E P (Political and
Economic Planning), London, March 26, 1951, pp.
209-232.)
Reviews history of movement for development councils
composed of management and worker representatives and
“independent” members in British industry, functions of
the councils, and management attitude toward them.
Development Councils.

Indu stries and O ccupations— S elected Reports
Catalogues and Counters: A H istory of Sears, Roebuck and
Company. By Boris Emmet and John E. Jeuck.

Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1950. 788
pp., bibliography, charts, illus. $7.50.
In tracing the growth and development of Sears, Roe­
buck from its beginnings as a small mail-order venture,
the authors have also recorded company personnel prac­
tices. A 36-page appendix covers the company’s program
of “Sharing Profits with Employees.”
The W hitin Machine Works Since 1831 : A Textile Machinery
Company in an Industrial Village. By Thomas R.

Navin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press,
1950. xxix, 654 pp., maps, charts, illus. (Harvard
Studies in Business History, XV.) $6.50.
History of a family owned company, located in and
dominating an isolated New England village, and a study
of survival of paternalism until World War II. Traces
the coming of both the AFL and the CIO and the impact
of unionization on previous practices of the firm.
By Maxine
G. Stewart. Washington, U. S. Department of
Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1951. 5 pp.,
charts. (Serial No. R. 2028; reprinted from Monthly
Labor Review, April 1951.) Free.

Economic Status of Social Workers in 1950.

By
William S. Tyson, Solicitor, U. S. Department of

Report on the Economic Status of Federal Lawyers.


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Labor. {In Federal Bar Journal, Washington, May
1951, pp. 303-317. $1.)
By
Rexford Hersey. New York and Chicago, ConoverMast Publications, Inc., 1951. 244 pp., forms.
$3.75.

Better Foremanship-—K ey to Profitable Management.

Status of First-Line Supervisors: Compensation, Authority,
and Benefits for Foremen. Washington, Bureau of

National Affairs, Inc., 1951.
Policies Forum, Survey No. 2.)

24 pp.
$1.

(Personnel

Labor and Social L egislation
By Stefan A. Riesenfeld and
Richard C. Maxwell. Brooklyn, N. Y., Foundation
Press, Inc., 1950. xxviii, 911 pp.
Focuses attention on evolution and present status of
major public programs, with emphasis on administration
and case law. Discusses main systems under the Social
Security Act, workmen’s compensation, nonindustrial
disability insurance, Fair Labor Standards Act, and public
aid to housing and land redevelopment.
Modern Social Legislation.

High Spots in State School Legislation Enacted in 1950.

Washington, National Education Association of the
United States, Research Division, 1951. 36 pp.;
processed.
Includes State legislative action concerning teachers.
Court Decisions on Teacher Tenure Reported in 1950.

Washington, National Education Association of the
United States, 1951. 20 pp. 25 cents.
Some Basic Features of American and European Labor
Law: A Comparison. By Arthur Lenhoff. {In

Notre Dame Lawyer, Notre Dame, Ind., Spring 1951,
pp. 389-428. $1.)
La Législation du Travail en Tunisie— Recueil des Textes
Officiels Suivi de la Liste des Réglements de Salaires,
30 Ju in 1904 —1er M ars 1951. By Gaston Villadary.

Tunis, Bonici, 1951.

544 pp.

Labor Organization
American Labor at the Crossroads. By Frank T. Carlton.
{In Sociology and Social Research, Los Angeles,

May-June 1951, pp. 331-337.

70 cents.)

Directory of Labor Organizations in the Territory of H awaii.

Honolulu, Department of Labor and Industrial Rela­
tions, Bureau of Research and Statistics, March 1951.
26 pp. ; processed. (No. 19.)
By Norman Arthur
& Sons, Ltd., 1950.

Trade Union Law, [Great Britain].

Citrine. London, Stevens
xliv, 700 pp. 45s.

Workers of the World — United. By J. H. Oldenbroek.
{In New Leader, New York, June 25, 1951, pp. 6, 7.

15 cents.)
The Secretary-General of the International Confeder­
ation of Free Trade Unions reports on its accomplish­
ments, plans, and objectives.

R E V IE W , A U G U ST 1951

PUBLICATIO N S OF LABOR IN T E R E S T

Manpower and Employment
By Harold
Wool. Washington, U. S. Department of Labor,
Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1951. 26 pp.; processed.
Free.
Paper presented at Conference on Income and Wealth
of National Bureau of Economic Research, New York,
May 25, 1951.
Long-Term, Projections of the Labor Force.

Meaning and Measurement of “Full” or “ M axim um ” Em­
ployment. By Thomas K. Hitch. {In Review of

Economics and Statistics, Cambridge, Mass., Feb­
ruary 1951, pp. 1-11. $1.50.)
Some International Aspects of Employment Policy. By T.
Wilson. {In Oxford Economic Papers (New Series),

Oxford, England, February 1951, pp. 30-38.
net.)

10s.

San
Juan, Departamento del Trabajo de Puerto Rico,
Negociado de Estadísticas del Trabajo, 1951. 20
pp.; processed. (Special Publication No. 4.)

Informe Anual Grupo Trabajador Año Natural 1950.

Medical Care and Sickness Insurance
Economics of Medical Care: I, The Problem; II , Alternative.
{In American Economic Review, Evanston, 111., May

1951, pp. 617-696.)
A series of articles, with discussion, presented at meeting
of American Economic Association, Chicago, December
1950. One of the articles, by Seymour E. Harris, reviews
the first 2 years’ operation of the British national healthservice program.
Medical Care Insurance: Lessons from Voluntary and
Compulsory Plans— Adequacy of Financing, by I. S.
Falk; Methods and Rates of Payment, by Frank G.
Dickinson. {In American Journal of Public Health

and the Nation’s Health, New York, May 1951,
Part I, pp. 553-566, bibliographies. 70 cents.)

201

Report on first year’s operation of hospital-benefits
program of the United Steelworkers of America (CIO).
It shows that 263,000 persons received hospitalization
benefits.
Value and Operation of an Industrial M edical Program.

By Max N. Howard, M.D., and Arthur E. Hoag,
M.D. {In A.M.A. Archives of Industrial Hygiene
and Occupational Medicine, Chicago, April 1951, pp.
375-385, charts. $1.)
Describes and gives statistics of operation of the medi­
cal program of a large company having branches through­
out the country.

Older Workers and the Aged
By Sidney R. Yates. {In
Congressional Record, Washington, June 4, 1951, pp.
6260-6263. Reprints are available from Representa­
tive Yates’ office.)
Remarks before the U. S. House of Representatives,
June 4, 1951, on House Resolution 238.
The Problem of the Aging.

Longevity of the Industrial Worker. By Louis I. Dublin
and Robert J. Vane. {In American Journal of Public

Health and the Nation’s Health, New York, June 1951,
pp. 697-702, chart. 70 cents.)
{In Monthly
Review, U. S. Railroad Retirement Board, Chicago,
May 1951, pp. 78-82, chart.)
An article on longevity of retired railroad nondisabled
annuitants appeared in the Railroad Retirement Board’s
Monthly Review, February 1951 (p. 22), and was sum­
marized in the Monthly Labor Review, April 1951 (p. 420).
Longevity of Railroad D isability A nnuitants.

[Albany?],
New York State Joint Legislative Committee on
Problems of the Aging, [1951?]. 16 pp., illus.

Memo to Mature Workers Re: How to Get a Job.

Princeton, N. J.,
Princeton University, Industrial Relations Section,
May 1951. 4 pp. (Selected References, No. 39.)
20 cents.

Preparing Employees for Retirement.

D isability Insurance, 1951. Chicago, Research
Council for Economic Security, 1951. 7 pp., charts.
(Publication No. 85.) Single copies free.
Brief statements on operating experience (largely finan­
cial) of the disability insurance systems of Rhode Island,
California, and New Jersey, with a tabular summary of
recent State legislative proposals for disability insurance.

Test Today. By Miriam Civic. {In
Conference Board Business Record, National Indus­
trial Conference Board, Inc., New York, April 1951,
pp. 146-148, chart.)
Discusses limitations which the Social Security Act
imposes on wage-earning after retirement.

New Jersey [Temporary\ D isability Insurance Program.

Personnel Management

State

Washington, U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of
Employment Security, 1950. 62 pp., chart; processed.
Union and Union-Management Administered Health In ­
surance Plans in New York State, January 1951.

New York, State Department of Labor, Division of
Research and Statistics, 1951. 59 pp.; processed.
(Publication No. B-44.)

$30,1 j6 ,0 0 0

P aid in Hospital Benefits Under U SA -Industry
Insurance Program. {In Steel Labor, Western Edi­

tion, United Steelworkers of America (CIO), In­
dianapolis, May 1951, p. 3.)
9 5 8 5 5 4 — 51------- 6


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The Retirement

By Ordway Tead. New York,
McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1951. 223 pp., bibli­
ographical footnotes. $3.75.

The A rt of A dm inistration.

By
Geneva Seybold. New York, National Industrial
Conference Board, Inc., 1951. 92 pp., charts.
(Studies in Personnel Policy, No. 117.)
The report contains detailed descriptions of the personnel
programs of 5 companies and summary data for 52 addi­
tional companies.
Personnel A dm inistration in the Small Company.

202

PU B LIC A TIO N S OF LAB O R IN T E R E S T

Edited by John F. Mee. New
York, Ronald Press Co., 1951. 1167 pp., charts,
forms, illus. $10.
The aim in preparation of this handbook was to bring
together authoritative information on the best practices
in the fields of personnel management and industrial
relations. The material is presented under 20 major
heads, each covering a wide range of related subjects. A
table of contents with each chapter and a detailed index
to the volume facilitate its use.
Personnel Handbook.

Public Personnel A dm inistration in 1950: Proceedings of the
1950 Annual Conference on Public Personnel A dm in­
istration. Chicago, Civil Service Assembly of the

United States and Canada, [1951?].
cessed. $7.50.

200 pp.; pro­

MONTHLY LABOR

Report of the Committee on Rising Costs, [Tanganyika].

Dar es Salaam, 1951.

71 pp.

Social Security (General)
A nalysis of the Benefits under Title I I of the Social Security
Act Amendments of 1950. By Walter E. Wilcox.

Washington, Federal Security Agency, Social Security
Administration, 1951. 46 pp.; processed. (Actuarial
Study No. 30.)
Actuarial study concerned primarily with mathematical
relationships between individual and family benefits, and
between benefits and average wages used for determining
them.

ington, U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Em­
ployment Security, U. S. Employment Service, 1951.
53 pp. and forms; processed.
Designed to show employers how they can use the job
analysis and classification techniques of the U. S. Employ­
ment Service to make more effective use of their workers.

Geneva, Inter­
national Labor Office, 1950. 356 pp. $2. Dis­
tributed in United States by Washington Branch of
ILO.
The functions of offices administering social-security
provisions of 20 countries in the Americas are outlined,
in the languages of the respective countries, and the
benefits of the legislation cited are summarized.

The Supervision of Personnel: Human Relations in the
Management of Men. By John M. Pfiffner. New

Social Security Needs and Opportunities. By Edwin E.
Witte. {In State Government, Chicago, June 1951,

Reference M anual for In-Plant Manpower Planning. Wash­

York, Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1951.
raphies. $6.

454 pp., bibliog­

Handbook of Social Security Institutions.

pp. 150-153.

50 cents.)

Testing A pplicants for

Public Assistance in Pennsylvania —Organization, A dm in is­
tration, and Policy Problems. [Harrisburg], 1951.

Prices and Cost of Living

Social Security in Brazil.

Selection and Placement. New
York, Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., Policyholders
Service Bureau, 1950. 28 pp., bibliography.

By Robert L.
Taylor. Washington (1205 19th Street NW.), Edi­
torial Research Reports, 1951. 16 pp. (Vol. I, 1951,
No. 16.) $1.

Enforcement of Price and Rent Controls.

New York, United
Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America,
1951. 134 pp., bibliographical footnotes, charts. $1.
An attack on the Consumers’ Price Index of the Bureau
of Labor Statistics.
The Facts About High Living Costs.

Effects of World War I I on the Production and Distribution
of Housefurnishings. By Pauline B. Paro. Wash­
ington, U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 1951. 121 pp.; processed. Free.
Part I contains a general review of wartime control of
production and prices and related subjects, with data on
changes in prices of major groups of products, 1939-49.
Part II gives similar information for housefurnishings.
Survey of Family Expenditure, [Canada], 1947-1948: Ex­
penditure by Size of Household; Expenditure by Income
Level. Ottawa, Department of Trade and Com­

merce, Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1950. 18 and
19 pp., respectively; processed. (D. B. S. Reference
Papers, 1950, Nos. 6 and 12.) 25 cents each.
Report of the Committee of Enquiry into Rentals, [Gold
Coast], Accra, 1951. 40 pp. 3s. 6d.


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173 pp., charts, forms.
Report of Joint State Government Commission to
General Assembly of Pennsylvania, session of 1951.
By Armando de Assis. {In
Bulletin of the International Social Security Associa­
tion, Geneva, January-February 1951, pp. 3-19; March
1951, pp. 97-105.)

Financial Review of the Operation of the French Social
Security System in 1949. {In International Labor

Review, Geneva, April 1951, pp. 402-411. 50 cents.
Distributed in United States by Washington Branch
of ILO.)
The New Zealand System of Social Security. By Dean E.
McHenry.
{In
Social Service Review, Chicago,

March 1951, pp.

48-59. $1.75.)

Wages, Salaries, and Hours of Labor
City Public School Teachers: Salary Trends, 1925-1949.

Washington, U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of
Labor Statistics,
1951. 8 pp.; processed. (Wage
Movements, Series 3, No. 5.) Free.
Salaries and Salary Schedules of City-School Employees,
1950-51. Washington, National Education Associa­

tion of the United States, 1951. 29 pp.
Bull., Vol. X X IX , No. 2.) 50 cents.

(Research

Earnings and Hours, Selected Industries, California, 1949—
1950. San Francisco, Department of Industrial

Relations, Division of Labor Statistics and Research,
1951. 49 pp.; processed.

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

PUBLICATIONS OF LABOR INTEREST

Occupational Wage Survey: San F rancisco-0 akland, Janu­
ary 1951. Washington, U. S. Department of Labor,

Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1951. 54 pp. (Bull. No.
1028.) 50 cents, Superintendent of Documents,
Washington.
Reports in this 1951 occupational wage series are also
available for Denver, Colo., and Atlanta, Ga., as Bulletins
Nos. 1029 and 1031, respectively (35 and 30 cents, Super­
intendent of Documents).
Tying Wages to the Cost of Living.

National Affairs, Inc., 1950.

Washington, Bureau of
105 pp.

By Lucy M.
Kramer and James Nix. Washington, U. S. Depart­
ment of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1951.
5 pp. (Serial No. R. 2034; reprinted from Monthly
Labor Review, May 1951.) Free.
Deals with extent and terms of escalator clauses in
union contracts and the manner in which they are affected
by the adjusted consumers’ price index of the Bureau of
Labor Statistics.
Wage Escalators and the Adjusted C P I.

Differences between the Wages of Skilled and Unskilled
Workers, [Great B ritain ], 1880-1950. By K. G. F. C.
Knowles and D. F. Robertson. {In Bulletin of the

Oxford University Institute of Statistics, Oxford, Eng­
land, April 1951, pp. 109-127, chart. 3s. 6d.)
Hours of Labor and Overtime Rates of Wages in the Principal
Industries in Great Britain. {In Ministry of Labor

Gazette, London, May 1951, pp. 179-184.
H. M. Stationery Office, London.)

9d. net,

The Stabilization of Dock Workers’ Earnings. By A. A. P.
Dawson. {In International Labor Review, Geneva,

March 1951, pp. 241-265; April 1951, pp. 364-389.
50 cents each. Distributed in United States by
Washington Branch of ILO.)

Miscellaneous

Policy. New
York, Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc., 1951.
18 pp.; processed. (Industrial Relations Memo No.

Management and Economic M obilization

122 .)

$

1.

Summary of details of economic controls under the
Defense Production Act of 1950, compared with practices
and results in World Wars I and II. Covers price-wage
controls, settlement of industrial disputes, and manpower
policies. Published before the reconstitution of the Wage
Stabilization Board.
By Edwin G. Nourse. New
York, Henry Holt and Co., 1951. 184 pp. $2.
Ten essays giving the essence of talks by the author
since his resignation from the President’s Council of Eco­
nomic Advisors. Three are of particular labor interest:
From Samuel Gompers to Political Laborism; All Groups
Seek Security; and Security Must be Created— Not Con­
ferred.
The 1950’s Come First.

By Simon
Rottenberg. Rio Piedras, University of Puerto Rico,
Labor Relations Institute, [1951?]. 66 pp. (Re­
printed from Revista Jurídica, University of Puerto
Rico, N ov.-D ee. 1950.)
Emphasizes the influence of trade-unionism and the
minimum wage on labor cost.

Labor Cost in the Puerto Rican Economy.

Management Role. {In Modern
Industry, New York, June 15, 1951, pp. 60, 63. 50
cents.)

German Labor’s New

By Miriam S. Farley.
New York, John Day Co., 1950. 283 pp. $3.50.
Concerned primarily with labor developments during
the first 3 years following the end of World War II.
A spects of Ja p a n ’s Labor Problems.

By Romuald Szumski.
New York, National Committee For a Free Europe,
[1951?]. 30 pp. 5 cents.
Description of the ruthless Communist domination of
the labor movement in Poland.
Labor and the Soviet System.

Geneva, International Labor
Office, 1950. 282 pp., illus. (Studies and Reports,
New Series, No. 25.) $1.75. Distributed in United
States by Washington Branch of ILO.
Report of mission of International Labor Office, MarchMay 1949.

Labor Problems in Turkey.

By Marion B.
York, Committee for Economic Devel­
14 pp.
Board of Trustees at semiannual meet­
May 10, 1951.

The CED Program to Control Inflation.

Folsom. New
opment, 1951.
Address to CED
ing in Washington,


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208

Current Labor Statistics
A.—Employment and Payrolls
Estimated total labor force classified by employment status, hours
worked, and sex
A -2 : Employees in uonagricultural establishments, by industry division
and group
A -3 : Production workers in mining and manufacturing industries
A -4 : Indexes of production-worker employment and weekly payrolls in
manufacturing industries
A -5: Federal civilian employment and payrolls, by branch and agency group
A -6: Federal civilian payrolls by branch and agency group 1
A -7 : Civilian Government employment and payrolls in Washington, D. C.,
by branch and agency group
A -8 : Personnel and pay of the military branch of the Federal Governmenta
A -9 : Employees in nonagricultural establishments for selected States 3
A - 10 Employees in manufacturing industries, by States 3
A - l 1 Insured unemployment under State unemployment insurance pro­
grams, by geographic division and State

206

T able A - l :

207

T able

211
213

T able
T able

214
215

T able
T able
T able

216

T ab le
T able
T able
T able

B.—Labor Turn-Over
217

T able B - l :

218

T able B -2 :

M o n th ly labor turn-over rates (per 100 em ployees) in m anufacturing
industries, b y class of turn-over
M o n th ly labor turn-over rates (per 100 em ployees) in selected groups
and industries

C.—Earnings and Hours
220

T able C - l :

235

T ab le

236

T able

236

T ab le
T able

H ours and gross earnings of production workers or nonsupervisory
em ployees
C -2 : Gross average w eek ly earnings of production workers in selected
industries, in current and 1939 dollars
C -3 : Gross and n et spendable average w eek ly earnings of production
workers in m anufacturing industries, in current and 1939 dollars
C -4 : A verage hourly earnings, gross and exclusive of overtim e, of produc­
tion workers in m anufacturing industries
C—5: H ours and gross earnings of production workers in m anufacturing
industries for selected S tates and areas 3

1 Beginning with the January 1951 issue payroll data in table A-6 have been combined with table A-5.
2 Beginning with September 1950 issue, omitted for security reasons.
3 This table is included quarterly in the March, June, September, and December issues of the Review.
204


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

A

CURRENT LABOR STATISTICS

205

D.—Prices and Cost of Living
237

Table D - l

C onsum ers’ price index for m oderate-incom e fam ilies in large cities, b y
group of com m odities
238 Table D -2
C onsum ers’ price index for m oderate-incom e fam ilies, b y city , for
selected periods
239 Table D -3 : C onsum ers’ price index for m oderate-incom e fam ilies, b y city and
group of com m odities
240 Table D -4 : In dexes of retail prices of foods, by group, for selected periods
241 Table D-5: In dexes of retail prices of foods, by city
242 Table D-6: A verage retail prices and indexes of selected foods
243 Table D -7 : In dexes of w holesale prices, b y group of com m odities, for selected
periods
244 Table D-8: Indexes of w holesale prices, b y group and subgroup of com m odities

E.—Work Stoppages
245

Table E - l : Work stoppages resulting from labor-management disputes

F.—Building and Construction
246
247

Table F - l : E xpend itu res for new construction
Table F -2 : V alue of contracts awarded and force-account work started on federally

248

Table F-3 : U rban building authorized, b y principal class of construction and b y

249

Table F -4 : N e w nonresidential building authorized in all urban places, b y general

250

Table F—5:

financed new construction, b y ty p e of construction
ty p e of building


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

ty p e and by geographic division
N um ber and construction cost of new perm anent nonfarm dw elling
u nits started, b y urban or rural location , and b y source of funds

MONTHLY LABOR

A : EMPLOYMENT AND PAYROLLS

206

A: Employment and Payrolls
T able A -l: Estimated Total Labor Force Classified by Employment Status, Hours Worked, and Sex
E s tim a te d n u m b e r of p erso n s 14 y ears of age a n d o v er 1 (in th o u san d s)

1950

1951

Labor force
June

May

Apr.

Mar.

Feb.

Jan.

Dec.

Nov.2 Oct.

Sept.2 Aug.

July 2 j June

Total, both sexes
Total labor force 3__________________
Civilian labor force_________________
Unemployment. ___ ___________
Unemployed 4 weeks or less..- . ...
Unemploved 5-10 weeks________
Unemployed 11-14 weeks__ ___
Unemployed 15-26 weeks________
Unemployed over 26 weeks______
Employment__________________
Nonagricultural-.. ________ ___
Worked 35 hours or more__ _
Worked 15-34 hours________
Worked 1-14 hours 3.... ....... ....
With a job but not at work 8 __
Agricultural____________ ___
Worked 35 hours or more_____
Worked 15-34 hours. _______
Worked 1-14 hours 3________
With a job but not at work 8... .

(4)

(4)

(4)

(4)

(4)

(4)

63,783.
1, 980
1,216
358
141
150
116
61, 803
53, 768
44,088
5,061
2,082
2, 537
8,035
5, 960
1,699
280
97

62,803
1,609
862
342
91
163
153
61,193
53, 753
45,055
4,931
2,071
1,697
7,440
5, 799
1,335
215
91

61,789
1, 744
825
366
173
237
145
60,044
53, 400
43,996
5,651
2,185
1,567
6, 645
4, 809
1,351
239
246

62,325
2,147
966
502
215
298
167
60,179
53,785
44, 053
5, 476
2,311
1,945
6,393
4,412
1,418
268
297

61,313
2,407
1,039
640
276
241
213
58, 905
52, 976
42,911
5,806
2,236
2,022
5,930
3,790
1,415
370
353

61, 514
2,503
1,184
677
208
251
183
59,010
52, 993
43, 505
5, 561
2, 251
1,676
6,018
3, 895
1,467
308
348

64,674
62, 538
2, 229
1,153
498
167
217
194
60,308
54,075
44,177
6,002
2,319
1,577
6,234
3, 983
1,505
348
399

65,453
63, 512
2,240
1,240
475
147
175
204
61, 271
53, 721
43, 546
6,417
2,331
1,427
7, 551
5,487
1, 594
306
163

65, 438
63, 704
1,940
955
420
128
183
257
61, 764
53, 273
42, 720
7,023
1,999
1,531
8, 491
6, 547
1,611
245
88

65,020
63, 567
2, 341
1,107
464
201
272
299
61,226
53, 415
28,042
20, 827
1,984
2, 561
7,811
5, 259
2,028
356
170

66, 204
64,867
2,500
1,051
679
221
266
285
62, 367
54, 207
43, 835
4, 583
1,545
4, 246
8,160
6,170
1, 475
295
223

65, 742
64, 427
3, 213
1, 514
754
249
334
361
61, 214
52, 774
25,072
19, 201
1,650
6, 852
8,440
6,348
1,695
238
158

66,177
64,866
3, 384
1,629
664
181
474
439
61,482
52,436
43,117
5,153
1,843
2,323
9,046
6, 975
1,739
246
88

45, 934
44,019
1,309
42, 710
36, 554
31,175
3, 447
980
952
6,156
4, 982
842
200
133

45, 978
44, 268
1,172
43,096
36, 507
30, 826
3, 823
800
1,058
6, 589
5,605
756
146
82

46,155
44, 726
1,482
43, 244
36,877
21,103
13, 273
817
1,683
6,367
4, 875
1,131
219
143

47,132
45,818
1,664
44,154
37, 455
31, 800
2, 508
654
2, 494
6, 699
5, 573
764
181
183

47,000
45, 708
2,126
43, 582
36,605
18, 905
12, 762
732
4,207
6, 977
5, 789
899
162
126

46, 718
45, 429
2,200
43, 229
36,216
31, 523
2, 605
756
1,332
7,013
6,031
743
162
78

19, 519
19,493
931
18, 561
17,167
12,371
2, 970
1,351
475
1,395
505
752
106
30

19, 460
19, 436
768
18, 668
16, 766
11,894
3,200
1,199
473
1,902
942
855
99
6

18, 865
18,841
859
17, 982
16, 538
6,939
7,554
1,167
878
1,444
384
897
137
27

19,072
19,049
836
18, 213
16, 752
12,035
2,075
891
1,752
1,461
597
711
114
40

18, 742
18, 719
1,087
17,632
16,169
6,167
6,439
918
2, 645
1,463
559
796
76
32

19, 459
19,437
1,184
18, 253
16, 220
11, 594
2,548
1,087
991
2,033
944
996
84
10

Males
Total labor force _________ _____
Civilian labor force_________________
Unemployment________ . ______
Employment__________________
Nonagricultural_____________
Worked 35 hours or more____
Worked 15-34 hours________
Worked 1-14 hours 3__ ____
With a job but not at work 8.
Agricultural________________
Worked 35 hours or more........
Worked 15-34 hours________
Worked 1-14 hours 3 ____ _
With a job but not at work 8___

(4)
44,316
1,167
43,149
36,862
32,021
2, 578
815
1,448
6,287
5,301
724
175
87

(4)

(4)

(4)

(4)

43, 508
950
42, 558
36, 596
32,184
2, 457
893
1,062
5, 962
5,107
619
156
80

43/182
1,028
42,154
36,349
31, 420
3,029
897
1,003
5,805
4,583
859
165
198

43,379
1,277
42,102
36, 463
31,346
2,877
975
1,265
5,639
4, 226
939
220
255

42, 894
1, 594
41,300
35, 980
30, 284
3,355
984
1,357
5, 320
3, 644
1,077
300
298

(4)
43,093
1,659
41, 433
36,072
31,054
2, 947
961
1,110
5,362
3, 724
1,066
253
319

45, 644
43, 535
1,459
42,076
36, 585
31,308
3, 217
998
1,062
5, 491
3, 751
1,134
268
338
Females

Total labor force 3__________________
Civilian labor force_________________
Unemployment.._______________
Employment___ ______________
Nonagriculturai________ _____
Worked 35 hours or more____
Worked 15-34 hours_______
Worked 1-14 hours 3________
With a job but not at work 8___
Agricultural... ______________
Worked 35 hours or more_____
Worked 15-34 hours________
Worked 1-14 hours 3________
With a job but not at work 8__

(4)
19, 467
813
18, 654
16, 906
12,067
2,483
1,267
1,089
1, 748
659
975
105
10

(4)
19, 294
659
18, 635
17,157
12, 871
2, 474
1,178
635
1,478
692
716
59
11

(4)
18,607
716
17, 890
17,051
12,576
2, 622
1,288
564
840
226
492
74
48

(4)
18,946
870
18,077
17,322
12,707
2,599
1,336
680
754
186
479
48
42

1 E s tim a te s are su b je c t to sam p lin g v a ria tio n w h ich m a y b e large in cases
w h ere th e q u a n titie s show n are re la tiv e ly sm all. T herefore, th e sm aller
estim ates sh o u ld be u sed w ith ca u tio n . Ail d a ta exclude persons in in s titu ­
tio n s. B ecause of ro u n d in g , th e in d iv id u a l figures do n o t necessarily a d d
to g roup to tals.
2 C en su s su rv e y w eek c o n tain s legal h o lid ay .
3 T o ta l la b o r force consists of th e civilian la b o r force a n d th e A rm ed F orces.
4 B eginning w ith J a n u a ry 1951, d a ta on n e t s tre n g th of th e A rm ed F orces
a n d to ta l la b o r force are n o t available.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

(4)
18,419
813
17,605
16, 996
12, 627
2, 451
1,252
665
610
146
338
70
55

(4)
18, 421
844
17, 577
16, 921
12, 451
2,614
1,290
566
656
171
401
55
29

19,030
19,003
770
18, 232
17, 490
12, 869
2, 785
1,321
515
743
232
371
80
61

8 E x clu d es persons engaged on ly in in c id e n ta l u n p a id fam ily w o rk (less th a n
15 h o u rs); th e se p erso n s are classified as n o t in th e la b o r force.
8 In clu d es persons w h o h a d a jo b or b u sin ess, b u t w h o d id n o t w o rk d u rin g
th e census w eek b ecau se of illness, b a d w e a th e r, v ac atio n , la b o r d is p u te or
because of te m p o ra ry lay-off w ith d efin ite in s tru c tio n s to r e tu r n to w ork
w ith in 30 d ay s of lay-off. D oes n o t in clu d e u n p a id fam ily w o rk ers.
Source: U . S. D e p a r tm e n t of C o m m erce, B u re a u of th e C en su s.

A: EMPLOYMENT AND PAYROLLS

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

207

T a b l e A -2 : E m p loyees in N onagricultural E stablishm ents, b y In du stry D ivision and Group 1

[In thousands!
Annual
average

1950

1951

Industry group and Industry
June May Apr. Mar. Feb.
Total employees----------------- --------M i n i n g ....... .................................................. ...................

Metal______________________
Iron
___________________
Copper __________________
Lead and zinc________________
Anthracite___________________
Bituminous-coal................................
Crude petroleum and natural gas production __________________
Nonmetallic mining and quarrying...... .

C o n tra c t c o n s tr u c tio n .------ -----------------------------

July

June

43,945 44,124

1950

1949

45,873

45,898

45,684

45,080

44,096

917
105.0

910
104.4
36 .9
28.9
20.8

924
105.3
3 6 .4
2 9 .2
21.6

930
105. 8
3 6 .5
29.3
21.6

932
105.2
3 6 .2
29.3
21 .4

937
104.4
3 5 .9
29 .0
2 1 .0

938
102.5
36.1
2 8 .4
20.3

939
101.5
3 6 .6
28.1
19.9

946
103.0
37 .2
28.1
20 .5

950
102.5
37.0
2 8 .2
2 0 .0

922
103.3
3 6 .6
28 .4
20 .5

7 0 .4

67.6

72 .2

7 2 .8

7 2 .7

73 .0

74.3

74.4

75 .0

75.3

73 .6

75.3

75.1

77.3

377.3

381.3

396.3

402.3

402 .8

404.8

404.3

405.8

407.0

407.8

382.1

410.4

375 .6

399.0
259.0

946
101.8
36.1
28 .0
20 .0

904
101.0
3 5 .5
28.1
19.7

43,006
932
100.1
3 3 .7
27.3
20 .6

254.0

253.3

250.2

251.5

253.3

256.7

254.8

255.5

258.6

261.2

261.9

258.9

255.3

107.0

105.9

103.5

99.6

97.1

98 .0

9 8 .3

101.9

102.1

102.7

103.4

101.3

100.0

97.4

9 6 .4

2, 674

2, 592

2,472

2, 326

2, 228

2,281

2, 403

2,571

2. 631

2, 626

2,629

2,582

2,414

2,318

2,156

504
213.3
290.7

456
180.9
274.9

394
149.5
244.0

371
134.8
235.8

383
141.1
242.1

428
164.0
263.8

505
208.6
296.3

534
228.5
305.8

540
234.3
305.8

548
240.0
307.5

519
228.8
290.4

493
213. 5
279.3

447
183.0
264.1

428
178.1
250.3

2,088

2,016

1,932

1,857

1,898

1,975

2,066

2,097

2,086

2,081

2,013

1,921

1,871

895

852

807

763

798

839

892

905

906

905

870

827

797

1,192
1,174
1,180
1,176
1,143
1,094
1,164
1,193
1,125
1,094
1,100
1,136
1,074
294.0
296.6
267.4
292.2
293.7
285.7
278.7
290.1
284.7
287. 4 290.4
282.6
270.6
167.2
147.4
158.1
158.3
154.9
149.8
140.0
166.5
146.7
130.2
123.0
132. 5
132.8
137.6
138.7
135.8
133.7
131.0
127.6
140.1
139.4
138.3
138.7
128.6
139.0
140.0
593.9
593.0
597.9
583.5
600.1
558.6
579.9
555.5
541. 7
550.4
593.7
572.4
541.7
15,864

15, 839

15, 928

16, 022

Durable goods 1------------------- 8,960 8,959 8, 977 8,969
Nondurable goods J--------------- 6, 904 6,880 6,951 7,053
Ordnance and accessories---------------- 41 .8 3 9 .7 37 .6 35.5
Food and kindred products------------- 1,526 1,483 1,468 1,476
290.2
291.1
295.3
ATeat, products ______________
143.5
139.1
149.5
Dairy products_______________
153.6
150.0
162.7
Canning and preserving_________
126.4
122.7
125.7
G r a in - m ill p r o d u c t s ____________________
288.1
287.5
288.5
Pakery products______________
28.6
29 .3
28.8
______ - __________
Sugar
9 7 .2
90 .9
9 2 .4
Confectionery and related products__
210.0
213.4
213.8
Beverages
____ _________
138.1
135.0
134.5
Miscellaneous food products_______
85
81
83
Tobacco manufactures------- ----------- 81
2 5 .4
2 5 .6
25.7
Cigarettes ________________
41.1
3 9 .6
42 .0
Cigars
- __________ 12.1
12.1
12 .2
Tobacco and snuff_____________
4 .3
4 .6
4 .9
T o b a c c o stemming and redrving____
Textile-mill products....................... . 1,271 1,301 1,309 1,319
170.8
171.1
172.5
Yarn and thread mills __________
602 .2
596.6
597.0
Broad-woven fabric mills_______ _
256.1
250.4
241.3
Knitting mills _____ _________
87 .6
9 4 .0
Dyeincand finishing textiles______
9 0 .7
6 2 .2
58 .6
61.1
Carpets, rugs, other floor coverings__
137.3
141.7
137.8
Other textile-mill products________
Apparel and other finished textile prod
ucts------ ----- ------------------- 1,103 1,118 1,166 1,229
152.1
148.5
155.3
Men’s and boys’ suits and coats___
Men’s and boys’ furnishings and work
281.9
271.8
280.3
clothing
______________
299.9
339.8
283.8
Women’s outerwear__ ____ ___
99.1
105.5
107.8
Women’s, children’s undergarments..
2 5 .4
17.6
20.5
Millinery ________________
68.1
6 1 .9
65 .3
Children’s outerwear__ _____ _ __
9 4 .9
9 5 .9
94.1
Fur goods and miscellaneous apparel...
154.3
141.3
147.8
Other fabricated textile products____
Lumber and wood products (except fur822
785
803
niture)______ ... --------------- 824
56.1
70 .9
6 2 .0
Logging camps and contractors_____
457.1
470.9
Sawmills and planing mills_______
483.3
Millwork, plywood, and prefabricated
123.2
123.0
122.5
structural wood products_______
8 2 .3
83 .5
82.1
Wooden containers__ _ _______
64.91
6 5 .0
63 .5
Miscellaneous wood products______ ----See footnotes at end of table.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Oct. Sept. Aug.

912
104.1
3 7 .7
28.5
20.5

37 9 .0

45, 246 46, 595

N ov.

46,191

“Monbuilding construction__________
Highway and street___ ________
Other nnnhnilding construction_____
"Building construction____________
General contractors______________
Special-trade contractors__________
Plumbing and heating__________
Painting and decorating_________
Electrical work____ ___________
Other special-trade contractors____
M a n u f a c tu r in g _______________________________

Dec.

46,410

45, 960 45,850

45,390

Jan.

15, 978
8,877
7,101
3 3 .3

15, 784
8, 742
7,042
3 0 .8

15, 789
8, 717
7.072
29.7

15,765
8,664
7,101
29.0

15, 827
8, 618
7, 209
27.7

15,685
8,423
7,262
26.6

15,450
8, 294
7,156
25 .0

14,777
7,978
6,799
2 3 .7

14,666
7,964
6,702
23 .7

14, 884
8, 008
6, 876
2 4 .7

1,727
753
974
245.8
124.4
125.1
479.0
14,146
7,465
6,681
24 .8

1,739
1,718
1,519
1,576
1,643
1,617
1,499
1,534
1,542
1,523
1,478
292.6
296.6
295.6
288.6
300.8
295.7
295.8
305.7
299.4
31 2 .8
315.2
156.4
142.8
149.6
158.7
156. 5 144. 5
146.2
139.6
134.4
137.1
135. 2
177.0
253.2
329.1
250.4
353.1
202 .9
207.1
168. 5 197. 4
152. 5
157.0
129.4
125.9
124.3
125.2
128.4
128.6
123.9
120.6
127.5
127.4
124.6
292.2
290.4
290.9
287.7
289.3
283.7
285.9
281.7
288.1
286.3
285.7
3 3 .5
29.4
3 4 .5
30 .6
51.8
50.7
3 4 .5
32 .7
29.1
3 1 .8
4 4 .8
102.1
114.2
110.5
90 .0
90.4
110.2
9 6 .9
106.1
9 9 .5
9 9 .4
100.6
234.2
240.1
224.8
215.4
217.7
230.0
211.4
216.3
212.1
21 2 .2
211.7
144. 3
145.4
141.8
140.4
139.8
142.7
137.6
138.5
137.6
137.7
136.1
87
2 5 .8
42.3
12.1
6. 7

88
2 5 .9
4 1 .2
12 .0
8 .5

90
26.1
42.3
1 2 .0
9 .4

91
26.3
43.3
12.1
9 .3

96
26 .2
43.0
12.4
14.0

96
27.1
4 1 .7
12.5
15.2

89
25.6
40.7
12.1
11.4

82
26.1
38.9
11.8
5 .4

82
25.4
39 .5
12.0
5.1

88
2 5 .9
4 1 .2
12 .3
8 .8

94
2 6 .6
44.5
13 .0
10.1

1,264
1,355
1,347
1,316
1,250
1,357
1,224
1,297
1,365
1,352
1,352
156.4
169.5
164.4
156. 7
149.3
171.5
171.3
162.0
170.7
174.3
172.0
625.9
637.4
601.5
610.4
637.5
581.9
638.7
616.1
636.1
633.9
633.0
253.0
246.9
228.4
230.9
231.4
253.9
256.0
242.8
256.2
254.0
252.0
8 9 .2
8 6 .4
92 .6
84 .9
8 6 .4
93.3
9 3 .6
8 9 .7
9 4 .6
9 3 .5
93 .3
61 .3
6 0 .5
58.1
59.8
58.9
62 .4
6 1 .7
6 0 .6
62.4
62 .4
6 2 .2
133.2
129.2
120.3
119.8
135.5
116.0
136.7
125.7
141.7
137.3
138.9
1,221
1,208
1,093
1,175
1,218
1,097
1,159
1,136
1,237
1,184
1,190
148.5
151.4
152.4
140.6
141.5
151.2
152.4
148.3
155.4
151.9
152.7
277.7
352.7
107.4
26 .3
70.0
94 .4
152.9

269.6
338 .1
103.6
24.3
67.3
8 8 .7
146.0

269.5
329.9
106.6
21.4
6 5 .6
9 2 .2
146.5

271.8
308.4
110.9
18.4
65 .2
97.4
151.7

273.3
331.9
113. 2
2 2 .8
6 8 .9
101.2
157.2

272.3
340.0
111.1
23.4
68 .6
9 9 .0
152.5

270.4
340.3
105.9
2 3 .7
6 8 .5
9 6 .2
150.1

249.3
299.1
95 .8
20 .2
6 7 .2
8 6 .6
137.9

255.1
281.3
98.9
17.8
65.3
8 8 .6
137.8

263.2
320.3
105.4
2 2 .0
6 6 .5
8 9 .6
143.5

257.8
328.6
98 .9

800
6 9 .8
459.0

804
6 9 .5
460 .8

817
72.4
471.1

838
77.5
484.3

849
78.4
492.5

853
78.1
498.7

845
78.8
494.5

812
7 6 .2
474.6

803
73 .7
467.3

792
6 7 .9
461 .6

736
61 .4
431.7

122.8
8 3 .2
64 .8

12 6 .2
8 2 .8

128.0
8 1 .5
6 3 .9

129.9
82 .3
63 .8

131.0
82 .7
6 4 .0

130.4
8 1 .8
6 3 .9

129.5
7 9 .7
6 2 .0

124.9
77.5
5 9 .2

124.4
77.9
59.5

124.3
77 .7
6 0 .8

110.5
7 3 .3
5 9 .0

64.2

22.3

63 .4
88 .2
135.8

A: EMPLOYMENT AND PAYROLLS

208

MONTHLY LABOR

T a b l e A -2 : E m p loyees in N onagricultural E stablishm ents, b y Industry D ivision and Group 1— Con.

[In thousandsl
1951

Annual
average

1950

Industry group and industry
June
Manufacturing—Continued
Furniture and fixtures.-........... ..........
___ _____
Household furniture
Paper and allied products..................
P u l p , p a p fir, a n d p a p a r b n a r d m ills
P a p a r b o a rd nonta in p.rs a n d bm res

M ar.

Feb.

Jan.

Dec. Nov.

Oct. Sept. Aug. July June

1950

1949

315
2 2 0 .0
94 6

340

350
241.5
108.9

367
257.5
109. 7

374
265.0
109.1

373
265.1
107.6

370
2 6 2.9
106.8

374
266.5
107.0

376
270.5
105. 8

378
270.9
107.1

376
26 9 .0
107.1

367
262.1
104 9

350
249.5
100.0

349
249.8
99. 5

357
255.5
101.5

501

498
246.3
137.4
114.3

500
245.6
138.9
115.5

498
242.2
139.3
116.0

496
242.2
139.4
114.7

496
2 4 2.4
13 9 .5
114.3

499
244 5
140.9
113 8

500
242.8
141.9
114.9

491
241.7
140.0
109. 5

488
241. 5
137.4
109.2

479
238.6
131.7
109.1

465
234. 8
123. 4
106.4

467
235.2
124.2
107.6

472
235 8
128 5

757
297.3
52 .4
49 .0
204.8
40.9
112.5

757
296.3
52.7
49.1
205.0
41.1
112.6

760
297.1
52.8
49.3
206.9
41.1
112.8

758
296.7
5 2 .8
4 8 .8
2 0 6.2
4 0 .9
112.8

758
295.5
5 3 .0
4 8 .1
2 0 7.3
40.8
113.2

765
298.9
53.1
4 8 .6
207.4
42 .0
114.5

759
295. 9
53.3
48.4
205.3
42.4
113.7

754
292.9
52 .8
48.4
204.8
42.1
113.1

746
295.1
51. 5
48.4
200.1
41.1
110.0

741
292.7
51.8
47 .8
198.8
40.5
108.9

739
295.1
5 1 .7
4 6 .2
198.1
40 .0
108.2

739
295.0
51.4
46.3
199.6
40 .0
106.8

742
81 .8
225.1
106.2
76. 5
36 .3
48 .9
166.7

748
8 1 .5
224.0
105.5
75.7
40 .0
51 .6
169.8

748
80.1
221. 7
104.8
76.0
42 .4
53.4
169.3

738
79 .4
216.9
103.7
75 .5
3 9 .9
55.1
167. 5

729
78. 5
214. 5
101.1
73.1
37. 5
5 7 .6
166.3

724

720
76.6
208.8
99. 5
74 .0
32 .9
6 1 .9
166. 4

701
69.3
206.4
98.4
74.2
32 .7
54.3
165. 4

684
68 .3
203.6
96 .7
73 .5
29.6
48 .7
164. 0

669
70 3
199. 8

670
72 9
198. 4

686
71 .5

29 Q
59! 2
164 8

720
77.1
211.3
100.2
73 .7
32.1
60 .9
164.6

28.3
46.8
155 6

30. 2
48 .2
154. 9

54. 5

259
206. 9
21. 6
30. 4

257
205.3
21. 4
3 0 .6

257
204 7
21 4
30. 5

256
204.1
21.3
30.1

254
2 0 2.3
2 1 .3
30 .1

254
201.6
21 2
31. 2

254
201.5
21 .2
3 0 .8

252
199.3
21.4
31 .3

251
198.1
2 1 .5
31 .2

254
200. 5
21.4
3 2 .5

241
189.0
21.1
30. 5

239
187.8
21.1
30.1

245
194.6
20 8
29 5

245
198. 7
19 5
27.1

271
112. 7
30.8
127.9

270
111.8
30 .3
128.2

271
112. 5
30. 6
128.3

273
114.6
3 0 .8
128.0

273
115.1
30.1
127.5

272
116.1
29.1
127.0

272
117.2
28 .5
126.6

269
115.7
2 8 .0
125.3

265
115.2
26 .9
122.5

258
112.8
25. 7
119.1

249
111.3
24.1
113.6

247
110.8
24 .2
112.4

252
110 9
25 6
114 9

234
106 6
26. 4
100 5

370
47. 5
232.9
89. 4

393
49 .0
2 4 7.6
96.0

410
50. 6
259.6
99. 3

413
51 .8
261.7
9 9 .2

403
51.8
256.8
94. 5

398
Ï 51 .9
251.7
94. 0

399
i'51 8
248.4
9 8 .6

406
51. 4
253.4
101. 5

411
51.9
259.5
99.6

409
51.1
260.4
97. 5

390
49. 5
252.8
88.1

382
49.6
247.2
84. 9

394
50 5
252! 3

559
147.9
42 .6
91 .2
60. 4
100.8
116.4

559
148. 5
42.3
90.4
61.0
100.6
116.1

554
146. 9
42.3
8 8 .5
61.1
99.3
116.0

547
143.9
4 1 .9
8 7 .5
6 0 .9
97 .4
115.6

548
143.8
4 2 .0
8 8 .2
6 0 .4
97 .8
115.3

548
144. 6
42 .4
87 .2
60. 8
9 8 .2
114.3

550
145.6
42. 7
88 .0
60. 9
98 .3
113. 7

544
144.1
43.1
8 7 .9
68.1
9 8 .5
112. 5

532
133.8
42. 4
88 .0
58.8
98.1
110. 5

532
137 9
43 .3
87. 2
67. 4
98 .3
107. 4

512
130. 8
41. 7
85 2
65 3

511
134
42.
83
66

512
133 5
42 1

O t h e r p a p a r a n d a llia d p r o d u c t s

Printing, publishing, and alliedindustries. 760
Newspapers......... ............... ..........
Periodicals__________ _______
Books _________ ___________
Commercial printing ___ _____
Lithographing...... ....... ............... .
Other printing and publishing_____
745
Chemicals and allied products...........
Industrial inorganic chemicals.........
Industrial organic chemicals.... ........
______
Drugs and medicines.
Paints, pigments, and fillers______
Fertilizers..... ................. ...........
Vegetable and animal oils and fats__
Other chemicals and allied products...
Products of petroleum and coal........ .
261
Petroleum refining........................
Coke and byproducts.... .................
Other petroleum and coal products__
Rubber products.............................. 276
Tires and inner tubes......................
Rubber footwear..... ................... .
Other rubber products........ ...........
Leather and leather products........... .
380
Leather__ _____________ ___
Footwear (except rubber)................
Other leather products...................
Stone, clay, and glass products...........
559
Glass and glass products.................
Cement, hydraulic..... ...................
Structural clay products...................
Pottery and related products______
Concrete, gypsum, and plaster products.
Other stone, clay, and glass products...
Primary metal industries.................... 1, 347
Blast furnaces, steel works, and rolling
mills_____ ___ _________ ___
Iron and steel foundries...................
Primary smelting and refining of nonferrous metals.............................
Rolling, drawing, and alloying of nonferrous metals.............................
Nonferrous foundries.....................
Other primary metal industries
Fabricated metal products (except ordnance, machinery, and transportation equipment)....... ................... 1,019
Tin cans and other tinware..............
Cutlery, hand tools, and hardware__
Heating apparatus (except electric) and
plumbers' supplies......... ............
Fabricated structural metal products.
Metal stamping, coating, and engraving
Other fabricated metal products.......
Machinery (except electrical)............... 1, 611
Engines and turbines............ .........
Agricultural machinery and tractors...
Construction and mining machinery...
Metalworking machinery........ .......
8pecial-industry machinery (except
metalworking machinery).............
General industrial machinery...........
Office and store machines and devices..
Service-industry and household machines............... ................
Miscellaneous machinery parts.......... —
See footnotes at end of table.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Apr.

M ay

1,343

1, 343

1,331

1,341

1, 327

1,318

.

1,301

1,289

1,276

1,256

447

226 9
117 1
103 1

107 7
743

727
2 8 2.5
53 .4
44 .6
197. I
41.1
1 0 8.0

293.3
52.1
4 6 .7
200.8
40. 7
108.9

664
68 4
192 1
92 3
67 3
34 3
56.1
153 0

95.9 94.2
72.7 71. 5

4
6
0
0

388
49. 7
2 5 1.0
87 2

91 1

484
122 6
41 8
79 8
57 5
84! 6
97 1

82 4
57 9
95.5 93.9 92! 2
101. 4
IO3 5
103. 5
1,222 1,216 1,220 1,101

646.8
283.1

643. 5
282.1

643
279.9

.4

640.1
274.8

640.3
270.8

638.1
267. 5

635. 6
262.5

633. 7
255.4

632. 6
250.2

630 6
241.2

621 4
229.7

616 4
227.7

614 1
23l! 8

55.3

56.3

56.6

56. f

56. S

56.6

54.8

55.5

64.8

55.1

54.3

55 .2

54.6

99 .2
110.8
147.6

102. Í
110.8
147.1

104. C
110. 7
146.0

104.3
110.7
144.4

104.3
110.1
144.1

104.1
109.6
141.8

102.9
106 6
138.9

102 3
104 8
137.6

100. 7
136.2

99 6
96 0
m !

96 0
92 1
128.7

96 2
91 4
!

96 9
93 0
I !8

129 2 29

118! 4

996
55.5
163.1

972
55.8
156.7

929
51.3
153.0

923
48 .6
156.2

933
48.
156.9

859
45 .8
142.3

164 1
209.9
182.9
220.6

168 8

147 2

179.3
211 6

172.7
203 1

198! 0
170.7
201 2

201.4
169. 8

198.5
147.9

1,022
1,016
1,034
1,017
1,025
1,013
1, 031
1,018
4 8 .2
50 .7
49. 1
49.4
50 .2
48 .9
51.4
51. (
168.3
168.4
163.8
165.8
168.0
167.1
166.1
168.8
158. 4
230.0
188.6
235.0

161. 1
228.5
193.2
235.7

162 7
225.9
192. Í
234. 5

1 6 0 .4
222.7
190.8
232. (

158. 6
2 2 0.4
187.4
230. C

161 9
219.8
186.6
220 2

1,557
1,598
1,528
1,588
1, 579
1,492
83.3
8 3 .2
81 2
89.
88.3
85. 7
189.7
193.2
186.8
193.3
192.1
175.4
119. 1 117. 6
114. C 112 4
117. 0 115.5
277.2
288.8
285.8
268.1
282.6
2 5 9.4

i

1,459

78.8
164.4
110. 9
2 5 1.6

164 4
216.7
184.8
229.1

1,368
1,426
72 9
70 2
163.5
140.5
108 9
106 6
242.9
233 5

.4 180. 6 178. 2 174 6
203 0
197 G
207.1
99.2 97.9 95.9 94.4

196. 7
226.9
104.7

196.2
226. 1
103.4

194.8
224.1
102.3

192.8
219.0
101.4

188.5
216.4
100.0

183
212. 2

178. C

1 7 8 .4
199.1

184. 1
195.9

184.3
193.0

181. 7
188.9

182.6
186.1

201.2

163. 4
219.3
185.6
230. 7

101.9

185 5
182.4

182 0
178.2

180 1
171.4

9

210.3 201.3

1,374 1,343
74 8

72 8

1,341

217! 0
52.3

87 0

4

1,352

1,311

80! 5 172. 4
99 1
98 1 100 7
222.1 212.0 212! 3 220.2
179.5
101 6

18 o !l

I

168 6
191 7
90Í8

165 3
185 0
89* 5

165 4

178 6
166.3

178 8

ms

so ! 3

167 6
188 5
!

909

176 2
158.5

162!7

181.3
208.7
171 8
90.6

153. 2

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

A: EMPLOYMENT AND PAYROLLS

209

T a b l e A -2 : E m p loyees in N onagricultural E stablishm ents, b y In du stry D ivision and Group

Con.

[In thousands]
1951

Industry group and industry
June

Manufacturing—Continued
Electrical machinery..... ...................
912
Electrical generating, transmission,
distribution, and industrial appa­
ratus..........................................
Electrical equipment for vehicles........
Communication equipment............. .
Electrical appliances, lamps, and mis­
cellaneous products.......................
Transportation equipment............ .
1,531
Automobiles......._.......... ...........
Aircraft and parts...................... .
Aircraft..... ........... .. ..............
Aircraft engines and parts__........
Aircraft propellers and parts.......
Other aircraft parts and equipment..
Ship and boat building and repairing..
Ship building and repairing *......
Boat building and repairing___
Railroad equipment....... ............
Other transportation equipment__
Instruments and related products.....
298
Ophthalmic goods....... ..............
Photographic apparatus...............
Watches and clocks.......................
Professional and scientific instruments.
Miscellaneous manufacturing industries. 477
Jewelry, silverware, and plated ware..
Toys and sporting goods..................
Costume jewelry, buttons, notions__
Other miscellaneous manufacturing
industries..................................
Transportation and public utilities________ 4,164
Transportation.......................................... 2,924

Annua!

1950

average

May Apr. Mar. Feb.

Jan.

Dec. Nov.

Oct.

Sept. Aug.

July June

1950

1949

928

924

936

915

872

817

836

759

937

944

931

929

853

810

367.9 362.3 359.0 352.8 349.0 349.5 344.7 341.5 323.5 323.9 313.8 308.2 317.3 295 2
81. 8 80. 7 79.4 78.7 77.9 77.4 75. ( 75. ( 73.3 70.9 70.0 68.9
04 5
327.7 342.0 353.4 347.3 345.1 355.9
354.6 345.5 326.6 318.1 297.0 296.1 309.2 27L1
150.3 151.7 152.3 152.6 151.8 153.3 154.1 152.8 149.0 139.6 136.2 136.6 139.8 128.3
,512 1,514 1,527 1,493 1,425 1,404 1,380 1,394 1,365 1,347 1,297 1,305 1, 273 1 212
894.6 909.8 935.6 925.8 897.6 895.7 887.7 922.7 913.3 907.9 883.7 893. 4 339 4 ' 769 0
42b. 3 414.1 400.0 382.7 354.2
339. 1 323.4 305.1 286.0 272.8 259.3 256. 4 275.4 255 fi
286.9 279. 7 271.4 258.2 236.7 228.2
205. C 195.8 183.7 172.8 170.5 184.2 169 7
84.3 81. 2 77.2 74.6 70.4 66.6 217.5
60.1 52.5 54.1 52.8 52.1 54.5 61.8
10.4 10.2 9.5 9.4 9.3 9.1 63.4
8.9
8.5 8.2 7.5 7.7 7.8 8.1 7.9
44.7 43.0 41.9 40.5 37.8 35.2 33.6 31.5
27.5 26.0 26.0 28.7 26.2
108.8 108.3 109.5 108.9 96.5 91.9 88.9 88.6 29.5
89.1 91.7 81.2 80.9 84
4 ion a
94. 2 93.7 95.0 94. 4 82.4 77.8 75.5 75.3 75.8
78.4
66.4 71 4 88 2
14.6 14.6 14. 5 14. 5 14.1 14.1 13.4 13.3 13.3 13.3 67.4
12 1
13.8
14.5
13
0
71.6 69. 7 68.6 62.2 66.3
65.9 64.3 63.0 61.8
63.5 62. 2 7fi 1
11.1 11.9 13. 2 13.2 12.3 66.1
13.1 13.6 13.7 13.4 12.9 61.3
11.6 11.1 11.4 10.9
296 294 290 286 280 280 277 272 265 252 242 243 250 238
28.0 27.8 27. 5
26.9 26.7 26.2 25.6 25.1
24.8 25.4 26.8
58.4 58.2 57.8 57.0 27.2
55.6 55.5 55.1 54.6 53.9 52.8 24.8
51.0 50.1 51.3 52.6
33.9 34.5 34.2 34.0 33.3
33.9
33.7
32.8
31.6
28.0
27.8
28.1
30.1 31.4
175.3 173.3 170.0 167.4 164.1 164.0 161.1 158.1 153.5 146.0 138.1 139.8 143.4
127.1
486 500 508 504 489 500 508 510 493 471 430 439 459 426
52.8 55.1 56.8 58.2 57.3 57.5 58.2 58.2 57.2 55.4 51.1 52.8 54.8
76.7 78.3 78.0 76.1 71.5 75.8 82.0 84.5 81.3 78.9 71.5 72.6 73.3 55.4
55.6 60.7 64.5 65.1 62.0
61.5 64.3 65.7 63.7 61.1 52. 1 52.4 58.2 68.7
57.7
301.2 305.7 308.6 304.5 298.3 305.2 303.1 301.7 290.8 276.0 254.8 261.3 272.3 243.8
4,139 4,132 4,112 4,082 4, 072 4,125 4,123 4,132 4,139 4,120 4,062 4,023 4. 010 3 979
2,907 2,893 2,866
2,908 2,911 2, 912 2,913 2,891
2,813 2,801 2, 756
Interstate railroads..................................
,466 1,462 1,451 1,429 2,858
1,428 1,460 1, 465 1,462 1. 458 1,441 2,839
1,414 1,407 1,390 1 3fi7
Class I railroads............................ ......
1,286 1, 274 1, 253 1,253
1,292 1. 291 1,283 1,272 1,246 1, 240 i,220 1,191
Local railways and bus lines......... ........
144 144 144 144 145 1,277
145 145 145 146 146 148 147 148 158
Trucking and warehousing....................
619 624 626 624 616 622
617 621 621 614 589 577 584 548
Other transportation and services....... .
683 677 672 669 669
681
684 688 690 689 682
684
A ir tra n s p o rta tio n (com m on c a rrie r)..
78.1 76.9 76.1 75.1 74.6 684
74.2 74.4 74.7 74.5 75.7 74.6 679
74.4 76.7
Com munication...................................... 685
681 680 675 671 668 670 664
670
671
671
667
662
663
686
Telephone___________ ___________
631.5 630.1 625.9 622.6 618.4 620.3 614.8 620.9 621.6 622.9 619.5 614.6 614.8 632.2
Telegraph_____________ _________
48.8 48.5 47.8 47.9 48.3 48.6 48.0 47.9 48.0 47.2 46.7 46.7 47.2 52.5
Other public utilities.................................. 555
546 545 544 545 546
547 548 550 555 558 556
546 537
Gas and electric utilities........................
520.7 519.3 519.1 519.9 521.0
522.2 523.6 525.1 529.5 531.7 530.4 548
522.3 520.6 512.0
Electric light and power utilities.......
232.2 231.6 231.5 232.3 232.0 232.5
234.0 236.6 238.6 238.4 235.2 234.0 233.5
Gas utilities......................... ................
116.0 115.6 115.6 115.8 116.4 117.2 233.2
117.6 118.1 118.6 118.0 117.6 115.5 114.9
Electric light and gas utilities com­
bined....... .........................................
172.5 172.1 172.0 171.8 172.6 172.5 172.7 173.0 174.3 175.1 174.4 171.6 171.6
Local utilities..........................................
25.4 24.6 24. 7 24.8 24.6 24.7 24.8 25.4 25.9 25.7 25.6 25.2 24.6
Trade.............................................. ................ 9,695 9,670 9,618 9,713 9, 554 9, 592 10, 443 9, 896
9,752 9,641 9,474 9, 390 9,411 9, 524 9,438
Wholesale trade__ ________ _____ 2,577 567 2,579
2, 593 2,587 2,616 2, 618 2, 625
2,605 2,582 2, 528 2,502 2, 544 2, 522
Retail trade...................................... 7,118 103 7, 039 2,590
7,123
6,961
7,005
7,827
7,278
7,127
7,036 6,892 5,862 6,909 5| 980 ft' 91fi
General merchandise stores............... ,459 465 1,446
1,431 1,459 2,052 1,654 L,539 1,474
1,387 1,372 l' 411 1, 493 1,480
Food and liquor stores................. . ,270 267 1, 262 11,512
, 264 1,257 1,244 1,264 l, 242 l, 219 1,210 1,200
1,205 l, 209 1,198
Automotive and accessories dealers__ 746 742 738 736 735 743 753 746 741 743 749 1,203
746 733 728 676
Apparel and accessories stores..... ...... 546 551 543 574 515
523 642 565 555 540 491 501
536 536 554
Other retail trade______________ !,097 078 3,050 13,037 3,023 3,036
3,116 3,071 3,073 3,069 3,065 3,040 3,024
3,014 3,008
See footnotes at end of table.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

A: EMPLOYMENT AND PAYROLLS

210

MONTHLY LABOR

T a b l e A -2 : E m p loyees in N onagricultural E stablishm ents, b y Industry D ivision and Group 1— Con.

[In thousands]
1950

1951
Industry group and industry
June May Apr. Mar. Feb.

Jan.

Dec. Nov.

Oct. Sept. Aug. July June

Annual
average
1950

1949

Finance............ ............................... . 1, 893 1,875 1, 865 1,854 1,839 1,831 1, 828 1,820 1, 821 1,827 1,837 1, 831 1,827 1.812 1,763
452 451 449 446 441 439 436 433 433 435 432 427 427 416
Banks and trust companies..................
Security dealers and exchanges______
63.8 63.9 63.9 63.4 62.0 61.3 61.1 60.8 60.9 61.4 61.3 60.0 59.6 55.5
Insurance carriers and agents_______
664 662 662 657 653 655 651 651 654 658 652 646 646 619
Other finance agencies and real estate...
695 688 679 673 675 673 672 676 679 683 686 694 680 672
Service..................... .......................... 4, 830 4, 787 4, 743 4, 682 4,657 4, 666 4, 694 4, 723 4, 757 4, 816 4, 827 4, 841 4, 826 4,761 4,782
Hotels and lodging places__________
451 445 435 4,32 429 430 433 441 475 512 515 482 456 464
357.8 352.6 351.3 350.9 353.6 353.3 353.1 355.5 357.5 358.6 363.4 362.1 353. 5 352.2
Laundries___________________
Cleaning and dyeing plants............ .
158.6 153.1 150.4 145.1 145.8 146.8 149.2 151.1 150.0 147.1 151.6 155.9 147.5 146.9
Motion pictures________________
250 249 243 240 242 242 243 244 246 244 245 249 241 237
Government........................................ 6, 373 6, 377 6, 292 6,217 6, 122 6,088 6, 376 6,037 6,039 6,004 5,793 5, 741 5, 832 5,910 5,811
Federal5 ... _____________ ___ 2,271 2,244 2,201 2,146 2,085 2,027 2, 333 1,980 1,948 1,916 1,841 1,820 1,851 1, 910 1,900
State and local9________________ 4,102 4,133 4,091 4,071 4,037 4,061 4,043 4,057 4,091 4,088 3,952 3,921 3,981 4,000 3,911
1The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ series of employment in nonagricultural
establishments are based upon reports submitted by cooperating establish­
ments and, therefore, differ from employment information obtained by
household interviews, such as the Monthly Report on the Labor Force
(table A-l), in several important respects. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’
data cover all full- and part-time employees in private nonagricultural estab­
lishments who worked during, or received pay for, the pay period ending
nearest the 15th of the month; in Federal establishments during the pay
period ending just before the first of the month; and in State and local govern­
ment during the pay period ending on or just before the last of the month,
while the Monthly Report on the Labor Force data relate to the calendar
week which contains the 8th day of the month. Proprietors, self-employed
persons, domestic servants, and personnel of the Armed Forces are excluded
from the BLS but not the MRLF series. These employment series have
been adjusted to bench-mark levels indicated by social insurance agency
data through 1947. Revised data in all except the first f o u r columns will be
identified by asterisks the first month they are published.
3Includes: ordnance and accessories; lumber and wood products (except
furniture); furniture and fixtures; stone, clay, and glass products; primary


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

metal industries; fabricated metal products (except ordnance, machinery,
and transportation equipment); machinery (except electrical); electrical
machinery; transportation equipment; instruments and related products;
and miscellaneous manufacturing industries.
3Includes: food and kindred products; tobacco manufactures; textile-mill
products; apparel and other finished textile products; paper and allied
products; printing, publishing, and allied industries; chemicals and allied
products; products of petroleum and coal; rubber products; and leather and
leather products.
* ©ata by region, from January 1940, are available upon request to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics.
8Fourth class postmasters (who are considered to be nominal employees)
are excluded here but are included in Table A-5.
6Excludes as nominal employees paid volunteer firemen, employees hired
to conduct elections, and elected officials of small local governments.
All series may be obtained upon request to the Bureau of Labor Statis­
tics. Requests should specify which industry series are desired.

A: EMPLOYMENT AND PAYROLLS

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

211

T a b l e A -3 : Production W orkers in M ining and M anufacturing Industries 1
[In thousands]

1951

Annual
average

1950

Industry group and industry
June May Apr.
Mining:

Metal . __________________
Iron
______________
Copper
_________________
Lead and zinc _______________
Anthracite . ________________
Bituminous-coal _ ______________
Crude petroleum and natural gas production:
Petroleum and natural gas production
(except contract services)
Nonmetallic mining and quarrying___

Mar. Feb.

Jan.

Dec. Nov.

Oct. Sept. Aug.

July June

1950

1949

91.7 91.9 93.2 93.6 93.2 92.7 90.9 89.7 91.1 90.8 91.4 90.0 89 4 89 0
33.7 33.0 32.6 32.7 32.6 32.4 32.6 32.8 33.4 33.4 32.9 32.4 31 9 30 4
24.9 25.3 25.6 25.7 25.7 25.5 24.9 24.6 24.8 24.8 24.9 24.7 24. 8 24 3
17.9 18.2 19.0 19.0 18.7 18.4 17.7 17.4 17.9 17.5 18.0 17.4 17. 2 18 1
66.1 63.6 67.9 68.4 68.4 68. 5 69.8 69.9 70.5 70.8 69.2 70.8 70 6 72 8
353.2 357.8 372.2 377.0 377.4 380. 6 379.6 381.5 381.8 383.0 357.6 385.0 351.0 373.4

125.7 125.0 124.0 123.2 122. 7 124 7 124.1 126.0 128.3 130.3 129. 7 127.7 195 7 197 1
93.1 90.4 86.8 84.7 85.2 86.0 89.4 89.6 90.2 90.6 88.8 87.6 85.2 83!7
Manufacturing________________________ 12,989 12, 991 13, 090 13,189 13,186 13, 018 13, 056 13,044 13,133 13,016 12, 802 12,151 12,086 12, 284 11,597
Durable goods * . . . ............ ....... 7,391 7,404 7, 428 7, 428 7,371 7, 256 7, 254 7, 210 7,186 7,013 6,900 6, 597 6,596 6,622 6,096
Nondurable goods ............ ..... 5,598 5,587 5,662 5, 761 5, 815 5, 762 5,802 5,834 5, 957 6,003 5,902 5, 554 5,470 5,642 5,501
Ordnance and accessories................... . 33.6 32.1 30.3 28.7 27.0 25.0 23.6 23.3 22.3 21.6 20.1 19.0 18.9 19.8 20.2
Food and kindred products........... ..... 1,135 1,098 1,086 1,096 1,099 1,120 1,155 1,196 1,260 1,350 1,331 1,231 1,141 1,168 1,172
229.2 229.1 233.3 237. 7 250 8 253 7 244.3 240.0 235.7 235.8 234.8 232.0 935 9 931 3
Meat, products
109.0 103.1 99.0 95.2 94. 6 96. 9 100.4 101.9 107.4 113.7 116.1 114. 4 104 4 107 9
Dairy products
Harming and preserving
136.5 128.1 124.6 127. 2 131.6 142. 7 171.4 226.3 324.2 302.1 222.8 150.6 176 9 180 8
90.2 93.8 95.2 95.4 95. 4 93 1 93.2 96.8 98.1 97.7 95.9 94.6 94 9 95 3
Grain-mill products
Bakery products
189.5 189.9 190.0 188.3 187. 8 190 4 193.4 196.3 194.3 192. 2 193.9 190.7 1915 191 9
24.1 23.5 23.8 24.3 27.0 39. 9 46.5 45.8 29.5 28.8 26.0 24.7 99 9 98 5
Sugar
74.0 75.6 80.3 82.6 83 8 89 4 93.5 97.2 93.2 85.4 73.6 73.8 83 1 83 0
Confectionery and related products
B e v e ra g e s
146.0 143.6 146.6 145.4 146. 8 146 1 148. 8 149.4 159.4 169.3 163.5 156. 5 149 1 150 6
99.1 99.2 102.8 102. 4 101 7 102 6 104.4 106.6 108. 5 106.1 104.1 103.3 109 6 103 8
Miscellaneous food products
74
74
76
78
84
80
89
89
82
Tobacco manufactures___________
75
75
80
83
81
87
22.9 23.1 23.3 23.3 23.3 23 5 23.7 23. 7 24. 5 23.1 23. 4 22.8 93 3 94 1
Cigarettes
37.5 38.9 39.9 40.1 39.0 40 2 41.2 41.0 39.5 38.6 36.8 37. 3 39 1 49 4
Cigars
____________
10.5 10.5 10.7 10. 5 10 6 10 5 10.5 11.0 11.1 10.7 10.4 10. 5 10 8 11 5
Tobacco and snuff
Tobacco stemming and redrying
3.5 3.8 4.2 5.9 7.4 8 3 8.3 13.0 14.2 10. 4 4 5 4 2 7 8 9 0
Textile-mill products. __________ 1,175 1,206 1,214 1,223 1,269 1,257 1,258 1,262 1,264 1,255 1,224 1,160 1,174 1,206 1,136
159.8 160.2 161.8 163. 6 161 5 159 9 160.9 160. 7 159.2 154.4 146. 5 146.4 151 8 140 3
Yarn and thread mills
571.5 566.0 564. 4 604.3 602. 0 603. 5 606.3 607.4 606.2 594.6 570.8 579.9 585.6 551 4
Broad-woven fabric mills ___
Knitting mills
221.7 230.4 236.4 235.9 232.1 233 9 233.9 236.3 233.3 227.1 209. 4 211.7 223 6 213 4
80.2 77.5 83.9 84.4 83.3 83 3 83.4 83.7 82.8 79.6 75. 4 76.7 80 1 76 9
Dyeing and finishing textiles
Carpets, rugs, other floor coverings
50.5 53.0 54.3 54.6 54. 5 54 9 55.0 54. 5 54.1 53.3 51.0 52.7 53 3 51 9
121.8 126.6 122.6 126.5 123.7 122.7 122.3 121.3 119.3 115.4 106.6 106.5 111.9 102!8
Other textile-mill products............. . —
Apparel and other finished textile products... ----------------------------- 986 1,000 1,046 1,106 1,115 1,070 1,064 1,056 1,100 1,099 1,089 981 976 1, 042 1,022
Men’s and boys’ suits and coats
134.6 138.1 141.0 141.1 138.4 137.4 137.0 138.2 137.4 138.2 126.9 134.6 134.3 128.1
Men’s and boys’ furnishings and work
253.0 261.2 262.7 258.8 251. C 251. 2 253.3 254. 2 253.8 252.0 231.9 237.8 245.3 239 8
clothing
249.7 265.7 305.1 317.4 303.3 296 2 274.8 297.0 305.3 306.6 265.6 247.9 286.8 294 3
Women’s outerwear
89.1 94.9 97.2 97.0 93.1 96.1 100. 5 102.5 100.4 95.9 85. 8 88. 6 95 2 89 4
Women,s, children’s undergarments
15.1 17.9 22.8 23.7 21. 7 18.9 15.9 20.1 20.7 20.9 Î7.6 15.3 19. 4 19 5
Millinery __________________
56.4 59.6 62.1 64.2 61 8 59.9 59. 6 63.1 62. 5 62. 6 61.3 59. 2 60. 7 58 0
Children’s outerwear __
82.8 83.3 84.2 82. 6 76.9 80.3 85.3 89.0 87. 5 85.1 75. 9 77.2 78. 4 76 5
Fur goods and miscellaneous apparel
119.2 125.7 131.3 130.4 124.0 124. 4 130.0 135.5 131.1 128.1 116.0 115.8 121.7 115! 8
Other fabricated textile products __
Lumber and wood products (except furniture).. _________ _______ 759 757 740 722 736 739 754 773 785 790 783 750 741 730 676
Logging camps and contractors____
67.0 58.2 52.1 65.4 64. Ç 67. 9 73.0 73.8 73.6 74. 4 71.4 69.4 63. 5 57.6
Sawmills and planing mills ______
449.5 439.8 426.0 427.8 429. 4 440.0 452.3 461.5 467.8 464.6 443.9 436.8 431.1 401.3
Millwork, plywood, and prefabricated
107.4 107.7 107.4 107.1 110.3 112. 4 113.8 114.8 114.4 113.7 109.1 108. 5 108. 5 95. 7
structural wood products _______
76.2 76.1 77 .4 77.3 76. 9 75. 8 76.5 77.1 76.1 74.1 72.1 72.4 72.2 67.9
Wooden containers
_____
Miscellaneous wood products______
57.3 58.5 58.7 58.4 57.9 57.4 57.4 57.7 57.6 55.8 53.1 53.5 54.8 5 3 1
Furniture and fixtures____________ 293 303 319 326 324 321 326 327 329 327 319 303 303 311 272
Household furniture________ ___
213.0 227.9 236.1 235.4 233. 7 238. 4 241. 5 241. £ 240. 2 234.2 221. 8 222. 3 227.9 194. 8
Other furniture and fixtures..............
89.9 90.6 90.0 88.5 87.6 87.1 85.7 86.9 86.9 85.2 80.7 80.4 82.6 77.6
See footnotes at end of table..


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

—

A: EMPLOYMENT AND PAYROLLS

212

MONTHLY LABOR

T a b l e A -3 : P rod u ction W orkers in M ining and M anufacturing Industries y— Continued

[In thousands]
1951

Annual
average

1950

Industry group and industry
June May Apr. Mar.

Feb.

Jan.

Dec. Nov.

Oct. Sept. Aug.

July June

1950

1949

Manufacturing—Continued
Paper and allied products. .................. 427 425 427 424 423 423 428 427 421 418 410 396 399 404 382
213.1 212.5 209. ] 209. Í 209.2 212.3 210. 7 210.3 209.9 207.4 204. 1 204 8 205. 1 197 fi
Pulp, papor, and paperboard mills
117.2 118.9 119.0 119.1 119. 6 121.3 122.0 120. 4 118.2 113.1 104.6 105. 7 109.8 99 fi
Paperboard eontainers and boxes
94.2 95.3 95.6 94.5 94. 5 94.5 94.3 90. 5 90.2 89.9 87. 5 88. 9 88.8 85 2
Other paper and allied products
Printing, publishing, and allied industries. 511 509 509 512 510 510 518 515 514 510 504 499 500 503 495
152.2 150.8 150. C 149.6 148. S 152.4 150.3 149. 7 151.1 149.6 149. 6 150.1 148.6 141. 2
Newspapers
34.5 35.4 35.6 35.2 34.6 35.0 35.0 35. 1 35. 2 34.5 34. 1 33. 7 34.7 3fi 0
Periodicals
35.7 36.0 36.3 36.1 35.8 36.7 36.6 36.6 37.2 36.4 34.6 35.3 35.7 36. 4
Books
167.7 167.9 169.7 169.5 170.0 171.1 170. 2 170.2 166.5 165.0 164. 4 165. 7 166.6 164 4
Commercial printing
31.8 32.0 32.2 31.8 31.7 32.9 33.3 33.0 32. 5 31.8 31. 2 31. 2 31.7 31 9
Lithographing
87.2 87.3 87.7 88.0 88.6 89.9 89.6 89.2 87.0 86. 2 85. 4 84. 1 85.8 85 3
Other printing and publishing
Chemicals and allied products____ __ 529 530 537 539 532 526 524 521 523 506 491 479 482 496 485
59.5 59. £ 58.6 58.1 57.3 57.1 56.5 55.9 49.7 48. S 51. 2 54. 1 52.9 52. 3
Industrial inorganic chemicals
169.5 168.2 166.7 163.3 162.8 161.9 160. 2 159. 1 157.7 154. 8 151. 5 150.0 151.8 145. 8
Industrial organic chemicals... ......
69.9 69. 5 69.3 68.6 66.9 67. 4 66. 4 65.8 64.9 63. 4 62. 5 61 8 62 7 fiO8
Drugs and medicines
49.8 49.7 49.6 49.5 47. 5 48.3 48. 2 48. 7 48. 7 48. 6 47. 7 46 9 46 8 43 3
Paints, pigments, and fillers
29.5 33.4 35.6 33.2 30.9 26.5 25. 7 26.6 26. 4 23.3 22. 1 23 9 27 8 28 fi
Fertilizers
37.3 40.1 42.1 43.9 45.5 47.6 49.6 50. 8 43.5 38. 2 36. 2 37. 6 43. 8 4fi 1
Vegetable, and animal oil and fats
114.8 116.6 116.8 115.4 115.1 114.7 114.6 115.8 115.0 113.8 108.1 108. 1 110.3 108.4
Other chemicals and allied products__ —
Products of petroleum and coal........... 197 194 194 192 191 190 191 191 190 189 193 182 181 185 188
150.8 150.3 149.0 148.2 147.1 147.3 147. 5 146. 6 144. 6 147. 4 138. 5 137. 8 142. 8 148 8
Petroleum refining
18.8 18.6 18.5 18.4 18. 5 18.4 18. 4 18.6 18. 7 18.7 18. 5 18. 5 18 1 Ifi 9
Coke and byproducts
24.4 24.7 24.5 24.3 24.3 25.0 24.6 25.1 25.3 26. 4 24. 9 24. 6 23 9 22 fi
Other petroleum and coal products
Rubber products.___ ___ ________ 223 220 219 220 222 222 222 222 219 215 208 200 199 203 186
88.6 87.8 88.3 90.6 91.3 92.1 93.4 92.0 91. 7 89. 6 88. 3 88. 0 87 8 83 fi
Tires and inner tubes.
25.4 24.8 25.0 25.3 24.9 23.9 23. 2 22.8 21.8 20. 7 19. 2 19.3 20 6 21 fi
Rubber footwear..
105.7 106.2 106.3 106.3 105.8 105.7 105.0 104.1 101.0 98.0 92. 8 92. 0 94 3 8fi 9
Other rubber products
Leather and leather products... .......... . 341 331 354 371 374 364 359 360 367 372 370 351 343 355 347
42.7 44.3 45.9 47.0 47.3 47.3 47. 2 46. 7 47. 2 46. 6 44. 9 45. 0 45 9 45 1
Leather............................. .
210.5 225.1 237.0 238.9 234.2 229.1 225.8 230.3 236. 7 237.3 229. 8 224.3 229 4 226 2
Footwear (except rubber).. .
77.6 84.1 87.6 87.6 82.8 82.9 86.9 89.7 87.9 85.8 76. 6 73. 7 79 7 75 8
Other leather products...____
Stone, clay, and glass products............. 483 484 483 479 473 473 474 477 471 458 459 440 441 441 416
130.9 131.9 130.1 127.5 127. 5 127.7 128. 9 127.0 117.0 121.7 114. 4 118.3 117.3 lfifi 8
Glass and glass products...................
36.5 36.3 36.2 35.9 35.9 36.3 36. 7 37.0 36.5 37.1 35. 6 36. 5 36 Ò 36 0
Cement, hydraulic..... .........
83.2 81.8 80.3 79.5 79.8 79.4 80. 5 79.8 79.8 78.9 77.0 75. 5 74 8 79 5
Structural clay products.......
54.6 55.2 55.3 55.1 54. 7 55.1 55.1 52.2 53.0 51.8 49. 8 50. 6 52 3 52 2
Pottery and related products .
85.4 85.1 84.3 82.8 83.0 83.5 84. 4 84. 5 84. 1 84.3 81. 5 80. 2 78 7 72 4
Concrete, gypsum, and plaster products
Other stone, clay, and glass products
93.0 92.9 92. 9 92.2 91.8 91.6 91.1 90.0 88.0 84.9 81. 7 80.0 81 8 75 fi
Primary metal industries.................... 1,164 1,159 1,160 1,159 1,153 1,149 1,142 1,126 1,117 1,105 1,086 1,054 1,050 1,053 940
Blast furnaces, steel works, and rolling
mills................... ......................
564.0 561.1 561.1 558.8 559.0 556.4 553. 6 552.6 552. 2 550. 4 542. 5 538.1 535 6 476 7
Iron and steel foundries....................
251.9 251.1 249.4 244.9 240. 7 238.0 232.8 226.8 221. 9 213.3 202.1 200. 2 204.0 188.9
Primary smelting and refining of nonferrous metals..... ...... ..................
46.4 47.2 47.4 47.3 47.2 47.0 45.4 46.3 45.8 45.8 45. 1 46. 0 45 4 43.3
Rolling, drawing, and alloying of nonferrous metals................... ....... .
81.3 84.9 85.9 86.8 87. 1 87.2 85.9 85.8 85.3 83. 1 79. 5 80.1 80 7 70 6
Nonferrous foundries........................
92.9 93.2 93.4 94.2 94.5 93.9 91.3 89.7 85. 7 81. 7 78.0 77.4 78. 8 63. 3
Other primary metal industries....... .
122.9 122.4 122.0 120.8 120. 5 119.3 116.9 115.7 114.4 111.7 106.8 108.0 108.4 97.1
Fabricated metal products (except ordnance, machinery, and transportation equipment)........................... 843 850 858 858 852 847 852 850 850 837 814 773 769 776 701
Tin cans and other tinware..............
42.9 43.1 42. 7 42.1 44.2 45.4 44.2 45.9 49.8 50.2 45. 5 43.1 42.8 39.9
Cutlery, hand tools, and hardware......
138.3 140.2 141.7 143. 7 144.0 143.7 142.9 141.4 138.3 132.4 129.1 132.6 132.7 118.4
Heating apparatus (except electric)
and plumbers’ supplies...... ...........
130.0 132. 7 133.9 132.0 129.9 133.2 135.3 137.1 137.1 131.9 120.4 121. 9 123. 9 106 0
178.9 177.8 176.4 174.6 173.2 173.2 171.7 170.9 165.6 165.1 158.0 154.3 156. 5 152. 3
Fabricated structural metal products.
Metal stamping, coating, and engraving
162.0 166.6 166.1 164.5 161.5 161.6 160.9 160.7 159.1 155.8 149.9 148.1 146.9 125.8
Other fabricated metal products........
197.4 198.0 197.0 195.4 193. 7 194.6 195.2 194.3 187.5 178.1 170.0 169. 2 173.0 159.0
Machinery (except electrical)...... ........ 1,250 1,243 1,237 1,231 1,215 1,192 1,163 1,133 1,104 1,050 1,060 1,032 1,033 1,040 1,001
Engines and turbines___ _______
67. 4 66.6 65. 7 64.0 63. 7 61.9 60.3 55.0 52. 1 56. 6 54.7 55. 5 54. 5 53 9
Agricultural machinery and tractors_
151. 5 151. 6 151. 0 149. 7 146. 5 135.4 124.8 124.3 102.3 140. 0 140. 5 141. 2 133 5 142 4
Construction and mining machinery...
88.8 87. 7 87.3 86.3 84. 7 83. 8 82.3 80.6 77.8 73.7 71.6 70.4 73 0 72 4
Metalworking machinery............ ..
228.7 226. 7 222. 9 218.4 211.3 204. 4 197.2 189.7 180.9 170. 6 161. 5 162. 6 169.0 157.9
Special-industry machinery (except
metalworking machinery).............
149. 7 149.9 149.0 147.3 143.9 140.5 137.6 135.8 132. 2 127.4 124.3 124. 6 126 6 131 1
General industrial machinery______
165.6 164.6 162. 7 158.8 157. 7 154. 5 150.1 146. 7 141.9 136. 9 131. 3 130. 1 134 3 132 3
Office and store machines and devices..
88.1 86. 7 86.0 85.4 84.2 83.2 81.9 80.3 79.0 75.6 74.3 74. 2 75. 6 75 4
Service-industry and household machines...................... ...... ..........
142.0 142.6 148.4 148.7 146.8 147.9 151. 2 147.6 146.1 145.3 145. 5 147.9 143.2 115 4
Miscellaneous machinery parts........ .
161.3 160.1 157.7 156.1 153.0 151.1 148.0 144.1 137.9 133.4 128.1 126.5 130.0 120.4
See footnotes at end of table.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

A: EMPLOYMENT AND PAYROLLS

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

213

T a b l e A -3 : P roduction W orkers in M ining and M anufacturing Industries 1— C ontinued

[In thousands]
Annual
average

1950

1951
Industry group and Industry
June May

Apr. Mar. Feb.

Jan.

Dec. Nov.

Oct. Sept. Aug. July June

1950

Manufacturing—Continued
Electrical machinery__ ___ _______ 692 708 717 724 716 711 724 721 710 673 655 620 615 636
Electrical generating, transmission, dis270.8 266.6 262.1 258.3 255.8 257. 2 254.4 251.7 237.1 236.5 226.6 221.9 229.7
tribution, and industrial apparatus .
67.1 66.0 64.6 63.9 63.4 63.0 61.8 60.9 59.5 57.2 56.0 55.1 56.0
Electrical equipment for vehicles____
247.7 260.6 273.2 269.5 267.8 278.3 278.4 272.2 254.6 247.8 227.5 227.1 237.0
Communication equipment____ ..
Electrical appliances,'lamps, and mis121.9 123.4 123.9 124.4 124.0 125.4 126.2 125.0 121.6 113.1 109.8 110.7 113.3
cellaneous products___________
Transportation equipment................... 1, 250 1, 236 1, 240 1, 253 1,233 1,175 1,160 1,139 1,157 1,134 1,118 1,070 1,078 1.044
759.5 772.4 793.4 790.6 767.3 767.3 760.4 794.8 787.8 780.9 756.7 764.7 713.5
Automobiles............ ......................
316.5 308.4 298.9 287.6 264.2 251.9 239.3 224.5 209.4 199.0 188.1 186.6 201.8
Aircraft and parts...........................
214.6 210.3 204.1 195.4 177.3 170.0 161.4 151.5 144.5 134.8 126.3 125.1 135.7
Aircraft___________________
59.3 57.1 55.1 53.9 51.3 48.5 46.3 43.6 37.3 38.9 37.4 37.0 39.1
Aircraft engines and parts_______
7.4 7.4 6.7 6.5 6.2 6.1
5.9 5.7 5.5 4.9 5.1 5.2 5.4
Aircraft propellers and parts....... .
35.2 33.6 33.0 31.8 29.4 27.3 25.7 23.7 22.1 20.4 19.3 19.3 21.5
Other aircraft parts and equipment..
94.5 93.9 95.6 94.9 82.7 78.7 76.1 75.8 76.3 79.0 67.9 68.3 71.4
Ship and boat building and repairing..
81.4 80.9 82.7 82.1 70.3 66.3 64.4 64.3 64.8 67.5 56.1 55.6 60.2
Shipbuilding and repairing_____
13.1 13.0 12.9 12.8 12.4 12.4 11.7 11.5 11.5 11.5 11.8 12.7 11.2
Boat building and repairing............
56.6 55.2 54.1 48.5 52.1 51.9 51.7 50.4 49.3 48.2 47.7 48.8 47.9
Railroad equipment____________
9.3 10.0 11.3 11.4 10.4 11.2 11.8 11.9 11.6 11.0 9.8 9.4 9.7
Other transportation equipment____
Instruments and related products____ 222 222 221 218 215 211 211 209 205 199 187 178 180 186
23.0 23.1 22.9 22.5 22.2 22.0 21.8 21.3 20.8 20.2 19.9 20.0 20.6
Ophthalmic goods__ __________
42.8 42.7 42.5 42.0 40.9 40.9 40.7 40.2 39.5 38.6 37.0 36.5 37.3
Photographic apparatus__________
28.4 29.2 28.9 28.8 28.3 28.9 28.8 28.0 27.0 23.4 23.4 23.7 25.5
Watches and clocks......................
127.3 125.5 123.4 121.9 119.6 119.2 117.8 115.3 111.6 105.3 98.1 100.2 103.0
Professional and scientific instruments.
Miscellaneous manufacturing industries.. 401 410 423 429 427 413 424 432 436 418 399 358 367 385
43. 4 45.6 47.2 48.2 46.9 17.2 47.8 48.1 47.2 45.5 41.4 42.5 44.5
Jewelry, silverware, and plated ware...
Toys and sporting goods_________
67.1 68.9 68.9 67.0 62.3 66.7 73.0 75.3 72.2 69.8 62.5 63.6 64.2
Costume jewelry,“buttons, notions......
47.1 52.0 55.1 55.9 52.8 52.1 54.9 56.2 54.4 52.0 43.9 44.1 49.2
Other miscellaneous manufacturing
252.1 256.1 258.0 255.5 250.6 257.6 256.4 256.1 244.3 232.0 210.2 217.1 227.2
industries_________________
1See footnote 1, table A-2. Production workers refer to all full-and parttime employees engaged in production and related processes, such as fabrieating, processing, assembling, inspecting, storing, packing, snipping, main­
tenance and repair, and other activities closely associated with production
operations.

1949
552
210.7
49.0
191.8
100.8
987
643. 6
188.5
126.6
37.4
5.3
19.2
85.0
75.0
10.0
61.0
9.2
177
21.9
38.4
26.6
90.1
354
45. 0
59.8
48.3
200.5

2See footnote 2, table A-2.
3See footnote 3, table A-2.

T a b l e A -4 : In dexes of P roduction-W orker E m p loym en t and W eekly P ayrolls in M anufacturing

In d u stries1
[1939average= 100]
P e rio d

1939:
1940:
1941:
1942:
1943:

A v erag e........... .................
A v erag e—____ ________
A v erag e____ _________
A v erag e.............................
A v erag e............. . .............

1945: A verage_____________ .
1946: A verage..................... .......

E m p lo y ­
m ent
100.0
107.5
132.8
156.9
183.3
178.3
157.0
147.8

1See footnote 1, tables A-2 and A-3.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

W e ek ly
p ay ro ll
100.0
113.6
164.9
241.5
331.1
343.7
293.5
271.7

P erio d

1947:
1948:
1949:
1950:
1950:

A v erag e................. ...........
A v erag e_________ ____
A v erag e............. ...............
A v e ra g e ______ ____ . . .
J u n e ...................... - ...........
J u l y __________________
A u g u s t....... ..................—.
S e p te m b e r ......................

E m p lo y ­
m ent
156.2
155.2
141.6
149.7
147.3
148.3
156.3
158.9

W e ek ly
p ay ro ll
326.9
351.4
325.3
371.7
362.7
367.5
394.4
403.2

P erio d

1950: O c to b e r..............................
N o v e m b e r ...................
D e c e m b e r.........................
1951: J a n u a r y .............................
F e b r u a r y ...........................
M a r c h _______________
A p r il..................................

May---- ------------June___________

E m p lo y ­
m ent
160.3
159.2
159.4
158.9
161.0
161.0
159.8
158.6
158.6

W e ek ly
p ay ro ll
415.8
414.6
426.0
424.0
430.0
435.0
432.9
428.3

MONTHLY LABOR

A: EMPLOYMENT AND PAYROLLS

214

T a b l e A -5 : Federal C ivilian E m p loym en t and Payrolls, b y Branch and A gency Group

[In thousands]
Executive 1
Year and month

All branches
Total

Defense
agencies 3

Post Office
Department3

All other
agencies

Judicial

Legislative

Employment—Total (including areas outside continental United States)
1949: Average.
1950: Average.
1950: June.........
July........ .
August---September.
October__
November.
December..
1951: January..
February.
March__
April......
May___
June-----

2,100. 5
2,080.5
2 , 022.2

1,986. 7
2.005.4
2.083.2
2.117.4
2,152.0
2,508. 9
2.204.3
2.265.5
2, 332. 3
2, 385. 5
2.432.6
2,462. 3

2,089.2
2,068.6
2,010.3
1,' 974.9
E 993.4
2', 071. 4
2 , 105.3
2,139.9
2 , 496.9
2,192.3
2 , 253.5
2, 320. 2
2,373. 5
2,420. 5
2 , 450.1

899.2
837.5
780.6
778.8
806.0
887.3
932.3
970.0
995.9
1,017.3
1,076. 8
1,133. 4
1,180. 0
1,212.1
1,237.5

511.1
521.4
497.4
491.8
487.1
485.0
483.8
482.2
811.8
486.5
487.1
489.0
488.4
492.1
491.2

678. S
709.7
732.3
704.3
700.3
699.1
689.2
687.7
689.2
688.5
689.6
697.8
705. 1
716.3
721.4

7.7
8.1
8.1
8.0
8.2
8.0
8.2
8.2
8.1
8.1
8.1
8. 2
8.1
8.2
8.3

3.6
3.8
3.8
3.8
3.8
3.8
3.9
3.9
3.9
3.9
3.9
3.9
3.9
3.9
3.9

$2,870
215
3,214
3,206
3,277
3,200
3,250
3,292
3,207
3,249
3,182
3,261
3,197
3,338
3, 379

$1,430
1,569
1,556
1,498
1,634
1,717
1,598
1,590
1,529
1,670
1,497
1,354
1,406
1,763
1,633

7.7
8.1
8.1
8.0
8.2
8.0
8.2
8.2
8.1
8.1
8.1
8.2
8.1
8. 2
8.3

3.5
3.7
3.7
3.7
3.7
3.8
3.8
3.8
3.8
3.8
3.8
3.8
3.8
3.8
3.8

$2,870
3,2 I0
3,214
3,206
3,277
3,200
3,250
3,292
3,207
3,249
3,182
3,261
3,197
3.33«

$1,390
1,526
1,513
1,457
1.588
1,671
1,548
1,546
1,485
1,626
1,456
1,316
1,366
1,718
1.589

Payrolls—Total (including areas outside continental United States)
1949: Average.
1950: Average.
1950: June.........
July.........
August__
September.
October__
November.
December.
1951: January..
February.
March__
April___
May---June___

$558,273
585, 576
573,659
551,510
618,049
601,454
613,359
621,491
672,724
680,926
638,193
706,184
687,876
742,529
702, 517

$553,973
580,792
568,889
546 ,806
613Ì138
596,537
60S| 511
616,609
667,988
676,007
633, 514
701! 569
683,273
737,428
697, 505

$231,856
235,157
221,123
212,778
259,451
261,527
267,622
273, 633
275,681
319,738
303,042
345,685
337,876
370, 700
346.264

$129,895
135,300
131,202
129,803
130,361
128,764
129,665
129,869
185,732
132,037
129, 603
133, 342
129,796
131,353
131, 634

$192,222
210,335
216, 564
204,225
223,326
206,246
211,224
213,107
206,575
224,232
200, 869
222, 542
215, 601
235,375
219, 607

Employment—Continental United States
1949: Average.
1950: Average.
1950: June.........
July.........
August__
September.
October--November.
December..
1951: January..
February.
March__
April___
May......
June......

1.921.9
1,930. 5
1.871.2
1,839.4
1,861.0
1.935.9
1.968.3
2,000.3
2,352.8
2.047.4
2,105.0
2,169.3
2, 219.9
2,263. 9
2.290.5

1,910.7
i; 918.7
1,859.4
E 827.7
i; 849.1
1, 924.1
1,956.3
1,988.3
2 , 340. 9
2,035. 5
2 , 093.1
2 , 157.3
2, 208.0
2, 251.9
2 , 278.4

761.4
732.3
674.6
677.2
707.1
785.3
828.3
862.9
885.6
905.1
961.0
1, 015. 5
1, 059. 7
1,089. 8
1,113.3

509.1
519.4
495.5
489.9
485.2
483.1
482.0
480.4
808.9
484.7
485.3
487.1
486.6
490.3
489.3

640.2
667.0
689.3
660.6
656.8
655.7
646.0
645.0
646.4
645.7
646.8
654.7
661.7
671.8
675.8

Payrolls—Continental United States
1949: Average.
1950: Average.
1950: June.........
July.........
August__
September.
October__
November..
December..
1951: January..
February.
March__
April___
May......
June.......
1See footnote 2, table A-7.

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

$519,529
549,328
536,052
516, 924
580,732
563,900
576,155
583,978
634,578
641,330
601,374
664,389
648,017
698,694
661,940

$515,269
544! 587
531,325
512 !261
575! 867
559', 029
57l! 357
579', 140
629,886
636,455
596,736
659', 812
643! 454
693, 638
656! 972

*See footnote 3, table A-7.

$203, 548
211,508
196,921
191,109
235,435
237,332
243,233
248,667
250,324
292,875
277, 870
317,140
310,605
340,465
318,668

$129,416
134,792
130,704
129,316
129,870
128,278
129,178
129,413
185,044
131,549
129,123
132,847
129,310
130, 850
131,128

$182,305
198,287
203,700
191,836
210,562
193,419
198,946
201,060
194,518
212,031
189, 743
209, 825
203, 539
222, 323
207,176

3,379

includes 4th Class Postmasters, excluded from table A-2.

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

A: EMPLOYMENT AND PAYROLLS

215

T a b l e A -7 : G overnm ent C ivilian E m p loym en t and Payrolls in W ashington, D . C .,1 b y B ranch and

A gency Group
[In thousands]
Federa
Y e a r a n d m o n th

Total
government

D is tric t of
C o lu m b ia
g o v ern m en t

E x e cu tiv e *

Total
A ll agencies

D efense
agencies *

P o s t Office
D e p a r tm e n t

A ll o th e r
agencies

L eg islativ e

Ju d icial

E m p lo y m e n t

1949: Average1950: Average.
1950: June____
July.........
August__
September.
October__
November.
December..
1951: January...
February.
March__
April......
May___
June.......

241.8
242.3
238.7
239.1
240.7
243.7
244.8
247.9
256.2
253.8
258.8
264.6
268.5
271.4
272.4

19.5

20.1
20.0

19.8
19.8

20.0
20.1

20.4
20.3
20.6

20.4
20.3
20.3

20.1

20.0

222.3
222.2
218.7
219.3
220.9
223.7
224.7
227.5
235.9
233.2
238.4
244.3
248.2
251.3
252.4

214.0
213.4
209.9
210.6
212.0
215.0
215.8
218.7
227.1
224.4
229.6
235.4
239.4
242.4
243.4

70.4
67.5
64.8
65.2
66.1
69.3
70.8
72.4
74.1
74.8
77.4
80.2
82.2
83.6
83.9

8.2
8.1
7.7
7.7
7.7
7.6
7.5
7.6
12.7
7.8
7.7
7.7
7.8
7.8
7.7

135.4
137.8
137.4
137.7
138.2
138.1
137.5
138.7
140.3
141.8
144.5
147.5
149.4
151.0
151.8

7.7
8.1
8.1
8.0
8.2
8.0
8.2
8.1
8.1
8.1
8.1
8.2
8.1
8.2
8.3

0.6

$2, 791
2,937
2,867
2,755
2,918
2,856
2,892
2,888
3,835
2,944
2,828
2, 949
2,855
2,946
2,941

$43, 500
46, 955
48, 603
45, 889
49, 995
45, 608
48i 037
48, 558
47,607
52, 077
46, 567
52,357
51,187
60,835
52, 220

$2, 870
3i 215
3, 214
3, 206
3, 277
3; 200
3, 250
3; 292
3; 207
3, 249
3,182
3; 261
3,197
3,338
3,379

$240
286
273
272
309
318
303
301
292
316
285
289
291
316
302

.7
.7
.7
.7
.7
.7
.7
.7
.7
.7
.7
.7
.7
.7

Payrolls
1949: Average...
1950: Average...
1950: June.......
July........
August__
September
October...
November.
December.
1951: January...
February..
March__
April___
May____
June____

$75, 570
81, 602
82, 733
77, 713
85, 472
82, 280
84,657
85,380
85,285
91,052
84,018
93,837
91,887
104, 400
94, 033

$5,050
5,321
5,590
4,192
4, 514
5,34/
5,680
5, 796
5, 558
5,923
5,431
5,578
5,618
5,883
6, Ô73

$70, 520
76, 281
77,143
73, 521
80, 958
76, 933
78, 977
79, 584
79, 727
85,129
78,587
88,259
86, 269
98, 517
88, 640

1Data for the executive branch of the Federal Government also include
areas m Maryland and Virginia which are within the metropolitan area, as
denned by the Bureau of the Census.
3Includes Government corporations (including Federal Reserve Banks
and mixed-ownership banks of the Farm Credit Administration) and other
activities performed by Governmental personnel in establishments such as
navy yards, arsenals, hospitals, and force-account construction. Data which
are based mainly on reports to the Civil Service Commission are adjusted to
maintain contmuity of coverage and definition.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

$67, 410
72, 780
73, 656
70, 043
77,372
73, 415
75, 424
75, 991
76, 228
81, 564
75,120
84,709
82,781
94, 863
84,779

$21,119
22, 888
22,186
21, 399
24, 459
24, 951
24, 495
24, 545
24, 786
26, 543
25,725
29,403
28, 739
31,082
29, 619

s Covers civilian employees of the Department of Defense (Secretary of
Defense, Army, Air Force, and Navy), National Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics, the Panama Canal, Philippine Alien Property Administration,
Philippine War Damage Commission, Selective Service System, National
Security Resources Board, National Security Council, War Claims Commis­
sion.

216

A: EMPLOYMENT AND PAYROLLS

MONTHLY LABOR

T a b l e A - l l : Insured U n em p loym ent U nder S ta te U n em p loym ent Insurance Program s,1 b y Geographic

D ivision and S tate
[In thousands]
Geographic division and
State
Continental United States.............
New England........................ .....
Maine____ ____________
New Hampshire______ ____
Vermont.___ ___________
Massachusetts_______ ____
Rhode Island____________
Connecticut____ _________
Middle Atlantic..........................
New York______________
New Jersey_________ _____
Pennsylvania____ _______
East North Central__ ___ ____
Ohio___________
_...
Indiana________________
Illinois_________ ____ ___
Michigan_______________
Wisconsin___ ___________
West North Central__________
Minnesota_____ ____ ___
Iowa________ . _______
Missouri__ _____________
North Dakota____________
South Dakota____________
Nebraska..._____________
Kansas..___ ___________
South Atlantic___ __________
Delaware______ _______
Maryland_________ _____
District of Columbia...............
Virginia_______ ________
West Virginia____________
North Carolina___________
South Carolina..____ _____
Georgia________________
Florida___ ___ ______ ..
East South Central......................
Kentucky.___ _____ _____
Tennessee.............................
Alabama...............................
Mississippi__ ___________
West South Central........ ...........
Arkansas..............................
Louisiana_______________
Oklahoma______________
Texas_________________
Mountain_______________ _
Montana____ ___________
Idaho_______ ___ _____
Wyoming...... ...... ...... ..........
Colorado____ __________
New Mexico______ _____
Arizona________________
Utah................. ............
Nevada_______________
Pacific_________ ___ _____
Washington__ ______
Oregon_______ _________
California__ ____ _______

1951
Mar.

1950
Feb.

Jan.

May

April

982.3
126.5
13.0
10.3
1.5
67.7
20.6
13.4
322.3
196.9
50.5
74.9
164.2
27.9
17.6
81.0
31.6
6.1
40.3
11.6
3.6
20.5
.5
.4
1.2
2.5
93.9
1.2
12.5
1.7
9.4
11.0
25.6
8.2
14.7
9.6
62.1
18.6
23.4
13.3
6.8
44.0
7.3
18.2
7.7
10.8
11.5
2.1
.9
.4
1.8
1.2
2.1
2.0
1.0
117.3
9.0
5.1
103.2

932.1 904.2 1,025.1 1,144.6 1,045.0
99.8 64.0 75.8 91.6 89.0
11.2
6.2
7.9 10.2 11.4
4.2
5.8
6.3
7.6
4.6
1.2
1.7
1.0
1.3
1.7
55.1 33.5 41.1 49.8 49.0
9.6
13.1
9.2 10.5
9.3
11.6
9.5 11.7 13.6 11.3
299.7 268.1 281.1 351.4 355.1
183.9 163. 2 171.8 217.5 238.4
43.1 36.1 40.0 51.3 41.1
72.7 68.8 69.3 82.6 75.6
150.9 133.7 176.4 200.7 178.0
27.7 30.0 39.9 40.9 36.4
14.9 11.4 14.4 14.7 13.3
72.9 52.6 68.1 76.5 68.2
27.8 29.8 39.9 54.8 49.8
9.9 14.1 13.8 10.3
7.6
52.2 61.0 70.3 65.6 48.5
18.4 20.6 21.4 19.3 12.0
6.2
7.4
4.8
4.3
7.0
20.3 20.2 24.2 24.3 22.9
3.2
1.9
3.1
2.4
1.3
2.4
1.1
2.1
2.1
1.1
2.1
4.8
3.8
4.1
2.1
3.6
4.9
7.0
6.4
4.8
78.0 72.6 83.5 94.3 85.5
1.0
1.1
1.6
1.4
1.9
8.3 11.2 13.2 11.2
11.6
2.1
3.8
2.7
3.3
2.8
5.4
6.6
8.0
8.7
7.7
11.0 11.2 13.7 14.2 13.0
20.1 17.5 17.7 18.0 16.8
8.2
7.1
7.2
9.4
8.7
12.2 10.5 11.5 14.1 12.9
7.8 11.5 11.0
7.5
7.5
60.7 59.7 66.0 65.0 57.5
17.7 15.8 15.9 14.3 13.6
22.4 21.8 25.0 25.8 22.2
13.4 13.9 14.3 15.1 13.8
7.2
8.2 10.8
7.9
9.8
47.1 52.3 61.7 54.0 43.8
12.7 11.1
8.6
9.5
8.4
18.4 19.6 22.4 18.1
13.9
8.9 10.7 12.7 11.1
9.2
11.2 12.5 13.9 13.7 12.3
16.6 25.3 30.3 28.6 19.8
3.9
7.3
6.9
6.2
3.7
5.9
1.9
4.4
6.2
4.3
.8
1.9
1.5
1.6
.9
2.1
3.1
2.3
3.1
2.5
1.6
2.1
2.3
2.0
1.7
2.3
2.6
3.1
3.2
2.8
2.8
3.8
4.7
4.4
2.4
1.2
1.7
2.0
1.9
1.5
127.2 167.3 179.6 193.2 167.9
14.2 25.4 28.8 31.2 26.2
8.2 18.3 19.9 22.4 17.9
104.8 123.6 130.9 139.6 123.8

Prior to August 1950, monthly data represent averages of weeks ended in
specified months; for subsequent months, the averages are based on weekly
data adjusted for split weeks in the month and are not strictly comparable
with earlier data. For a technical description of this series, see the April
1950 Monthly Labor Review (p. 382).


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Dec.

1949

Nov.

Oct.

Sept.

895.3
77.4
10.3
6.8
1.3
41.9
6.9
10.2
354.1
257.8
38.7
57.6
129.0
30.2
8.6
58.6
23.3
8.3
34.7
6.8
2.9
20.0
.3
.5
1.0
3.2
70.4
.8
8.5
2.7
5.6
9.4
14.5
8.3
9.7
10.9
46.6
12.0
16.9
12.3
5.4
36.0
6.2
11.7
7.6
10.5
13.4
1.9
2.0
.4
2.1
1.2
2.6
1.9
1.3
133.8
19.0
13.7
101.1

782.8
65.9
6.8
5.8
1.1
35.6
6.3
10.3
319.0
226.2
35.4
57.4
113.1
28.5
9.4
57.5
12.8
4.9
28.4
5.5
2.6
16.2
.2
.3
.8
2.8
69.8
1.0
7.7
2.6
5.3
10.4
12.6
8.8
7.6
13.8
42.9
11.5
14.5
12.1
4.8
34.8
5.2
12.4
7.0
10.2
10.2
1.2
.9
.3
1.7
1.0
2.6
1.5
1.0
98.8
11.7
7.6
79.5

845.7 1,063.2 1,388.4 1,521.1 1,700.3 2,035.1
74.5 105.0 155.3 186.5 224.6 306.3
5.2
7.4 10.1 13.0 19.6
21.8
6.5
8.8
10.8 12.9 15.6
17.7
1.4
2.1
3.4
3.1
4.0
5.5
42.1 55.8 85.3 107.1 124.8 154.7
8.4 13.7 20.1 26.6 33.6
51.7
10.9 17.2 25.9 23.5 27.0
54.9
318.4 369.1 478.4 495.4 481.5 558.5
221.6 242.2 311.0 307.4 269.2 320.0
34.3 44.6 60.7 68.1 79.6
96.6
62.5 82.3 106.7 119.9 132.7 141.9
133.6 178.4 218.4 242.4 304.0 396.0
32.3 41.0 57.5 65.0 81.6
91.4
7.9
8.9 13.1
14.5 19.2
38.1
71.3 103.6 117.5 128.6 147.6 148.5
16.1 18.2 22.0 24.6 42.7
95.6
6.0
8.3
6.7
9.7 12.9
22.4
29.2 38.8 49.0 57.4 77.7
76.4
6.3
8.3
10.8 13.1 23.2
23.2
3.5
4.5
4.8
5.1
6.2
7.9
15.2 20.0 25.5 29.7 34.6
36.2
.2
.3
.4
2.2
.7
.3
.4
.4
.5
1.0
.5
.9
1.9
2.3
2.1
1.3
3.3
2.8
5.2
4.0
7.2
6.0
6.0
85.3 113.0 157.8 165.5 167.7 192.5
.9
1.2
1.8
1.9
2.5
2.3
10.3 16.1 22.1 25.3 29.1
37.3
3.0
3.4
4.1
4.0
4.4
4.6
7.2 13.7 22.1 24.1
21.1
18.9
13.4 16.7 21.8 24.1 23.4
21.3
15.1 19.0 30.8 33.7 36.7
39.7
9.6 11.4 15.8 15.4 14.8
20.2
8.9 12.4 18.9 21.1 23.2
26.8
16.9 19.1 20.5 15.8 14.7
19.2
48.9 62.1 78.8 87.4 99.5 111.7
12.4 15.3
19.4 22.3 24.8
26.4
16.5 22.2 27.3 32.6 36.8
45.7
14.2 16.9 22.1 21.9 25.4
27.7
5.8
7.7 10.0 10.6 12.5
11.9
41.5 52.1 62.8 69.9 83.4
73.4
6.9
9.4
7.7
10.4 14.0
12.4
14.3 18.1 21.3 22.5 25.8
21.9
8.0
9.8
11.4 12.6 14.8
13.0
12.3 16.5 20.7 24.4 28.8
26.1
11.2 14.6 18.6 20.5 27.8
22.1
1.4
1.0
1.9
2.5
4.6
2.8
1.4
1.0
1.7
2.0
1.5
3.0
.4
.3
.7
.9
1.4
.7
2.1
3.2
4.2
4. 7
5.6
5.3
1.2
1.6
2.2
2.1
2.0
2.7
2.9
3.4
3.6
3.6
4.2
4.8
2.1
1.7
3.1
3.5
4.3
2.7
1.0
1.1
1.4
1.6
1.7
2.0
103.2 129.9 169.4 196.1 234.2 298.3
11.1
13.2 15.6 16.5 23.9
26.7
6.4
7.5
9.6
13.4
8.3
12.3
85.7 109.2 144.2 171.3 198.0 258.2

Aug.

July

June

May

May

Figures may not add to exact column totals because of rounding,
Department of Labor, Bureau of Employment Security,

Source: U. S.

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

B : LABOR TURN-OVER

217

B: Labor Turn-Over
Table B -l: M o n th ly Labor Turn-O ver R ates (Per 100 E m ployees) in M anufacturing Industries, by
Class of Turn-O ver 1
C lass of tu rn -o v e r and y e a r

Jan.

F eb.

M a r.

A p r.

M ay

June

J u ly

A ug.

S ep t.

O ct.

N ov.

D ec.

T o ta l sep aratio n :
1951______________________________
1 9 5 0 ....................... ........... ......................
1949___________________ _________
1 9 4 8 ...____ ______________________
1947_____________ ____ ___________
1946___ . . . .......... ................ ........
1939____ ____ _______ ____ _______

4.1
3.1
4.6
4.3
4.9
6.8
3.2

3.8
3.0
4.1
4.2
4.5
6.3
2.6

4.1
2.9
4.8
4.5
4.9
6.6
3.1

4.6
2.8
4.8
4.7
5.2
6.3
3.5

2 4. 9
3.1
5.2
4.3
5.4
6.3
3.5

3.0
4.3
4.5
4.7
5.7
3.3

2.9
3.8
4.4
4.6
5.8
3.3

4.2
4.0
5.1
5.3
6.6
3.0

4.9
4.2
5.4
5.9
6.9
2.8

4.3
4.1
4.5
5.0
6.3
2.9

3.8
4.0
4.1
4.0
4.9
3.0

3.6
3.2
4.3
3.7
4.5
3.5

Q u it:
1951_________ ______ _____________
1950______________________________
1949 . . . _________________________
1948_____ ____ ___________________
1947_____________________________
1946 __ _____ __________________
1939 8____________________________

2.1
1.1
1.7
2.6
3.5
4.3
.9

2. 1
1.0
1.4
2.5
3.2
3.9
.6

2.5
1.2
1.6
2.8
3.5
4.2
.8

2.7
1.3
1.7
3.0
3.7
4.3
.8

2 2.8
1.6
1.6
2.8
3.5
4.2
.7

1.7
1.5
2.9
3.1
4.0
.7

1.8
1.4
2.9
3.1
4.6
.7

2.9
1.8
3.4
4.0
5.3
.8

3.4
2.1
3.9
4.5
5.3
1.1

2.7
1.5
2.8
3.6
4.7
.9

2.1
1.2
2.2
2.7
3.7
.8

1.7
.9
1.7
2.3
3.0
.7

.3
.2
.3

.3
.2
.3

.3
.2
.3

.4

.4
.4

.4
.2
.2
.4

2.4
.3
.2
.3

.3
.2

.3
.2

.4
.3

.4
.2

.4

.4
.2

.4

.3
.2

.4

.4

.4

.4
.3
.1

.4
.4

.3
.2
.3

.4

.4

.4

.4

.4

.4

.4

.4

.1

.1

.1

.2

.2

.1

.9
2.5
1.1

.6
2.1
1.0

.6
1.8
1.2
.8
.7

.7
1.8
1.0
.9

.8
2.3
1.2
.9

1.1
2.5
1.4
.8
.7
2.0

1.3
2.0
2.2
.9

D isch arge:
1951______________________________
1950..____ _______________________
1949______ _____ _________________
1948______________________________
1947______________________________
1946______________________________
1939___________________ _________

.4

.4
.4

.5
.1

.5
.1

.4

.1

.4
.1

Lay-off:
1951.................... ............................. .........
1950...........................................................
1949___________________ _________
1948____________________________ _
1947.............. ................. ......................... .
1946_____________________ _______
1939...........................................................

1.0
1.7
2.5
1.2
.9
1.8
2.2

.8
1.7
2.3
1.2
.8
1.7
1.9

.8
1.4
2.8
1.2
.9

1.0
1.2
2.8
1.2

.7

.6

M iscellaneous, in c lu d in g m ilita ry :
1951______________________________
1950_____________ _____ __________
1949___________ ______ ____________
1948_____________________________
1947.......... .......................... .................. .
1946.......... ........................... .....................

.1
.2

T o ta l accession:
1951______________________________
1950______________________________
1949______________________________
1948_____________________________
1947............ ............................... ..............
1 9 4 6 ...................... ................. .............
1939____ ____ ________ _____ ______

3.6
3.2
4.6
6.0
8.5
4.1

.1
.1
.1

5.2

.1
.1
.1
.1
.2

4.5
3.2
2.9
3.9
5.0
6.8
3.1

1.8

2.2

.5
.1
.1
.1
.1

1.0

1.4
2.6

.5

.1
.1
.1
.1

.2

.2

4.6
3.6
3.0
4.0
5.1
7.1
3.3

4.5
3.5
2.9
4.0
5.1

1Month-to-month changes in total employment in manufacturing indus­
tries as indicated by labor turn-over rates are not comparable with the
changes shown by the Bureau’s employment and payroll reports, for the
following reasons:
(1) Accessions and separations are computed for the entire calendar month;
the employment and payroll reports, for the most part, refer to a 1-week pay
period ending nearest the 15th of the month.
(2) The turn-over sample is not so large as that of the employment
and payroll sample and includes proportionately fewer small plants; certain
industries are not covered. The major industries excluded are: printing,
publishing, and allied industries; canning and preserving fruits, vegetables,
and sea foods; women’s, misses’, and children’s outerwear; and fertilizers.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

.4

6.7

2.9

.4
.4

.1
2 1.3
1.1
3.3
1.1
1.4
1.5
2.7
2.4
.1

.1
.1
.1
.2

2 4. 5
4.4
3.5
4.1
4.8
6.1

3.3

1.1

1.2
2.5

.1
.1
.1
.1

.2

4.8
4.4

5.7
5.5

6.7
3.9

.4

1.0
.6
2.5
.2
.1

2.1
.3

.1
.1

.4

1.0
1.6

.4

.1
.1

1.0
1.8

.4
.1

.1
.1
.2

.1
.2

.2

.2

4.7
3.5
4.7
4.9
7.4
4.2

6.6
4.4
5.0
5.3
7.0
5.1

5.7
4.1
5.1
5.9
7.1
6.2

5.2
3.7
4.5

.1

.1
.1

5.5

6.8
5.9

.3

.1
.1
.1
.1
4.0
3.3
3.9
4.8
5.7
4.1

.4

1.0

2.7

.3
.1
.1

.1

.1

3.0
3.2
2.7
3.6
4.3

2.8

(3)
Plants are not included in the turn-over computations in months when
work stoppages are in progress; the influence of such stoppage is reflected,
however, in the employment and payroll figures. Prior to 1943, rates relate
to production workers only.
2Preliminary figures.
8Prior to 1940, miscellaneous separations were included with quits.
N ote: Information on concepts, methodology, and special studies, etc., is
given in a “Technical Note on Labor Turn-Over,” October 1949, which is
available upon request to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

MONTHLY LABOR

B : LABOR T UR N -OVER

218

Table B-2: M o n th ly Labor Turn-O ver R a tes (Per 100 E m ployees) in Selected Groups and In d u str ie s1
Separation

M ay
1951

Apr.
1951

May
195Ì

Apr.
1951

Apr.
1951

May
1951

Apr.
1951

May
1951

Apr.
1951

May
195Ì

Total accession

Mise., incl.
military

Lay-off

Discharge

Quit

Total

Industry group and industry

M ay
1951

Apr.
1951

M anufacturing

Durable goodsJ..................................
Nondurable goods >______ ________
Ordnance and accessories___________
Food and kindred products_________
Meat products................. ............
Grain-mill products..................... .
Bakery products.........................
Beverages:
Malt liquors______________
Tobacco manufactures..........................
Cigarettes.___ ______________
Cigars................................... ......
Tobacco and snuff..........................
Textile-mill products__________ ___
Yarn and thread mills....................
Broad-woven fabric mills........... .....
Cotton, silk, synthetic fiber.......
Woolen and worsted.................
Knitting mills...............................
Full-fashioned hosiery...............
Seamless hosiery......................
Knit underwear.......... .............
Dyeing and finishing textiles______
Carpets, rugs, other floor coverings__
Apparel and other finished textile prod­
ucts...................................... ........
Men’s and boys’ suits and coats____
Men’s and boys’furnishings and work
clothing.....................................
Lumber and wood products (except fur­
niture).._______ _________ ___
Logging camps and contractors.........
Sawmills and planing mills...... .......
Millwork, plywood, and prefabricated
structural wood products_______
Furniture and fixtures....... ........... ......
Household furniture______ _____
Other furniture and fixtures______
Paper and allied products........... ........
Pulp, paper, and paperboard mills__
Paperboard containers and boxes___
Chemicals and allied products...............
Industrial inorganic chemicals..........
Industrial organic chemicals______
Synthetic fibers____________
Drugs and medicines......................
Paints, pigments, and fillers.............
Products of petroleum and coal..............
Petroleum refining.____________
Rubber products...... .........................
Tires and inner tubes........... .........
Rubber footwear...........................
Other rubber products...................
Leather and leather products................
Leather_____ ___ __________
Footwear (except rubber)............... .
Stone, clay, and glass products.............
Glass and glass products.________
Cement, hydraulic.........................
Structural clay products................ .
Pottery and related products.......... .
Primary metal industries__________
Blast furnaces, steel works, and rolling
mills_________________ __
Iron and steel foundries..................
Gray-iron foundries..___ ____
Malleable-iron foundries______
Steel foundries.___________
Primary smelting and refining of nonferrous metals:
Primary smelting and refining of
copper, lead, and zinc______
Rolling, drawing, and alloying of nonferrous metals:
Rolling, drawing, and alloying of
copper.________ _______
Nonferrous foundries__________
Other primary metal industries:
Iron and steel forgings_______
See footnotes at end of table.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

5. 2
4.3

4.9
4.0

3.1
2.4

2.4
5.0

3.3
5.3
5.6
4.1
6.4

1.7
3.0
3.2

3.5
4. 5
3.1

3.4
4.8

1.9

2.3
4.8
4.8
4.4
3.9

5.1
3.2
5.4
5.3
4.5
4.5

3.8
3.9
4.3
3.6
3.2
4.7
4.5
3.3
6.5
4.3
5.9
2.9

5.1
4.8

6.2

3.9
4.7

2.8

3.6

3.0

2.2
1.6

2.4
2.4
2.4
3.0
1.3

0.4
.3

0.4
.3

1.3
1.3

.4
.5

.3
.4
.3
.4

.1
1.2
2.0

.6

.3
.4

.6
.2
.2
.2

1.8
1.2
2.2
1.4
2.0
2.1
2.1
2.2
02.3
1.6
2.8
2.8
1.2

2.2
1.1

4.3
4.3

3.2
2.3

3.1

0 .2
.1
.1
.2
.4
.2
.2

5.3

4.8

3.3

3.6

6.5
9.0
6.4

6.3
14.9
5.5

4.8
7.9
4.7

4.9

5.5
7.4

4.8
7.6

3.2
4.0
3.8
4.6

8.0

0

8.0

2.8
6.1

8.6

5.9
3.2
2.4
4.3
2.7
2.7

5.4
3.4
2.9
4.7

1.7
2.7

2.2
1.0
.6

1.6
1.2
1.0

.7
4.2

1.5

2.2

1.5
3.4

2.2

1.6
1.1

1.9

2.3
1.7
1.7
1.7

.5
1.4

1.6
.6

.3
3.0
1.4
4.0
4.2

2.9
1.9
1.9

2.1
1.9
2.0

.5
.3
.1

1.8

.7

.4
5.2
.4

.2
.7
.3

.3
.3
.3
.4
.4

2.0
1.8

.2

1.3
.7

.3
.3

2.5
.9
2.5

1.3
1.5
.4
2.5
.4
1.3
1.5
.9
.5

0.5
.4

5.0
3.6

5.1
3.3

.2

.3
.4
.4
.4
.3

4.1
5.8
6.9
4.0
5.5

3.4
4.5
5.7

.3

6.6

4.7
3.3

.3
.4
.3

.2

.3
.7
1.3
.4

.2
.5
.6
.6
.6
0 .2
.1
.2
.2
.6

02.4

.1

2.3

2.1
1.8
1.0
3.9
1.0
3.6
.8
.8
1.8

.3

.3

1.5

.7

11.6
4.5

.4
.3
.4

.4
.7
.3

1.0
.6
1.0

.8
2.1
.5

.3

3.0
4.4
4.5
4.1
2.3

.3
.4
.4
.4
.3

.3

1.7

1.1
2.2

3.2

.4
.3
.4

.3
.4
.3
.4
.5
.5
.3

1.8

2.3
3.0
1.5
1.5

2.1

1.8
1.2
1.7
.9
.7

1.2
1.3
.5
.4

2.6
1.0

3.8
1.9
4.3
5.4
5.1

4 .2
5 .8

4 .7
5.1

1.5
3 .0

1.8
3.1

3 .7
4 .2
2 .7
4 .0
3 .5

3.6
4.1
2 .7
3 .9
3 .6

2 .4
2.1
2 .0
3 .2
2 .4

2 .3
2.1
2 .0
3 .0
2 .3

3 .6

3 .6

2 .5

2 .7
5 .9
5.8

2 .2
6 .2
6 .0

5 .4

2.8

.5
.5

0.4
.3

.6
.2
.3
.1
.2
.2
.2
.2

1.3
2.3

4.8
6.3
5.7

2.0

.6

1.0
1.1
1.1
2.1

3.5
3.8
2.9

.1

1.4
2.3

2.1
2.3
2.4

1.6

.6

2.6
3.5
.5

.7
.4
.3

.2
.2
.1
.2
.5
.1
.1
.2
.1
.2
.4
.2

0

.2
.2
.2
.6
.2

.2
.7
.2
.4
.2
.1
.1
.4
.1

.1
.3

0 .4
0 .1

.3

.7

.1
.1
.4
.2

.1

.2

.3
1.3

2.2

.1
.2

.2
.3
.3
.4

2.3
2 .0

.6
1.2
0 .1
.6

.3
.3
.3
.4

.4

3.0
.3
.3
.4
.3
.5

.8
1.2
.5
.8
.4
.5
.5
4
.7

.2
.2
.2
.1
.6

3.7
3.0

.2
.2
.5
.2

3.6

3.9

6.6
6.1

6.7
15.9
6.4

3.9
3.7
2.9
5.4
3.7
3.1
4. 4

3.8
4.8
4.4
5.9
3.6
3.0
4. 6
2.5
3. 7
2.3
1.4
2.7
2. 7

.4
.4
.4

.6
.5
.5
.5
.3

.1
.3
.1
0
.6

.2
.3
.2

.2
.4
.6
.3
.2
.3
.2

1.5

.3
.3
.3
.4
.5

.3
.4
.4
.4
.5

2 .4
1.3

.3
.6

.5

.5
.9

.4

.5
.8
.4

.6

.6
.3
.3
.3

.4
.3

.8

0 .2

1.6

2. 4
3.8

3.6
3.3

.3

.2
.2
.2
.3
.1

02.3
1.6
2.6
2.6

2.8

3.3
3.2
3.1
4.0
2. 6

.2

.1
.1
.2

0 .2
.3

2.9
3.1
3.3
3.3

2.2

3.7
3.9

1.8

.4

.3

2.1

2.3
1.5

.4

.2

2.5
2.3
2.7

2.6

4.3

13.8

2.6
2.6
1.5
2.1

3.7

2.3
1.3
1.3
4.8
3.4
6.4
5.7
3.1

1.9

1.6

1. 5
4.0
2.3
5. 6
5. 2
3.1

3.1
3 .1

2.5
3.2
3 .8
3 .9
2.8
4. 6

.3

3 .3
3 .2
3 .3
4. 5
2 .7

3.4

.4

.3

.2

.4

2.3

.4

.3

.3

.5

.4

.5

4 .2

3 .9

1.9
4 .4
4 .0

1.6
4.2

.2
.8

.1

.1
.3

.1
.8

.5

.4

3 .0

5.1

4 .2

3 .9

.9

.8
.8

2 .7
6 .8
6 .0

5.8

3.9
5.5

1.8

2.2

1.3

1.3

.2

.2

2.5
4 .5

3.1
5 .7

1.2

2 .8

3.3

.6

3 .9

4.4

2 .9

3 .4

.4

7.3

6.9

1.2

1

.7
.7

.7

.8

.1

1

.6
0 .1

.8
0 .1

.4
.5
.7

.5

.6
.6

6.7
6 .0

7.8

8.1

.2

.3

7 .3

7.3

.1

.3

.2

.4

1.8

1.7

.1

.7
.7

1.4
1.3

.5
.4

.4

.5

.6

1.4
6.8

6.1

.4

.2

.3

.4

.3

4 .7

5. C

3

1.2

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

B : L AB O R TURN-OVER

219

Table B-2: M o n th ly Labor T urn-O ver R a tes (Per 100 E m ployees) in Selected G roups and Indus­
tries 1— C ontinued
Separation
Total

Industry group and industry

May
1951
M a n u f a c tu r in g —
Continued
Fabricated metal products (except ord­
nance, machinery, and transportation
equipment).............................. ......
Cutlery, hand tools, and hardware__
Cutlery and edge tools...............
Hand tools.......... ...................
Hardware..... ..........................
Heating apparatus (except electric)
and plumbers’ supplies________
Sanitary ware and plumbers’
supplies......... ............... ......
Oil burners, nonelectric heating
and cooking apparatus, not
elsewhere classified......... ........
Fabricated structural metal products..
Metal stamping, coating, and engraving.....................................
Machinery (except electrical).................
Engines and turbines............ ........
Agricultural machinerv and tractors..
Construction and mining machinery.
Metalworking machinery________
Machine tools. ___ ___ ____
Metalworking machinery (except
machine tools)___________
Machine-tool accessories______
Special-industry machinery metalworking machinery______ _____
General industrial machinery.. ___
Office and store machines and devices..
Service-industry and household machines.. _____ __________ _
Miscellaneous machinery parts .......
Electrical machinery______________
Electrical generating, transmission,
distribution, and industrial apparatus.. ______________ ___
Communication equipment______
Radios, phonographs, television
sets, and equipment- _____
Telephone and telegraph equipment________ ________
Electrical appliances, lamps, and
miscellaneous products.................
Transportation equipment................ .
Automobiles............ ..................
Aircraft and parts..... ............ ........
Aircraft........................ ..........
Aircraft engines and parts_____
Aircraft propellers and parts___
Other aircraft parts and equipment___ ______________
Ship and boat building and repairing-.
Railroad equipment- ______ ___
Locomotives and parts_______
Railroad and street cars______
Other transportation equipment.......
Instruments and related products.... ......
Photographic apparatus..... .............
Watches and clocks____ _______
Professional and scientific instruments..... ........................ ........
Miscellaneous manufacturing industries...
Jewelry, silverware, and plated ware..

Quit

Apr.
1951

May
1951

Discharge
Apr.
1951

May
1951

Mise., incl.
military

Lay-off

Apr.
1951

May
1951

Apr.
1951

May
1951

Apr.
1951

May
1951

Apr.
1951

5.1
4. 5
3.4
4.1
4.9
5.9
5.8

4.7
4.9
3.1
3.9
5.5
5.1
4.9

3.1
2.9
2.2
2.5
3.3
3.8
4.0

3.1
3.2
1.6
2.5
3.9
3.5
3.5

0.5
.4
.3
.4
.4
.9
.8

0.5
.4
.4
.5
.4
.8
.8

1.0
.8
.7
.7
.9
.9
.8

0.7
.9
.9
.4
.8
.4
.2

0.5
.4
.2
.5
.3
.3
.2

0.4
.4
.2
.5
.4
.4
.4

4.3
3.3
2.3
3.2
3.7
4.9
5.5

5.1
4.1
1.8
3.4
5.1
5.8
5.9

5.9
4.5
6.8
4.0
4.0
(9
3.6
4.2
4.4
3.2
4.9
3.6
4.0
2.9
4.7
4.1
5.3

5.1
4.3
6.0
3.8
4.0
3.7
4.0
4.5
4.7
3.1
5.5
3.3
3.7
2.8
4.0
3.8
4.7

3.7
3.1
3.7
2.7
2.9
(9
2.7
3.1
3.3
2.6
3.4
2.4
2.7
1.8
2.0
2.8
2.7

3.5
2.8
3.8
2.6
2.9
2.7
2.9
3.2
3.4
2.3
3.7
2.2
2.7
1.5
1.8
2.6
2.2

.9
.6
.5
.5
.6
(9
.6
.7
.8
.4
.7
.5
.7
.2
.3
.6
.4

.7
.6
.4
.5
.6
.4
.5
.7
.8
.4
1.0
.4
.6
.2
.3
.6
.3

1.0
.4
1.8
.5
.2
(9
.1
.2
.1
(9
.6
.4
.3
.4
2.0
.3
1.6

.6
.5
1.4
.3
.1
.1
.3
.2
.1
.2
.6
.3
.1
.6
1.2
.2
1.6

.3
.4
.8
.3
.3
(9
.2
.2
.2
.2
.2
.3
.3
.5
.4
.4
.6

.3
.4
.4
.4
.4
.5
.3
.4
.4
.2
.2
.4
.3
.5
.7
.4
.6

4.4
4.6
4.2
4.8
4.9
(9
4.7
5.4
5.8
3.5
6.2
3.7
4.9
4.1
4.1
5.2
5.1

5.6
5.2
6.0
4.8
5.5
4.4
4.6
6.1
6.3
3.8
8.1
4.0
5.0
3.8
3.5
5.3
4.5

3.9
(4)
8.3
(9
4.6
8.8
10.8
4.8
5.1
3.3
2.3
5.9
(9
3.5
2.6
5.1

2.2
(9
2.7
(9
2.5
3.8
3.8
3.7
4.1
2.4
1.5
3.6
(9
1.9
1.5
2.9

.2
.4
.5
.1
.3
.5
.5
.4
.4
.5
.3
.4
.8
.2
.1
.4
.1
.2
(9
.2
.4
.4
.1

.8
(9
3.9
(9
1.5
3.6
5.2
.1
(9
(9
.2
.7
(9
.6
.1
1.2

.2
3.8
6.5
(9
.7
1.9
2.0
(9
(9
(9
(9
.1
8.8
.7
.1
2.2
1.7
.4
.1
.8
.4
1.6
1.3

.5
(9
1.2
(9
.3
.9
1.2
.6
.6
.4
.3
.8
(9
.8
.8
.8
.5
(9
.2
.6
.4
.6

.5
.8
1.1
.4
.4
.6
.7
.7
.6
.4
.6
.5
.2
.7
.7
.6
.3
.3
.3
.4
.4
.6
.5

5.1
(9
5.3
(9
3.6
7.6
6.6
7.6
7.8
6.3
3.6
13.3
(9
7.2
4.8
9.9

1.4
1.6
1.6
2.8
2.4

1.6
2.8
2.8
1.3
2.5
3.5
3.6
3.4
3.7
2.2
1.6
2.6
4.8
1.9
1.2
2.3
1.4
1.5
.7
2.0
1.8
3.1
2.4

.4

2.4
(9
2.7
2.8
4.7
5.5

2.5
7.8
10.9
1.8
3.9
6.5
6.8
4.5
4.7
3.1
2.5
3.6
14.6
3.5
2.1
5.5
3.5
2.4
1.1
3.4
3.0
5.7
4.3

3.4
2.5
3.9
3.3
1.4

4.0
4.6
4.4
3.9
4.3
7.3
5.8
7.6
7.6
6.7
5.1
10.2
17.6
10.6
8.7
8.9
1.9
3.3
2.3
2.8
3.9
4.5
2.4

5.5
2.2
5.8
6.5
1.7
3.4

4.9
2.1
5.1
5.3
4.5
3.5

4.7
1.8
5.2
5.3
1.4
1.7

3.9
1.4
4.3
4.4
2.1
1.9

.1
.1
.1
.2
2.0
1.2

.2
.2
.3
.3
.1
.2

.5
.4
.5
.4
.3
.3

5.9
3.4
5.5
6.1
1.7
1.6

5.4
5.6
3.6
4.4
2.8
1.6

(9

(9
(9

(9

.5
(9
.3
.5
.6
.4
.4
.5
.3
.8
(9
.2
.2
.2

(9

.1
(9
.1
.2
.4
.2

(9

.4
(9
.8
.4
1.1
2.3

(9

(9
(9

N o n m a n u fa c tu r in g

Metal mining________ _____ _____
Iron. ........ ............................ .
Copper........................................
Lead and zinc...............................
Anthracite mining...............................
Bituminous-coal mining..................... .
Communication:
Telephone....... .............................
Telegraph.............. ................... ..1

(9
(9

2.0
1.8

(9
(9

1See footnote 1, table B-l. Data for the current month are subject to
revision without notation; revised figures for earlier months will be indicated by footnotes.

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

1.5
1.3

.5
.2
.3
.4

.4
.2
.2
.3
.1
.1

(9
.1
(9
(9

(9

.1

(9
(9

.1

.5
.2
1.4

(9
w

.1
.3

(9
(9

*See footnote 2, table A-2.
8See footnote 3, table A-2. Printing, publishing,
and allied industries are excluded.

.3
.2

(9

(9

2.6
2.1

4Not available,
*Less than 0.05.

MONTHLY LABOR

C: E ARNINGS AND HOURS

220

C: Earnings and Hours
T able C -l: H ours and Gross E arnings of Production W orkers or N onsupervisory E m ployees 1
Mining
Coal

Metal
Year and month

Total: Metal

Iron

Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly.
hrly.
wkly. wkly.
earn­
earn­ hours earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings ings hours ings
ings

Copper

Lead and zinc

Bituminous

Anthracite

Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly.
hrly. wkly.
wkly. wkly.
earn­
earn­ hours earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings ings hours ings
ings

Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly.
hrly. wkly.
wkly. wkly.
earn­
earn­ hours earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings ings hours ings
ings

1949: Average........ $61.55 40.9 $1.505 $58.91 39.7 $1.484 $63.96 42.3 $1,512 $64. 79 41.4 $1.565 $56. 78 30.2 $1.880 $63.28 32.6 $1,941
1950: Average-....... 65.58 42.2 1.554 61.96 40.9 1.515 72. 05 45.0 1.601 66.64 41.6 1.602 63.24 32.1 1.970 70.35 35.0 2. 010
1950: May........ — 63.11 41.6 1.517 59.33 39.9 1.487 69.42 44.5 1.560 63. 71 41.4 1.539 68.81 34.7 1.983 68.37 34.1 2.005
June_____ 63.40 41.6 1.524 60.75 40.8 1.489 69.55 44.3 1.570 63.38 40.5 1.565 64. 94 32.6 1.992 69.92 34.7 2.015
July---------- 63.17 41.1 1.537 61.51 40.9 1.504 67.95 42.9 1.584 62.96 39.7 1. 586 68.59 34.8 1.971 69.68 34.6 2.014
August____ 64.48 41.9 1.539 60.97 40.7 1.498 71.53 44.9 1.593 64.73 41.1 1.575 65. 77 33.2 1.981 71.04 35.5 2.001
September--- 66.38 42.2 1.573 62.80 41.1 1.528 72.46 45.2 1.603 68. 06 41.2 1.652 68. 45 34.5 1.984 71.92 35.5 2.026
October____ 69.84 43.9 1.591 66.53 43.4 1.533 75.68 46.4 1.631 71.95 42.8 1.681 75. 59 37.2 2.032 72.99 36.1 2.022
November__ 69.92 43.0 1.626 63.77 41.6 1.533 78.78 46.1 1.709 73.01 42.3 1. 726 60.85 31.0 1.963 73.27 36.4 2. 013
December___ 73. 53 43.9 1.675 70. 51 42.3 1.667 79.82 47.2 1.691 75.34 43.2 1.744 65.14 32.8 1.986 77.77 38.5 2. 020
1951: January____ 74.33 43.7 1.701 70.31 41.8 1.682 82.21 47.3 1.738 75. 34 43.1 1.748 71.33 35.9 1.987 76.63 37.6 2.038
February___ 73.46 43.7 1. 681 70.98 42.5 1.670 78.49 46.5 1.688 74.17 42.8 1.733 66. 65 30.2 2. 207 75. 67 34.1 2. 219
March_____ 72. 83 43.3 1.682 69.22 41.3 1.676 77. 89 46. 5 1.675 74.30 43.0 1.728 50. 68 23.1 2.194 74. 66 33.6 2. 222
April______ 74. 41 43.9 1.695 72. 59 42.8 1.696 76.82 46.0 1.670 77.30 43.6 1.773 46. 91 21.5 2.182 75. 96 34.0 2. 234
May............ 74. 75 44.1 1.695 74.54 43.9 1.698 76.18 45.7 1.667 75.54 42.8 1.765 66.67 30.1 2. 215 74.11 33.4 2.219
Contract construction

Mining—Continued
Crude petroleum and
natural gas production
Petroleum and
natural gas production
(except contract
services)

Nonbuilding construction
Nonmetallic mining Total: Contract con­
struction
and quarrying
Total: Nonbuilding Highway and street
construction

1949: Average........ $71.48 40.2 $1.778 $56.38 43.3 $1,302 $70.81 37.8 $1.874 $70. 44
1950: Average____ 73.69 40.6 1.815 59.88 44.0 1.361 73. 73 37.2 1.982 73.46
1950: May........ —- 70.88 40.0 1.772 59.45 44.4 1.339 72.74 37.3 1.950 71.71
June______ 71.08 40.0 1.777 60.39 44.9 1.345 73.76 38.0 1.941 73. 75
July......... . 75.59 41.6 1.817 60.92 44.6 1. 366 74.06 37.9 1.954 73.70
August-.......- 71.01 40.3 1.762 61.74 45.2 1.366 75.96 38.6 1.968 76.48
September__ 73.47 40.5 1.814 62.51 45.1 1.386 75.89 37.7 2.013 75. 86
October__ _ 77.67 41.4 1.876 64.03 45.8 1.398 77.92 38.5 2.024 77. 65
November__ 76.21 40.6 1.877 63.31 44.9 1.410 77.52 38.0 2.040 75.42
December___ 75. 58 40.2 1.880 62.12 43.5 1.428 77.36 37.3 2. 074 75.58
1951: January........ 76.90 40.6 1.894 61.96 43.3 1.431 77. 61 37.1 2.092 74.70
February___ 77.15 40.5 1.905 60. 77 42.0 1.447 75.47 35.7 2.114 72. 20
March_____ 76. 69 40.6 1.889 63. 74 43.6 1.462 76. 99 36.3 2.121 74.19
April__ -.- 80.63 41.2 1.957 66.24 45.0 1.472 79. 65 37.5 2.124 77. 75
May______ 79.60 40.8 1.951 67.78 45.8 1.480 81. 50 38.3 2.128 79. 97

40.9
40.9
40.7
42.0
41.5
42.7
41.5
42.5
40.9
40.2
39.4
37.7
38.5
40.2
41.5

$1. 723
1.796
1.762
1.756
1.776
1.791
1.828
1.827
1.844
1.880
1.896
1.915
1.927
1.934
1.927

$65.65
69.17
68.06
69.86
69. 31
73.88
70.84
73.32
70.91
69. 49
66.10
65.83
67.40
71.58
75.66

41.5
41.1
41.0
42.6
41.5
44.0
41.5
42.8
41.2
39.8
38.1
37.3
38.1
40.6
42.7

$1. 583
1.683
1.660
1.640
1.670
1.679
1.707
1.713
1.721
1.746
1.735
1.765
1. 769
1.763
1. 772

Other nonbuilding
construction
$73. 66
76. 31
74. 20
76.84
77.19
78.33
79. 72
80.92
78. 59
79.46
79.80
75. 80
78.25
81.76
83.11

40.5 $1.820
40.7 1.875
40.5 1.832
41.6 1.847
41.5 1.860
41.6 1.883
41.5 1.921
42.3 1.913
40.7 1.931
40.5 1.962
40.2 1.985
37.9 2. 000
38.7 2.022
39.9 2.049
40.6 2.047

Contract construction—Continued

Building construction
Special-trade contractors
Total: Building con­ General contractors
struction
Painting and
Total: Special-trade Plumbing and heating
decorating
contractors
1949: Average____
1950: Average____
1950: May______
June....... .....
July.......... .
August____
September__
October____
November__
December___
1951: January____
February___
March_____
April______
May..........

$70.95 36.7 $1.935
73. 73 36.3 2. 031
72.93 36.5 1.998
73.82 37.0 1.995
74.02 36.9 2.006
75.99 37.6 2.021
75.86 36.7 2.067
77.87 37.4 2.082
78.07 37.3 2.093
77.80 36.7 2.120
78.35 36.7 2.135
76.14 35.3 2.157
77. 44 35.8 2.163
79. 86 36.8 2.170
82.04 37.6 2.182

See footnotes at end of table.

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

$67.16 36.2 $1.855 $75. 70 37.2 $2.034 $78. 60 38.6 $2.037 $70. 75 35.7 $1.982
68. 56 35.8 1.915 77. 77 36.7 2.119 81.72 38.4 2.128 71.26 35.4 2. 013
67.87 36.1 1.880 76.95 36.8 2.091 81.14 38.4 2.113 69.06 35.0 1.973
68.33 36.6 1.867 77.92 37.3 2.089 82.64 39.0 2.119 69.15 35.3 1.959
68.77 36.6 1.879 78.16 37.2 2.101 80.45 38.0 2.117 71.62 36.1 1.984
70.87 37.2 1.905 79. 72 37.8 2.109 81.56 38.6 2.113 73.33 36.3 2.020
70.73 36.2 1.954 79.62 37.0 2.152 83.67 38.4 2.179 72.89 35.8 2.036
72. 71 37.0 1.965 81.95 37.8 2.168 84.65 38.9 2.176 76.62 36.8 2.082
72.94 36.8 1.982 82.00 37.7 2.175 85. 08 39.1 2.176 74.93 36.2 2.070
71.69 35.7 2.008 82.24 37.4 2.199 86.53 39.1 2.213 74.60 35.9 2.078
72.56 36.1 2.010 82. 51 37.1 2.224 86.60 38.8 2.232 74. 41 35.2 2.114
68. 75 34.0 2. 022 81.49 36.3 2.245 85.99 38.1 2. 257 75. 44 35.4 2.131
69. 93 34.5 2.027 82. 95 36.8 2.254 88.93 38.9 2.286 74.91 35.2 2.128
72. 76 36.0 2.021 85. 31 37.5 2. 275 88.93 38.9 2.286 77. 83 36.2 2.150
75.17 36.9 2.037 87.17 38.1 2.288 92.03 39.6 2.324 79.82 36.8 2.169

Electrical work
$86. 57 39.2 $2.211
89.16 38.4 2. 322
86.18 37.8 2.280
87.55 38.4 2.280
86.60 37.9 2.285
89.16 38.7 2.304
92.38 38.7 2.387
94.04 39.2 2.399
95.01 39.1 2.430
96. 44 39.9 2.417
98.77 39.7 2. 488
97.42 39.0 2.498
98. 74 39.4 2.506
99.14 39.8 2. 491
102. 34 40.5 2.527

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

C: EARNIN GS AND HOURS

221

T a b l e C - l : H ours and Gross E arnings of P roduction W orkers or N onsupervisory E m ployees

Con.

Contract construction—Continued
Building construction—Continued
Special-trade contractors—Continued

Year and month

Other special-trade
contractors
Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
earn­ hours
ings

1949: Average__
1950: Average__
1950: May.......
June........
July.........
August.....
September.
October__
November.
December..
1951: January__
February...
March___
April____
May____

. . $71. 39
— 74.71
74. 46
75. 81
-- 76. 75
-- 78. 57
76. 59
-79.06
79.07
-- 78.23

--

77. 87
76.32
78.10
81. 98
83.10

Plastering and lath­
ing

Masonry

Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. Avg.
earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings
ings hours

Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. Avg.
earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings
ings hours

36.1 $1. 979 $68. 72
35.8 2.087 70.85

33.8 $2.033 $80.39
33.9 2.090 86.70

36.2
36.8
36.9
37. 7
36.3
37.1
37.0
36.2

2.131
2.137
2.161

2.110

70.98
74.27
73.91
76.50
71.88
77.36
80.53
72.06

33.8
35.1
34.7
36.0
33.2
35.6
37.3
33.3

2.116
2.130
2.125
2.165
2.173
2.159
2.164

2.169
2.193

66.22

75.19

34.3
30.5
33.4
34.8
35.4

35.9
34.8
35. 5
36. 5
37.1

2.057
2.060
2.080
2.084

2.200

2.246
2.240

73.01
77. 50
78.80

Roofing and sheetmetal work

Carpentry

Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. Avg.
earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings
ings hours

Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. Avg.
earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings
ings hours

Excavation and foun­
dation work

Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. Avg.
earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings
ings hours

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

34.9 $2.301 $67.14
35.0 2.477 69.86

36.6 $1,837 $62.86
37.0 1.888 64.49

35.7 $1.759 $69.66
35.3 1.827 74.92

37.8
38.6

$1,844
1.941

2.100 88.86
90.65
91.73
93.11
92.89
93.07
87.49
93.14

35.7
36.1
36.2
36.4
36.6
36.2
34.9
35.7

2.489
2.511
2.534
2. 558
2.538
2. 571
2.507
2.609

65.58
67.40
67.90
70. 50
71.17
71.17
72.80
70.92

36.7
37.3
37.7
38.4
38.2
37.4
37.8
35.8

1.787
1.807
1.801
1.836
1.863
1.903
1.926
1.981

65.05
65. 70
65.77
68.50
65.99
68.19
67.64
66.36

35.9
36.6
36.4
37.7
36.2
36.8
36.6
35.6

1.812
1.795
1.807
1.817
1.823
1.853
1.848
1.864

74.10
74.74
73.57
77.26
75.01
78.40
79. 97
80.39

39.0
39.4
38.7
40.6
38.0
38.6
38.3
38.5

1. 900
1.807
1901
1. 903
1. 974
2. 031
2. 088
2.088

2.192
2.171
2.186
2.227
2.226

87.89
90.88
89.44
92. 76
92. 55

34.4
34.9
34.4
35.8
35.9

2. 555
2. 604
2.600
2. 591
2. 578

71.71
64.98
64.52
70.19
70.37

36.2
32.8
32.9
35.2
34.7

1.981
1.981
1.961
1.994
2.028

66. 65
64. 58
65.25
68. 81
70. 77

35.3
33.9
34.0
35.8
36.9

1.888

81.37
81.28
77.88
79.00
83.74

38.6
37. 2
36.6
38.0
40.2

2.108
2 185
2 128
2 079
2.083

1.905
1.919
1.922
1.918

"

Manufacturing
Total: Manufacturing
1949: Average.
1950: Average.
1950: May........
June.......
July.........
August.....
September.
October__
November.
December. _
1951: January__
February..
March___
April........
May____

$54. 92
59.33
57.54
58.85
59.21
60.32
60. 64
61.99
62.23
63.88
63.76
63.84
64. 57
64. 74
64. 55

39.2
40.5
39.9
40.5
40.5
41.2
41.0
41.3
41.1
41.4
41.0
40.9
41.1
41.0
40.7

$1.401
1.465
1.442
1.453
1.462
1.464
1.479
1.501
1. 514
1.543
1.555
1.561
1.571
1. 579
1.586

Durable goods s
$58.03 39.5 $1.469
63.32 41.2 1.537
61.57 40.8 1.509
62.86 41.3 1.522
63.01 41.1 1.533
64.33 41.8 1.539
65.14 41.7 1.562
66.39 42.1 1.577
66.34 41.8 1.587
68.32 42.2 1.619
67.65 41.5 1.630
68.18 41.6 1.639
69.30 41.9 1.654
69. 72 42.0 1. 660
69.39 41.7 1.664

Food and kindred products
Ordnance and
Nondurable goods * Total:accessories
Total: Food and kin­
Meat products
dred products
$51. 41 38.8 $1.325 $58. 76
54.71 39.7 1.378 64.79
52.83 38.9 1.358 61.66
53. 92 39.5 1. 365 61.90
54.73 39.8 1.375 64.92
55.65 40.5 1.374 66.12
55.30 40.1 1.379 67.41
56. 58 40.3 1. 404 68.64
57.19 40.3 1.419 70.53
58.44 40.5 1.443 68.34
58. 53 40.2 1.456 69. 55
58.32 40.0 1.458 70. 92
58.40 40.0 1.460 72. 71
58.05 39.6 1.466 71.22
58.01 39.3 1.476 72.37

40.0
41.8
40.7
40.7
42.6
42.6
43.1
43.2
43.4
42.5
42.0
42.7
43.1
42.8
42.9

$1.469
1.550
1.515
1.521
1.524
1.552
1.564
1.589
1.625
1.608
1.656
1.661
1.687
1. 664
1.687

$53.58
56.07
54.90
56.01
56.94
56.19
56.36
56.83
58.07
59.85
60.11
59.04
59.12
59.62
60.36

41.5
41.5
41.0
41.8
42.3
41.9
42.0
41.6
41.9
42.3
41.8
41.0
41.0
41.2
41.6

$1. 291
1.351
1.339
1.340
1.346
1.341
1.342
1.366
1.386
1.415
1.438
1.440
1.442
1.447
1.451

$57.44 41.5 $1,384
60.07 41.6 1.444
57.10 40.7 1.403
58.11 41.3 1.407
59.31 41.8 1.419
57. 92 40.7 1.423
62. 59 41.7 1.501
61.24 40.8 1. 501
65.49 43.4 1.509
69.92 45.2 1.547
65.83 42.8 1.538
60. 25 39.9 1.510
61.92 40.6 1.525
62. 76 41.1 1.527
63. 79 41.5 1.537

Manufacturing—Continued

Food and kindred products—Continued
Meat packing
1949: Average__
1950: Average__
1950: May....... .
June...... .
July.........
August__
September.
October__
November.
December..
1951: January__
February..
March___
April........

May.......

$58. 02
60.94
57. 55
öS. Ö6
60. 01
58.48
63.77
62. 23
66. 55
71.48
66.95
61. 21
63. 01
63. 87
64. 99

41.5
41.6
40.5
41.1
41.7
40. 5
41.6
40.7
43.3
45.5
43.0
39. 9
40. 6
41.1
41.5

See footnotes at end of table.

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

$1.398
1.465
1.421
1.427
1.439
1.444
1. 633
1. 529
1. 537
1.571
1.557
1. 534
1. 552
1.554
1. 566

Sausages and casings

Dairy products

$57.44 41.9 $1,371 $54.61 44.8 $1,219
60.80 42.4 1.434 56.11 44.5 1.261
60.67 43.0 1.411 55.02 44.3 1.242
61.39 43.6 1.408 55.85 45.0 1.241
62.60 43.9 1.426 57. 21 45.3 1.263
60.69 42.8 1.418 56. 57 45.0 1.257
62.45 42.8 1.459 56.81 44.7 1.271
60.78 41.4 1.468 56. 74 44.5 1.275
65. 58 43.2 1. 518 56.62 44.1 1.284
67.23 43.8 1.535 57.68 44.3 1.302
65.84 42.7 1.542 59.09 44.1 1.340
61.04 40.0 1. 526 59. 45 44.1 1.348
64.37 42.1 1.529 59. 98 44.4 1. 351
64.09 41.4 1.548 59. 85 44.3 1.351
64.18 41.3 1.554 61.11 45.3 1.349

Condensed and evap­ Ice cream and ices
orated milk

Canning and preserv­
ing

$56.13
57.36
56.61
58.02
58.86
58.16
58. 59
57.58
57.91
58.90
60.89
61.56
63. 75
63. 75
64.12

$43.77
46.81
45.01
45.94
47.73
47.91
47.18
49.05
48.06
46.82
49.41
48. 84
48.64
50.22
49.13

45.3
45.6
45.8
46.9
46.2
46.6
46.1
45.7
45.1
45.2
45.0
45.1
46.5
46.7
46.8

$1.239
1.258
1.236
1.237
1.274
1.248
1.271
1.260
1.284
1.303
1.353
1.365
1.371
1.365
1.370

$55.00
57.29
56.20
54.99
57.49
57.50
58.43
58. 74
58.76
60.79
61.82
62.01
61.66
61.66
61.18

44.9
44.1
44.5
43.3
44.6
44.2
44.2
44.1
43.4
44.5
44.8
44.2
44.2
44.2
44.3

$1. 225
1.299
1.263
1.270
1.289
1.301
1.322
1.332
1.354
1.366
1.380
1.403
1.395
1.395
1.381

38.8
39.3
37. 2
38.9
41.4
40. 6
41.1
40. 5
38.6
37.4
38.3
37. 8
37. 5
38. 6
38.2

$1.128
1.191
1.210
1.181
1.153
1.180
1.148
1.211
1. 245
1.252
1.290
1. 292
1. 297
1. 301
1.286

M ONTHLY LA BO R

C: EARNINGS AND HOURS

222

Table C—1: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees 1 Con.
M a n u f a c t u r in g — C o n t i n u e d

F o o d a n d k in d r e d p ro d u c ts --C o n tin u e d

Y e a r a n d m o n th

G r a in - m ill p ro d u c ts

F lo u r a n d o th e r
g r a in - m ill p ro d u c ts

P r e p a r e d fe e d s

C a n e - s u g a r r e f in in g

Sugar

B a k e r y p ro d u c ts

A vg.
h r ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

A vg.
w k ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

A vg.
w k ly .
h o u rs

A vg.
h r ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

A vg.
w k ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

A vg.
w k ly .
h o u rs

Avg.
h r ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

A vg.
w k ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

A vg.
w k ly .
h o u rs

Avg.
h r ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

Avg.
w k ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

A vg.
w k ly .
h o u rs

A vg.
h r ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

A vg.
w k ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

Avg.
w k ly .
h o u rs

A vg.
h r ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

A vg.
w k ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

Avg.
w k ly .
h o u rs

1 9 4 9 : A v e r a g e . ........ — $ 5 6 .9 4
19 5 0 : A v e r a g e ............... 5 9 .0 2

4 3 .8
4 3 .3

$ 1 ,3 0 0
1 .3 6 3

$ 5 8 .9 1
6 0 .9 5

4 4 .7
4 4 .1

$ 1 .3 1 8
1 .3 8 2

$ 5 4 .9 8
5 7 .2 1

4 6 .2
4 5 .3

$ 1 ,1 9 0
1 .2 6 3

$ 5 1 .6 7
5 3 .5 4

4 1 .7
4 1 .5

$ 1 .2 3 9
1 .2 9 0

$ 5 6 .0 1
5 9 .9 4

4 2 .4
4 3 .0

$ 1 ,3 2 1
1 .3 9 4

$ 5 6 .6 2
6 1 .8 3

4 2 .1
4 3 .0

$ 1 ,3 4 5
1 .4 3 8

1 9 5 0 : M a v __________
J u n e ___________
J u l y — ..................
A u g u s t --------------S e p t e m b e r ____
O c t o b e r _______
N o v e m b e r ____
D e c e m b e r _____

5 6 .3 5
5 8 .4 7
6 0 .6 0
6 3 .6 5
6 1 .3 4
5 9 .9 7
5 9 .7 8
6 3 .6 0

4 2 .4
4 3 .9
4 4 .3
4 5 .4
4 4 .0
4 3 .3
4 2 .7
4 4 .2

1 .3 2 9
1 .3 3 2
1 .3 6 8
1 .4 0 2
1 .3 9 4
1 .3 8 5
1 .4 0 0
1 .4 3 9

5 7 .3 6
58. 51
6 1 .8 6
6 7 .3 5
6 4 .6 6
6 0 .8 5
6 1 .4 2
6 6 .5 5

4 2 .9
4 3 .5
4 4 .6
4 6 .8
4 5 .5
4 3 .4
4 3 .5
4 5 .8

1 .3 3 7
1 .3 4 5
1 .3 8 7
1 .4 3 9
1. 421
1 .4 0 2
1 .4 1 2
1 .4 5 3

5 5 .7 2
5 7 .6 3
6 0 .9 6
5 7 .6 2
5 9 .1 4
5 9 .8 9
5 9 .0 0
6 1 .1 0

4 4 .9
4 6 .7
4 7 .7
4 5 .3
4 5 .7
4 6 .0
4 4 .7
4 5 .6

1 .2 4 1
1 .2 3 4
1 .2 7 8
1 .2 7 2
1 .2 9 4
1 .3 0 2
1 .3 2 0
1 .3 4 0

5 3 .1 2
5 3 .2 1
58. 88
5 4 .3 4
5 3 .8 5
5 4 .1 9
5 4 .4 7
5 5 .0 4

4 1 .6
4 1 .9
4 1 .7
4 1 .8
4 1 .2
4 1 .4
4 1 .3
4 1 .6

1 .2 7 7
1 .2 7 0
1 .2 9 2
1 .3 0 0
1 .3 0 7
1 .3 0 9
1 .3 1 9
1 .3 2 3

5 7 .5 9
5 9 .2 3
6 6 .3 6
64. 64
6 3 .5 4
5 6 .9 0
6 1 .1 0
6 3 .4 3

4 1 .4
4 2 .4
4 5 .7
4 5 .3
4 3 .7
4 1 .9
4 5 .7
4 5 .7

1 .3 9 1
1 .3 9 7
1 .4 5 2
1 .4 2 7
1 .4 5 4
1 .3 5 8
1 .3 3 7
1 .3 8 8

6 1 .1 1
6 2 .1 2
7 3 .0 1
7 1 .4 3
6 9 .0 1
5 6 .8 3
5 7 .2 9
6 7 .6 7

4 3 .4
4 3 .9
4 9 .4
4 8 .2
4 5 .7
3 9 .6
4 0 .4
4 5 .6

1 .4 0 8
1 .4 1 5
1 .4 7 8
1 .4 8 2
1 .5 1 0
1 .4 3 5
1 .4 1 8
1 .4 8 4

1 9 5 1 : J a n u a r y ...............
F e b r u a r y ______
M a r c h _________
A p r i l ___________
M a y __________

6 4 .9 2
63. 58
62. 71
6 3 .5 4
6 4 .0 3

4 4 .8
4 3 .7
4 3 .1
4 3 .7
4 4 .1

1 .4 4 9
1 .4 5 5
1 .4 5 5
1 .4 5 4
1 .4 5 2

6 8 .0 2
6 5 .0 3
6 2 .8 8
62. 75
6 3 .4 0

4 6 .4
4 5 .0
4 4 .0
4 4 .1
4 4 .4

1 .4 6 6
1 .4 4 5
1 .4 2 9
1 .4 2 3
1 .4 2 8

6 1 .4 2
59. 98
5 9 .8 3
6 1 .9 2
6 3 .8 5

4 5 .6
4 4 .2
4 3 .8
4 5 .1
4 5 .8

1 .3 4 7
1 .3 5 7
1 .3 6 6
1 .3 7 3
1 .3 9 4

5 4 .6 8
5 5 .4 9
5 5 .3 2
55. 95
56. 57

4 1 .3
4 1 .5
4 1 .5
4 1 .6
4 1 .9

1 .3 2 4
1 .3 3 7
1 .3 3 3
1 .3 4 5
1 .3 5 0

6 0 .3 6
6 1 .9 3
58. 82
6 0 .4 5
65. 77

4 0 .4
4 0 .8
3 9 .4
3 9 .9
4 2 .6

1 .4 9 4
1. 518
1 .4 9 3
1 .5 1 5
1 .5 4 4

6 3 .8 7
6 3 .0 8
6 1 .0 6
5 9 .6 4
7 3 .5 9

4 2 .1
4 0 .8
4 0 .2
3 9 .6
4 6 .9

1 .5 1 7
1 .5 4 6
1 .5 1 9
1 .5 0 6
1 .5 6 9

M a n u f a c t u r in g — C o n tin u e d

F o o d a n d k in d r e d p ro d u c ts — C o n tin u e d

C o n f e c t io n e r y
and
re la te d p ro d u c ts

B e e t sugar

B o t t l e d s o ft d r i n k s

B e v e ra g e s

C o n f e c t io n e r y

M a l t liq u o r s

19 4 9 : A v e r a g e - ............. $ 5 6 .0 9
5 8 .6 9
Iflfift* A v e r a g e _______

4 2 .3
4 2 .5

$ 1 ,3 2 6
1 .3 8 1

$ 4 5 .1 2
4 6 .7 2

4 0 .0
3 9 .9

$ 1 .1 2 8
1 .1 7 1

$ 4 2 .6 3
4 4 .8 1

3 9 .8
3 9 .9

$ 1 ,0 7 1
1 .1 2 3

$ 6 4 .2 1
6 7 .4 9

4 1 .0
4 1 .0

$ 1 .5 6 6
1 .6 4 6

$48. 40
4 9 .1 2

4 3 .8
4 2 .9

$ 1 .1 0 5
1 .1 4 5

$69. 46
7 2 .6 6

4 1 .1
4 0 .8

$ 1 ,6 9 0
1 .7 8 1

1 9 5 0 : M a y ___________
J u n e ___________
J u ly
__________
A u g u s t --------------S e p t e m b e r ____
O c t o b e r ________
N o v e m b e r ____
D e c e m b e r _____

5 2 .2 5
5 4 .2 9
5 6 .3 7
5 6 .0 1
5 8 .0 4
5 7 .3 5
6 4 .0 7
6 2 .0 6

3 7 .7
3 9 .2
3 8 .9
4 0 .5
4 0 .9
4 2 .8
4 7 .6
4 5 .1

1 .3 8 6
1 .3 8 5
1. 449
1 .3 8 3
1 .4 1 9
1 .3 4 0
1 .3 4 6
1 .3 7 6

4 5 .3 6
4 6 .3 7
4 5 .9 8
47. 99
4 9 .3 5
4 9 .0 0
4 8 .1 5
4 7 .7 1

3 9 .1
3 9 .6
3 8 .8
4 0 .5
4 1 .3
4 1 .0
4 0 .5
4 0 .4

1 .1 6 0
1 .1 7 1
1 .1 8 5
1 .1 8 5
1 .1 9 5
1 .1 9 5
1 .1 8 9
1 .1 8 1

43. 56
4 4 .3 6
4 4 .1 6
4 5 .8 2
4 7 .1 3
4 7 .1 9
4 7 .1 0
4 7 .3 0

3 9 .0
3 9 .4
3 8 .6
4 0 .3
4 1 .2
4 1 .0
4 1 .1
4 1 .6

1 .1 1 7
1 .1 2 6
1 .1 4 4
1 .1 3 7
1 .1 4 4
1 .1 5 1
1 .1 4 6
1 .1 3 7

6 6 .7 1
6 8 .9 6
7 1 .1 1
6 8 .3 9
6 7 .8 6
6 8 .1 4
6 7 .8 1
6 8 .7 8

4 1 .1
4 2 .0
4 2 .3
4 1 .3
4 1 .2
4 1 .0
4 0 .9
4 0 .6

1 .6 2 3
1 .6 4 2
1 .6 8 1
1 .6 5 6
1 .6 4 7
1 .6 6 2
1 .6 5 8
1 .6 9 4

4 8 .6 4
5 1 .2 9
5 0 .3 4
4 9 .7 8
4 9 .5 3
4 9 .9 2
5 0 .3 0
5 0 .3 6

4 3 .2
4 4 .1
4 3 .1
4 3 .1
4 2 .7
4 3 .0
4 3 .1
4 2 .9

1 .1 2 6
1 .1 6 3
1 .1 6 8
1 .1 5 5
1 .1 6 0
1 .1 6 1
1 .1 6 7
1 .1 7 4

7 2 .8 2
7 4 .9 5
7 7 .8 6
73. 25
7 2 .7 1
7 2 .4 8
7 3 .0 2
7 4 .0 1

4 1 .4
4 2 .2
4 2 .9
4 0 .9
4 0 .8
4 0 .2
4 0 .5
3 9 .9

1 .7 5 9
1 .7 7 6
1 .8 1 5
1 .7 9 1
1 .7 8 2
1 .8 0 3
1 .8 0 3
1 .8 5 5

1 9 5 1 : J a n u a r y _______
F e b r u a r y ______
M a r c h _________
______
A p r il—
M a y ___________

5 7 .2 4
61. 51
55. 71
6 2 .1 8
5 2 .4 2

3 8 .6
4 0 .6
3 6 .7
4 0 .8
3 4 .6

1 .4 8 3
1 .5 1 5
1 .5 1 8
1 .5 2 4
1 .5 1 5

4 9 .4 9
4 9 .3 1
4 8 .8 2
4 8 .4 6
4 9 .3 4

4 0 .4
3 9 .7
3 9 .5
3 8 .8
3 9 .1

1 .2 2 5
1 .2 4 2
1 .2 3 6
1 .2 4 9
1 .2 6 2

4 8 .3 3
4 7 .4 4
4 7 .0 0
46. 60
47. 66

4 1 .1
3 9 .9
3 9 .7
3 8 .9
3 9 .1

1 .1 7 6
1 .1 8 9
1 .1 8 4
1 .1 9 8
1 .2 1 9

7 1 .6 1
7 1 .1 3
7 2 .3 5
72. 24
7 4 .0 6

4 1 .2
4 0 .3
4 0 .9
40. 7
4 1 .4

1 .7 3 8
1 .7 6 5
1 .7 6 9
1 .7 7 5
1 .7 8 9

5 0 .2 5
50. 53
5 0 .7 4
5 0 .5 2
5 2 .3 8

4 2 .8
4 2 .5
4 2 .6
4 2 .6
4 3 .8

1 .1 7 4
1 .1 8 9
1 .1 9 1
1 .1 8 6
1 .1 9 6

7 5 .9 3
7 6 .4 5
7 8 .2 7
7 7 .1 1
7 9 .2 5

4 0 .3
3 9 .9
4 1 .0
4 0 .5
4 1 .3

1 .8 8 4
1 .9 1 6
1 .9 0 9
1 .9 0 4
1 .9 1 9

M a n u f a c t u r in g — C o n t i n u e d

T o b a c c o m a n u fa c tu re s

F o o d a n d k in d r e d p ro d u c ts — C o n tin u e d

D i s t i l l e d , r e c t if ie d ,
a n d b l e n d e d liq u o r s

M is c e lla n e o u s fo o d
p ro d u c ts

T o ta l: T o b a c c o
m a n u fa c tu re s

T o b a c c o a n d s n u ff

C ig a r s

C ig a r e t t e s

$ 5 7 .0 0
6 1 .9 4

3 9 .2
4 0 .3

$ 1 .4 5 4
1 .5 3 7

$ 5 2 .1 7
5 4 .9 9

4 1 .9
4 2 .2

$1. 245
1 .3 0 3

$37. 25
4 1 .0 8

3 7 .1
3 7 .9

$ 1 ,0 0 4
1 .0 8 4

$ 4 6 .3 3
5 0 .1 9

3 7 .7
3 9 .0

$ 1 .2 2 9
1 .2 8 7

$ 3 2 .4 1
3 5 .7 6

3 6 .7
3 6 .9

$ 0 .8 8 4
.9 6 9

$ 3 9 .1 0
4 2 .7 9

3 7 .2
3 7 .7

$ 1 ,0 5 1
1 .1 3 5

1 9 5 0 : M a y . . . ...............
J u n e ..................
J u ly
_________
A u g u s t ________
S e p t e m b e r ------O c t o b e r ...............
N o v e m b e r ____
D e c e m b e r ..........

5 7 .4 7
5 9 .3 5
5 9 .5 1
6 6 .0 0
6 5 .1 8
6 4 .9 5
6 5 .3 1
6 6 .4 6

3 8 .7
3 9 .7
3 9 .2
4 1 .8
4 2 .0
4 0 .8
4 1 .6
4 1 .8

1 .4 8 5
1 .4 9 5
1 .5 1 8
1 .5 7 9
1 .5 5 2
1 .5 9 2
1 .5 7 0
1 .5 9 0

5 3 .1 6
5 4 .8 2
5 6 .1 5
5 6 .5 0
5 6 .1 6
5 6 .0 6
5 6 .4 4
5 6 .8 5

4 1 .6
4 2 .2
4 2 .8
4 3 .0
4 3 .0
4 2 .6
4 2 .5
4 2 .3

1 .2 7 8
1 .2 9 9
1 .3 1 2
1 .3 1 4
1 .3 0 6
1 .3 1 6
1 .3 2 8
1 .3 4 4

39. 67
4 1 .5 9
4 2 .1 2
4 3 .3 7
4 2 .0 2
4 1 .2 1
4 2 .4 5
4 3 .7 2

3 6 .7
3 8 .3
3 8 .4
3 9 .5
3 9 .2
3 8 .3
3 7 .8
3 8 .9

1 .0 8 1
1 .0 8 6
1 .0 9 7
1 .0 9 8
1 .0 7 2
1 .0 7 6
1 .1 2 3
1 .1 2 4

4 7 .9 9
5 1 .2 1
5 2 .5 0
5 7 .9 4
5 0 .3 6
4 5 .1 0
5 0 .0 7
5 4 .1 1

3 7 .7
4 0 .1
4 0 .6
4 3 .6
39. 5
3 5 .4
3 7 .9
4 0 .2

1 .2 7 3
1 .2 7 7
1 .2 9 3
1 .3 2 9
1 .2 7 5
1 .2 7 4
1 .3 2 1
1 .3 4 6

3 4 .4 9
3 5 .4 9
3 5 .1 1
3 6 .1 1
37. 57
3 9 .3 5
3 9 .5 0
3 8 .4 0

3 6 .3
3 7 .2
3 6 .8
3 7 .5
3 8 .1
3 9 .0
3 8 .5
3 8 .1

.9.50
.9 5 4
.9 5 4
.9 6 3
1 .0 0 9
1 .0 2 6
1 .0 0 8

4 0 .8 8
4 3 .3 1
44. 54
45. 77
4 4 .2 3
4 4 .2 4
42. 97
4 4 .7 7

3 5 .7
3 8 .5
3 8 .9
3 9 .7
3 9 .0
3 8 .5
3 6 .6
3 8 .1

1 .1 4 5
1 .1 2 5
1 .1 4 5
1 .1 5 3
1 .1 3 4
1 .1 4 9
1 .1 7 4
1 .1 7 5

1 9 5 1 : J a n u a r y _______
F e b r u a r y ______
M a r c h _________
A p r il . _
___
M a y __________

7 3 .8 5
6 9 .8 3
6 7 .2 3
6 8 .4 4
6 8 .1 3

4 3 .8
41. 2
3 9 .9
3 9 .7
3 9 .7

1 .6 8 6
1. 695
1 .6 8 5
1 .7 2 4
1 .7 1 6

5 8 .5 4
5 9 .0 8
5 8 .1 4
57. 98
5 7 .4 5

4 2 .3
4 2 .2
4 2 .1
4 1 .5
4 1 .3

1 .3 8 4
1 .4 0 0
1 .3 8 1
1 .3 9 7
1 .3 9 1

4 4 .1 2
4 3 .1 7
4 2 .0 3
42. 66
4 2 .4 2

3 8 .7
3 7 .9
3 6 .8
3 6 .9
3 6 .6

1 .1 4 0
1 .1 3 9
1 .1 4 2
1 .1 5 6
1 .1 5 9

5 5 .2 0
52. 76
48. 57
50. 59
5 1 .4 1

4 0 .5
3 9 .4
3 6 .3
3 7 .2
3 7 .8

1 .3 6 3
1 .3 3 9
1 .3 3 8
1 .3 6 0
1 .3 6 0

3 8 .0 9
3 8 .1 0
37. 91
37. 89
36. 65

3 7 .6
3 7 .5
3 7 .2
3 7 .0
3 5 .9

1 .0 1 3
1 .0 1 6
1 .0 1 9
1 .0 2 4
1 .0 2 1

4 5 .6 8
45. 25
4 4 .6 2
4 4 .2 7
43. 56

3 8 .1
3 7 .8
3 7 .0
3 6 .5
3 6 .0

1 .1 9 9
1 .1 9 7
1 .2 0 6
1 .2 1 3
1 .2 1 0

19 4 9 : A v e r a g e _______
1950: A v e r a e e _______

S e e fo o tn o te s a t e n d o f ta b le .


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

C: EARNINGS AND HOURS

223

Table C 1: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees 1—Con.
Manufacturlng—Continued
Tobacco manufac­
tures—Con.
Y e a r a n d m o n th

T o b a c c o s t e m m in g
a n d r e d r y in g

Textile-mill products
T o ta l: T e x tile -m ill
p ro d u c ts

Yam

a n d th re a d
m ills

Y a r n m ills

B r o a d - w o v e n f a b r ic
m ills

C o t t o n , s ilk , s y n ­
t h e t i c f ib e r
U n i t e d S t a te s

Avg.
w k ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

19 4 9 : A v e r a g e ____
1 9 5 0 : A v e r a g e ____

A vg.
w k ly .
h o u rs

A vg.
h r ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

A vg.
w k ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

$3 4 . 20
37. 59

3 8 .3
3 9 .4

$ 0 .8 9 3
. 954

1 9 5 0 : M a y ...............
J u n e ________
J u l y -------------A u g u s t _____
S e p te m b e r.
O c t o b e r ____
N o v e m b e r.
D e c e m b e r-

3 7 .1 9
4 0 .1 1
4 0 .1 6
35.
39. 26
3 7 .3 7
3 4 .5 3
38. 52

3 6 .5
3 8 .6
3 9 .1
3 8 .1
4 3 .1
41. 2
35. 6
40. 0

19 5 1 : J a n u a r y ____
F e b r u a r y ...
M a r c h _____
A p r i l _______
M a y ________

3 8 .7 9
3 5 .8 5
3 7 . 81
39. 68
42. 54

3 9 .7
34. 7
35. 3
3 6 .4
38. 6

Z4

Avg.
w k ly .
h o u rs

A vg.
h r ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

Avg.
w k ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

$ 4 4 .8 3
48. 95

3 7 .7
3 9 .6

$ 1 ,1 8 9
1 .2 3 6

1 .0 1 9
1 .0 3 9
1 .0 2 7
. 925
. 911
.9 0 7
.9 7 0
.9 6 3

4 5 .6 3
46. 75
47. 27
4 9 .3 3
4 9 .9 8
5 2 .5 8
5 3 .1 9
53. 57

3 7 .9
3 8 .7
3 9 .0
4 0 .5
4 0 .7
4 0 .6
4 0 .7
4 0 .8

.9 7 7
1 .0 3 3
1 .0 7 1
1 .0 9 0
1 .1 0 2

5 3 .5 9
53. 94
5 3 .3 4
5 2 .8 1
5 1 .5 3

4 0 .6
4 0 .8
40. 5
3 9 .8
3 8 .8

A vg.
w k ly .
h o u rs

A vg.
h r ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

Avg.
w k ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

$ 4 0 .5 1
4 5 .0 1

3 6 .4
3 8 .9

$ 1 .1 1 3
1 .1 5 7

1 .2 0 4
1 .2 0 8
1. 212
1 .2 1 8
1 .2 2 8
1 .2 9 5
1 .3 0 7
1 .3 1 3

4 1 .6 2
4 2 .6 8
4 3 .2 4
4 4 .9 6
4 6 .4 0
4 9 .3 3
49. 57
4 9 .9 0

3 6 .9
3 7 .8
3 8 .2
3 9 .4
4 0 .1
4 0 .2
4 0 .3
4 0 .6

1 .3 2 0
1 .3 2 2
1 .3 1 7
1 .3 2 7
1 .3 2 8

4 9 .6 1
50. 02
4 9 .9 4
4 9 .5 6
4 8 .3 2

4 0 .5
4 0 .6
4 0 .5
4 0 .1
3 9 .0

Avg.
w k ly .
h o u rs

A vg.
h r ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

A vg.
w k ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

Avg.
w k ly .
h o u rs

A vg.
h r ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

A vg.
w k ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

A vg.
w k ly .
h o u rs

$ 40. 55
4 5 .0 9

3 6 .3
3 8 .8

$ 1 ,1 1 7
1 .1 6 2

$ 4 4 .4 8
4 9 .2 8

3 7 .5
4 0 .1

$ 1 ,1 8 6
1 .2 2 9

$ 4 2 .8 9
4 8 .0 0

37. 2
4 0 .1

$1 153

1 .1 2 8
1 .1 2 9
1 .1 3 2
1 .1 4 1
1 .1 5 7
1 .2 2 7
1 .2 3 0
1 .2 2 9

4 1 .7 7
4 2 .7 9
4 3 .3 6
4 5 .3 4
46. 56
4 9 .1 6
49. 61
49. 90

3 6 .8
3 7 .7
3 8 .1
3 9 .6
4 0 .0
4 0 .0
4 0 .2
4 0 .5

1 .1 3 5
1 .1 3 5
1 .1 3 8
1 .1 4 5
1 .1 6 4
1 .2 2 9
1 .2 3 4
1 .2 3 2

4 5 .8 2
4 6 .9 2
4 7 .5 2
4 9 .2 9
4 9 .9 0
5 3 .1 7
5 3 .6 8
54. 36

3 8 .5
3 9 .2
3 9 .5
4 0 .8
4 1 .1
4 0 .9
4 1 .1
4 1 .4

1 .1 9 0
1 .1 9 7
1 .2 0 3
1 .2 0 8
1 .2 1 4
1 .3 0 0
1 .3 0 6
1 .3 1 3

4 4 .3 5
45. 24
4 5 .9 0
4 7 .8 6
48. 62
5 2 .2 9
52. 62
53. 33

as a
88 Q
39! 3
40 7
41 1
4 1 .3
41. 4
4 1 .7

1 158
1 163
1 1 fiS
1 ly fi
1 I8.3
1 2fifi
1 971
1 .2 7 9

1 .2 2 5
1. 232
1 .2 3 3
1 .2 3 6
1 .2 3 9

4 9 .7 3
4 9 .9 8
5 0 .0 2
4 9 .8 1
4 8 .6 0

4 0 .4
4 0 .5
4 0 .5
4 0 .2
39. 1

1 .2 3 1
1 .2 3 4
1. 235
1 .2 3 9
1 .2 4 3

5 4 .3 9
54. 22
5 3 .7 2
5 3 .9 8
52. 96

4 1 .3
4 1 .2
4 1 .2
4 0 .8
4 0 .0

1 .3 1 7
1 .3 1 6
1 .3 0 4
1 .3 2 3
1 .3 2 4

5 3 .3 7
53. 54
53. 29
5 2 .8 5
51. 98

41 fi
41 7
41 5
41 0
4 0 .2

A vg.
h r ly .
e a rn ­
in g s

1 .1 9 7

1
1
1
1

983
984
984
98Q

1. 293

M a n u f a c t u r in g — C o n tin u e d

Textile-mill products—Continued
C o t t o n , s ilk , s y n t h e t i c f ib e r — C o n t i n u e d
W o o le n a n d w o r s t e d
N o rth

F u l l - f a s h i o n e d h o s ie r y
K n it t in g m ills

S o u th

U n i t e d S t a te s

N o rth

19 4 9 : A v e r a g e -------1 9 5 0 : A v e r a g e ____

$ 4 6 .3 6
51. 23

3 8 .0
40. 5

$ 1 .2 2 0
1. 265

$ 4 1 .9 2
4 7 .0 8

3 7 .0
4 0 .0

$ 1 .1 3 3
1 .1 7 7

$ 5 1 .1 9
54. 01

3 8 .9
3 9 .8

$ 1 .3 1 6
1 .3 5 7

$ 4 1 .4 7
4 4 .1 3

3 6 .8
4 7 .4

$ 1 .1 2 7
1 .1 8 0

$ 5 2 .0 9
5 3 .6 3

3 7 .5
3 7 .9

$1. 389
1 .4 1 5

$ 5 3 .9 8
54. 25

36 9
3 7 .7

$1 4fi3

19 5 0 : M a y ............... .
J u n e .............
J u l y --------------A u g u s t --------S e p te m b e r ..
O c t o b e r _____
N o v e m b e r ..
D e c e m b e r ...

4 7 .7 4
4 8 .2 7
4 9 .0 3
5 0 .8 0
5 1 .5 8
5 5 .9 4
5 6 .1 6
56. 3 7

3 9 .0
3 9 .4
3 9 .8
4 1 .0
4 1 .1
41. 5
41. 6
41. 6

1 .2 2 4
1 .2 2 5
1 .2 3 2
1 .2 3 9
1. 255
1 .3 4 8
1. 350
1 .3 5 5

4 3 .4 0
4 4 .3 1
4 5 .0 8
4 6 .9 7
4 7 .8 3
51. 25
5 1 .5 0
52. 46

3 8 .1
3 8 .7
3 9 .2
4 0 .6
4 1 .2
4 1 .3
4 1 .3
4 1 .8

1 .1 3 9
1 .1 4 5
1 .1 5 0
1 .1 5 7
1 .1 6 1
1 .2 4 1
1. 247
1 .2 5 5

5 1 .9 4
5 3 .3 6
5 3 .5 1
5 4 .2 1
5 4 .8 1
5 6 .3 0
5 8 .0 8
58. 39

3 9 .5
4 0 .3
4 0 .2
4 0 .7
4 0 .9
3 9 .1
4 0 .0
4 0 .1

1 .3 1 5
1 .3 2 4
1 .3 3 1
1 .3 3 2
1 .3 4 0
1 .4 4 0
1 .4 5 2
1 .4 5 6

40. 67
4 1 .8 5
4 2 .7 7
4 5 .6 7
4 5 .6 3
4 7 .6 7
4 7 .9 1
47. 24

3 5 .0
3 6 .2
3 7 .0
3 9 .2
3 8 .9
3 9 .2
3 8 .7
3 8 .1

1 .1 6 2
1 .1 5 6
1 .1 5 6
1 .1 6 5
1 .1 7 3
1 .2 1 6
1 .2 3 8
1 .2 4 0

4 9 .7 6
5 0 .6 2
5 2 .0 6
5 4 .9 4
5 4 .3 5
5 7 .8 7
58. 73
5 7 .4 1

3 6 .4
3 7 .3
3 8 .0
3 9 .7
3 9 .1
3 9 .5
3 9 .1
3 8 .4

1 .3 6 7
1 .3 5 7
1 .3 7 0
1 .3 8 4
1 .3 9 0
1 .4 6 5
1 .5 0 2
1 .4 9 5

4 9 .9 0
5 0 .4 2
50. 73
5 5 .0 6
5 4 .1 2
58. 52
60. 29
5 7 .8 7

36 4
37 4
37. 3
39. 7
3 9 .3
3 9 .3
391
3 7 .8

1 37I
1 34«
1 SfiO
1 * 387
1 377
1 489
1
1 .5 3 1

1 9 5 1 : J a n u a r y ____
F e b r u a r y ___
M a r c h ______
A p r i l ________
M a y ________

56. 61
57. 08
5 6 .0 2
54. 66

4 1 .5
41. 6
40. 8
39. 9

1 .3 6 4
1 .3 7 2
1 .3 7 3
1 .3 7 0

52. 25
52. 46
5 2 .3 3
5 2 .2 5

4 1 .6
4 1 .7
4 1 .6
4 1 .4

1 .2 5 6
1 .2 5 8
1 .2 5 8
1 .2 6 2

5 8 .8 8
5 7 .1 0
5 7 .2 8
5 8 .4 1
5 7 .3 9

4 0 .3
3 9 .3
4 0 .0
3 9 .9
3 9 .2

1 .4 6 1
1. 453
1 .4 3 2
1 .4 6 4
1 .4 6 4

4 7 .9 4
49. 24
48. 54
4 6 .9 4
45. 09

3 7 .9
3 8 .8
3 8 .1
3 6 .7
3 5 .2

1 .2 6 5
1 .2 6 9
1. 274
1 .2 7 9
1 .2 8 1

59. 25
6 1 .1 1
6 0 .4 5
5 7 .4 1
5 5 .2 5

3 8 .3
3 9 .2
3 8 .6
3 6 .5
3 5 .1

1 .5 4 7
1 .5 5 9
1. 566
1. 573
1. 574

6 1 .0 1
63. 05
6 3 .1 7
5 9 .1 9

37. 5
38. 4
38 1
3 5 .7

1
1
1
1.

1! 439

542

697
fi42
658
658

Manufacturing—Continued
T e x t ile - m ill p ro d u c ts — C o n tin u e d
F u ll-fa s h io n e d h o ­
s ie r y — C o n t i n u e d

S e a m le s s h o s ie r y
K n i t o u te rw e a r

S o u th
1949: A v e r a g e 1950 : A v e r a g e .

U n i t e d S t a te s

N o rth

Knit underwear

S o u th

$ 5 0 .3 1
5 3 .3 3

3 8 .2
3 8 .2

$ 1 .3 1 7
1 .3 9 6

$31. 45
34. 94

3 5 .5
3 5 .8

$ 0 .8 8 6
.9 7 6

$ 3 5 .0 6
3 8 .1 2

3 7 .7
3 8 .2

$0. 930
.9 9 8

$30. 78
3 4 .3 7

3 5 .1
3 5 .4

$ 0 .8 7 7
.9 7 1

$ 4 0 .9 6
4 3 .7 3

3 8 .1
3 8 .6

$ 1 .0 7 5
1 .1 3 3

$ 3 6 .3 4
3 9 .6 0

3 6 .2
3 7 .5

$ 1 .0 0 4
1 .0 5 6

M a y . . ...............
J u n e __________
J u l y -----------------A u g u s t . ............
S e p t e m b e r ____
O c t o b e r . .............
N o v e m b e r ___
D e c e m b e r ____

4 9 .6 1
5 0 .8 2
6 3 .1 9
54. 83
5 4 .6 8
5 7 .1 8
5 7 .4 7
57. 28

3 6 .4
3 7 .2
3 8 .6
3 9 .7
3 9 .0
3 9 .6
3 9 .2
3 9 .1

1 .3 6 3
1 .3 6 6
1 .3 7 8
1. 381
1 .4 0 2
1 .4 4 4
1 .4 6 6
1 .4 6 5

3 1 .1 7
3 3 .1 3
3 3 .3 6
3 7 .1 1
3 6 .9 8
3 8 .0 8
3 8 .3 1
37. 65

3 2 .2
3 4 .3
3 5 .0
3 8 .1
3 7 .5
3 7 .7
3 7 .6
3 6 .8

.9 6 8
.9 6 6
.9 5 3
.9 7 4
.9 8 6
1 .0 1 0
1 .0 1 9
1 .0 2 3

3 6 .4 7
3 6 .8 3
3 5 .8 8
39. 42
3 9 .6 2
4 0 .3 5
4 1 .5 9
4 1 .2 5

3 7 .1
3 7 .5
3 6 .8
3 9 .5
3 9 .0
3 9 .1
3 9 .5
3 9 .1

.9 8 3
.9 8 2
.9 7 5
.9 9 8
1 .0 1 6
1 .0 3 2
1 .0 5 3
1 .0 5 5

3 0 .1 1
32. 42
3 2 .9 3
3 6 .6 3
3 6 .4 6
3 7 .5 9
3 7 .6 5
3 6 .9 8

3 1 .2
3 3 .7
3 4 .7
3 7 .8
3 7 .2
3 7 .4
3 7 .2
3 6 .4

.9 6 5
.9 6 2
.9 4 9
.9 6 9
.9 8 0
1 .0 0 5
1 .0 1 2
1 .0 1 6

4 2 .7 5
4 3 .4 2
4 2 .1 4
4 3 .9 0
42. 75
4 6 .4 3
4 6 .1 0
4 5 .4 2

3 7 .9
3 8 .7
3 7 .9
3 9 .3
3 8 .0
4 0 .2
3 9 .4
3 8 .2

1 .1 2 8
1 .1 2 2
1 .1 1 2
1 .1 1 7
1 .1 2 5
1 .1 5 5
1 .1 7 0
1 .1 8 9

35. 26
3 6 .3 0
3 8 .3 1
4 1 .1 7
4 2 .6 3
43. 43
4 3 .0 6
4 3 .1 1

3 4 .0
3 5 .0
3 6 .8
3 9 .4
4 0 .1
3 9 .7
3 9 .0
3 8 .8

1 .0 3 7
1 .0 3 7
1 .0 4 1
1 .0 4 5
1 .0 6 3
1 .0 9 4
1 .1 0 4
1 .1 1 1

1951: J a n u a r y .
F e b r u a r y ............
M a r c h ___
A p r i l _____
M a y _____

5 7 .6 5
69. 38
5 8 .1 2
56. 06

3 8 .9
3 9 .8
3 8 .9
3 7 .1

1 .4 8 2
1 .4 9 2
1 .4 9 4
1 .5 1 1

3 7 .7 3
38. 79
3 8 .1 7
35. 70
3 4 .0 9

3 6 .6
3 7 .3
3 6 .6
3 4 .2
3 2 .5

1 .0 3 1
1 .0 4 0
1 .0 4 3
1 .0 4 4
1 .0 4 9

4 0 .9 3
4 1 .9 0
4 1 .7 0
40. 25

3 8 .4
3 8 .8
3 8 .5
3 7 .2

1 .0 6 6
1 .0 8 0
1. 083
1 .0 8 2

3 7 .2 1
3 8 .1 5
3 7 .4 7
3 4 .6 4

3 6 .3
3 7 .0
3 6 .2
3 3 .5

1 .0 2 5
1 .0 3 1
1 .0 3 5
1 .0 3 4

47. 46
48. 30
4 7 .9 3
4 8 .0 0
4 6 .4 5

3 8 .9
3 9 .4
3 9 .0
3 8 .9
3 8 .2

1 .2 2 0
1. 226
1 .2 2 9
1 .2 3 4
1 .2 1 6

4 3 .1 3
44. 29
4 4 .1 2
4 3 .5 1
4 1 .1 3

3 8 .3
3 9 .4
3 8 .8
3 8 .3
3 6 .3

1 .1 2 6
1 .1 2 4
1 .1 3 7
1 .1 3 6
1 .1 3 3

1950:

See footnotes at end of table.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

C: EARNINGS AND HOURS

224

M ONTHLY LA BO R

T able C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees 1—Con.
M anufacturin g—Continued
Apparel and other
fin is h e d te x t ile
products

Textile-mill products—Continued

Year and month

Dyeing and finishing
textiles
Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
earn­ hours
ings

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Carpets, rugs, other
floor coverings
Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
earn­
ings hours

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Wool carpets, rugs,
and carpet yarn
Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
earn­ hours
ings

Other textile-mill
products

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings hours
ings

38.7 $1.453 $47. 89
41.1 1.526 52.37

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

39.5 $1.438 $56.23
41.5 1.502 62.72

49.25
51.18
50.84
56.03
55. 76
56. 26
58.19
58.88

38.3
39.8
39.5
42.9
42.6
41.4
41.8
42.0

1.286
1.286
1.287
1.306
1.309
1.359
1.392
1.402

60.61
61.17
59. 86
61.44
62.94
66. 46
66.82
67.28

41.2
41.5
40.5
41.4
41.6
42.6
42.4
42.1

1.471
1.474
1.478
1.484
1.513
1.560
1.576
1.598

61.68
61.99
60.07
61.46
62.19
66.36
66.63
66.90

41.2
41.3
40.1
40.7
40.7
42.0
41.8
41.4

1.497
1.501
1.498
1.510
1. 528
1.580
1. 594
1.616

49.95
51.44
51.92
53.16
53.37
54. 77
55. 88
56.59

39.8
40.5
40.5
41.4
40.9
40.9
41.3
41.7

1.255
1.270
1.282
1.284
1.305
1.339
1.353
1.357

59.13
60.12
58.19
56. 07
54.55

41.7
42.4
41.3
39.6
38.5

1.418
1.418
1.409
1.416
1.417

65.91
67.25
66. 49
64. 28
60. 82

41.4
41.9
41.4
40.1
38.3

1.592
1.605
1. 606
1.603
1.588

65.65
66.30
65.08
62.47
57.95

40.7
41.0
40.3
38.8
36.4

1.613
1. 617
1. 615
1.610
1.592

56.83
56. 11
56. 62
55. 57
54.55

41.6
40.9
41.3
40.5
39.7

1.366
1.372
1.371
1.372
1.374

$51.50
63.87

1950: M ay..........
June..........
J u ly ............
August___
September.
October__
November.
December..
1951: January__
February..
M arch____
April_____
M a y _____

Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
earn­
ings hours

38.9 $1.231 $49.21
40.6 1.290 51.05

40.3 $1.278 $56.80
40.9 1.317 62.33

1949: Average__
1950: A verage...

Fur-felt hats and hat
bodies

Total: Apparel and
tile products

Avg. Avg.
hrly. w kly. Avg.
earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings
ings hours

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

35.3 $1.394 $41. 89
35.9 1.422 43.68

35.8
36.4

$1.170
1.200

48.72
52.69
52.19
54.44
50. 87
50.48
51.98
56.83

34.6
37.0
36.7
38.1
35.8
35.5
36.1
38.4

1.408
1.424
1.422
1.429
1.421
1.422
1.440
1.480

41.27
41.89
43. 22
46.06
43.09
45. 51
44. .50
45.88

35.7
35.8
36.2
37.6
35.7
37.3
36.9
36.5

1.156
1.170
1.194
1.225
1.207
1.220
1.206
1.257

58.08
59.45
55.43
50.38
47. 50

38.8
39.4
37.1
33.3
32.2

1.497
1.509
1.494
1. 513
1.475

47.42
48.38
47.27
45.04
43.60

36.9
37.5
37.4
36.5
35.3

1.285
1.290
1.264
1. 234
1.235

Manufacturing—Continued
Apparel and other finished textile products—Continued
M en’s and boys’
suits and coats

M en’s and boys’ fur­
nishings and work
clothing

Shirts, collars, and
nightwear

36.0 $0. 927 $34. 91
36.7
.988 39. 43

1949: Average........... $46.67
1950: Average_____ 50.22

34.7 $1.345 $33.30
36.9 1.361 36.43

1950: M ay________
June_________
July..................
August______
September___
October______
Novem ber. __
December___

48.92
48. 99
49.22
51.08
47.75
51.77
52. 57
55.57

36.7
36.7
36.9
37.7
35.4
37.9
37.9
37.7

1.333
1.335
1.334
1.355
1.349
1.366
1.387
1.474

35.29
35. 55
35.34
37.43
37.18
38. 38
38.53
38. 59

35.9
36.2
36.1
38.0
37.4
38.3
37.7
37.0

.983
.982
.979
.985
.994
1.002
1.022
1.043

34. 81
34.82
34. 55
36.71
37.20
38.02
39.35
39.42

35.7
35.6
35.4
37.5
37.5
38.4
38.2
37.4

.975
.978
.976
.979
.992
.990
1.030
1.054

1951: January_____
February ___
M arch_______
April.
M a y ..

55.23
56.32
57.13
54.61
52.78

37.6
38.0
38.6
37.2
36.0

1.469
1.482
1.480
1.468
1.466

39.11
39. 68
40.17
38.86
37.24

37.0
37.4
37.9
36.9
35.4

1.057
1.061
1.060
1. 053
1.052

39.09
39.87
40. 05
39.22
36. 99

36.6
37.3
37.5
37.0
34.9

1.068
1.069
1.068
1.060
1. 060

36.2 $0.920 $33.37
36.8
.990 36.26

Separate trousers

Women’s outerwear

Work shirts

35.7 $0. 978 $27.44
37.8 1.043 31.34

35.5 $0. 773 $49.69
35.9
.873 49.41

34.7
34.7

$1.432
1.424

39.81
39.34
s8.52
40.08
38.45
40.91
40. 32
40.41

38.1
37.9
37.4
38.5
36.9
38.7
38.0
36.8

1.045
1.038
1.030
1.041
1.042
1.057
1.061
1.098

31.18
30. 66
31.52
33.00
33.03
32. 95
32.18
33.10

35.8
35.4
36.1
37.8
37.2
36.9
35.6
35.9

.871
.866
.873
.873
.888
.893
.904
.922

45. 57
45. 87
49.62
54.01
46.43
50.94
48.37
51.84

34.6
33.8
34.7
36.2
32.2
34.7
34.6
35.1

1.317
1.357
1.430
1.492
1.442
1.468
1.398
1.477

41.78
43.08
43.69
42. 45
39.18

37.4
38.6
38.8
37.8
35.3

1.117
1.116
1.126
1.123
1.110

33.38
33.05
34.91
33. 49
33. 71

36.2
36.2
37.7
36.6
36.6

.922
.913
.926
.915
.921

55.01
56.08
52.49
48.68
47.54

36.0
36.7
35.9
35.2
34.3

1.528
1.528
1.462
1.383
1.386

M anuíacturing—C ontinued
Apparel and other finished textile products—Continued

W omen’s dresses

Household apparel

1949: Average........... $47.20
1950: Average............ 48.09

34.4 $1.372 $32.23
34.8 1.382 34.66

1950: M ay..................
June..................
July......... .........
August______
September___
O c to b e r .____
November___
December____

48.71
45.69
45.53
50.23
44.37
47.66
47.37
49.81

35.3
34.1
34.7
35.7
31.9
33.8
34.2
35.2

1.380
1.340
1.312
1.407
1.391
1.410
1.385
1.415

1951: January_____
February____
M arch_______
A pril..
M a y _________

51.91
52. 56
52. 20
50. 90
50.16

35.9
36.3
36.3
35.1
34.5

1.446
1.448
1.438
1.450
1.454

See footnotes at end of table.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Women’s suits, coats,
and skirts

Women’s and chil­
dren’s undergar­
ments

U n d erw ear and
nightwear, except
corsets

Millinery

36.5 $0. 883 $66.38
36.1
.960 63. 77

33.8 $1. 964 $35. 79
33.6 1.898 38.38

36.6 $0. 978 $34.08
36.9 1.040 36. 55

36.1 $0. 944 $53.55
36.4 1.004 54.21

35.3
35.2

$1.517
1.540

35.31
32.92
32.27
34.64
35.28
36.43
36.64
35.58

36.4
33.7
33.2
36.2
36.6
37.4
37.5
35.9

.970
.977
.972
.957
.964
.974
.977
.991

60.13
58.41
66.46
73.26
57.91
66.25
60.12
67.07

29.7
33.9
35.5
37.0
30.1
33.8
32.1
34.2

1.688
1.723
1.872
1.980
1.924
1.960
1.873
1.961

36.15
36.43
37.13
40.04
39.95
41.76
40. 96
39.28

35.2
35.4
36.3
38.5
37.8
39.1
38.1
36.3

1.027
1.029
1.023
1.040
1.057
1.068
1.075
1.082

33.69
34.25
35.60
38.24
38.35
40.16
39.25
37.10

34.1
34.6
36.0
38.2
37.6
38.8
37.6
35.5

.988
.990
.989
1.001
1.020
1.035
1.044
1.045

46 06
49. 72
50.62
62.08
53.56
53.27
47.53
51.82

31.7
33.1
33.7
38.8
33.9
35.0
31.6
33.8

1.453
1.502
1.502
1.600
1.580
1.522
1.504
1.533

36.60
39. 74
39.89
38. 76
37.13

36.2
38.7
38.8
37.7
36.4

1.011
1.027
1.028
1.028
1.020

72.20
73.39
62.86
54. 28
56.39

35.6
35.8
32.4
30.7
32.5

2.028
2. 050
1.940
1.768
1.735

40.85
42.81
42.21
41.14
38. 97

36.9
38.5
38.2
37.1
35.2

1.107
1.112
1.105
1.109
1.107

38.34
40.84
40.25
39.33
36.99

36.1
38.2
37.9
37.0
34.9

1.062
1.069
1.062
1.063
1.060

61.60
68. 84
62. 07
53.34
46. 36

38.0
41.1
38.6
33.8
30.6

1.621
1.675
1.608
1.578
1.515

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

C: EARNINGS AND HOURS

225

T able C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees 1—Con.
Manufacturing—Continued
Lumber and wood
products (except
furniture)

Appare and other finished textile products—Continued
Year and month

goods and mis­
Children’s outerwear Fur
cellaneous apparel
Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
hrly. wkly.
hrly.
earn­ hours earn­ earn­ wkly.
earn­
ings
ings ings hours ings

1949: Average...... $37.06
1950: Average...... 38. 98
1950: May_____ 37.46
June.........
38.08
July.......... . 39.13
August___ 40.92
September.. 38.12
October...... 40. 48
November.. 39. 2g
December__ 40.26
1951: January___ 42.18
February__ 42. 70
March____ 40. 77
April_____ 40. 55
May_____ 40. 06

$1.021
1.068
1.029
1.049
1.069
1.100
1.080
1.094
1.062
1.109
1.143
1.151
1.117
1.108
1.119

36.3
36.5
36.4
36.3
36.6
37.2
35.3
37.0
37.0
36.3
36.9
37.1
36. 5
36.6
35.8

$42.05
43.45
41.70
42. 59
43. 86
45. 84
44. 59
47.91
46.05
45.09
44. 58
44.98
45. 60
44. 96
44.82

36.0
36.7
35.7
35.7
36.4
38.2
37.1
38.7
37.5
36.9
36.1
36.9
37.1
36.7
36.0

$1.168
1.184
1.168
1.193
1.205
1.200
1.202
1.238
1. 228
1.222
1.235
1.219
1. 229
1. 225
1.245

Other fabricated
textile products

Curtains and
draperies

Textile bags

Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
hrly. wkly.
hrly. wkly. Avg.
earn­ hours earn­ earn­ wkly.
earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings
ings ings hours ings ings hours
$39.74
42.06
40.77
42.21
42.61
43. 43
43. 88
43.45
42.86
43.55
44.23
44.12
44.05
43.15
42.82

38.1
38.2
37.4
38.3
38.7
39.3
38.8
39.0
38.1
38.3
38.7
38.6
38.3
37.1
36.6

$1. 043
1.101
1.090
1.102
1.101
1.105
1.131
1.114
1.125
1.137
1.143
1.143
1.150
1.163
1.170

$37.33
39. 82
38.31
39.29
39.83
39. 93
38.44
37.91
37. 52

36.6
38.4
36.8
37.6
37.9
37.6
36.4
35.5
35.0

$1. 020
1.037
1.041
1.045
1.048
1.062
1.056
1. 068
1.072

$43.93
44.19
43.30
43.90
44. 64
44. 73
45.16
43.20
43.18

39.4
39.6
38.9
39.2
39.4
39.2
39.0
37.4
37.0

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

$1.115
1.116
1.113
1.120
1.133
1.141
1.158
1.155
1.167

Total: Lumber and
wood products (ex­
cept furniture)
Avg. Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
hrly.
earn­ hours earn­
ings
ings
$51 72
55.31
64 as
56 28
56 27
58. 30
57.84
58.83
57.03
57.59
55.73
56.13
55. 58
59. 62
59. 88

40 0
41 0
40 7
41 0
41 1
42 0
41.2
41.9
41. 0
41.4
40. 5
40. 5
40 6
41 9
41.7

.$1 274
1 249
1 32ft
1 253
1_209
1 288
1.404
1.404
1.391
1.391
1.376
1.386
1 369
1 423
1.436

Manufacturing—Continued
Lumber and wood products (except furniture)—Continued
Logging camps and
contractors
1949: Average___
1950: Average___
1950: May...........
June...........
July...........
August........
September__
October____
November__
December__
1951: January____
February___
March_____
April______
May______

$61.31 39.1
66.25 38.9
67.37 39.7
67.85 39.7
68.04 39.4
73.98 41.1
70.07 38.8
70.31 38.8
66.40 37.2
66.87 38.9
61.99 37.3
64.10 38.2
57.93 36.3
75.36 41. 5
72.35 40.9

$1.568
1.703
1.697
1.709
1.727
1.800
1.806
1.812
1. 758
1.719
1.662
1.678
1. 596
1.816
1.769

Sawmills and plan­
ing mills
$52.37
54.95
54.19
56.08
55.95
57.95
57.69
58.56
56. 53
56.83
54.84
55.30
55.06
59.04
59. 49

40.6
40.7
40.5
41.6
40.9
41.9
41.0
41.8
40.7
41.0
40.0
39.9
40.1
41.4
41.2

$1.290
1.350
1.338
1. 348
1.368
1.383
1.407
1.401
1.389
1.386
1.371
1.386
1.373
1.426
1.444

Sawmills and planing mills, general
United States
$53.06
55.53
54.86
56.95
56. 67
58.49
58. 49
59. 34
57.15
57.49
55. 54
56.00
55.58
59. 91
60.21

40.6
40.5
40.4
41.6
40.8
41.6
40.9
41.7
40.5
40.8
39.9
39.8
39.9
41.4
41.1

$1.307
1.371
1.358
1. 369
1.389
1.406
1. 430
1.423
1.411
1.409
1.392
1.407
1.393
1.447
1.465

South
$35.66
38. 90
38.11
39.19
38. 98
40.13
39.63
41.25
40.34
40.79
40.11
40.05
40.34
41.74

Millwork, plywood,
and prefabricated
structural wood
products

West

42.1 $0.847 $67.12
42.1 .924 70.43
41.6 .916 69. 07
42.5 .922 73.93
42.1 .926 72. 74
43.2 .929 74.28
42.2 .939 74.33
43.6 .946 74.82
42.6 .947 72.96
42.8 .953 73.68
42.0 .955 70.73
41.5 .965 71. 71
41.8 .965 69.94
42.9 .973 77.04

38.8
38.7
39.0
40.4
39.3
40.0
39.1
39.4
38.5
38.7
37.5
37.9
37.3
40.0

$1. 730
1.820
1. 771
1.830
1.851
1.857
1.901
1.899
1.895
1.904
1.886
1.892
1.875
1.926

$55.06
60.52
59.25
61. 27
59.85
61. 55
62. 06
63. 71
63.12
64.84
63.47
63. 88
64. 71
65.38
65.66

41.9
43.2
43.0
43 7
42 9
43 5
43 4
44 0
43 fi
43.9
42 8
42. 9
43 2
43 fi
43.4

$1.314
1.401
1. 37S
1 402
1 39fi
1 41fi
1 430
1 448
1 4fi1
1.477
1 483
1 489
1 498
1 fi03
1. 513

Manufacturing—Continued
Lumber and wood products (except furniture)—Continued
Millwork
1949: Average____
1950: Average____
1950: May______
June... .........
July............
August—......
September__
October____
November__
December__
1951: January........
February___
March____
April______
May....... ....

$54.23
59.05
57.83
59.69
58. 57
69.39
60.63
61.81
61.52
61.89
60.09
60.15
61.19
61. 98
62. 56

42.2
43.2
42.9
43.7
43.1
43.1
43. 4
43.9
43.6
43.4
42.2
41.8
42.2
42.6
42.7

See footnotes at end of table.
958554—51----- 7

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

$1.285
1.367
1.348
1.366
1.359
1. 378
1.397
1. 408
1.411
1.426
1.424
1.439
1.450
1.455
1.465

Furniture and fixtures

boxes, other Miscellaneous wood
Wooden containers Wooden
than cigar
products
$41.90
46.03
44. 47
46.48
47.68
48.10
47. 50
48. 74
48. 50
48.43
48.31
47. 72
48. 51
48.70
49. 27

40.6
40.7
40.1
40.7
41.0
41.5
40.7
41.8
41.7
41.5
41.4
41.1
41.5
41.8
42.0

$1.032
1.311
1.109
1.142
1.163
1.159
1.167
1.166
1.163
1.167
1.167
1.161
1.169
1.165
1.173

$42. 48
46. 56
44.79
47.13
48.40
48.57
47.64
49.31
49.16
49.43
49.37
49. 26
49. 62
49.64
49.66

41.0
41.5
40.9
41.6
41.8
42.2
41.5
42.8
42.6
42.8
42.6
42.8
42.7
42.9
42.7

$1. 036
1.122
1.095
1.133
1.158
1.151
1.148
1.152
1.154
1.155
1.159
1.151
1.162
1.157
1.163

$44.16
47.07
44. 89
46.16
46.88
48.35
49.10
49.80
50. 07
50.16
50.51
50.23
50.54
51.56
51.37

40.7
41.4
40.3
41. 1
41.3
42.3
42.4
42.6
42.5
42.4
42.2
42.1
42.4
43.0
42.7

$1.085
1.137
1.114
1.123
1.135
1.143
1.158
1.169
1.178
1.183
1.197
1.193
1.192
1.199
1.203

Total: Furniture
and fixtures
$49. 48
53.67
51. 50
52. 50
52.03
54.87
55.42
56.27
56.87
56.77
56.93
58.15
58. 67
57.15
56.06

40.1
41.9
41.2
41.8
41.0
42.8
42.6
42.6
42.6
42.3
41.8
42.2
42.3
41.0
40.3

$1.234
1.281
1.250
1.256
1.269
1.282
1.301
1.321
1. 335
1.342
1.362
1.378
1.387
1.394
1.391

Household furniture
$47.04
51. 91
50.14
50.71
49 53
52 91
53 84
54. 57
55 30
54.78
54.75
55.78
56.37
53 65
52. 44

39 8
41.9
41. 4
41.7
40 6
42 7
42 7
42 7
42 7
42.2
41. 7
42. 0
42 1
40 4
39.4

$1 1Ä2
1.239
1 211
1 21ft
1 220
1 230
1’2fi1
1 27«
1 2Qfi
L298
1 313
1 323
1 330
1 323
1.331

M ONTHLY LA BO R

C: EARNINGS AND HOURS

226

T able C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees l—Con.
Manufacturing—Continued
Paper and allied products

Furniture and fixtures—Continued
Year and month

Wood household
furniture, except
upholstered
Avg.
wkly. w
kiv
kly.
earn­ W
ings hours

1949: Average__
1950: Average__
1950: May.........
June.........
July.........
August__
September.
October__
November.
December..
1951: January..
February.
March ...
April__
May___

hrly.

p o rn .

f™ s

Wood household fur­
niture, upholstered

Total: Paper and
allied products

Other furniture
and fixtures

Pulp, paper, and
paperboard mills

Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg.
Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly.
hrly. wkly.
hrly. wkly. wkly. hrly. wkly. wkly.
hrly. wkly.
wkly. wkly.
earn­
earn­ earn­ wkly.
earn­
earn­
earn­
earn­
earn­ hours earn­ earn­ wkly.
hours
hours
hours
hours
ings
ings
ings
ings
ings
ings
ings
ings ings
ings

40.0 $1,092 $50.18
42.3 1.144 56.35
42.0 1.123 54.42
42.2 1.126 54.54
41.1 1.130 52.87
43.0 1.144 56.66
43.0 1.162 58.61
43.4 1.184 60. 49
1.194 60.65
4 3 .2
42.5 1.197 60.43
42.2 1.210 57.06
42.7 1.225 58. 92
42.4 1. 229 59. 68
41.6 1.224 55. 77
40.6 1.226 53.36

$43.68
48.39
47.17
47.52
46.44
49.19
49.97
51.39
51.58
50.87
51.06
52. 31
52.11
50.92
49. 78

Mattresses and
bedsprings

38.9 $1,290 $51.69
41.4 1.361 57.27
40.7 1.337 53.97
40.7 1.340 55.57
39.9 1.325 54.31
42.0 1.349 58.42
42.5 1.379 59.59
42.9 1.410 57.69
42.5 1.427 61.70
42.2 1.432 60.74
39.9 1.430 61.02
41.0 1.437 59. 70
41.3 1.445 64.24
38.7 1.441 58.23
36.9 1.446 57. 58

39.7 $1.302 $55.47
41.2 1.390 58.53
39.8 1.356 55.41
40.8 1.362 57.60
39.7 1.368 58.86
42.3 1.381 60. 24
42.2 1.412 59.71
40.8 1.414 61.24
42.0 1.469 61.25
41.8 1.453 62.34
41.4 1.474 63.00
40.5 1.474 64. 33
42.6 1. 508 64.63
39.8 1.463 64.64
39.2 1.469 64.51

40.7
41.9
40.8
42.2
42.1
43.0
42.2
42.5
42.3
42.7
42.2
42.6
42.8
42.5
42.3

$1,363 $55.96
1.397 61.14
1.358 58.08
1.365 60.03
1.398 61.36
1.401 62.74
1.415 63.10
1.441 63.27
1.448 64.92
1.460 66.44
1.493 65.96
1.510 65. 36
1. 510 66.16
1. 521 66.23
1.525 65. 90

41.7 $1.342 $59.83
43.3 1.412 65.06
42.3 1.373 61.82
43.0 1.396 64. 21
43.3 1.417 65.74
44.0 1.426 66.99
44.0 1.434 66.89
44.0 1.438 67. 20
44.1 1.472 69.00
44.5 1.493 70.63
43.8 1.506 70.89
43.4 1.506 70.49
43.7 1. 514 | 70.80
43.6 1.519 I 71.12
43.3 1. 522 71.21

42.4
43.9
43.2
43.8
44.0
44.6
44.3
44.5
44.4
44.9
44.7
44. 5
44.7
44.7
44.7

$1,411
1.482
1.431
1.466
1.494
1.502
1.510
1.510
1.554
1.573
1.586
1.584
1. 584
1.591
1. 593

Manufacturing—Continued
Printing, publishing, and allied industries

Paper and allied products—-Continued
Paperboard containers and boxes
1949: Average___
1950: Average......
1950: May......... .
June..........
July..........
August......
September..
October......
November..
December...
1951: January__
February_
March.......
April____
May_____

Other paper and
allied products

41.2 $1. 273 $51.07
43.0 1.348 55.48
54 74
41 5
1.319 53.35
¿¡A e,9
42 0 1.329 54. 59
57 70
42 9
1.345 55.36
5Q* 75
44 0 1 358 56. 79
on Qfi
44. 3 1.376 57.06
01 IK
44.4 1.378 57.11
0 9 10
44 4 1.400 59.07
63.70 44.7 1.425 60.26
01 RQ
43.1 1.436 60.07
61 86 42 8 1. 444 58.83
03 17
43 3 1 459 59. 91
0 9 OQ
43 0 1 458 59. 99
61.17 41.9 1.460 59. 59

$52 45

57.96

40.6
42.0
41.2
41.7
42.0
42.7
42.9
42.4
42.9
43.2
42.6
41.9
42.1
42.1
41.7

$1.258
1.321
1.295
1.309
1.318
1.330
1.330
1.347
1.377
1.395
1.410
1.404
1.423
1.425
1.429

Total: Printing,
publishing, and
allied industries
$70.28
72.98
72.64
72.72
72.30
73.17
74.48
74.22
74. 52
76.42
74.22
74. 23
75. 74
75.78
75. 77

38.7
38.8
38.7
38.7
38.5
38.9
39.2
39.0
39.2
39.8
38.9
38.4
38.9
38.9
38.7

$1,816 $78.37
1.881 80.00
1.877 81.05
1.879 80. 76
1.878 79.20
1.881 78.84
1.900 81.11
1.903 81.07
1.901 82.29
1.920 85.42
1.908 79.12
1.933 79.96
1.947 82.13
1. 948 82. 98
1.958 83. 79

37.3
36.9
37.3
37.2
36.6
36.5
36.9
30.8
37.2
38.1
35.8
36.0
36.6
36.8
36.8

Books

Periodicals

Newspapers

$2.101 $70. 21
2.168 74.18
2.173 71.60
2.171 71.92
2.164 72.83
2.160 75.08
2.198 79.98
2. 203 77.33
2.212 76.07
2.242 76.81
2.210 77.95
2. 221 79.23
2.244 78. 56
2. 255 76.95
2. 277 75. 97

38.9
39.5
38.6
39.0
39.2
39.6
41.1
40.4
39.7
39.8
40.1
40.2
39.9
39.3
39.0

$1.805
1.878
1.855
1.844
1.858
1.896
1.946
1.914
1.916
1.930
1.944
1.971
1.969
1.958
1.948

$61.07
64.08
64.33
64.11
63.34
67.31
64.70
64.16
64. 52
66.33
66.60
66. 21
67. 43
67. 95
68.14

38.6 $1. 582
39.1 1.639
39.3 1.637
39.5 1.623
39.0 1.624
40.5 1.662
39.5 1.638
39.1 1.641
39.1 1.650
39.6 1.675
39.5 1.686
38.9 1.702
39.5 1.707
39.6 1.716
39.8 1. 712

Manufacturing—Continued
Chemicals and allied products

Printing, publishing, and allied industries—Continued
Commercial printing
1949: Average__ $09 44
1950: Average___ 72.34
1950: May.......... 71 OR
June.......... 71 79
90
July.......... 71
79. .98
August......
September.. 73 01
October...... 73 78
November.. 73 49
December... 7A60
74 08
1951: January.....
February... 73 94
70 02
March___
April......... 74 70
74! 64
May.........

39.7
39.9
39.8
39. 0
39 0
40.1
40 0
39 9
40!1
41.0
40 0
39 4
40 3
40 0
39.7

See footnotes at end of table.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

$1.749
1.813
1.801
1. 813
1.817
1.805
1 813
1. 849
1.831
1.844
1.837
1.859
1.874
1. 869
1.880

Lithographing
$69.17
73.04
71.74
72.23
73.11
76. 22
75.67
76.09
74. 89
74.95
73.79
75.33
74. 85
77. 36
75.46

39.3
40.0
39.7
39.6
39.8
41.2
40.9
41.4
40.9
41.0
39.8
40.2
40.2
40.8
39.8

Other printing and
publishing

$1. 760 $62.66
1.826 65.18
1.807 63.39
1.824 64.00
1.837 64.58
1.850 65.82
1.850 65.90
1.838 65.69
1.831 66.59
1.828 67.33
1.854 67.31
1.874 66.81
1.862 68.17
1. 896 67.64
1.896 67.56

38.7
39.1
38.3
38.6
39.0
39.2
38.9
39.5
39.9
40.1
39.9
38.8
39.2
39.3
39.3

Total: Chemicals
and allied products

$1,619 $58.63
1.667 62. 67
1.655 61.18
1.658 62.39
1.656 62.99
1.679 63. 48
1.694 64.16
1.663 64. 55
1.669 65.52
1.679 66.43
1.687 66.99
1.722 67.17
1.739 67. 54
1.721 67.80
1. 719 68. 30

41.0
41.5
41.2
41.4
41.2
41.6
41.8
42.0
42.0
42.1
42.0
41.8
41.9
41.8
41.8

Industrial inorganic
cbemical

$1.430 $63.90
1.510 67.89
1.485 65.85
1.507 65.32
1. 529 68.85
1.526 68.97
1.535 68.24
1.537 71.13
1.560 71.91
J. 578 72.59
1.595 73.13
1.607 73.79
1. 612 73. 65
1.622 73. 82
1.634 74. 68

40.6
40.9
40.7
39.9
41.2
41.6
40.4
41.4
41.4
41.6
41.2
41.5
41.4
41.4
41.7

$1. 574
1.660
1.618
1.637
1.671
1.658
1.689
1.718
1.737
1.745
1.775
1.778
1.779
1.783
1.791

Industrial organic
C bemieals
$60.83
65.69
63.91
65.16
66.02
65.85
67. 52
67.98
69.34
69.75
70.11
70. 26
71.15
71. 35
71.99

39.5 $1,540
40.6 1.618
40.5 1.578
40.8 1.597
40.7 1.622
40.7 1.618
40.8 1.655
40.9 1.662
41.2 1.683
41.2 1.693
41.0 1.710
40.8 1.722
41.2 1. 727
41.1 1. 736
41.3 1. 743

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

C: EARNINGS AND HOURS

227

T able C 1: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees 1—Con.
Manufacturing—C on tinned
Chemicals and allied products—Continued
Year and month

Plastics, except syn­
thetic rubber
Avg.
wkly.
earn­
ings

1949: Average........
1950: Average........

$60.36
65. 54

1950: M a y .. . ........
June_______
July-----------A ugust.........
Septem ber...
October........ .
N ovem b er...
December__
1951: January____
February___
M arch______
April...............
M a y ...............

Avg.
wkly.
hours

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Synthetic rubber
Avg.
wkly. Avg.
earn­ wkly.
ings hours

Synthetic fibers

Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. Avg.
earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings
ings hours

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Drugs and medicines
Avg.
Avg.
wkly. wkly.
earn­
hours
ings

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Paints, pigments,
and fillers
Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
earn­
ings hours

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Fertilizers
Avg.
wkly.
earn­
ings

Avg.
wkly.
hours

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

40.4 $1. 494 $66. 74
41.8 1. 568 71.93

39.8 $1. 677 $55. 20
40.8 1.763 58.40

38.6 $1.430 $56.60
39.3 1.486 59. 59

40.4 $1.401 $59. 78
40.9 1.457 64.80

41.0 $1.458 $44. 72
42.3 1.532 47.00

41. 6
41.3

$1,075
1.138

63.37
65. 23
66.41
65. 07
67.48
67.83
69. 20
70.43

41.2
42.0
42. 6
41. 5
42. 6
42.0
42.4
42.3

1. 538
1. 5 5 3
1.559
1. 568
1. 584
1. 615
1. 632
1. 665

70.48
70. 78
72. 52
71. 52
72.58
72.16
76.63
76.03

41.0
40.7
40.4
41.2
40.3
41.0
41.2
41.3

1. 719
1.739
1. 795
1. 736
1.801
1. 760
1.860
1.841

57.35
57. 76
57. 81
58. 99
59. 94
60.45
61.10
61.26

39.5
39.4
38.9
39.3
39.2
39.2
39.6
39.7

1.452
1.466
1.486
1. 501
1. 529
1.542
1. 543
1.543

58. 75
59. 27
58. 47
59. 68
60.19
61.12
62.00
62. 75

40.8
41.1
40.1
40.6
41.2
41.3
41.5
41.5

1.440
1.442
1.458
1.470
1.461
1.480
1.494
1.512

63.53
64. 91
64. 86
66. 99
67.35
67.45
66.79
66.90

42.3
42.9
42. 5
43.5
43. 2
42.8
42.3
42.1

1.502
1.513
1. 526
1. 540
1. 559
1. 576
1.579
1.589

47. 92
49. 52
49. 20
47.83
48.18
46.80
47.31
48.72

41. 6
42. 0
41.8
41. 2
40. 8
41.0
41.5

1.152
1.179
1 177
1 161
1.161
1 147
1.154
1.174

72.08
70. 72
71. 61
72.16
72. 20

42.7
41. 5
42. 0
42.3
42.1

1.688
1. 704
1. 705
1.706
1. 715

75.19
76.97
77.12
78. 29
80.28

40.6
40.9
41.0
41.6
42.1

1.852
1.882
1.881
1.882
1.907

61.61
61.39
62. 29
62.85
63. 08

39.7
39.3
39.5
39.7
39.8

1.552
1.562
1.577
1. 583
1. 585

63.48
63. 77
64.52
65. 49
64.35

41.3
41.3
41.6
41.9
41.2

1.537
1.544
1.551
1.563
1.562

68.61
69.05
69. 07
69.33
69.28

42.8
42.6
42.4
42.3
42.4

1.603
1.621
1.629
1.639
1.634

49.96
48. 42
50.56
50. 97
52.82

42.3
41.0
42. 7
42.3
42.6

1.181
1.181
1 184
1. 205
1.240

Manufacturing—Continued
Chemicals and allied products—Continued
Vegetable and ani­
mal oils and fats

Other chemicals and
allied products

Products of petroleum and coal

Soap and glycerin

Total: Products of
petroleum and coal

Petroleum refining

Coke and byproducts

1949: Average........ . $51.12
1950: Average_____ 53.46

47.2 $1,083 $60. 67
45.5 1.175 64.41

40.8 $1.487 $66. 54
41.5 1.552 71.81

40.9 $1. 627 $72.36
41.7 1.722 75.01

40.4 $1. 791 $75.33
40.9 1.834 77.93

40.2 $1. 874 $61.07
40.4 1.929 62. 85

39.3
39.7

$1,554
1.583

1950: M ay............ .
June________
July.................
A ugust...........
September__
October_____
November__
December___

52. 82
53. 87
55.46
55.11
55. 03
54.41
55. 58
56.72

44. 2
43.9
43.6
44.3
45.9
47.6
46.9
46.8

1.195
1.227
1.272
1.214
1.199
1.143
1.185
1.212

62.28
63.38
63.29
64. 62
66.13
66.24
66. 89
68. 75

41.0
41.4
41. 1
41.8
42. 2
41.9
41.7
42.1

1. 519
1. 531
1.540
1. 546
1.567
1. 581
1.604
1.633

68. 74
69. 96
69. 99
74.08
74.99
74.59
75. 85
77.82

40.7
41.2
41.0
42.7
43.0
42.5
42.4
42.9

1.689
1.698
1. 707
1. 735
1. 744
1. 755
1.789
1.814

73.28
74.37
76.09
73. 73
76. 77
77. 71
78.32
78.32

40.6
41.0
41.6
40.6
41.7
41.6
41.2
41.2

1.805
1.814
1.829
1.816
1.841
1.868
1.901
1.901

75.73
76. 82
78.93
75. 29
79. 72
80.93
81.64
81.03

39.9
40.2
41.0
39.4
41.2
41.1
40.7
40.7

1.898
1.911
1.925
1.911
1. 935
1.969
2.006
1.991

61.85
62.73
63.36
63.12
63. 91
63.68
63. 60
67.54

39.8
39.7
39.6
39.8
39.6
40.2
40.0
40.2

1.554
1.580
1.600
1.586
1. 614
1. 584
1.590
1.680

1951: January_____
February____
M arch............ .
April________
M a y .................

56.90
56. 36
56.28
58.12
59.35

46.0
44.8
43.9
44.2
43.9

1.237
1.258
1.282
1.315
1.352

69.13
70. 05
69. 96
68. 43
68. 06

42.0
42.3
42.3
41.7
41.6

1.646
1.656
1. 654
1. 641
1.636

76.83
79. 36
79.64
76.19
74.63

42.4
43.2
43.0
41.7
41.3

1.812
1.837
1.852
1.827
1.807

79.58
78.44
78.93
81.30
81.60

41.0
40.6
40.6
41.1
40.9

1.941
1.932
1. 944
1.978
1.995

82.95
81. 28
81.89
84. 86
85.13

40.7
40.2
40.2
40.8
40.5

2.038
2.022
2.037
2.080
2.102

68.82
69. 63
68.08
68.79
69. 04

40.2
40.2
39.4
39.9
40.0

1.712
1.732
1. 728
1. 724
1. 726

Manufacturing—Continued
Products of petro­
leum and coal—Con.
Other petroleum and
coal products

Leather and leather
products

Rubber products
Total: Rubber
products

Tires and inner
tubes

Rubber footwear

Other rubber
products

Total: Leather and
leather products

1949: Average_____ $61.18
1950: Average______ 66.78

42.9 $1.426 $57. 79
44.7 1.494 64.42

38.3 $1. 509 $63.26
40.9 1.575 72.48

36.4 $1. 738 $48.94
39.8 1.821 52.21

38.6 $1.268 $54.38
40.1 1.302 59. 76

40.1 $1.356 $41.61
42.2 1.416 44. 56

36. 6
37.6

$1.137
1.185

1950: M av____
June__ ______
July_________
August______
September___
October.......... .
November___
December........

67. 44
69.13
70. 38
71.82
69. 76
69. 94
69.15
69.67

45.2
46.3
46. 7
47. 5
46.2
45.8
44.9
44. 6

1 492
1.493
1. 507
1. 512
1. 510
1. 527
1.540
1.562

64. 52
65.08
05. 59
66. 25
66. 58
66. 29
66. 52
68. 76

41.2
41.4
41.2
41.8
41.9
41.9
41.5
41.6

1.566
1. 572
1. 592
1.585
1.589
1.582
1. 603
1.653

74. 60
74. 05
75. 22
76.01
75.46
73. 12
73. 70
76. 21

41.1
40.6
40.4
40.8
40.9
40.2
40. 1
39.9

1.815
1.824
1.862
1.863
1.845
1.819
1. 838
1.910

50. 20
52.07
52.13
53.93
53. 95
56.00
54. 52
59.34

39.4
40.3
39.7
41. 9
41. 5
42.2
42.0
42.6

1. 274
1. 292
1.313
1.287
1.300
1.327
1.298
1.393

57. 92
59. 23
59.08
60.13
61.30
62. 48
62. 71
64.29

41.7
42.4
42.2
42.8
42. 9
43.3
42.6
42.8

1.389
1.397
1.400
1.405
1.429
1.443
1.472
1.502

41. 56
43.60
44. 73
46. 49
45. 72
46.04
45. 94
47.26

35.4
37.2
38.1
39. 2
38.1
37.8
37. 5
38.3

1.174
1.172
1.174
1.186
1. 200
1 218
1. 2 2 5
1.234

1951: January_____
February____
M arch.............
April________
M a y .................

68.08
67.68
68. 97
69.10
69.41

43.7
43.3
43.9
43.9
44.1

1.558
1.563
1.571
1. 574
1.574

66. 78
63.37
65. 88
65. 72
68. 43

40.4
38.9
40.0
39.9
41.3

1.653
1.629
1.647
1.647
1. 657

73.69
66. 95
71.40
69. 47
75. 42

38.4
35.5
37.6
36.7
39.2

1.919
1.886
1.899
1.893
1.924

57.53
55. 87
58.17
59.82
61.60

41.6
40.6
41.4
42.1
42.9

1.383
1.376
1.405
1.421
1.436

63.06
61.95
63.13
63. 92
64. 26

41.9
41.3
41.7
42.0
42.7

1.505
1.500
1.514
1. 522
1. 505

48.30
49.43
48.73
46.56
45. 55

38.7
39.2
38.4
36.4
35.5

1.248
1. 261
1. 269
1. 279
1.283

Sec footnotes at end of table.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

M ONTHLY LABO R

C: EARNINGS AND HOURS

228
T able

C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees x—Con.
Manufacturing— Continued
Stone, clay, and glass products

Leather and leather products—Continued
Footwear (except
rubber)

Leather

Year and month

Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
earn­ hours
ings

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ hours
ings
ings

Other leather
products

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ hours
ings
ings

35.9 $1.096 $41.10
36.9 1.138 44.85

Glass and glass
products

Total: Stone, clay,
and gloss products

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ hours
ings
ings

37.5 $1.096 $54.45
38.5 1.165 59.20

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ hours
ings
ings

39.8 $1,368 $56. 71
41.2 1.437 61.58

39.3
39.8

$1,369
1.416

1.476
1.486
1.525
1.485
1.572
1.586
1.623
1.607

54.98
55.23
55. 40
53.31
54.69
61.19
59.94
60. 29

40.4
40.4
39.6
38.8
37.1
40.9
40.5
40.9

1.361
1.367
1.399
1.374
1.474
1.496
1.480
1.474

1.628
1.614
1. 614
1.616
1. 625

60.95
58.82
59. 84
61.22
60.14

40. 5
39.5
40.0
41.2
40.2

1.505
1.489
1. 496
1.486
1.496

54.11
57.21

38.9 $1,391 $39.35
39.7 1.441 41.99

1950: M ay............
J u n e......... .
J u ly ...........
August........
September.
October___
November.
December..

55.00
56. 57
56.73
58.40
58. 64
59.44
59. 79
61.17

38.9
39.7
39.7
40.6
40.3
40.3
40.4
40.7

1.414
1.425
1.429
1.442
1.455
1.475
1.480
1.503

38.48
40. 84
42. 53
44.39
43.32
42. 76
42.23
44.02

34.2
36.4
37.7
38.8
37.6
36.7
36.0
37.4

1.125
1.122
1.128
1.144
1.152
1.165
1.173
1.177

42. 58
44.39
44.16
45.70
45.00
47.64
47. 96
48.06

36.9
38.3
38.2
39.5
38.1
39.5
39.7
39.3

1.154
1.159
1.156
1.157
1.181
1.206
1.208
1.223

57.28
58.12
58. 57
59.40
60.88
63.11
63.66
63.60

40.8
41.1
40.9
41.6
41.5
42.5
42.3
42.2

1.404
1.414
1.432
1.428
1.467
1.485
1.505
1.507

59. 78
59.74
60.24
59.10
61.31
65. 66
67.03
65.89

40.5
40.2
39.5
39.8
39.0
41.4
41.3
41.0

1951: January----February...
M arch____
April_____
M ay............

61.58
62. 52
60. 71
60.45
59. 87

40.7
40.6
39.6
39.1
38.6

1.513
1.540
1. 533
1. 546
1. 551

45.88
46. 99
46. 43
43.74
42.07

38.3
38.8
37.9
35.5
34.2

1.198

47.89
48.82
48. 52
47.04
47.16

38.9
39.4
39.0
37.6
37.4

1. 231
1.239
1.244
1.251
1.261

63.48
63.15
64. 53
64. 93
64.76

41.6
41.3
41.9
42.0
41.7

1. 526
1.529
1.540
1.546
1. 553

66.10
65.04
66.17
66.74
65.49

40.6
40.3
41.0
41.3
40.3

1. 225
1.232
1. 230

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

39.0 $1,454 $53. 80
40.3 1.528 56.36

1949: Average---1950: Average-----

1.211

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ hours
ings
ings

Manufacturing—Continued
Stone, clay, and glass products—Continued
Pressed and blown
glass
1949: A verage...
1950: Average.. .

$50.30
53. 71

Cement, hydraulic

38. 6 $1.303 $57.49
39.7 1.353 60.13

Structural clay
products

Brick and hollow
tile

39.0 $1.275 $49. 57
40.5 1.338 5.375

41.6 $1.382 $49.73
41.7 1.442 54.19

Pottery and related
products

Sewer pipe

41.8 $1,186 $48. 61
42.9 1.253 52.17

39.2 $1.240 $48.85
39.7 1.314 52.16

36.4
37. 5

$1,342
1.391

50 00
1950: M ay............
50 27
June............
40.
03
July.............
51. 61
August____
56 70
September.
58 24
October___
61 15
N ovem ber.
December.. __ 58.84

39. 2
38.4
38.0
39. 7
40. 5
41.1
41.4
41.0

1.300
1.309
1.314
1.300
1.400
1. 417
1.477
1.435

59.13
60.27
61.30
61.13
61.66
61.59
62.10
62.43

41.7
42.0
41.7
42.1
41.8
41.9
42.1
41.9

1.418
1.435
1.470
1.452
1.475
1.470
1.475
1.490

53.27
54.09
54.40
55. 27
56.00
57.73
57. 86
58.25

40.2
40.7
40.9
41.4
41.3
41.8
41.3
41.4

1.325
1.329
1.330
1.335
1.356
1.381
1.401
1.407

54.16
54.63
54. 89
55.71
65. 73
57.77
57. 51
57.16

43.4
43.6
43.6
43.9
43.2
44.2
43.7
43.5

1.248
1.253
1.259
1.269
1.290
1.307
1.316
1.314

49.96
54.85
54.60
53.85
54.88
55.05
54.14
53. 98

38.4
41.3
41.3
40.4
40.5
40.3
39.2
39.2

1.301
1.328
1.322
1.333
1. 855
1.366
1.381
1.377

50.46
48. 71
49.13
52. 59
63. 70
55.91
67.47
56. 84

37.1
35. 3
36. 6
38.0
38.3
39.4
39.8
38.8

1.360
1.380
1.384
1.384
1.402
1.419
1.444
1.465

57.10
57 14
58 55
57 63
55. 96

39.9
39.9
41. 0
40. 7
39.3

1. 431
1. 432
1.428
1.416
1.424

62. 45
62.93
64. 08
64.12
65.28

41.3
41.7
42.1
41.8
41.9

1. 512
1.509
1. 522
1.534
1. 558

59.00
57. 65
59.93
61.03
61.97

41.2
40.4
41.3
41.6
42.1

1.432
1.427
1.451
1.467
1.472

55.88
54. 24
57.34
59. 36
60. 63

42.3
41.5
42.6
43.3
44.0

1.321
1.307
1.346
1.371
1.378

56.50
54.86
56.00
56. 62
58. 41

40.3
39.3
39.8
39.9
40.9

1.402
1.396
1.407
1.419
1.428

57.05
57. 69
58. 64
58. 65
57. 38

38.6
38. 9
39.3
39.1
38.1

1.478
1.483
1. 492
1. 500
1. 506

1951: Janu ary...
February..
March___
April..........
M a y _____ . . .

M anufacturing—C ontinued
Primary metal industries

Stone, clay, and glass products—Continued
Concrete, gypsum,
and plaster products
1949: Average........ . $57.77
1950: Average--------- 62.64

Concrete products

43.8 $1,319 $59.31
45.0 1.392 61.15

Other stone, clay,
and glass products

43.8 $1,354 $.54.72
43.9 1.393 60. 94

Total: Primary
metal industries

39.2 $1,396 $60. 78
41.4 1.472 67.24

Blast furnaces, steel
works, and rolling
mills

38.3 $1. 587 $63.04
40.8 1.648 67.47

Iron and steel
foundries

38.3 $1,646 $55.09
39.9 1.691 65.32

37.2
41.9

$1.481
1.559

1950: M a y.................
June.............. ..
July...................
August______
September___
October______
November___
December____

fin 76
62.06
a? 06
64 44
66.36
66 38
66 67
66.23

44. 7
45. 2
45.4
45.7
45. 7
46.0
45. 6
45.8

1.359
1.373
1.389
1.410
1.430
1.443
1.438
1.466

60.20
61.07
60. 78
62.62
63.59
64.09
63.64
65.19

44.3
45.1
44.2
44.6
44.5
44.6
44.1
44.9

1.359
1.354
1.375
1.404
1.429
1.437
1.443
1.452

58.07
60.09
60.17
62.20
64.52
65.79
66.55
67.03

40.3
41.7
41.3
42.4
42.9
43.2
43.1
43.3

1.441
1.441
1.457
1.467
1.504
1.523
1.544
1.548

65. 57
66.50
66.95
67.36
69.10
69.81
70.14
74.36

40.5
40.8
40.7
41.1
41.4
41.9
41.8
42.3

1.619
1.630
1.645
1.639
1.669
1.666
1.678
1.758

65.86
66.63
67.83
67.37
69.30
68. 87
69.03
75.21

39.7
39.8
39.9
40.1
40.2
40.8
40.8
41.1

1.659
1.674
1.700
1.680
1.724
1.688
1.692
1.830

63.19
64.72
64.37
66.07
67. 57
70.04
69.23
72.37

41.3
42.0
41.8
42.6
42.9
43.8
43.0
44.1

1.530
1.541
1.540
1.551
1.575
1.599
1.610
1.641

1951: January______
February.........
March_______
April.................
M a y ...... ...........

64 68
65.37
66. 74
67. 66
68. 02

44.3
44. 2
45. 0
45. 5
45.5

1.460
1.479
1.483
1. 487
1.495

63.32
63.19
65. 61
66.17
67. 26

43.4
42.9
44.3
44.8
45. 2

1.459
1.473
1.481
1.477
1.488

67. 25
66. 96
67. 76
67. 82
67. 65

43.0
42.3
42.3
42.2
42.1

1. 564
1.583
1. 602
1.607
1.607

74.42
73.12
75.11
75.89
75.09

41.6
41.1
41.8
42.0
41.6

1.789
1.779
1.797
1.807
1.805

76.41
74.16
77.35
78.25
76.83

40.6
40.0
41.3
41.4
40.8

1.882
1.854
1.873
1.890
1.883

71.66
71.48
73. 31
73.18
72. 76

43.3
42.8
43.3
43.1
42.8

1.655
1.670
1.693
1. 698
1. 700

See footnotes at end of table.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951
T able

G: EARNIN GS AND HOURS

229

C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees 1—Con.
M an u fa c tu rin g —C o n tin u e d

Primary metal industries—Continued

Year and month

Gray-iron foundries

Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
earn­
ings hours

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Malleable-iron
foundries

Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
earn­
ings hours

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Steel foundries

Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
earn­ hours
ings

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

P rim ary sm eltin g
and refining of
nonferrous metals
Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
earn­ hours
ings

P rim ary sm eltin g
and refining of
copper, lead, and
zinc

Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. Avg.
earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings
ings hours

Primary refining of
aluminum

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings
ings hours

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

1949: Average........... $54. 38
1950: Average............ 65. 06

37.5 $1.450 $54.30
42.3 1.538 65.46

35.7 $1. 521 $56. 73
41.3 1. 585 65.43

37.3 $1. 521 $60.36
41.1 1. 592 63. 71

40.4 $1. 494 $58.99
41.0 1. 554 62.37

40.1 $1. 471 $61.95
40.9 1. 525 63. 97

41.3
40.9

$1. 500
1. 564

1950: M ay ____ ____
June________
July_________
August— ........
September___
October._____
November___
December____

63. 24
64.08
63.88
66.36
67. 97
70. 26
69.18
71. 97

41.8
42.3
42.0
43.2
43.6
44.3
43.4
44.4

1.513
1.515
1.521
1.536
1.559
1.586
1.594
1. 621

63.28
65.87
64.80
66. 32
67.69
69.18
69. 28
72.03

40.8
41.9
41.3
42.0
42.2
42.6
42.5
43.6

1.551
1.572
1.569
1.579
1.604
1.624
1.630
1.652

63. 30
65.65
65. 31
65.73
66.08
69.38
69.17
72.31

40.6
41.5
41.6
41.6
41.3
42.8
42.2
43.3

1.559
1.582
1.570
1.580
1.600
1.621
1.639
1.670

61.98
62. 54
62. 83
63.15
64. 44
66.40
67. 73
69.47

40.8
40.9
40.3
40.9
41.2
41.5
41.0
41.7

1.519
1.529
1.559
1.544
1.564
1.600
1.652
1. 666

60.29
61. 44
61.37
61.89
63.18
65.01
66. 30
67. 97

40.6
40.8
39.9
40.8
41.0
41.7
40.9
41.6

1.485
1.506
1.538
1.517
1. 541
1.559
1.621
1.634

62.73
62.44
63.06
62.87
63. 47
67. 23
68. 84
70. 01

41.0
41.0
41.0
40.8
41.0
40.4
41.0
41.7

1.530
1.523
1.538
1.541
1.548
1.664
1.679
1. 679

1951: January______
February.........
M arch_______
April________
M ay ________

70.63
69.90
72.17
71.04
70.58

43.6
42.7
43.4
42.9
42.7

1.620
1.637
1.663
1.656
1.653

71.52
70.89
73.40
75.21
74.04

42. 7
42.5
43.1
43.2
42.6

1.675
1.668
1.703
1.741
1.738

73.19
74.48
74.61
75.56
74.81

42.8
43.2
43.1
43.3
42.7

1. 710
1.724
1.731
1.745
1.752

70. 67
69.18
69.14
70.18
70.06

41.5
41.3
41.3
41.9
41.7

1.703
1.675
1.674
1.675
1.680

69.93
68.06
68.72
70.05
69.60

41.5
41.2
41.5
42.2
41.9

1.685
1.652
1.656
1.660
1.661

69. 41
69.21
69.66
70.84
70.93

41.0
41.0
41.1
41.6
41.7

1. 693
1.688
1.695
1.703
1.701

M a n u fa c tu rin g —C o n tin u e d

Primary metal industries—Continued
R o llin g , draw ing,
and alloying of
nonferrous metals

R o llin g , draw ing,
and alloying of
copper

R o llin g , draw ing,
and alloying of
aluminum

Nonferrous foundries

Other primary metal
industries

Iron and steel
forgings

1949: Average_____ $58.05
1950: Average_____ 66.75

38.7 $1. 500 $59.29
41.9 1. 593 70.24

38.5 $1.540 $56. 21
42.7 1.645 59. 99

38.9 $1. 445 $60.92
40.1 1. 496 67.65

39.0 $1.562 $63. 34
41.5 1.630 71. 27

39.1 $1.620 $63.18
41.9 1.701 74.09

38.2
41.6

$1. 654
1.781

1950: M ay............ __
June.......... .
July.................

66.63
67. 75
67.76
68.48
65. 21
68. 05
69.18
72.46

42.2
42.8
42.4
42.8
41.4
41.8
41.7
43.0

1.579
1.583
1.598
1.600
1. 575
1.628
1.659
1.685

70.72
72.26
73. 46
73.67
68.09
70.22
71.48
76.08

43.2
43.9
44.2
44.3
41.8
42.1
41.8
43.9

1.637
1.646
1.662
1.663
1.629
1.668
1.710
1.733

58.73
58. 26
57.02
58. 51
57.56
63. 59
64. 43
66.01

40.2
40.4
39.0
39.8
39.4
40.4
40.6
40.9

1.461
1.442
1.462
1.470
1.461
1.574
1.587
1. 614

65. 36
66.52
64. 27
66. 36
70. 61
72.29
72.80
75.47

40.9
41.6
40.5
41.4
42.9
42.8
42.8
43.6

1.598
1.599
1. 587
1.603
1.646
1.689
1.701
1.731

69.68
70.39
70.47
71.95
74.13
75.17
76. 65
77.60

41.6
41.8
41.6
42.2
42.8
43.3
43.8
43.4

1.675
1. 684
1.694
1.705
1.732
1.736
1.750
1. 788

72.94
72.21
73.08
74.63
77.83
80.29
82.86
81.11

41.8
41.5
41.5
41.6
42.6
43.4
44.1
43.4

1.745
1.740
1.761
1.794
1.827
1.850
1.879
1.869

1951: January...
67.98
February......... 68.30
M arch..
68.21
April___
67.96
M ay___
67.67

40.9
40.8
40.7
40.6
40.4

1. 662
1.674
1.676
1.674
1.675

68.87
69. 52
70.05
70.23
69.04

40.8
40.7
40.8
41.0
40.4

1.688
1.708
1.717
1.713
1.709

64.68
64.96
64.08
63.60
64.76

40.1
40.1
39.7
39.5
40.0

1.613
1.620
1.614
1.610
1.619

72.33
72.70
73.12
73.69
74.07

42.1
42.0
42.0
42.4
42.4

1. 718
1.731
1.741
1.738
1.747

77. 94
76.83
78.17
79.49
78.90

42.8
42.1
42.3
42.9
42.6

1.821
1.825
1.848
1.853
1.852

82.34
81.49
83.87
85. 59
84.31

43.2
42.6
43.5
43.8
43.3

1.906
1.913
1.928
1.954
1.947

A u g u st............

Septem ber...
October_____
November___
December.

M anufacturing—C ontinued
Primary metal in­
dustries—Con.

Wire drawing

Fabricated metal products (except ordnance, machinery, and transportation equipment)
T otal: F ab ricated
m e ta l p r o d u c ts
(except ordnance,
m a c h in er y , and
tr a n sp o r ta tio n
equipment)

1949: Average______ $63. 66
1950: Average........... 73.79

39.2 $1. 624 $57. 82
42.9 1. 720 63. 42

1950: M ay............ .....
June.............. .
July...................
A ugust............
September___
October______
November___
December____

70.39
72.93
72. 89
74.25
77. 86
77.00
78.80
80.36

41.6
42.4
42.6
43.5
44.8
44.2
45.0
44.4

1.692
1.720
1.711
1.707
1.738
1.742
1. 751
1. 810

1951: January........ ..
February____
March..............
April.................
M ay ..................

81. 95
79.42
79.15
80.76
79.94

44.2
43.0
42.6
43.7
43.4

1.854
1.847
1.858
1.848
1.842

See footnotes a t e n d of table.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Tin cans and other
tinware

Cutlery, hand tools,
and hardware

Cutlery and edge
tools

Hand tools

39.6 $1. 460 $56. 24
41.4 1.532 60. 90

40.4 $1. 392 $54.82
41.6 1.464 61. 01

39.3 $1. 395 $50.84
41.5 1.470 55. 54

40.0 $1. 271 $54. 54
41.7 1.332 61.31

38.6
41.2

$1,413
1.488

60.89
62.87
62. 55
64. 79
65. 72
66. 66
66. 20
68. 26

40.7
41.5
41.1
42.1
42.1
42.3
41.9
42.4

1.496
1.515
1.522
1.539
1.561
1. 576
1.580
1.610

59. 20
60.94
64.14
67. 46
63.90
60.56
58.85
63.07

41.0
41.8
42.9
44.5
43.0
41.0
40.2
42.1

1.444
1.458
1.495
1.516
1.486
1.477
1.464
1.498

57. 57
60.61
59. 57
61.03
62.96
64.99
64.09
67.12

40.6
41.6
40.8
41.6
42.0
42.9
42.0
43.0

1.418
1.457
1.460
1.467
1.499
1.515
1.526
1. 561

52.16
54. 41
51.34
56.08
57.14
60. 71
60. 56
62.57

40.5
41.6
39.4
42.2
42.2
43.9
43.1
43.6

1.288
1.308
1.303
1.329
1.354
1.383
1.405
1. 435

58. 20
59.16
59.38
63.11
64.63
66.13
67.31
68. 59

40.5
40.8
40.7
42.1
42.3
42.8
42.9
43.3

1.437
1.450
1.459
1.499
1.528
1.545
1.569
1.584

67.80
68.18
69.55
69.55
69.22

41.8
41.7
42.1
42.0
41.8

1.622
1.635
1.652
1.656
1.656

63. 26
63.36
64.07
64.03
64.43

41.0
40.2
40.4
40.5
40.7

1. 543
1.576
1.586
1.581
1.583

65. 44
66. 25
66.49
66.69
66.97

42.0
42.2
42.0
42.1
42.2

1. 558
1.570
1.583
1.584
1.587

60. 99
61.72
60.40
60.75
59.95

42.5
42.8
42.0
42.1
41.6

1.435
1.442
1.438
1.443
1.441

68. 51
69.74
70.58
70.42
70.48

42.9
43.1
43.3
43.2
43.0

1. 597
1.618
1.630
1.630
1.639

230

M ONTHLY LABO R

0 : E ARN IN G S AND HOURS

T able C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees 1—Con.
Manufacturing—Continued
Fabricated metal products (except ordnance, machinery, and transportation equipment)—Continued

Year and month

Heating apparatus
(except electric) and
plumbers’ supplies

Hardware

Avg. Avg,
wkly. wkly.
earn­ hours
ings

Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. Avg.
earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings hours
ings

39.3 $1.432 $57,04
41.6 1.506 63.91

1949: Average.......... $56.28
1950: Average......... 62.65

Sanitary ware and
plumbers’ supplies

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings
ings hours

38.7 $1.474 $59. 79
41.1 1. 555 67.64

Oil burners, non­
electric heating and
cooking apparatus,
not elsewhere
classified

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings
ings hours

38.5 $1. 553 $55.45
41.6 1.626 61.20

Fabricated struc­
tural metal products

Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. Avg.
earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings hours
ings

38.8 $1.429 $59.90
40.8 1. 500 63.29

Structural steel and
ornamental
metalwork

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings
ings hours

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

40.5 $1.479 $60. 91
41.1 1.540 63.23

41.1
41.3

$1. 482
1.531

1950: M ay................
June................
July..... ...........
August______
September___
October_____
November___
December.......

58.87
62. 93
61.88
61.91
64.23
65. 82
63. 97
68.09

40.6
41.9
41.2
41.3
41.9
42.6
41.3
42.8

1.450
1. 502
1.502
1.499
1. 533
1.545
1. 549
1.591

61.30
62.11
63.28
65. 63
66.83
68.09
67.27
68.88

40.3
40.7
41.2
41.9
42.3
42.4
41.6
42.1

1.521
1.526
1.536
1. 564
1.580
1.606
1.617
1.636

63. 91
65.27
67.43
67. 51
71.18
72.41
72. 85
74.13

40.4
41.1
41.7
41.8
42.8
43.1
42.6
43.1

1.582
1.588
1.617
1.615
1.663
1.680
1.710
1.720

59.30
59. 90
60.20
64.20
64.13
65.20
63. 67
65.49

40.2
40. 5
40.9
42.1
42.0
41.9
41.0
41.5

1.475
1.479
1.472
1. 525
1.527
1. 556
1.553
1.578

61.66
62. 65
61.39
64.22
65.02
65. 93
66.25
67.87

40.7
41.0
40.1
41.7
41.6
42.1
42.2
42.0

1.515
1.528
1. 531
1. 540
1.563
1. 566
1.570
1.616

62.25
63.40
60. 39
63.63
63.44
64.85
65.80
67. 55

41.2
41.6
39.6
41.7
41.3
42.0
42.1
41.7

1.511
1.524
1.525
1.526
1. 536
1.544
1.563
1.620

1951: January_____
February____
March__ __
A pril... . _ .
M ay_____ _

65.41
66.14
66.41
66.24
66.20

41.4
41.6
41.4
41.4
41.4

1.580
1.590
1.604
1.600
1.599

68.85
69.60
70.89
70.35
69.76

41.4
41.5
41.9
41.6
41.3

1. 663
1.677
1.692
1.691
1.689

74. 07
75.40
76. 75
76.30
75.63

42.4
42.6
42.9
42.7
42.3

1.747
1.770
1.789
1.787
1.788

65.28
66.13
67. 52
66.38
65.77

40.7
41.0
41.5
40.8
40.5

1.604
1.613
1.627
1.627
1.624

69.17
69. 43
70.51
71.78
71.82

42.2
42.0
42.4
42.6
42.7

1. 639
1. 653
1.663
1.685
1.682

68.64
68.64
69.47
70.72
71.15

41.7
41.4
41.7
41.7
42.1

1. 646
1. 658
1.666
1.696
1.690

Manufacturing—Continued
Fabricated metal products (except ordnance, machinery, and transportation equipment)—Continued

Machinery (except
(electrical)

Metal stamping,
coating, and
engraving

Total: Machinery
(except electrical)

Boiler-shop products

Sheet-metal work

Stamped and pressed
metal products

Other fabricated
metal products

39.5 $1. 482 $60.30
41.3 1.555 66.15

39.7 $1. 519 $58.38
41.5 1.594 64.76

61.55
64.16
63.58
65. 69
66.34
67.05
66.77
68. 71

40.6
41.8
41.1
42.0
41.7
41.8
41.5
42.1

1.516
1.535
1.547
1.564
1.591
1.604
1.609
1.632

63. 55
66.31
65.46
67. 86
68.46
68. 60
68.64
70.64

41.0
42.1
41.3
42.2
41.9
41.7
41.6
42.2

1.550
1. 575
1.585
1.608
1.634
1.645
1.650
1.674

62.43
64. 82
63.94
66.17
67.32
68.66
67. 85
70.01

67.93
67.86
69.56
68.10
67.23

41.6
41.2
41.6
40.8
40.5

1.633
1.647
1.672
1.669
1.660

69. 51
69. 76
71.47
70.23
68. 73

41.5
41.3
41.6
41.0
40.5

1. 675
1.689
1.718
1.713
1.697

68. 75
68.84
71.05
71.26
71.06

1949: Average....... . $59. 78
1950: Average_____ 62.16

40.2 $1.487 $57.60
40.6 1.531 62.14

39.7 $1.451 $58. 54
41.1 1.512 64.22

1950: M a y ............ .
June________
July-----------August..... ......
September.. .
October_____
November___
December___

59.60
61.22
61.52
62.35
64.38
65.00
65.92
68.15

40.0
40.6
40.5
41.1
41.4
41.4
42.2
42.2

1.490
1.508
1.519
1.617
1. 555
1.570
1.562
1.615

60.40
60.28
61.04
63. 52
63. 90
65.77
64.96
66.81

40.7
40.4
40.8
41.9
41.6
42.6
41.8
42.1

1.484
1.492
1.496
1.516
1. 536
1.544
1.554
1.587

1951: January_____
February____
March____ __
April________
M ay________

68.02
69.14
70.18
72.03
71.53

41.6
41.8
42.3
42.8
42.6

1.635
1.654
1.659
1.683
1.679

66.70
68. 83
69. 01
71.06
70.77

41.3
42.1
41.9
42.5
42.1

1. 615
1.635
1.647
1.672
1.681

39.6 $1. 478 $60.44
41.7 1.553 67.21

39.5
41.8

$1.530
1.608

41.1
42.2
41.6
42.5
42.5
42.7
42.3
42.9

1.519
1.536
1.537
1. 557
1.584
1.608
1.604
1.632

65.09
65.69
66. 35
67. 98
68. 94
71.00
72.03
74. 20

41.3
41.5
41.6
42.3
42.4
42.9
43.0
43.7

1.576
1. 583
1.595
1.607
1.626
1.655
1.675
1.698

42.0
41.9
42.8
42.9
42.5

1.637
1.643
1.660
1.661
1.672

74. 47
75.08
76.43
76. 74
76.34

43.4
43.5
43.8
43.9
43.6

1. 716
1.726
1.745
1.748
1.751

Manufactur ing—Continued
M a c h in e ry (except electrical)—C o n tin u e d

Engines and
turbines

Agricultural
machinery
and tractors

Agricultural
machinery
(except tractors)

Tractors

1949: Average_____ $63.13
1950: A v erag e..__ 69.43

38.9 $1.623 $61.11
40.7 1.706 64.60

39.3 $1.555 $61.86
40.1 1.611 66.09

39.2 $1. 578 $59. 93
40.3 1.640 62.57

1950: M ay________
June................
July-----------August........
September___
October_____
November___
December___

68. 79
68.70
68. 91
70.83
70. 81
69.48
74.57
78.29

40.8
40.7
40.3
41.3
41.0
40.0
42.2
43.4

1.686
1.688
1.710
1.715
1.727
1.737
1. 767
1.804

63.88
63.84
63.88
65.29
64.35
64. 82
67. 51
70.79

40.1
40.2
40.1
40.3
40.5
39.5
40.4
41.4

1.593
1.588
1.593
1.620
1.589
1.641
1.671
1.710

65.49
65.16
65.08
67.39
65. 97
65.27
69.50
73.68

40.4
40.5
40.3
40.5
40.5
38.9
41.1
42.1

1.621
1.609
1.615
1.664
1.629
1.678
1. 691
1.750

1951: January_____
February___
M arch.......... .
April________
M ay________

77.81
77.81
80.56
79.80
79.24

42.8
42.8
43.5
43.3
42.9

1.818
1.818
1.852
1.843
1.847

71.84
71.28
73.06
73.03
72. 71

41.1
40.8
41.0
40.8
40.6

1. 748
1.747
1.782
1.790
1.791

74.70
73.50
74. 52
75. 25
75.38

41.8
41.2
40.9
41.1
41.1

1.787
1.784
1.822
1.831
1.834

See footnotes at end of table.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Construction and
mining
machinery

Metalworking
machinery

39.3 $1.525 $58. 74
39.8 1.572 65.97

39.8 $1.476 $61.11
42.4 1.556 71.54

61.77
62.16
62.25
62. 36
62.37
64.00
64.69
66.78

39.7
39.9
39.8
40.0
40.5
40.2
39.4
40.5

1.556
1. 558
1.564
1. 559
1.540
1.592
1.642
1.649

63.70
65.20
65.06
66.60
67.62
69.96
70.31
71.70

41.8
42.7
42.3
42.8
42.8
43. 7
43.4
43.8

1.524
1.527
1.538
1. 556
1.580
1.601
1.620
1.637

68. 57
69. 81
71.16
73.42
73.24
77. 83
78.23
80.58

42.3
42.8
43.1
44.2
43.7
45.2
45.3
46.1

1.621
1.631
1.651
1.661
1.676
1.722
1.727
1.748

68.06
68.47
71.23
71.34
70.47

40.2
40.3
41.1
41.0
40.5

1. 693
1.699
1.733
1.740
1.740

73.06
74.18
74.13
75.88
75.69

43.8
44. 1
44.1
44.9
44.6

1. 668
1.682
1.681
1.690
1.697

81.31
82. 99
83.69
84.83
84.98

46.2
46.7
46.7
47.1
47.0

1. 760
1.777
1.792
1.801
1.808

39. 5 $1.547
43.2
1.656

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

231

C: EARNIN GS AND HOURS

T able C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees 1—Con.
M a n u fa c tu rin g —C o n tin u e d
M a c h in e ry (except electrical)—C o n tin u e d

Y ear a n d m o n th

M a c h in e tools

A vg.
w k ly .
e a rn ­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
h o u rs

A vg.
h rly .
e a rn ­
ings

M e ta lw o rk in g m a ­
ch in e ry
(except
m a ch in e tools)
A vg.
w k ly .
e a rn ­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
ho u rs

A vg.
h rly .
e a rn ­
ings

M ach in e-to o l acces­
sories

A vg.
w kly.
e a rn ­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
h o u rs

A vg.
h rly .
e a rn ­
ings

S p ecial-in d u stry m a ­
c h in e ry (ex ce p t
m e talw o rk in g m a ­
ch in ery )
A vg.
w k ly .
e a rn ­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
h o u rs

A vg.
h rly .
e a rn ­
ings

G en eral in d u s tria l
m a c h in e ry

A vg.
w k ly .
e a rn ­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
h o u rs

A vg.
h rly .
e a rn ­
ings

Office a n d sto re m a ­
chines a n d devices

A vg.
w k ly .
e a rn ­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
h o u rs

A vg.
h rly .
e a rn ­
ings

1949: A v e ra g e ........... $59.15
1950: A v erag e______ 69. 72

39.3 $1. 505 $61.85
43.2 1. 614 70.54

39.8 $1. 554 $64.16
42.7 1.652 74. 69

39.7 $1,616 $60. 57
43.5 1.717 65. 74

40.3 $1. 503 $59. 53
41.9 1.569 66.33

39.5 $1. 507 $62. 53
41.9 1.583 66.95

39.5
41.1

$1. 583
1.629

1950: M a y _________
.Tune_________
J u ly --------------A u g u s t_______
S e p te m b e r___
O c to b e r______
N o v e m b e r ___
D e c e m b e r____

65.46
66. 58
66.88
71.16
72.24
76. 78
77. 51
80.86

41.8
42.3
42.3
44.2
44.1
45.7
45.7
46.9

1. 566
1.574
1. 581
1.610
1.638
1.680
1.696
1.724

69.69
70.10
71.87
73. 01
71.64
73.12
73. 69
76. 51

42.6
42.9
43.4
44.3
42.9
43.6
43.4
44.2

1.636
1.634
1.656
1. 648
1.670
1.677
1.698
1.731

72. 25
74.34
76.69
76.16
75. 64
82.72
81.26
82.30

42.8
43.6
44.2
44. 0
43.9
45.6
45.6
45.9

1.688
1.705
1.735
1.731
1.723
1.814
1.782
1. 793

63. 55
63. 91
63.92
65. 75
67. 44
69. 49
70.86
73. 25

41.4
41.5
41.4
42.2
42.6
43.0
43.1
44.1

1.535
1.540
1. 544
1.558
1.583
1. 616
1.644
1.661

63.89
64. 43
65. 99
66. 65
68. 91
71.39
72.23
74.49

41.3
41.3
41.9
42.4
42.8
43.8
43.8
44.5

1.547
1. 560
1.575
1.572
1.610
1. 630
1.649
1.674

63. 96
64.52
65. 85
67.63
69. 55
70.89
71.11
73.27

40.1
40.5
40.9
41.8
42.0
42.3
42.2
42.9

1.595
1.593
1.610
1.618
1.656
1.676
1.685
1.708

1951: J a n u a r y ______
F e b r u a r y _____
M a r c h . . ...........
A pril..
M a y _________

81.78
82.65
82.90
83.86
84.16

47.3
47.5
47.4
47.7
47.6

1.729
1.740
1.749
1.758
1.768

76. 91
79. 83
80. 28
82.67
82.31

43.5
44.6
44.7
45.7
45.6

1.768
1.790
1.796
1.809
1.805

82. 62
84.17
85.69
86. 76
86.49

45.8
46.4
46.8
47.1
46.5

1.804
1.814
1.831
1.842
1.860

73.80
74.59
75.15
76.05
74.67

43.9
43.9
44.1
44.5
43.9

1.681
1. 699
1.704
1.709
1.701

74.32
75.19
75. 71
76.98
77.38

44.0
44.1
44.2
44.6
44.7

1.689
1. 705
1.713
1.726
1.731

71.82
72.46
72.97
73.48
73.29

42.1
42.4
42.3
42.4
42.0

1.706
1.709
1.725
1.733
1.745

M a n u fa c tu rin g — C o n tin u e d

Machinery (except electrical)—Continued
C o m p u tin g m ach in es
a n d cash registers
1949: A v erag e______ $67.87
1950: A v erag e ______ 71.70

T y p e w rite rs

S erv ic e-in d u stry a n d
h ouseh o ld m ach in es

R efrig erato rs a n d airc o n d itio n in g u n its

M iscellaneous m a ­
c h in e ry p a rts

B all a n d ro ller b e a r­
ings

39.9 $1. 701 $56.04
40.9 1.753 62.08

39.0 $1.437 $60.66
41.5 1.496 67.26

39.7 $1. 528 $59. 98
41.7 1.613 66.42

39.0 $1. 538 $57. 59
41.1
1.616 66.15

38.6 $1.492 $57. 53
42.0 1.575 68. 55

38.1
42.5

$1,510
1.613

1950: M a y _________
J u n e ................ .
J u ly __________
A u g u st —
S e p te m b e r___
O c to b e r______
N o v e m b e r___
D e c e m b e r____

69.20
69.58
71.07
72.19
74.56
76. 00
73.89
77.42

40.3
40.5
40.8
41.3
41.7
42.2
41.3
42.4

1.717
1.718
1.742
1.748
1.788
1.801
1.789
1.826

58.19
58.33
60. 63
63. 90
66. 60
67.14
69. 61
69. 07

40.1
40.2
41.3
42.8
43.5
43.4
44.0
43.8

1.451
1.451
1.468
1.493
1.531
1.547
1.582
1.577

67. 20
67. 55
67.17
66. 93
67.90
70. 60
70. 26
69. 76

42.4
42.3
41.9
41.6
41.4
42.3
41.6
41.4

1.585
1.597
1.603
1.609
1.640
1.669
1.689
1.685

68. 50
68. 02
67. 67
66.22
64. 95
67.73
68.45
66. 29

43.0
42.3
41.8
40.8
39.7
40.8
40.5
39.6

1.593
1.608
1.619
1.623
1. 636
1.660
1.690
1.674

62. 42
63.22
65. 21
67. 54
68.68
70.46
71.30
73.78

40.8
41.0
41.8
42.8
42.9
43.6
43.5
44.1

1. 530
1. 542
1.560
1.578
1.601
1.616
1. 639
1.673

63.47
63.39
65.30
70.63
71.36
72.44
74.90
77. 29

41.0
40.4
41.3
43.6
43.3
43.9
44.4
44.7

1.548
1. 569
1. 581
1.620
1.648
1.650
1.687
1.729

1951: J a n u a r y ______
F e b r u a r y _____
M a r c h _______
A p ril_________
M a y _________

75.90
76.90
77.75
77.48
77.90

41.5
42.0
41.8
41.7
41.5

1.829
1.831
1.860
1.858
1.877

67.47
68.23
68.44
68.03
68.34

42.7
43.1
43.1
43.0
42.9

1.580
1.583
1.588
1.582
1.593

68.45
70.88
73.98
70.86
69.10

40.5
41.4
42.2
41.1
40.2

1.690
1.712
1.753
1.724
1.719

65.69
68. 59
73.82
69.45
67.54

39.1
40.3
41.8
40.1
39.2

1.680
1.702
1.766
1.732
1.723

47. 58
73.26
74.60
74.99
74.86

44.0
43.4
43.7
43.8
43.7

1.695
1.688
1.707
1.712
1.713

78.00
73.23
77.92
77.31
77.26

44.7
42.7
44.3
44.1
44.1

1.745
1.715
1.759
1.753
1.752

M a n u fa c tu rin g — C o n tin u e d
M a c h in e ry (except
electrical)—C on.

M a c h in e shops (job
a n d rep air)

E lectrical m a c h in e ry

T o ta l: E le c tric a l m a ­
ch in ery

E le c tric a l g e n e ra t­
in g tra n sm issio n ,
d is trib u tio n , a n d
in d u s tria l
appa­
ra tu s

M o to rs, g en erato rs,
tra n sfo rm ers, a n d
in d u s tria l controls

E lectrical e q u ip m e n t
for vehicles

C o m m u n ica tio n
e q u ip m e n t

1949: A v erag e______ $58. 70
1950: A v erag e............ 65.18

39.0 $1. 505 $56. 96
41.7 1. 563 60.83

39.5 $1. 442 $59.61
41.1 1.480 63. 75

39.5 $1. 509 $61. 30
41.1 1.551 64.90

39.7 $1. 544 $59.16
41.1
1.579 66. 22

39.1 $1,513 $53. 56
41.7 1.588 56. 20

39.5
40.9

$1.356
1.374

1950: M a y ________
J u n e _____ _ _
J u ly --------------A u g u s t_______
S e p te m b e r___
O c to b e r______
N o v e m b e r___
D e c e m b e r.........

62. 72
63. 86
64.89
66. 06
65. 79
68. 79
69.54
72.63

41.1
41.6
41.7
42.4
41.8
43.1
42.9
44.1

1.526
1. 535
1.556
1.558
1.574
1.596
1.621
1.647

59.28
58. 62
59. 44
60.15
61.48
64.12
64.33
65.15

40.8
40.4
40.6
41.0
41.4
42.1
41.8
41.9

1.453
1.451
1.464
1.467
1.485
1. 523
1.539
1.555

61. S5
61. 95
62. 52
64.25
64.85
67.35
68.48
69.03

40.8
40.7
40.6
41.4
41.6
42.2
42.3
42.3

1.516
1.522
1.540
1.552
1.559
1.596
1.619
1.632

63.19
63.05
63.94
65.30
65.45
68.36
69.13
69. 68

40.9
40.6
40.7
41.3
41.4
42.2
42.1
42.1

1.545
1.553
1.571
1.581
1. 581
1.620
1.642
1.655

69.12
66.40
65. 78
66.41
67.33
70.44
67.89
69.85

43.8
42.0
41.4
41.9
41.9
42.9
41.5
41.9

1.578
1.581
1.589
1.585
1.607
1.642
1.636
1.667

53. 77
54.11
54.43
55.11
56.69
59.02
58.83
59. 76

40.1
40.2
40.5
40.7
41.2
41.8
41.2
41.5

1.341
1.346
1.344
1.354
1.376
1.412
1.428
1.440

1951: J a n u a r y ____ _
F e b r u a r y _____
M a r c h ____ —
A p ril_________
M a y ____ 1____

73. 59
74. 69
72.83
73.69
74.08

43.7
44.3
43.3
43.4
43.4

1.684
1.686
1.682
1.698
1.707

64.42
64.80
65.34
66.11
66.32

41.4
41.3
41.3
41.5
41.5

1.556
1.569
1.582
1.593
1.598

68.38
68. 72
70.18
70.31
71.61

41.9
41.7
42.1
42.2
42.5

1. 632
1.648
1.667
1.666
1.685

69.60
69.60
71.40
71.49
73.36

41.8
41.6
42.1
42.1
42.7

1. 665
1.673
1.696
1.698
1.718

66.22
65.36
66.97
67.55
67.50

40.5
39.9
40.2
40.5
40.3

1. 635
1.638
1.666
1.668
1.675

60.22
60. 61
60.58
60.75
60.93

41.3
41.2
41.1
41.1
41.0

1.458
1.471
1.474
1.478
1.486

See fo otnotes a t end of table.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

T

able

M ONTHLY LABO R

C: EARNINGS AND HOURS

232

C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees1—Con.
Manufacturing—Continued
Transportation equipment

Electrical machinery—Continued
Year and month

Radios, phono­
appliances,
Transporta­
graphs, television Telephone and tele­ Electrical
lamps, and miscel­ Total:
tion equipment
sets, and equip­ graph equipment
laneous
products
ment
Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly.
wkly. wkly.
hrly. wkly.
earn­
earn­ hours earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings ings hours ings
ings

Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly.
wkly. wkly.
hrly. wkly.
earn­
earn­ hours earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings ings hours ings
ings

1949: Average____ $50. 68 39.5 $1,283 $61. 43 39.3 $1. 563 $56. 52
1950: Average____ 53.85 40.7 1.323 65.84 40.1 1.642 61.58
1950: May______ 51.82 40.2 1.289 64.23 39.6 1.622 60. 60
June______ 51.93 40.1 1.295 64. 64 39.8 1.624 57. 62
July______ 52.37 40.5 1.293 64.03 39.6 1.617 60. 30
August____ 52.89 40.5 1.306 65.44 40.0 1.636 59.74
September ... 54.44 40.9 1.331 67.11 40.7 1.649 62.43
October .
57. 03 41.6 1.371 67.61 40.8 1. 657 65. 71
November_ 56.32 40.9 1.377 70. 39 40.9 1.721 66.18
December__ 56.96 41.1 1.386 71.93 41.6 1.729 67.14
1951: January____ 57.32 40.8 1.405 71.31 41.1 1. 735 64.80
February___ 57.31 40.5 1.415 72.97 41.6 1. 754 65.38
March... . .. 57.13 40.4 1.414 75. 79 42.6 1.779 65.07
April______ 56.92 40.2 1.416 77. 20 43.3 1.783 64.81
May............ 57. 29 40.2 1.425 76. 67 43.1 1.779 64. 63

39.5
41.0
41.0
39.6
40.5
40.5
41.4
42.2
42.1
42.2
41.3
41.3
40.9
41.1
40.8

$1.431
1. 502
1.478
1.455
1.489
1.475
1.508
1.557
1.572
1.591
1.569
1. 583
1.591
1.577
1.584

$64. 95
71.18
69. 62
72. 53
71. 71
72. 87
72. 39
73. 02
71. 78
75.18
72. 06
74.05
75. 73
74. 50
74. 50

39.2
41.0
41.0
42.0
41.5
42.0
40.9
41.0
40.1
41.4
39.9
40.8
41.2
40.8
40.8

$1. 657
1.736
1.698
1.727
1.728
1.735
1.770
1. 781
1.790
1.816
1.806
1.815
1.838
1.826
1.826

Automobiles

Aircraft and parts

Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly.
wkly. wkly.
hrly. wkly.
earn­
earn­ hours earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings
ings ings hours ings
$65. 97
73.25
71.66
75. 76
74. 35
75. 21
73.81
75. 21
72. 76
76.28
71.48
74. 29
76.13
74.13
74. 01

38.9
41.2
41.4
42.8
42.1
42.3
40.6
41.1
39.5
40.9
38.7
39.9
40.3
39.6
39.6

$1.696
1.778
1.731
1.770
1. 766
1.778
1.818
1.830
1.842
1.865
1.847
1.862
1.889
1.872
1.869

$63. 62
68.39
65.61
65.32
66. 54
68. 94
71.18
70.18
71. 78
75.08
76.78
75.86
77.35
77.31
77.44

40.6 $1. 567
41.6 1.644
40.8 1.608
40.7 1.605
41.2 1. 615
42.4 1.626
42.7 1.667
41.9 1.675
42.4 1.693
43.3 1.734
43.7 1. 757
43.3 1.752
43.9 1.762
44.0 1.757
43.9 1.764

Manufacturing—Continued
Transportation equipment-—Continued
Aircraft engines and
parts
1949: Average. __
1950: Average____
1950: May______
June______
July______
August____
September ...
October..
November...
December___
1951: January.__ ...
February___
March........ .
April______
May______

$62. 69
67.15
64.68
64.48
64. 99
68. 29
70. 50
69.17
68. 72
72. 08
74. 52
73.49
75.04
74. 60
74.91

40.5
41.4
40.6
40.5
40.8
42.6
42.7
42.1
41.5
42.6
43.2
42.7
43.5
43.5
43.4

$1. 548
1.622
1. 593
1.592
1.593
1.603
1.651
1.643
1.656
1.692
1. 725
1. 721
1.725
1.715
1.726

$65. 24
71.40
68.35
67.85
70. 92
70.94
74. 59
69.48
80.82
83. 01
82.94
83.49
86.19
86. 94
87. 28

40.7
42.1
41.6
41.5
42.7
42.1
43.8
39.7
45.0
44.8
45.1
45.3
45.7
46.0
46.4

$1. 603
1.696
1.643
1.635
1.661
1.685
1. 703
1.750
1. 796
1.853
1.839
1.843
1.886
1.890
1.881

Aircraft propellers
and parts

Other aircraft parts Ship and boat building and repairing
and equipment

Shipbuilding and
repairing

$66. 83 41.0 $1. 630 $65.08 40.4 $1. 611 $61. 67 38.0 $1. 623 $61.88 37.8 $1,637
73. 90 42.4 1.743 70. 81 41.7 1.698 63. 28 38.4 1.648 63.83 38.2 1.671
63.85 39.1 1. 633 67. 73 40.9 1.656 63. 21 38.4 1.646 64.02 38.2 1.676
67.25 40.2 1.673 67.98 40.9 1.662 62.39 38.3 1.629 62.91 37.9 1.660
71.87 42.2 1.703 69. 04 41.0 1.684 64. 20 38.1 1.685 65.04 37.9 1.716
78. 68 44.4 1.772 68.22 40.8 1.672 64.84 39.2 1.654 65. 62 39.2 1.674
77. 62 43.9 1.768 67. 53 39.7 1.701 62.89 38.3 1.642 63.36 38.1 1.663
81.17 44.6 1.820 77. 08 43.6 1. 768 62. 89 38.3 1.642 63. 23 38.0 1.664
80. 67 43.3 1.863 75.91 43.6 1.741 64. 47 38.7 1.666 65. 08 38.6 1.686
88. 54 45.9 1.929 79. 57 44.6 1.784 66. 67 39.9 1.671 67. 34 39.8 1.692
87.11 45.3 1.923 80. 06 44.8 1.787 64. 24 38.7 1.660 64. 73 38.6 1.677
90.01 46.3 1. 944 78. 10 44.1 1.771 68. 80 40.4 1.703 69.41 40.4 1.718
90. 42 46.3 1.953 79. 34 44.2 1.795 68. 78 40.2 1.711 69.33 40.1 1.729
90.13 46.7 1.930 80. 63 44.5 1.812 68.44 40.0 1.711 69.19 39.9 1.734
87. 52 45.7 1.915 79.83 44.2 1.806 68. 31 39.9 1.712 68.89 39.8 1.731
Manufacturing—Continued
Instruments and related products

Transportation equipment—Continued
Boat building and
repairing
1949: Average____
1950: Average____
1950: May______
June______
July---------August____
September__
October____
November__
December__
1951: January____
February___
March_____
April_____
May______

$54. 84
55.99
55.34
56. 62
56. 24
55.70
55. 50
57.12
56.54
58. 06
58.90
57. 72
59.49
60.00
59.99

40.5
40.6
40.9
42.0
40.9
39.9
40.1
41.3
40.1
40.8
40.4
39.0
39.9
40.9
40.4

See footnotes at end of table.

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

$1.354
1.379
1.353
1.348
1.375
1.396
1.384
1.383
1.410
1.423
1.458
1.480
1.491
1.467
1.485

Locomotives and
parts
$63. 54
66.33
64. 99
64. 56
64.40
65. 29
68. 72
69. 04
69.51
72. 52
72.41
71.16
75.13
76. 82
76. 38

39.2
39.6
39.8
39.2
39.1
39.5
40.4
40.0
40.2
40.9
41.0
40.8
41.1
41.3
41.2

$1. 621
1.675
1.633
1. 647
1. 647
1. 653
1.701
1. 726
1. 729
1. 773
1.766
1.744
1.828
1.860
1.854

$65.47
70.00
68. 59
67.86
68. 64
68.68
73. 05
74. 74
73. 53
76. 39
75.96
75.35
82.40
83. 27
80.40

39.3
40.3
40.9
39.5
40.4
40.0
40.9
41.0
40.4
40.7
40.6
41.7
42.3
42.1
41.4

$1. 666
1. 737
1.677
1. 718
1.699
1. 717
1.786
1.823
1.820
1.877
1.871
1.807
1.948
1. <AS
1. 942

Railroad and street- Other transportation Total: Instruments
and related products
equipment
cars
$61. 70
62. 47
61.02
61.58
60.14
61.85
64.12
62.86
65. 36
67. 98
67.90
66. 97
68.06
70. 46
72.81

38.9
38.9
38.5
39.0
37.8
39.0
39.8
38.9
40.1
41.0
41.1
39.7
40.2
40.8
41.3

$1. 586
1.606
1.585
1. 579
1.591
1.586
1.611
1. 616
1.630
1. 658
1.652
1.687
1.693
1.727
1. 763

$57. 60 39.7 $1. 451
64. 44 41.9 1.538
60. 22 40.2 1. 498
61.06 40.9 1.493
60. 09 40.3 1.491
60.30 39.8 1.515
73. 88 46.0 1.606
69.86 43.5 1.606
70. 73 44.4 1. 593
71.96 44.5 1.617
66.14 41.7 1.586
67.48 42.2 1.599
69.08 43.2 1. 599
64. 49 41.0 1.573
66. 01 41.1 1.606

$55. 28
60.81
58. 34
58.93
58.98
61.13
63. 58
64. 77
65.47
66. 75
65. 79
67. 06
67.64
67.88
68.36

39.6 $1.396
41.2 1.476
40.4 1.444
40.7 1.448
40.9 1.442
41.7 1.466
42.5 1.496
42.5 1.524
42.4 1.544
42.6 1.567
41.8 1.574
42.2 1.589
42.3 1.599
42.4 1.601
42.2 1.620

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951
T able

C: EARNINGS AND HOURS

233

C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees 1—Con.
Manufacturing—Continued
Instruments and related products—Continued
Year and month

Ophthalmic goods

Photographic
apparatus

Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
hrly. wkly.
earn­ hours earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings
ings ings hours
1949: Average...
1950: Average...
1950: May........
June........
July-----August__
September.
October_
November.
December.
1951: January...
February..
March__
April___
May.......

$47.04
50.88
49.74
51.21
51.13
52.17
52.17
54.13
54. 50
55.70
55.47
55.66
55.61
56. 36
55.61

39.6
40.7
40.6
41.2
40.9
41.6
41.6
41.7
41.6
42.1
41.8
41.6
41.5
41.5
40.8

$1.188
1.250
1.225
1.243
1.250
1.254
1.254
1.298
1.310
1.323
1,327
1.338
1.340
1.358
1.363

$59.91
65.59
63. 21
63.53
63.32
65.72
69.15
69.22
69.60
70.85
70.56
72. 76
71.99
73.11
73. 72

39.7
41.2
40.7
40.7
40.8
41.7
42.4
42.0
41.8
42.2
41.8
42.3
42.1
41.8
42.1

Watches and
clocks

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings
$1,509
1.592
1.553
1.561
1.552
1.576
1.631
1.648
1.665
1.679
1.688
1.720
1.710
1.749
1.751

Miscellaneous manu­
facturing industries
Total:
Miscellane­
Professional and
manufacturing
scientific instruments ous
industries

Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
hrly. wkly.
hrly. wkly.
hrly.
earn­ hours earn­ earn­ wkly.
earn­ earn­ wkly. earn­
ings
ings ings hours ings ings hours ings
$49. 53
53.25
49.97
49.72
51.25
51.98
55.15
58.06
59. 47
59.40
55.61
58. 77
60.40
60. 49
60.65

39.0
39.8
38.2
38.1
39.0
39.8
40.7
41.8
42.0
41.6
38.7
41.1
41.8
41.6
41.6

$1.270
1.338
1.308
1.305
1.314
1.306
1.355
1.389
1.416
1.428
1.437
1.430
1.445
1.454
1.458

$57.01
63.01
60.42
61.08
60.82
63.11
65.73
66.78
67. 57
69.18
68.43
69.11
70.03
69.84
70. 55

39.7
41.7
40.8
41.3
41.4
42.1
43.1
43.0
42.9
43.1
42.5
42.5
42.6
42.9
42.6

$1.436
1.511
1.481
1.479
1.469
1.499
1.525
1.553
1.575
1.605
1.610
1.626
1.644
1.628
1.656

$50.23
54.04
52.47
52.69
52.47
54.87
56.04
56.98
57.01
57.50
57.37
58.41
58.18
57.97
57. 51

39.9 $1.259
41.0 1.318
40.3 1.302
40.5 1.301
40.3 1.302
41.6 1.319
42.1 1.331
42.3 1.347
42.2 1.351
41.7 1.379
41.3 1.389
41.6 1.404
41.5 1.402
41.2 1.407
40.7 1.413

Manufacturing—Continued
Miscellaneous manufacturing industries—Continued
Jewelry, silverware,
and plated ware
1949: Average...
1950: Average...
1950: May____
June____
July-----August__
September.
October...
November.
December.
1951: January...
February..
March__
April.......
May.......

$55.06 41.4
59.45 42.8
56.40 41.5
56.00 41.3
56.25 41.3
59.98 43.4
63.48 44.8
65.06 44.9
65.19 44.9
63.52 43.9
62.29 43.2
64.08 43.5
62. 93 42.9
62. 29 42.0
61.58 41.0

$1.330
1.389
1.359
1.356
1.362
1.382
1.417
1.449
1.452
1.447
1.442
1.473
1.467
1.483
1.502

Jewelry and
findings
$51.33
54.25
52.50
51.55
50.12
53.68
57.06
59.03
58.37
58.14
58.32
59.79
58.73
58. 02
56. 70

40.8
41.6
40.7
40.4
39.4
42.0
43.0
43.5
43.4
43.0
43.2
43.2
42.9
41.5
40.5

$1. 258
1.304
1.290
1.276
1.272
1.278
1.327
1.357
1.345
1.352
1.350
1.384
1.369
1.398
1.400

Manufacturing—Con.

See footnotes at end of table.

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

40.0
41.1
40.4
40.8
40.6
41.6
42.0
42.4
42.1
41.7
41.4
41.7
41.9
41.7
41.2

$1. 280
1.336
1.323
1.323
1.322
1.337
1.349
1.362
1.361
1.397
1.410
1.423
1.421
1.427
1.432

42.0
43.8
42.1
42.1
42.7
44. 5
46.5
46.3
46.2
44.7
43.2
43.8
43.0
42.8
41.9

$1.388
1.463
1.415
1.419
1.431
1.470
1.498
1.532
1.549
1.532
1.534
1. 557
1.557
1.554
1.585

Costume jewelry,
buttons, notions

$47.00 39.1 $1. 202 $46.06
50.98 40.4 1. 262 49.52
49.84 40.0 1.246 47. 58
49. 56 39.9 1.242 47.34
49.27 39.7 1.241 48.09
51.90 40.9 1.269 50.55
52.11 41.1 1.268 51.42
53.42 41.7 1.281 51.40
53.90 41.4 1.302 52.66
53.49 40.4 1.324 53.41
53.20 40.0 1.330 53. 58
54.10 39.9 1.356 54.24
54.06 39.9 1.355 53.44
53. 29 39.8 1.339 52.83
51.87 39.0 1.330 53. 41

39.3 $1.172
40.0 1.238
39.0 1.220
38.8 1.220
39.1 1.230
40.7 1.242
41.2 1.248
40.6 1.266
41.3 1.275
41.4 1.290
40.9 1.310
41.5 1.307
40.7 1.313
39.9 1.324
39.8 1.342

Communication
Local railways and
bus lines 8

Other miscellaneous
manufacturing
industries
$51.20
54.91
53.45
53.98
53.67
55.62
56.66
57. 75
57.30
58.25
58.37
59.34
59.54
59. 51
59.00

$58.30
64.08
59. 57
59. 74
61.10
65.42
69. 56
70.93
71.56
68.48
66.27
68.20
66. 95
66. 51
66. 41

Toys and sporting
goods

Transportation and public utilities

Miscellaneous
manufacturing
industries—3on.

1949: Average...
1950: Average...
1950: May........
June____
July____
August__
September.
October...
November.
December.
1951: January_
February..
March__
April.......
May___

Silverware and
plated ware

$61. 73
63.20
61.75
64.19
61.19
65.46
63.18
64. 54
64.63
63.00
67.86
69. 50
71.48

43.5
40.8
40.2
41.9
39.4
42.7
40.5
41.8
41.4
40.0
42.2
41.2
42.0

$1,419
1.549
1.536
1.532
1.553
1.533
1.560
1.544
1.561
1.575
1.608
1.687
1. 702

$64. 61
66.96
66. 56
67.41
67. 47
66.84
67.42
67. 77
68.26
69.96
70.23
70.66
70.42
70.56
71.15

44.9
45.0
44.8
45.3
45.1
44.8
45.1
45.3
45.6
46.3
45.9
46.0
45.7
45.7
45.9

$1.439
1.488
1.486
1.488
1.496
1.492
1.495
1.496
1.497
1.511
1.530
1.536
1.541
1.544
1.550

Telephones 6
$51. 78
54.38
53.72
54.19
54. 96
54. 71
55.80
56.18
54.04
56.30
56.41
57.58
56. 52
56.12
56. 44

38.5
38.9
38.9
39.1
39.4
39.3
39.6
39.4
38.0
39.1
38.9
39.2
38.9
38. 7
38.9

$1.345
1,398
1.381
1.386
1.395
1.392
1.409
1.426
1, 422
1.440
1.450
1.469
1.453
1.450
1.451

Switchboard operat­
ing employees 7

$46.65
46.20
46.61
47.73
47.90
48.00
49.00
44.93
47.37
47.78
49.09
47.80
47.45
47. 39

37.5 $1. 244
37.5 1.232
37.8 1.233
38.4 1.243
38.6 1.241
38.4 1.250
38.4 1.276
36.0 1.248
37.3 1.270
37.3 1.281
37.7 1.302
37.4 1.278
37.3 1. 272
37.4 1.267

234

MONTHLY LABOR

C : E ARNINGS AND HOURS

T able

C—1 : Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisor y Employees1—Con.
Transportation and public utilities—Continued
Other public utilities

Communication
Year and month

Line construction,
installation, and
maintenance em­
ployees «

Electric light and
power utilities

Gas and electric
utilities

Telegraph »

Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly.
hrly. wkly.
wkly. wkly.
earn­
earn­ hours earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings ings hours ings
ings

Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
hrly. wkly. wkly. hrly. wkly. wkly. hrly.
earn­ earn­ hours earn­
earn­ hours earn­ earn­ hours
ings
ings ings
ings
ings ings
1949: Average.
1950: Average.
1950: May........
June____
July.........
August__
September.
October__
November.
December..
1951: January...
February.
March__
April___
May..... .

$73.30
71.48
72.28
72.96
72.64
76.02
75.91
74.37
77. 72
77.13
79.74
78. 47
77. 69
79.37

42.1
41.8
42.0
42.1
41.7
42.9
42.5
41.5
42.8
42.4
43.1
42.6
42.2
42.9

$62.85
64.19
65.38
64.21
64.13
63. 99
64.49
64.74
64. 25
65.05
64. 57
64.86
64.63
64.36
65. 92

$1.741
1.710
1.721
1.733
1.742
1.772
1.786
1.792
1.816
1.819
1.850
1. 842
1. 841
1.850

44. 7
44.7
45.4
44.9
45.0
45.0
44.6
44.8
44.4
44.8
44.5
44.7
44.6
44.6
45.4

$1.406
1.436
1.440
1.4.30
1.425
1.422
1.446
1.445
1.447
1.452
1.451
1.451
1.449
1.443
1.452

$63.99
66.60
65.17
65. 99
66. 52
65.65
67. 35
67.93
68. 68
70.14
70. 27
71.36
70.14
70.39
71.02

41. 5
41.6
41.3
41.5
41.6
41.5
41.6
41.8
41.8
42.0
41.8
42.0
41.5
41.6
41.7

$1. 542
1.601
1.578
1.590
1.599
1.582
1.619
1.625
1.643
1.670
1. 681
1.699
1.690
1.692
1.703

Transportation and
public utilities—
Con.

$64. 91
67.81
65.09
65. 74
68.13
66. 39
68.60
69.18
69.97
71.31
71.18
72. 50
71.72
71.09
72.15

$1. 564
1.630 $63. 37
1.576 61. 58
1. 588 61.62
1.630 62.07
1.603 62.61
1. 649 63.99
1.655 64. 86
1. 682 66. 20
1.710 66.73
1.707 68.15
1.722 70. 04
1. 720 67.19
1. 709 66. 83
1. 726 67. 48

41.5 $1.527
41.0 1.502’
41.0 1.503
41.0 1.514
41.3 1. 516
41.5 1.542
41.9 1.548
42.3 1. 565
42.1 1. 585
42.2 1.615
42.5 1.648
41.5 1.619
41.1 1.626
41.4 1. 630

Retail trade
Wholesale trade

Electric light and gas
utilities combined
$67.02
65.62
66.93
67.26
66.81
68.05
68. 47
68.68
71.02
70.64
70. 80
69. 92
71. 56
71.68

41.5
41.6
41.3
41.4
41.8
41.6
41.6
41.8
41.6
41.7
41.7
42.1
41.7
41.6
41.8

Trade

Other public utili­
ties—Con.

1949: Average____ __ .- ____ ____
1950: Average..-- _____ _________
1950: May_____________________
June__ _
____ __ ____
July--------------------------------August___________________
September_________________
October___________________
November_________________
December.._______ ____ ____
1951: January___ ______________
February__________________
March____________________
April__ - __ . ___________
May---------- ---------------------

Gas utilities

41.6 $1.611
41.4 1.585
41.6 1.609
41.7 1.613
41.6 1.606
41.7 1.632
41.8 1.638
41.8 1.643
42.4 1.675
41.8 1.690
41.6 1.702
41. 2 1.697
41.8 1.712
41.7 1. 719

$57. 55
60.36
59.11
59. 93
61.10
60.90
60.93
61.68
61.98
63.49
63.44
63. 62
63. 62
64.10
64.34

40.7
40.7
40.4
40.6
40.9
40.9
40.7
40.9
40.8
41.2
40.8
40.6
40.6
40.7
40.9

Retail trade (except General merchandise Department stores
and general mail­
eating and drink­
stores
order houses
ing places)

$1.414 $45. 93
1.483 47.63
1.463 46.94
1.476 48.06
1.494 48. 99
1.489 48. 99
1.497 48.48
1.508 48.32
1.519 47.92
1. 541 48.31
1.555 49. 85
1.567 49. 56
1.567 48.95
1.575 49. 92
1. 573 49. 99

40.4
40.5
40.4
40.9
41.2
41.1
40.4
40.3
40.0
40.7
40.3
40.1
39.7
40.0
39.9

$1.137 $34. 87
1.176 35.95
1.162 35. 49
1.175 36. 60
1.189 37.32
1.192 37.06
1.200 36.11
1.199 36. 01
1.198 35.24
1.187 37.02
1.237 38. 02
1.236 37.43
1.233 36.44
1. 248 37.01
1.253 36.71

36.7
36.8
36.4
37.2
37.7
37.4
36.4
36.3
36.0
38.2
36.7
36.3
35.8
35.9
35.5

$0. 950
.977
.975
.984
.990
.991
.992
.992
.979
.969
1.036
1.031
1.018
1.031
1. 034

$39.31
41.56
40. 82
41.86
42. 58
42. 33
42.03
42. 03
41.24
45.05
44. 58
43. 70
43.05
43.54
43. 57

37.8 $1. 040
38.2 1.088
37.8 1.080
38.3 1.093
38.6 1.103
38.2 1.108
37.8 1.112
37.9 1.109
37.8 1.091
40.7 1.107
38.2 1.167
37.8 1.156
37.6 1.145
37.6 1.158
37.4 1.165

Trade—Continued
Other retail trade

Retail trade—Continued
Food and liquor
stores
1949: Average-___ ______________ $49. 93
1950: Average___________________ 51.79
1950: May_____________________ 50.81
June............... ...... .................... 51.82
July--------------------------------- 53.37
August_________ ___ ______ 53.04
September__ _ ____________ 52.12
October _______
51. 80
November _________________ 52.40
December________ _________ 52. 91
1951: January___________________ 53.15
February- ________________ 52.69
March____________________ 52.62
April_____________________ 53. 22
May___ __ ________________ 53. 79
See footnotes at end of table.

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Automotive and ac­ Apparel and acces­ Furniture and appli­ Lumber and hard ance stores
ware-supply stores
cessories dealers
sories stores

40.2 $1. 242 $58. 92
40.4 1.282 61.65
40.1 1.267 60. 50
40.8 1.270 62.29
41.5 1.286 63.71
41.5 1.278 63. 66
40.4 1.290 63. 52
40.0 1. 295 63. 94
40.0 1.310 63.07
40.3 1.313 63.53
39.9 1.332 64.48
39.5 1.334 65.16
39.3 1.339 65. 29
39.6 1.344 66.01
39.7 1.355 66.42

45.6 $1. 292 $40. 66
45.7 1.349 40.70
45.9 1.318 40.37
45.9 1.357 40.92
45.7 1.394 40. 77
45.6 1.396 40. 70
45.6 1.393 40. 98
45. 9 1.393 40. 95
45.8 1.377 40. 65
46.0 1.381 42.17
45.7 1.411 42.81
45.5 1.432 41.40
45.4 1.438 40. 75
45.4 1.454 41.42
45.4 1.463 41.61

36.7
36.5
36.5
36.8
36.9
37.0
36.2
36. 3
36.1
36.7
36.5
36.0
35.4
35.8
35.5

$1.108
1.115
1.106
1.112
1.105
1.100
1.132
1.128
1.126
1.149
1.173
1.150
1.151
1.157
1.172

$53.30
56.12
54.89
55. 67
56.16
57.03
58.07
57. 68
57.90
60.18
58.99
58.31
58.49
59. 23
59. 59

43.4 $1. 228
43.5 1.290
43.6 1.259
43.7 1.274
43.5 1.291
43.5 1.311
43.4 1.338
43. 5 1.326
43.5 1.331
43.8 1.374
43.5 1.356
43.1 1.353
43.2 1.354
43.3 1.368
43.4 1.373

$51.84
54.62
54.08
55.06
55. 55
55. 91
56.36
56.93
55.98
56.97
56.68
56. 76
56. 72
57.99
58. 52

43.6 $1.189
43.8 1.247
43.9 1.232
44.4 1.240
44.3 1.254
44.2 1.265
44.1 1.278
44.1 1.291
43.6 1.284
44.3 1.286
43.5 1.303
43.2 1.314
43.1 1.316
43.6 1.330
43.8 1.336

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

C : EARNIN GS AND HOURS

235

T able C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees 1—Con.
Finance 10

Service

Banks Security
and dealers Insur­
trust
and
ance
com­
ex­ carriers
panies changes

Year and month

Hotels, year-round 11

Cleaning and dyeing
plants

Laundries

Motionpicture
produc­
tion
and
distri­
bution 10

Avg.
Avg.
Avg.
Avg.
Avg.
Avg.
Avg.
Avg.
Avg.
Avg.
Avg.
Avg.
Avg.
wkly. wkly. wkly. wkly. wkly. hrly. wkly. wkly. hrly. wkly. wkly. hrly. wkly.
earnings earnings earnings earnings hours earnings earnings hours earnings earnings hours earnings
earnings
1949: Average...__________ $43.64
1950: Average ___________
46.44
1950: May__________ ___
45.64
June______________
45.42
July.________ _____
46.34
August____________
46.36
September___ ___ ___ 46.75
October____________
47.78
November___ _______ 48.18
December__________
48. 66
1951: January____________ 49.28
February_________ ._ 49. 55
March.___ ______ .
49. 70
April _____________ 50. 23
May__________
49.97

$68.32
81.48
82.70
81.31
79.88
79.09
79.29
84.94
85.62
87.24
89.87
90. 95
85. 96
84.14
81.85

$56.47
58.49
58.02
58.06
59.09
58.81
58.20
58.91
59. 27
60. 60
61.71
61.26
60. 96
61.39
60.80

$32.84
33.85
33.34
33.33
33.51
33.92
34.30
34.67
34. 74
35.16
34.89
35. 04
34.68
35. 06
34.98

44.2
43.9
44.1
43.8
43.8
44.0
43.8
44.0
43.7
43.9
43.4
43.2
43.3
43.5
43.4

1These figures are based on reports from cooperating establishments
covering both full- and part-time employees who worked during, or received
pay for, the pay periodendingnearest the 15th of the month. For the mining,
manufacturing, laundries, and cleaning and dyeing plants industries, data
relate to production and related workers only. For the remaining industries,
unless otherwise noted, data relate to nonsupervisory employees and working
supervisors. All series are available upon request to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. Such requests should specify which industry series are desired.
Data for the three, current months are subject to revision without notation;
revised figures for earlier months will be identified by asterisks the first
month they are published.
2Includes: ordnance and accessories; lumber and wood products (except
furniture); furniture and fixtures; stone, clay, and glass products; primary metal
industries; fabricated metal products (except ordnance, machinery, and
transportation equipment); machinery (except electrical); electrical machin­
ery; transportation equipment; instruments and related products; miscel­
laneous manufacturing industries.
3Includes: food and kindred products; tobacco manufactures; textile-mill
products; apparel and other finished textile products; paper and allied prod­
ucts; printing, publishing, and allied industries; chemicals and allied prod­
ucts; products of petroleum and coal; rubber products; leather and leather
products.
4Data relate to hourly rated employees reported by individual railroads
(exclusive of switching and terminal companies) to the Interstate Commerce
Commission. Annual averages include any retroactive payments made,
which are excluded from monthly averages.

$0. 743
.771
.756
.761
.765
.771
.783
.788
.795
.801
.804
.811
.801
.806
.806

$34.98
35.47
35.74
36.33
35.61
34.83
35.93
35. 79
35.86
36.38
36. 70
36. 25
36.85
37.41
37.83

41.5
41.2
41.7
42.0
41.5
40.6
41.3
41.0
40.8
41.2
41.0
40.5
40.9
41.2
41.3

$0.843
.861
.857
.865
.858
.858
.870
.873
.879
.883
.895
.895
.901
.908
.916

$40. 71
41.69
43.69
44.03
42.02
40.16
42.56
42.15
42.23
42.29
43.35
41.78
44.14
44.80
45. 86

41.2
41.2
43.0
43.0
41.4
40.0
41.6
41.0
41.2
41.1
41.4
40.1
42.0
42.3
43.1

$0. 988
1.012
1.016
1.024
1.015
1.004
1.023
1.028
1.025
1.029
1.047
1.042
1.051
1.059
1.064

$92.17
92.79
94.09
94.73
91.64
90.70
93. 44
95.08
95.68
98.39
97.01
94. 46
98. 81
101. 54
100. 28

*Data include privately and municipally operated local railways and bus
lines.
6Through May 1949the averages relate mainly to the hours and earnings of
employees subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act. Beginning with June
1949the averages relate to the hours and earnings of nonsupervisory employ­
ees. Data for June comparable with the earlier series are $51.47, 38.5 hours,
and $1,337.
7Data relate to employees in such occupations in the telephone industry
as switchboard operators, service assistants, operating room instructors, and
pay-station attendants. During 1950 such employees made up 46 percent
of the total number of nonsupervisory employees in telephone establishments
reporting hours and earnings data.
8Data relate to employees in such occupations in the telephone industry
as central office craftsmen; installation and exchange repair craftsmen; line,
cable, and conduit craftsmen; and laborers. During 1950 such employees
made up 25 percent of the total number of nonsupervisory employees in tele­
phone establishments reporting hours and earnings data.
6Data relate mainly to land-line employees, excluding employees com­
pensated on a commission basis, general and divisional headquarters per­
sonnel, trainees in school, and messengers.
10Data on average weekly hours and average hourly earnings are not avail­
able.
11Money payments only; additional value of board, room, uniforms, and
tips, not included.

T able C-2: Gross Average Weekly Earnings of Production Workers in Selected Industries, in Current

and 1939 Dollars 1
Manufacturing

Bituminouscoal mining

Laundries

Year and month

Manufacturing

Bituminouscoal mining

Laundries

Year and month
Current 1939 Current 1939 Current 1939
dollars dollars dollars dollars dollars dollars

1939: Average.... .......... $23.86
1941: Average___ ___ 29.58
1946: Average.............. 43.82
1948: Average_______ 54.14
1949: Average.............. 54. 92
1950: Average.............. 59.33
1950: May_________ 57.54
June____ _____ 58.85
July___ ______ 59. 21
August________ 60. 32

$23. 86 $23.88 $23.88 $17. 69
27.95 30. 86 29.16 19.00
31.22 58.03 41.35 30.30
31.31 72.12 41.70 34.23
32. 07 63.28 36.96 34.98
34.31 70.35 40.68 35.47
33. 78 68. 37 40.14 35.74
34. 37 69.92 40.83 36.33
34. 22 69.68 40.27 35.61
34.58 71.04 40.72 34.83

$17. 69 1950: September_____
17.95
October_______
21.59
November...... .....
19. 79
December______
20.43
20.51 1951: January_______
February ...........
20.98
March________
21.22
April2________
20. 58
May2_________
19.97

1These series indicate changes in the level of weekly earnings prior to and
after adjustment for changes in purchasing power as determined from the
Bureau’s Consumers’ Price Index, the year 1939having been selected for the
base period. Estimates of World War II and postwar understatement by

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Current 1939 Current 1939 Current 1939
dollars dollars dollars dollars dollars dollars
$60. 64 $34. 52 $71.92 $40.94 $35. 93
61.99 35.09 72.99 41.32 35. 79
62.23 35. 07 73. 27 41.29 35. 86
63.88 35.51 77. 77 43.23 36.38
63. 76 34.92 76.63 41.97 36. 70
63. 84 34. 52 75.67 40.92 36.25
64. 57 34. 79 74. 66 40. 22 36.85
64.74 34. 86 75. 96 40. 90 37. 41
64. 55 34. 61 74.11 39.73 37.83

$20.45
20.26
20. 21
20.22
20.10
19. 60
19.85
20.14
20.28

the Consumers’ Price Index were not included. See the Monthly Labor
Review, March 1947, p. 498. Data from January 1939 are available upon
request to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
1Preliminary.

M ONTHLY LABO R

C: E A RN IN OS AND HOURS

236

C-3: Gross and Net Spendable Average Weekly Earnings of Production Workers in Manufactur­
ing Industries, in Current and 1939 Dollars 1

T able

Gross average
weekly earnings
Period

Net spendable average weekly
earnings
Worker with
no dependents

Worker with
3 dependents

Gross average
weekly earnings
Period

111.7 $25.41 $25.06 $26.37
199.1 39.40 30.76 45.17
190.5 37.80 28.99 43. 57
181.5 37.30 27.77 42. 78
100.0 23.58 23.58 23.62
105.6 24. 69 24.49 24.95
124.0 28.05 26.51 29.28
153.6 31.77 27.08 36. 28
180.8 36.01 28.94 41.39
193.1 38.29 30.28 44. 06
186.0 36.97 28.58 42.74
183.7 37. 72 26.88 43. 20
209.4 42.76 26.63 48.24
226.9 47.43 27.43 53.17
230.2 48.09 28.09 53.83
248.7 51.09 29. 54 57. 21

$26.00 1950: May_________
June___ ___ _
35.27
33.42
July, _ _______
31.85
August___ ___ _
September_____
23.62
October. ______
24.75
November______
27. 67
December______
30.93
33. 26 1951: January_______
34.84
February______
March... _____
33.04
30.78
April2 _____ _
30.04
May2. . . ____
30.75
31.44
33.08

1Net spendable average weekly earnings are obtained by deducting from
gross average weekly earnings, social security and income taxes for which
the specified type of worker is liable. The amount of income tax liability
depends, of course, on the number of dependents supported by the worker
as well as on the level of his gross income. Net spendable earnings have
therefore, been computed for 2 types of income-receivers: (1) A worker
with no dependents: (2) A worker with 3 dependents.
The computation of net spendable earnings for both factory worker with
no dependents and the factory worker with 3 dependents are based upon the
T able

Worker with Worker with
no dependents 3 dependents

Index Cur­ 1939 Cur­ 1939
rent
Amount (1939= rent dollars
dollars dollars
100) dollars

Index Cur­ 1939 Cur­ 1939
rent
Amount (1939= rent dollars
dollars dollars
100) dollars
1941: January
$26.64
1945: January
47.50
July .
45.45
1946: June
43.31
1939: Average
23.86
25.20
1940: Average
29. 58
1941: Average
1942: Average____ ...
36. 65
1943: Average
43.14
1944: Average
46.08
1945: Average
44.39
43.82
1946: Average._ .
49.97
1947: Average
1948: Average_______ 54.14
1949: Average_______ 54.92
1950: Average_______ 59.33

Net spendable average weekly
earnings

$57.54
58.85
59,21
60.32
60.64
61.99
62.23
63.88
63.76
63. 84
64.57
64. 74
64. 55

241.2 $49.95 $29.33 $55. 74
246.6 51.03 29.80 56.86
248.2 51.32 29.66 57.16
252.8 52. 24 29.95 58.11
254.1 52. 50 29.89 58.38
259.8 52.16 29. 53 59. 20
260.8 52.35 29.50 59. 40
267.7 53. 67 29.84 60. 75
267.2 53.49 29. 29 60. 56
267.6 53. 55 28.96 60.62
270.6 54.13 29.16 61.21
271.3 54.26 29. 22 61.35
270.5 54.11 29.01 61.19

$32.73
33.21
33.03
33.31
33.24
33.51
33.47
33. 77
33.17
32.78
32.98
33.03
32.81

gross average weekly earnings for all production workers in manufacturing
industries without direct regard to marital status and family composition.
The primary value of the spendable series is that ofmeasuring relative changes
in disposable earnings for 2 types of income-receivers. That series does not,
therefore, reflect actual differences in levels of earnings for workers of varying
age, occupation, skill, family composition, etc. Comparable data from
January 1939 are available upon request to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
3Preliminary.

C-4: Average Hourly Earnings, Gross and Exclusive of Overtime, of Production Workers
Manufacturing Industries 1
Durable
goods

Manufacturing

Nondurable
goods

Excluding
overtime

Period
Gross
amount

1941: Average _
$0. 729
1942: Average
.853
1943: Average .
.961
1944: Average.. .. 1. 019
1945: Average___ 1.023
1946: Average___ 1.086
1947: Average___ 1.237
1948: Average___ 1.350
1949: Average___ 1.401
1950: Average...... 1.465
1.442
1950: May_____

ExExcludcludGross mg Gross tag
over­
Index
over­
Amount (1939=
time
time
100)
$0. 702
.805
.894
.947
3.963
1. 051
1.198
1.310
1.367
1.415
1.399

110.9
127.2
141.2
149.6
152.1
166.0
189.3
207.0
216.0
223.5
221.0

$0. 808
.947
1.059
1.117
1.111
1.156
1.292
1.410
1.469
1. 537
1.509

$0.770
.881
.976
1.029
21.042
1.122
1. 250
1.366
1.434
1.480
1.459

Durable
goods

Excluding
overtime

Period
Gross
amount

$0. 640 $0. 625 1950: June____ $1.453
July_____ 1.462
.723 .698
.803 .763
August___ 1. 464
September... 1.479
.861 .814
October___ 1.501
.904 3.858
November... 1.514
1.015 .981
December__ 1.543
1.171 1.133
1.278 1.241
1.325 1.292 1951: January___ 1. 555
February __ 1.561
1.378 1.337
March __
1.571
1. 579
1.324
April3
___
1. 358
May 3
1.586

1Overtime is defined as work in excess of 40 hours per week and paid for at
time and one-half. The computation of average hourly earnings exclusive of
overtime makes no allowance for special rates of pay for work done on holi­
days. Comparable data from January 1941 are available upon request to
the Bureau of Labor Statistics.


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Manufacturing

Index
Amount (1939=
100)
$1. 404
1.413
1.408
1.424
1.442
1.456
1.479
1.497
1.504
1.511
1.519
1.528

221.8
223.2
222.4
225.0
227.8
230.0
233.6
236.5
237.6
238.7
240.0
241.4

Gross

$1. 522
1.533
1. 539
1. 562
1.577
1.587
1.619
1.630
1.639
1. 654
1. 660
1.664

in

Nondurable
goods

ExExcludcludtag Gross ing
over­
over­
time
time
$1. 465
1.478
1. 475
1.499
1.508
1. 521
1.545
1.565
1. 573
1. 582
1. 588
1. 595

$1.365 $1.326
1.375 1.333
1.374 1.328
1.379 1.334
1.404 1.358
1.419 1.372
1.443 1.393
1.456 1.409
1.458 1.414
1.460 1.415
1.466 1.423
1.476 1.433

3Eleven-month average. August 1945 excluded because of VJ-holiday
period.
3Preliminary.

R E V IE W , A U G U ST 1951

D : PRICES AND COST OF LIVING

237

D : Prices and Cost of Living
T able D -l: Consumers’ Price Index 1 for Moderate-Income Families in Large Cities, by Group of

Commodities
[1935-39=100]
Fuel, electricity, and refrigeration *
Year and month

All items*

Food

Apparel

Rent *
Gas and
electricity

Other
fuels

61.9
62.3
62.5
65.0
72.4
84.2
91.1
106.9
114.0
113.1
115.2
113.7
115.4
117.2
115. 4
113.4
112.5

(*)
(!)
(')

(5)
(')
(5)

111.4
108.9
103.4
100.0
101.4
100.7
100.2
100.2
99.9
99.0
99.7
102.2
105.4
107.7
109.8
110.3
112.4
121.1
133.9
137.5
140.6
140.0
139.1
139.4
140.2
141.2
142.0
142.5
142.8
143.3

(')
(!)
(5)
({)
(•)
102.8
100.8
99.1
99.0
98.9
98.0
97.1
96.7
96.1
95.8
95.0
92.3
92.0
94.3
96.7
96.8
96.7
96.8
96.9
96.8
96.9
96.8
96.8
96.8
97.2

Total

1913: Average...............
1914: Average______ .
1915: Average_______ __
1916: Average______
1917: Average______ ...
1918: Average_________
1919: Average.........
1920: Average_____ .
1921: Average______ .
1922: Average______
1923: Average_________
1924: Average__________
1925: Average............
1926: Average______ .
1927: Average.......... .
1928: Average___ ______
1929: Average__ _ . .
1930: Average__________
1931: Average___________
1932: Average__________
1933: Average___________
1934: Average__ . . .
1935: Average__________
1936: Average_______ .
1937: Average__________
1938: Average___________
1939: Average___ ______
1940: Average. ..
1941: Average__________
1942: Average______
1943: Average_________
1944: Average_________
1945: Average__________
1946: Average__________
1947: Average___________
1948: Average___________
1949: Average__________
1950: Average...................
January 15.___ _____
June 15________ .
July 15____________
August 15__________
September 15________
October 15__________
November 15________
December 15________
1951: January 15_________
J a n u a r y 1 6 ____ ____
February 15_________
F e b r u a r y 1 5 _________
March 15__________
M a r c h 1 6 ___________
April 15___________
A p r i l 1 5 ___________
May 15___ _______
M a y 1 5 ___ ________
June 15__ . . .
J u n e 1 5 __. . . .
___

70.7
71.8
72.5
77.9
91.6
107.5
123.8
143.3
127.7
119.7
121.9
122.2
125.4
126.4
124.0
122.6
122.5
119.4
108.7
97.6
92.4
95.7
98.1
99.1
102.7
100.8
99.4
100.2
105.2
116.6
123.7
125.7
128.6
139.5
159.6
171.9
170.2
171. 9
168.2
170.2
172.0
173.4
174.6
175.6
176.4
178.8
181.5
1 8 1 .6
183.8
1 8 4 -2
184.5
1 8 4 .6
184.6
1 8 4 .5
185.4
1 8 5 .4
185.2

79.9
81.8
80.9
90.8
116.9
134.4
149.8
168.8
128.3
119.9
124.0
122.8
132.9
137.4
132.3
130.8
132.5
126.0
103.9
86.5
84.1
93.7
100.4
101.3
105.3
97.8
95.2
96.6
105.5
123.9
138.0
136.1
139.1
159.6
193.8
210.2
201.9
204.5
196.0
203.1
208.2
209.9
210.0
210.6
210.8
216.3
221.9
SSI. 6
226.0
S S 6 .0
226.2
S S 5 .4
225.7
S S 4 .6
227.4
S S 6 .7
226.9

69.3
69.8
71.4
78.3
94.1
127.5
168.7
201.0
154.8
125.6
125.9
124.9
122.4
120.6
118.3
116.5
115.3
112.7
102.6
90.8
87.9
96.1
96.8
97.6
102.8
102.2
100.5
101.7
106.3
124.2
129.7
138.8
145.9
160.2
185.8
198.0
190.1
187.7
185.0
184.6
184.5
185.7
189.8
193.0
194.3
195.5
198.5
1 9 9 .7
202.0
SOS. 2
203.1
2 0 4 .6
203.6
2 0 5 .2
204.0
2 0 5 .7
204.0

1 8 5 -5

2 2 7 .0

92. 2
92. 2
92. 9
94. 0
93. 2
94. 9
102. 7
120. 7
138. 6
142. 7
146. 4
151. 6
152. 2
150. 7
148. 3
144. 8
141. 4
137. 5
130. 3
116. 9
100. 7
94. 4
94. 2
96. 4
100. 9
104. 1
104. 3
104. 6
106. 4
108. 8
108. 7
109. 1
109. 5
110. 1
113. 6
121. 2
126. 4
131. 0
129. 4
130. 9
131. 3
131. 6
131. 8
132. 0
132. 5
132. 9
133. 2
126. 0
134. 0
126. 8
134. 7
127. S
135. 1
127. 7
135. 4
128. 0
135. 7

2 0 5 .5

128. 8

1The “Consumers’price index for moderate-income families in large cities’’
formerly known as the “Cost-of-living index” measures average changes in
retail prices of selected goods, rents, and services purchased by wage earners
and lower-salaried workers in large cities. Until January 1950, time-to-time
changes in retail prices were weighted by 1934-36 average expenditures of
urban families. Weights used beginning January 1950have been adjusted to
current spending patterns.
Bureau of Labor Statistics Bulletin 699, Changes in Cost of Living in Large
Cities in the United States, 1913-41, contains a detailed description ofmethods
used in constructing this index. Additional information on the Consumers’
Price Index is given in a compilation of reports published by the Office of
Economic Stabilization, Report of the President’s Committee on the Cost of
Living. See also General Note, below.
Mimeographed tables are available upon request showing indexes for each
of the cities regularly surveyed by the Bureau and for each of the major groups
of living essentials. Indexes for all large cities combined are available since
1913. The beginning date for series of indexes for individual cities varies from
city to city but indexes are available for most of the 34 cities since World
War I.
N ote.— The old series of Indexes for 1951 are
for reference.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

1 4 4 .5

(!)

(«)
(»)

({)
(5)
(»)
(5)

(*)
(«)
(•)
(5)
(')
(5)
(*)

(')
(*)

(*)
(5)
(»)
(5)

(*)
(')
(')

9 7 .2

(J)

(J)
(s)
(5)

(')
(!)

(!)

(')
(5)
(')
98.4
99.8
101.7
101.0
99.1
101.9
108.3
115.1
120.7
126.0
128.3
136.9
156.1
183.4
187.7
194.1
193.1
189.0
189.9
192.9
196.1
199.2
200.8
201.7
202.3

Housefurnishings

Miscella­
neous *

Ice

(s)
(5)
(!)
(«)
(5)
(*)
(5)
(5)
(!)
(f)
(»)
(!)
(5)

(')
(»)
(')
(»)
(s)
(«)
(»)

(s)
(5)

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.2
100.4
104.1
110.0
114.2
115.8
115.9
115.9
125.9
135.2
141.7
147.8
145.5
147.0
147.0
147.6
148.1
149.9
151.3
151.5
152.0

59.1

60.7
63.6
70.9
82.8
106.4
134.1
164.6
138.5
117.5
126.1
124.0
121.5
118.8
115.9
113.1
111.7
108.9
98.0
85.4
84.2
92.8
94.8
96.3
104.3
103.3
101.3
100.5
107.3
122.2
125.6
136.4
145.8
159.2
184.4
195.8
189.0

190.2
184.7
184.8
186.1
189.1
194.2
198.7
201.1
203.2
207.4

50.9
51.9
53.6
56.3
65.1
77.8
87.6
100.5
104.3
101.2
100.8
101.4
102.2
102.6
103.2
103.8
104.6
105.1
104.1
101.7
98.4
97.9
98.1
98.7
101.0
101.5
100.7
101.1
104.0
110.9
115. 8
121.3
124.1
128.8
139.9
149.9
154.6
156.5
155.1
154.6
155.2
156.8
157.8
158.3
159.2
160.6
162.1

2 0 1 .8

1 5 2 .9

143.9

2 0 8 .9

97.2

204.5

152.8

209.7

163.2

1 4 5 .7

9 7 .2

2 0 4 .7

1 5 8 .6

2 1 1 .4

1 6 4 .8

1 6 3 .7

144.2

97.2

205.0

154.4

210.7

164.3

1 4 6 .8

9 7 .2

2 0 5 .7

2 1 2 .7

144.0

1 6 5 .8

96.9

1 5 4 -4

205.0

154.4

211.8

164. 6

1 4 6 .2

9 7 .1

2 0 5 .5

143.6

202.4

1 5 4 .4

2 1 4 .1

1 6 6 .1

97.3

156.0

212.6

165.0

1 4 4 .9

9 7 .4

2 0 1 .6

1 5 6 .0

2 1 4 .8

143.6

97.1

202.8

156.0

1 6 6 .4

212.5

164.8

1 4 5 .1

9 7 .2

2 0 2 .3

1 5 6 .0

2 1 4 .6

1 6 6 .8

J The Consumers’Price Index has been adjusted to incorporate a correction
of the new unit bias in the rent index beginning with indexes for 1940 and
adjusted population and commodity weights beginning with indexes for
January 1950. These adjustments make a continuous comparable series from
1913 to date.
8The group index formerly entitled “Fuel, electricity, and ice” is now des­
ignated “Fuel, electricity, and refrigeration.” Indexes are comparable with
those previously published for “Fuel, electricity, and ice.” The subgroup
“Other fuels and ice” has been discontinued; separate indexes are presented
for “Other fuels” and “Ice.”
4The Miscellaneous group covers transportation (such as automobiles and
their upkeep and public transportation fares); medical care (including pro­
fessional care and medicines); household operation (covering supplies and
different kinds of paid services); recreation (that is, newspapers, motion
pictures, radio, television, and tobacco products); personal care (barber, and
beauty-shop service and toilet articles); etc.
8Data not available.
shown in italics in tables D - l, D -2, and D -5

MONTHLY LABOR

D : PRICES AND COST OF LIVING

238

T able D - 2 : C onsum ers’ P rice Index for M oderate-Incom e Fam ilies, b y C ity ,1 for Selected Periods
[1935-39=100]

City
Average.. _____ ____ _
Atlanta, Qa__________
Baltimore, Md________
Birmingham, Ala............ Boston, Mass................. .
Buffalo, N. Y........... ......
Chicago, 111___ _______
Cincinnati, Ohio_______
Cleveland, Ohio___ ___ Denver, Colo_________
Detroit, Mich_________
Houston, Tex______ __
Indianapolis, Ind..........
Jacksonville, Fla............. .
Kansas City, Mo............
Los Angeles, Calif______
Manchester, N. H______
Memphis, Tenn_______
Milwaukee, Wis. ______
Minneapolis, Minn_____
Mobile, Ala__________
New Orleans, La. ____
New York, N. Y_______
Norfolk, Va__________
Philadelphia, Pa_______
Pittsburgh, Pa________
Portland, Maine_______
Portland, Oreg________
Richmond, Va.......... ......
St. Louis, Mo_________
San Francisco, Calif.........
Savannah, Ga_________
Scranton, Pa_________
Seattle, Wash________ _
Washington, D. C............

June 15, May 15, Apr. 15, Mar. 15, Feb. 15, Jan. 15, Dec. 15, Nov. 15, Oct. 15, Sept. 15, Aug. 15, July 15, June 15, Jan. 15, J u n e 15,
1951 1951 1951 1951 1951 1951 1950 1950 1950 1950 1950 1950 1950 1950 1951
185.2
(i)
189.8
189.8
176.5
0)
190.1
185.0
0
0
188.3
192.3
0
190.6
0
186.1
0
187.8
0
183. 6
183.5
0
180.5
0
185.6
187.8
176.4
0
0
185.0
188.4
0
(>)
0
0

185.4
192.7
0
190.1
176.1
0
189.8
184.8
188.2
0
187.4
192.5
0
0
0
186.3
0
0
190.9
0
0
188.5
181.4
188.3
186.4
187.8
0
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
182.4
191.4
180.0

184.6
(s)
(3)
189.9
175.5
183.3
189.1
184.6
(3)
187.0
186.7
192.5
187.7
(3)
178.5
185.6
182.9
(3)
( 3)
(31
( 3)
(3)
180.6
(3)
185.9
186.7
(3)
194.1
181.2
(3)
(3)
195.5
(3)
(3)
(3)

184.5
(8)
188.6
190.6
175.8
(3)
189.1
184.4
(3 )
(3)
187.0
192.4
(3)
190.4
(3)
185.6
( 3)
186.5
(3)
183.2
181.9
(3)
180.4
(3 )

185.6
186.0
175.7
(3)
(3)
185.2
188.7
(3)
(3 )
(3 )
(3 )

183.8 181.5 178.8 176. 4
187.5 (3)
‘ 180.7
(3)
183.1 (3)
(3)
(3)
183.9
180.8
188.2
189.8
175.5 173.5 171.2 169.7
180.8 (3)
(3)
(3)
188.5 185.4 183.4 180.6
183.9 182.3 178.4 176.1
179.6
186.2 (3)
(3)
184.9 (3)
(3)
(3)
186.2 184.2 181.3 179.8
191.0 190.1 186.1 183.0
184.4 (3)
(» )
(3)
185.6 (3)
(3) . C3)
175.6 (3)
(3)
(3)
184.1 181.3 178.5 176.2
180.6 (3)
(3 )
(3
)
(3)
182.7 (3)
(3)
180.3
187.5 (3)
(3)
177.7 (3)
(3)
(3)
177.1 (3)
(3)
(3)
187.9 (3)
180.1
(3)
180.8 177.8 175.4 173.2
179.3
187.1 (3 )
(3 )
185.4 181.0 178.1 174.1
185.6 183. 4 180.2 178.7
171.3 (3)
(3)
(3)
190.4 (3)
0
(3)
(3)
179.8 (3)
(3)
178.8 (3)
(3)
(3)
181.5 (3)
(3)
(3)
189.2 (3)
(3)
(3)
173.1
180.8 (3)
(3)
183.1
188.3 (3)
(3)
173.5
179.2 (3 )
(3 )

1 The indexes are based on time-to-time chang&s in the cost of goods and
services purchased by moderate-income families in large cities. They do not
indicate whether it costs more to live in one city than in another.
* See footnote 2, table D -l, p. 763.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

175.6
(3)
(’)
179.3
169.5
174.1
180.3
176.1
(3)
178.1
179.1
182.3
178.9
(3)
169.0
174.8
176.6
(3)
(3)
(3)
f 3)

(3)

172.4
(3)
173.8
178.8
(3)
184.3
173.8
(3)
(3)
183.6
(2)
(3)
(3 )

174.6
(3)

180.6
179.7
168.2
(3)
179.5
175.9
(3)
(3)
177.5
182.2
C3)
181.7
(3)
173.2
(3)
179.2
(3)
172.8
173.9
(J)
171.7
(3)
173.1
177.4
168.1
(3)
(3)
174.0
175.3
(3)
0
(3)
(3)

173.4
‘ 177.9
(3)
176.8
168.1
(3)
179.0
173.9
176.5
C3)
175.9
180.6
(3)
( 3)

0
172.1
(3)
v3)
176.6
(3)
(3)
179.6
169.7
178.8
171.8
176.0
(3)
(3)
0
(3 )
(3)
0
171.2
177.3
170.8

172.0
(3)
(3)

175.4
167.1
171.5
177.3
172.0
(3)
172.6
175.0
177.5
174.4
0
166 9
170.1
172.1
(3 )
(3)
(3)
13)
( 3)
169.8
(3)
170.4
172.9
(3)
179.3
170.0
(3)
(3)
177.7
(3)
(3 )
(3 )

170.2
(»)
174.7
171.6
165.5
0
175.1
170.5
(3)
0
173.5
175.8
0
176.3
(3 )
169.3
(3)
172.7
(3)
169.1
168.2
( s)
167.0
(» )

169.1
171.8
164.4
(3)
(3)
168.8
172.4
(3)

(3)

(3)
(3)

168.2
(3)
(3)

169.0
162.4
166.6
172.8
168.5
(3)
168.8
169.7
175.5
171.2
(3)
162.5
169.4
168.0
(3)
(3)
(3 )
( ’)
(» )

164.8
(3 )

166.4
170.0
(3)
174.9
164.6
(3)
(3 )
172.3
(3)
(3)
(3)

1 8 5 .6

0

1 8 8 .7
1 8 9 .8
1 7 7 .8

0

1 9 1 .8
1 8 5 .6

0
0

1 8 8 .4
1 9 1 .3
(>)

1 9 2 .0

0
0
1 8 5 .6
0
1 8 3 .9

1 8 4 .6
1 8 3 .4

0

1 8 0 .7

0

1 8 6 .8
1 8 8 .6
1 7 7 .6

0
0

1 8 6 .8
1 9 0 .7

0
0
0
0

* Through June 1947, consumers’ price indexes were computed monthly for
21 cities and in March, June, September, and December for 13 additional
cities; beginning July 1947 indexes were computed monthly for 10 cities and
once every 3 months for 24 additional cities according to a staggered schedule.
■Corrected.

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951
T able

D : PRICES AND COST OF LIVING

239

D-3: Consumers’ Price Index for Moderate-Income Families, by City and Group of
Commodities 1
[1935-39= 100]

Fuel, electricity, and refrigeration
Food

Apparel

Rent

Housefumishings
Total

City

Miscellaneous

Gas and electricity

June 15, M ay 15, June 15, May 15, June 15, M ay 15, June 15, May 15, June 15, May 15, June 15, May 15, June 15, M ay 15,
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
Average....................... .

226.9

227.4

204.0

204.0

135.7

135.4

143.6

143.6

97.1

97.3

212.5

212.6

164.8

165.0

Atlanta, Ga_________
Baltimore, M d ______
Birmingham, Ala____
Boston, Mass_______
Buffalo, N .Y _______
Chicago, 111________
Cincinnati, Ohio_____
Cleveland, Ohio_____
Denver, Colo________
Detroit, M ich_______
Houston, Tex...............

228.1
238.9
216.4
214.9
224.3
233.4
226.9
236.3
232.6
229.4
235.2

228.7
239.0
218.1
214.4
221.9
233.0
227.1
235.6
232.3
229.1
3237.1

0)
199.0

216.3

(2)
136.8
(2)
127.2
(2)
149.9
125.9
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

147.1
(2)
194.1
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
144.0
(2)
(2)
168.4

159.3
147.9
35.6
160.0
153.4
137.8
146.7
148.9
113.8
154.2
98.6

159.4
147.8
35.6
160.1
153.2
137.8
147.4
149.0
113.8
154.7
98.6

85.8
115.2
79.6
117.1

85.9
115.2
79.6
117.2
110. 0
83.5
101.7
105.6
69.7
90.1
82.1

(9
212.5
200.7

220.9
(i)

(»)
198.8

(i)
198.8

(i)
164.6
160.8
158.7
(!)
166.3
164. 5
(i)
(!)
176.7
168.1

174.9
(i)
160. 7
159.0
(i)
166.4
164.4
160.8

Indianapolis, In d ____
Jacksonville, F la. ___
Kansas City, Mo____
Los Angeles, Calif____
Manchester, N. H ___
Memphis, T enn_____
Milwaukee, Wis_____
Minneapolis, M inn__
Mobile, Ala_________
New Orleans, L a ______
New York, N . Y ____

222.4
231.9

223.3
230.5
213.6
230.9
218.4
234.6
227.5
3218. 2
224.2
239. 5
226.4

(2)
154.3
(2)
(2)
(2)
155.7
(2)
145.2
143.2
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
161.4
(2)
(2)
162.2
(2)
(2)
136.9
(2)

161.0
143.7
131.9
98.7
161.9
141.4
149.2
136.2
130.4
113.2
144.1

161.0
143.8
131.4
98.7
162.2
141.4
149.3
136.7
130.2
113.2
143.9

102.8

84.5
85.8
69.9
93.0
102.5
77.0
99.2
72.7
84.6
75.1
103.0

Norfolk, V a ___________
Philadelphia, P a _____
Pittsburgh, P a ______
Portland, Maine_____
Portland, Oreg______
Richmond, Va______
St. Louis, M o_______
San Francisco, C alif...
Savannah, Ga............
Scranton, P a________
Seattle, Wash_______
Washington, D . C .........

229.2

(2)
(2)
(2)
118.4
(2)
(2)
129.0
133.3
(2)
(2)
(2)

148.9
126.5
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
119.9
152.7
118.7

159.0
148.9
150.2
155.2
134.3
145.9
141.2
92.1
164.5
156.0
132.1
148.4

164.6
148.1
150.2
154.8
134.3
145.9
141.3
92.0
162.3
154.9
132.1
148.1

99.8
104.2
114.0
105. 7
93.9

107.3
104.2
114.1
105.6
93.9

212.8
230.9
221.0

233.0
229.9
219.4
225.7
238.2
224.4
222.2

230.3
213.9
251.5
216.4
238.2
237.4
239.6
225.7
233.0
224.2

229.4
223.8
230.5

210.0

252.1
216.7
238.4
241.2
237.6
225.2
236.6
224.3

215.4
187.9

(0
205.6

204.2
(')
0)
196.8
222.4
(')
199.8

2(0
01.6

(>)
217.9
(*)
208.9
207.2
(>)
203.2

(>)
202.4
233.5
209.9
(>)
C)
204.7
201.3

(0

0)

(')
(>)

(0

215.3
187.4
0)
205.8
204.8
204.9
(>)
196.0

221.8
(>)
0)

0)
202.0
o
(0
204.3
(0

(')
210.7
203.4

192.8
202.5
234.9

(0

(0

(*)
(>)
(l)

(0
210.4
202.2
224.6

(2)

1 P r ic e s of a p p a r e l, h o u s e f u m is h in g s , a n d m is c e lla n e o u s g o o d s a n d se rv ic e s
a r e o b ta in e d m o n t h l y in 10 c itie s a n d o n c e e v e r y 3 m o n t h s in 24 a d d i tio n a l
c itie s o n a s ta g g e r e d s c h e d u le .


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

110.0
83.5
100.3
105.6
69.7
89.4
82.1
84.5
85.8
70.3
93.0

102.0
77.0
99.2
72.7
84.8
75.1

102.2
88.4
81.0
116.0
98.3
92.6
105.3

102.2
88.4
81.0

111.8

98.3
92.6
105.3

202.2

200.1
201.8

201.6
(0

200.8

(i)
209.0
(0

(!)
(i)
0)
204.8
(i)

182.3

0)

(')
232.7
205.9

(i)

204.9
(i)

200.2
181.3
(!)
202.5
G)

220.6
216.5
200.4
(!)
(!)
187.8
182.0
(i)
(!)
(1)
(0

192.3
(i)
231.8
206.3

216. 5
(!)
(i)

206.3
203.8

(i)
171.1
(’)
160.5
(i)

154. 7
(i)
168.8
156.0
(i)
166.9

(0
174.7
167.3

(!)
(!)
(‘)
161.0
0
)
(i)
163.7
(i)

(')
151.6
167.8

(i)
168.1
162.4
157.6
G)
(1)
156.3
174.3

(!)
(!)
(!)
(!)

(1)

(i)

(1)

190.8
217.1

(i)

153.1
171.0
165.1

204.4
221.3
216.6
(i)

(i)
0(i))
0)
221.0

(1)
0)

164.4
168.9
161. 7
(i)

3 R e n t s a r e s u r v e y e d e v e r y 3 m o n t h s in 34 la rg e c itie s o n a s ta g g e re d
s c h e d u le .
3 C o rre c te d .

240

MONTHLY LABOR

D : P RICES AND COST OF LIVING

T able D-4: Indexes of Retail Prices of Foods,1 by Group, for Selected Periods
[1935 -3 9 = 1 0 0 ]

Y ear a n d m o n th

A ll
foods

C ere­
M e a ts,
als
p o u l­
and
tr y ,
b a k e ry
and
p ro d ­
T o ta l
fish
u c ts

B eef
and
veal

C h ic k ­
F is h
ens
P o rk

Lam b

Eggs
T o ta l

F ro ­ F re sh
zen 3

C an­
ned

D r ie d

F a ts
B e v e r­
and
ag e s
o ils

S ugar
and
s w e e ts

88 .9
88 .0
81.1

9 9 .5
9 8 .8
9 9 .7

9 3 .8 101.0
94. 6 9 9 .6
9 4 .8 110.6

110.8
114.4
12 3 .6
124.7
118.7
118.4
118.5

100.1
103.2
120.4
119.9
112.2
112. 6
112.6

106 .6
108.1
124.1
136.9
134.5
136.0
136.4

102.1 124.5
100.5 138.9
12 2 .6 163.0
146.1 20 6 .5
151.0 207.6
154.4 217.1
157.3 217.8

112.0
120. 5
125.4
134.6
133.6
133.9
133.4

112.2
138.1
136.5
161.9
153. 9
164.4
171.4

103.2
110.5
130 .8
168.8
168.2
177.1
183.5

104.2
111.0
132.8
178.0
177.2
188.2
196.2

97 .9
106.3
121.6
130.6
129.5
130.2
130.3

106 .7
118.3
136.3
158.9
164. 5
168.2
168.6

101.5
114.1
122.1
124 .8
124.3
124 .7
124.7

94 .0
108.5
119.6
126.1
123.3
124.0
124.0

106.4
114.4
126. 5
127.1
126.5
126.5
126.6

161.3
134. 0
203 .6

150. 8 150.5
120.4 121.2
197.9 191.0

148 .2
114.3
207.1

163.9
139.0
205 .4

174.0 236.2
162. 8 219.7
188.9 265.0

165.1 168.8
147.8 147.1
198. 5 201 .6

182 4
183 5
184.5

190.7
196. 7
182.3

140.8 190.4
127. 5 172. 5
167.7 251 .6

139 .6
125.4
167.8

152.1
126.4
244.4

143.9
136.2
170.5

155.4
170. 9
169 .7
172.7
169.0
169. 8
171. 5
175.5
176.9
177.2
177.6
177.7

217.1
246 .5
233.4
243.6
219.4
246 .5
255. 7
260 .7
261.0
253.3
250.3
253.4

214.7
243.9
229.3
242.0
217.9
246. 7
257. 4
259 .6
260 .2
252.0
249 .6
253 .8

21 3 .6
258. 5
241.3
26 5 .7
242.3
268. 6
277.2
282.2
28 1 .7
279. 6
279.2
286.3

215 .9
222 .5
205. 9
203.2
177.3
209.1
225 .9
225.0
228.3
209.3
201.8
201.0

220.1
246 .8
251 .7
257 .8
234.3
268.1
269.0
266.9
264.2
259.4
264.1
269.0

183.2
203.2
191.5
183.3
158.9
185.1
189.8
202.3
199.2
187.2
180.1
179.3

271.4
31 2 .8
314.1
30 8 .5
30 1 .9
295. 9
297.3
30 2 .8
311.4
32 8 .8
33 6 .6
340.3

186.2
204.8
186. 7
184.7
184 .2
177. 8
180. 7
184.3
186.9
191.9
192.8
194.0

200 .8
208.7
201.2
173.6
152.3
148.4
163.3
182.2
192.1
206.2
205.4
249.4

199. 4
205. 2
208.1
199.2
204 .8
209 3
211. 5
193.4
186.0
189. 8
195.7
203 .9 100.0

201.5
212.4
218.8
206.1
217.2
224 3
227. 7
196.9
183.9
187. 7
195.9
207.3

166.2
158.0
152.9
146.0
143.3
142. 7
142. 7
145.7
147.6
151.6
153.2
155.3

263. 5
246. 8
227.4
228 .5
223 .9
222.9
222 .9
227 .6
229.8
236.1
242.2
248.8

186.8
205.0
220.7
312. 5
299 .5
296. 5
303.0
321.3
327.3
333.4
325.5
327 .5

197.5
195. 5
148.4
144.3
135.2
140.1
141.8
153.9
154.8
152.9
152.9
158.5

180. 0
174.0
176.4
179.9
178.9
174.3
175.7
185.6
185.4
184.8
184.6
184.9

185.4
187.1
187.5
188.3
188.2
188.4

263. 6
270.1
272 .2
272 .6
272. 7
2 7 1 .6

265.5
271.2
271.9
272. 5
272.4
273.1

300 .9
307.0
308 .0
30 9 .5
308 .7
308 .8

210.2
215.2
215.4
213. 7
213.4
214 .4

273 .6
279.7
280. 5
284 .2
289.1
292.5

184.3
193.2
198.9
198.5
198.9
191.3

345.3
34 7 .8
3 5 1 .2
3 5 1 .7
353.1
356.3

202 .6
204.4
204.6
204.1
203. 5
203 .9

191.5
179.8
195.2
191.2
198.4
201.2

214.1
224.3
217.1
214.8
22 1 .6
21 9 .9

100.2 220.0
100.8 233.4
101.2 220 .7
100.2 215.9
9 9 .6 22 6 .5
98 .8 223.5

160.6
165.1
167.0
168 .9
169.6
170.4

253.4
340 .6
256. 7 342 .7
257.4
342 .6
257.8 8 343. 5
345 .3
256 .7
2 5 4 .4
345 .2

171. 5
176.5
177.3
178.3
176.7
175.2

185.6
186.0
186.0
185.9
185.4
186.1

A v e r a g e .A v e r a g e ____
A v e r a g e ..
A v e r a g e ___
A v e r a g e _____
A u g u s t _______
1940: A v e r a g e _____

124.0
137.4
132. 5
86.5
95.2
9 3 .5
9 6 .6

105.5
115 .7
107. 6
8 2 .6
94 .5
9 3 .4
96 .8

101.2
117.8
127.1
79.3
9 6 .6
9 5 .7
95. 8

1941: A v e r a g e ______
D e c e m b e r ___
A v e r a g e _____
A v e r a g e _____
A v e r a g e ______
A v e r a g e ____
A u g u s t ______

105.5
113.1
123.9
138.0
136.1
139.1
140.9

9 7 .9
102.5
105.1
10 7 .6
108.4
109.0
109.1

107 .5
111.1
126.0
133 .8
129.9
131.2
131.8

106. 5
109.7
122.5
124.2
117.9
118.0
118.1

1946: A v e r a g e . .
J u n e . . ~ . ______
N o v e m b e r ___

159.6
145. 6
187.7

125.0
122.1
140 .6

1947:
1948:
1949:
1950:

A v e r a g e ______
A v e r a g e ______
A v e r a g e ______
A v e r a g e _____
J a n u a r y ______
J u n e ____
J u l y . . _______
A u g u s t ______
S e p te m b e r ___
O c to b e r .............
N o v e m b e r ___
D e c e m b e r ____

193. 8
210.2
201. 9
204.5
196.0
203.1
208.2
209.9
210.0
210.6
210.8
216.3

1951: J a n u a r y ______
F e b r u a r y ____
_____
M arch
A p r i l . . ___
M a y _________
J u n e ________ _

221.9
226.0
226.2
2 2 5.7
227.4
226.9

9 6 .6 101.1
95. 4
99. 6
94.4 102.8

i T h e B u r e a u o f L a b o r S ta t is tic s r e t a i l fo o d p r ic e s a r e o b ta in e d m o n t h l y
d u r i n g t h e f ir s t th r e e d a y s o f t h e w e e k c o n t a in i n g t h e f if t e e n th o f t h e m o n t h ,
t h r o u g h v o l u n t a r y r e p o r t s fr o m c h a in a n d i n d e p e n d e n t r e t a i l fo o d d e a le r s .
A r tic le s i n c lu d e d a r e s e le c te d t o r e p r e s e n t fo o d s a le s to m o d e r a te - in c o m e
fa m ilie s .
T h e in d e x e s , b a s e d o n r e t a il p ric e s o f 50 fo o d s t h r o u g h 1949 a n d 59 fo o d s
fr o m J a n u a r y 1950 to d a t e a r e c o m p u t e d b y t h e fix e d -b a s e -w e ig h te d -a g g re g a te
m e th o d , u s in g w e ig h ts r e p r e s e n t in g (1) r e l a ti v e im p o r ta n c e o f c h a in a n d
in d e p e n d e n t s to r e s a le s , i n c o m p u tin g c i t y a v e ra g e p ric e s ; (2) fo o d p u r c h a s e s
b y fa m ilie s o f w a g e e a rn e r s a n d m o d e r a te - in c o m e w o r k e r s , i n c o m p u tin g


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

D a iry
p ro d ­
u c ts

129.4
127.4
131.0
8 4 .9
9 5 .9
93.1
101.4

1923:
1926:
1929:
1932:
1939:

1942:
1943:
1944:
.1945:

F r u i t s a n d v e g e ta b le s

M e a ts

136.1
141.7
143.8
8 2 .3
9 1 .0
9 0 .7
9 3 .8

169. 5
210.8
169.0
103.5
9 4 .5
9 2 .4
9 6 .5

17 3 .6
226.2
173. 5
105.9
95.1
9 2 .8
97 .3

124 .8
122.9
124.3
91.1
92 .3
9 1 .6
92 .4

175.4
152.4
171.0
91 .2
93 .3
90 .3
100.6

131.5 126.2
170.4 145.0
164.8 127.2
112.6
71.1
95. 5 87 .7
84. 5
9 4 .9
9 2 .5
82 .2

175.4
120.0
114.3
8 9 .6
100.6
9 5 .6
9 6 .8

c i t y In d e x e s ; a n d (3) p o p u l a t i o n w e ig h t s , i n c o m b in in g c i t y a g g re g a te s in
o r d e r t o d e r i v e a v e ra g e p ric e s a n d in d e x e s fo r a l l c itie s c o m b in e d .
I n d e x e s o f r e t a i l fo o d p ric e s i n 56 la rg e c itie s c o m b in e d , b y c o m m o d it y
g r o u p s , fo r t h e y e a r s 1923 th r o u g h 1948 (1 9 3 5 -3 9 = 1 0 0 ), m a y b e f o u n d i n B u ll e ­
t i n N o . 965, “ R e t a i l P r ic e s of F o o d , 1948,” B u r e a u o f L a b o r S t a t is tic s , U . S.
D e p a r t m e n t o f L a b o r , t a b l e 3, p . 7. M im e o g r a p h e d ta b le s o f t h e s a m e
d a t a , b y m o n t h s , J a n u a r y 1935 to d a t e , a r e a v a ila b l e u p o n r e q u e s t .
3 D e c e m b e r 1950= 100
8 C o rre c te d .

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

D : PRICES AND COST OF LIV IN G

241

T able D-5: Indexes of Retail Prices of Foods, by City
[ 1 9 3 5 -3 9 = 1 0 0 ]

June
1951

C ity

M ay
1951

A p r.
1951

M ar.
1951

Feb.
1951

Jan.
1951

D ec.
1950

N ov.
1950

O c t.
1950

S e p t.
1950

A ug.
1950

J u ly
1950

Ju n e
1950

Jan.
1950

June
1951

U n i t e d S t a t e s —. ____________

226.9

227.4

225 .7

226.2

226.0

221.9

216.3

210.8

21 0 .6

210.0

209.9

2 0 8 .2

203.1

196.0

227.0

A t l a n t a , Q a _________________
B a l tim o r e , M d ___ ________
B i r m i n g h a m , A la .......................
B o s to n , M a s s _______________
B r id g e p o r t, C o n n ___________

228.1
238.9
216.4
214.9
225.9

228.7
239.0
218.1
214.4
225.3

228.5
236.2
218.3
212 .8
226.0

224.1
236.8
220.5
213.3
226.9

224.0
237.1
220.8
213.8
224.1

223.4
231.8
219.8
209.1
220 .9

217.0
226.4
212.3
204.1
214.6

208.3
220.5
203.0
201.5
209.1

208.6
221.2
202 .7
201 .9
210.8

210 .2
221.8
206 .4
200.1
206.8

210.1
222.0
201.5
20 2 .9
20 8 .4

202.0
220 .4
199.8
202 .0
210.0

195.4
215.6
192.2
196.1
204.0

192.5
206.6
186.4
186.6
195.5

280.3
239.7
217.0
216.2
226.2

B u f f a lo , N . Y ____ _____ _____
B u t t e , M o n t _______________ •_
C e d a r R a p i d s , I o w a i _______
C h a r l e s to n , S . 0 .........................
C h ic a g o , 111__________ _______

224.3
225.5
237.2
211.6
233.4

221.9
226.6
236. 5
211.6
233.0

218.0
222.9
234 .8
212.2
231.1

219.6
22 3 .9
23 4 .9
214.3
231.6

217.9
222.5
230.6
213.2
232.9

215.5
220.7
22 9 .2
20 8 .9
225.1

207.5
215.8
225 .9
203 .2
221.6

205 .7
212.2
220.2
195.5
214.8

204.0
212.0
220 .6
196.7
215.0

202 .6
209.4
219.2
198.9
2 1 4 .7

203.5
209.1
218.8
199.9
217.0

204.9
204 .9
211 .9
192.8
214 .8

199.0
203.0
20 8 .6
188.0
208.4

189.8
194.1
200 .3
185.3
199.9

227.1
228.4

C i n c i n n a t i , O h io .................. ..
C le v e la n d , O h io ____________
C o lu m b u s , O h io ____________
D a ll a s , T e x ________________
D e n v e r , C o l o . .............................

226.9
236.3
208.5
227.9
232.6

227.1
235.6
207.3
228.9
232.3

226.0
231.8
206.1
228.7
229 .9

225.8
233.3
207.1
229.9
230.5

226.9
232.7
206.7
228.7
229.0

223.7
227.4
20 0 .7
225.9
227.8

215 .9
220.9
197.4
221.1
223 .6

210.7
217.8
191.1
213.1
216.0

212.6
219.1
192.5
213.5
215.1

214.2
217.5
193.2
215 .6
212 .2

213 .2
218.3
194.0
214.2
214.8

210 .2
216.6
189.9
207 .2
209 .6

205.1
211.2
183.9
201.5
205.9

197.4
202.6
177.2
198.4
196.8

226.4
235.8
210.7
227.4
229.1

D e t r o i t , M i c h ..............................
F a l l R iv e r , M a s s ........................
H o u s t o n , T e x _______________
I n d ia n a p o li s , I n d . . . ................
J a c k s o n , M i s s .1............................

229.4
221.3
235.2
222.4
221.9

229.1
219.2
2 237.1
223.3
223.2

227.3
219.8
238.3
221.6
222.1

228.8
219.2
238.5
222.1
226.3

228.3
220.8
235.6
220.6
226.4

22 3 .7
216.0
236.0
218.6
223.1

217.2
211.4
227.5
214 .9
216.0

213.5
20 6 .2
222.1
20 8 .8
21 1 .6

212.5
207 .6
222.3
208 .6
213 .9

209 .7
205 .6
223.3
210.3
213.9

208.8
207 .7
221.9
208.8
213.2

208.0
207.2
212.8
203.4
206.0

202.9
200.7
208.1
198.1
201.0

191.8
191.9
207.7
192.3
199.9

228.4
228.9
236.3
224.2
220.4

J a c k s o n v ille , F l a ____________
K a n s a s C i t y , M o ___________
K n o x v ille , T e n n ! ___________
L i t t l e R o c k , A r k ____________
L o s A n g e le s , C a l if __________

231.9
212.8
249.8
225.2
230 .9

230.5
213.6
250.3
225.1
230.9

234.3
212.4
250.9
224.9
228 .9

234.8
211.6
253.4
226.8
229.8

231.5
210.5
253.1
225.2
226.9

229.0
208.5
248.6
222.7
226.3

223.1
203 .2
243.6
217.1
218.0

215.3
198.1
235.0
211.7
212.1

215.2
196.2
235 .8
210 .9
210 .9

219.1
195.8
238.5
211.5
20 7 .8

218.1
194.9
238 .5
210.7
208.6

211.4
195.0
227.9
204 .2
204.4

205.8
189.2
223.1
200.1
201.6

200 .7
183.6
216.7
196.4
201.4

231.6
212.0
249.6
225.7
225.8

L o u is v ille , K y . _________ . .
M a n c h e s t e r , N . H __________
M e m p h i s , T e n n ____________
M ilw a u k e e , W i s ____________
M in n e a p o lis , M i n n . . . ............

215.5
221 .0
233.0
229.9
219.4

213.7
218.4
234.6
227.5
220.3

212.5
217.8
232.9
224 .8
217.6

214.6
217.6
233.8
226 .9
217.7

214.5
218.9
230.8
227.4
217 .9

210.0
215.1
227.6
219.6
213.8

203.3
210.1
224.0
216.3
20 6 .8

198.0
207.4
218.3
213.0
202.1

198.0
208 .8
220.1
212.3
200 .7

199.4
20 6 .2
221.5
212.3
199.1

197.8
207.3
219.4
213.7
200.7

197.6
206.3
213 .6
212.7
196.8

192.0
200.6
208.3
206.6
194.1

183.7
191.6
203.1
196.3
189.1

217.6
222.7
232.6
280.4
218.8

M o b ile , A la _________________
N ew ark , N .
N e w H a v e n , C o n n . . ............
N e w O r le a n s , L a ____________
N e w Y o r k , N . Y ____________

225.7
225.5
220.5
238.2
22 4 .4

224.2
227.1
220.3
239.5
226.4

225.7
224.2
218.1
240 .2
224.9

223.8
22 3 .2
219.3
242. 1
224.7

222.5
225.5
220.0
239.8
227.0

220.4
220.2
214.0
237.8
221.0

21 3 .2
215.3
208.7
228.2
216.1

208.8
209.1
203.6
220 .7
211.3

207.4
2 0 8 .2
20 5 .4
221.5
21 0 .2

210.2
206.3
203.6
225.2
210.6

2 1 2 .6
206.3
203 .8
227.0
207 .2

204.7
20 6 .8
204.5
218.5
20 9 .2

200.1
203.3
199.8
212.9
203.7

196.4
192.4
190.6
209 .6
195.9

226.2
222.5
220.4
287. Ö

N o r f o lk , V a _________________
O m a h a , N e b r ___ _________
P e o r ia , 111___ . . . __________
P h i l a d e l p h i a , P a ____________
P i t t s b u r g h , P a ______________

229.2
219.6
241.2
222.2
230.3

229.4
219.3
240.6
223.8
230 .5

22 7 .9
217.0
237.9
222.3
227 .8

233.8
216.8
238.1
221.4
227.2

231.1
216.4
236.5
222.2
227.4

225.2
213.7
233.4
217.7
222.4

214.8
209 .8
226.9
212.9
218.0

210.8
203 .6
224.4
2 0 6 .7
213.8

211.8
202 .3
225.0
207 .9
215.9

216.3
203.5
224.2
208 .8
214.6

217 .6
203 .9
22 4 .3
208.1
213.3

210.3
199.6
221.2
205.9
211.1

205.9
197.2
216.8
201.4
207 .5

194.8
189.8
205.9
191.3
199.7

229.1
220.7
245.1
220.6
229.8

P o r t l a n d , M a i n e . __________
P o r t l a n d , O r e g ______________
P r o v id e n c e , R . I ____________
R ic h m o n d , V a ._ .........................
R o c h e s t e r , N . Y .....................

213.9
251.5
229.6
216.4
222.9

210.0
252.1
229.1
216.7
220.9

209.6
248 .6
229 .5
215.9
217.8

210 .5
250.3
228 .6
217.4
218.2

211.0
247.4
230.8
218.3
21 6 .2

207.9
243.4
225.1
215.6
212.2

202.9
234.9
219.3
210.3
206.1

198.1
230.7
213.7
201.6
202.6

198.9
228.7
214.4
202.0
204 .5

197.7
228.5
213.6
202.9
202.0

198.0
227.5
214.4
202 .9
201 .7

198.9
224.2
213.5
200.7
203 .4

193.0
219.1
207.9
195.2
196.4

187.3
210.4
198.3
188.3
190.7

215.7
250.8
238.1
218.8
224.lt-

S t . L o u is , M o _______________
S t . P a u l , M i n n _____________

S a lt L a k e C i t y , U t a h ..............
S a n F r a n c i s c o , C a l i f . . . . ..........
S a v a n n a h , G a ._ ...........................

238.2
216.2
230.0
237.4
239.6

238.4
215.1
228.3
241.2
237.6

237 .6
214.4
226. 9
238 .4
237 .6

239.4
214.1
22 7 .9
241.7
232.3

240.0
212 .9
225.6
235.3
2 3 1 .5

234.0
210.5
238.0
229.8

229.7
202.8
217.2
229.0
223.0

221.2
198.4
212.4
219.3
214.9

220.2
196.9
211.4
217.0
21 5 .9

220.4
195.3
210.9
214.3
217 .9

220.8
195.7
210.1
217 .3
219.5

220.1
194.4
202 .8
215.9
211.6

210.2
192. 5
202 .2
211.1
206.3

204 .6
186.4
198.7
214.3
197.0

239. ff
216.0
231.1
240.7

S c r a n t o n , P a ________________
S e a t tle , W a s h _______________
S p r in g f ie ld ,
W a s h i n g to n , D . O _____ _____
W i c h it a , K a n s .1_____________
W i n s t o n - S a le m , N . G .1

225.7
233.0
238.5
224.2
234.9
220.6

225.2
236.6
237.6
224.3
234.0
220.6

221.4
234.4
2 3 7 .6

222.7
234.3
237 .8

223.7
231.7
238.2
223.3
235.9
221.3

217.7
230 .2
233.7
221.2
231.1
217.6

212.1
225.7
231.7
216.7
230.0
214.1

207.1
221.8
223.1
208.9
218.4
20 5 .7

2 0 7 .2
218.0
222.1
208.9
219.0
207.5

208 .9
214.1
218.6
207.0
218.9
207.8

209.8
214.6
219.8
207 .4
220.4
207 .4

209.5
211 .4
218.6
205.8
214 .0
200.8

204 .2
20 8 .6
211.8
201.9
209 .4
197.3

192.4
205.8
200.9
194.4
205. 9
191.0

226.2
230.8
239.7
226.4
236.3
220.8

J_________

111............. .

1June 1940=100.

2 2 2 .2

2 2 2 .4

234.1
220.4

237 .5
223.7

2 2 2 .2

a Corrected.

----S

9 5 8 5 5 4 — 51-


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

2 4 1 .2

211.1
284.9

2 2 4 .0

2 4 2 .1

MONTHLY LABOR

D : PRICES AND COST OF LIVING

242

T able D-6: Average Retail Prices and Indexes of Selected Foods
C o m m o d ity

C e r e a ls a n d b a k e r y p r o d u c ts :
C e re a ls :
F lo u r , w h e a t ...................... .5 p o u n d s ...
C o m f l a k e s 1...................... .13 o u n c e s ..
C o m m e a l_____________ ___ p o u n d . .
R i c e 2______ ______ _____ ............d o ........
R o lle d o a t s »_..................... .2 0 o u n c e s ..
B a k e ry p ro d u c ts:
B r e a d , w h i t e __________ ___ p o u n d . .
V a n il la c o o k ie s ________ ______d o ____
do
M e a t s , p o u l t r y , a n d fis h :
M e a ts:
B ee f:
R o u n d s t e a k ............. ______d o ____
R i b r o a s t __________ ............d o ____
C h u c k r o a s t ............ ............d o ___
H a m b u r g e r 8............. ............d o ___
V e a l:
C u t l e t s ____ _______ ______d o ____
P o rk C h o p s _____________ ............d o ____
B a c o n , s lic e d ______ ........... d o ____
H a m , w h o le ______ _____ d o ___
S a lt p o r k __________ ........... d o ____
Lam b:
L e g ----------- ------------- ______d o ____
P o u ltry
. _____________ ............d o ____
F r y i n g c h ic k e n s :
N p w Y o r k dnw sAd (
_ do.
F is h :
F i s h (fre s h , fro z e n ) L —........... d o ____
S a lm o n , p i n k . . ............16 o u n c e c a n . .
D a ir y p ro d u c ts:
B u t t e r _____
_____________ ___ p o u n d . .
C h e e s e , A m e r ic a n p r o c e s s . ............ d o ____
M il k , fre s h (d e liv e r e d ) ..........q u a r t . .
M i l k , fre s h (g ro c e ry ) «. ............d o ____
n in t.
M i l k , e v a p o r a t e d ..1 4 H o u n c e c a n . .
E g g s : E g g s , f r e s h ............................ ____ d o z e n . .
F r u i t s a n d v e g e ta b le s :
F r o z e n f r u its :
Ifi o n n e p s
fi o n n n p s
F r o z e n v e g e ta b le s :
1*2m in AAR
F r e s h f r u its :
A p p le s _________________ ___ p o u n d . .
B a n a n a s _______________ ........... d o ____
..d o z e n ..
O r a n g e s , siz e 200______
F r e s h v e g e ta b le s :
B e a n s , g r e e n ___________ ___ p o u n d . .
C a b b a g e . —......................... ............d o ____
C a r r o t s . .............. ................. ___ b u n c h . .
L e t t u c e _______________ ______h e a d . .
O n io n s ________ ______ ___ p o u n d . .
P o t a t o e s _________ _____ .15 p o u n d s . .
S w e e tp o t a to e s _________ ___ p o u n d . .
T o m a to e s 70___________ ______d o ____
C a n n e d f r u its :
P e a c h e s ______________ N o . VA c a n . .
P i n e a p p l e _______ ______ ............d o ____

A v e r­
age
p ric e
Ju n e
1951

I n d e x e s 1935 -3 9 = 1 0 0
M a r.
1951

F eb.
1951

Jan.
1951

D ec.
1950

N ov.
1950

O ct
1950

S e p t.
1950

A ug.
1950

J u ly
1950

Ju n e
1950

Jan.
1950

Ju n e
1951

M ay
1951

A p r.
1951

5 2 .2
21 .1
9 .4
18.1
17.8

202.3
197.8
200 .4
101.3
161.3

20 2 .4
197.4
201.3
101.6
160.2

201.8
196.6
203.7
102.2
159.1

200.9
194.3
203. 7
101.9
156.6

199.0
193.9
202.8
101.5
155.2

196.3
192.5
200.5
100.7
154.5

192.5
191.7
197.8
101.0
153.4

191.9
190.9
197.9
9 8 .6
152.5

192.4
187.4
204.0
9 7 .5
150.3

192.9
182.7
205.4
9 6 .8
146.8

192.6
177.2
205.8
9 5 .5
146.1

190.6
177.1
190.9
9 2 .4
145.8

190.5
176.5
181.9
93.1
145.8

187.3
177.8
177.7
9 2 .2
146.4

15.7
5 0 .0
49 .2

183.4
213.5
106.9

182.8
213.2
107.3

182.7
214.9
107. 9

182.8
213.7
106.0

183.0
211.6
105.8

182.2
209.8
103.1

172.0
201.8
100.0

171.9
202.8

171.9
201.3

171.5
201.6

171.1
197.0

166.2
193.3

163.9
191.7

163.8
189.9

108.9
8 3 .6
73 .9
04 0
66.0

322.2
289.5
327.2

320.9
289.0
327.1

320.3
294. 6
326.2

297.6
273.3
298.1
100 0
201.0

288.2
270.2
289.7

293.3
271.7
291.3

295.9
272.1
290.1

287.9
264.1
279.2

252.1
238.5
245.1

219.7

312.3
288.0
315 .0
104.4
212.1

287.1
265.3
287.4

216.9

317.6
294.2
32 3 .2
105 7
217.5

286.4
266.0
286.9

215! 8

318.0
292.8
324.1
106.4
218.8

196.6

196.5

197.4

197.5

189.3

181.8

164.6

127.1

31 7 .2

315. 4

311.9

308 .6

3 0 8 .0

3 0 0 .2

286.7

281.1

281.0

280.1

277.8

275.3

271.2

255.8

7 7 .7
6 7 .8
67 .0
39 .0

235.3
177.8
228.1
184.9

234.2
177.6
226. 3
184. 9

233.4
177.6
228 .0
187.9

235.7
178.2
230.1
188.0

235.6
178.0
229. 7
187.5

228.1
175.9
224.9
186.7

216.6
171.9
212.7
184.5

221.8
174.8
204.9
183.6

229 9
183.9
210.7
184.8

261.2
184.3
233.6
183.1

253.5
181.7
236.4
179.6

268 .6
171.4
229 .7
164.8

243.5
161.9
215.8
160.5

186.9
154.7
192.5
153.2

8 4 .2

297.2

293. 8
198 9

288.7
198.5

285.0
198.9

284.1
193.2

277.9
184.3

273.3
179.3

268.4
180.1

263.5
187.2

268.4
199.2

271.2
202.3

273.3
189.8

272.4
185.1

238.1
158.9

( 8)
6 3 .2

291.4
511.0

287.1
511.7

286.4
508.1

287.6
502.4

283.7
501.1

283.0
49 3 .7

279.5
484 .5

278.5
473.1

277.1
44 6 .9

276 .2
381.1

272.8
357 .9

270.0
344 .8

268.4
344.1

27 2 .2
355 .9

8 1 .5

223.8
261.3
185.1
186.4

223.3
260.3
184.9
185.9

219.7
265 .7
185.6
186.9

228.0
254.9
183.5
185.7
104.2
194.1
191.5

209 .7
232.4
179.0
180.6
100.0
183.7
249.4

204.1
228.5
177.4
180.3

198.9
229.0
170.6
174.2

197.9
228.2
167.5
170.0

195.6
226.3
164.2
165.7

195.4
226 .2
160.4
162.0

201.8
231.1
167.9
170.2

203 .2
191.2

226.1
264.3
184.8
186.7
105 4
201.0
179.8

205 .0
230.3
178.3
181.1

202.8
198.4

224.0
265.7
185.4
187.3
104.9
202.4
195.2

Ï83.Ô
205.4

Ï8 2 .8
206 .2

181.1
192.1

177.8
182.2

173.9
163.3

174.2
148.4

175.1
152.3

105.0

105.1

101.3
104. 2

101.3
102.4

1 0 0 .8
1 0 2 .0

1 0 0 .0
1 0 0 .0

Cents

4 8 .2
6 1 .9

5 9 .2

2 2 .7
21.3
3 1 .3
14.5
7 0 .2

203 .3
201 .2

50 .9
24. 5

104.8

104 9

105 2

97 0

100 5

24 .5

9 8 .0

9 8 .3

9 8 .3

1 0 0 .1

9 9 .9

99 .1

1 0 0 .0

1 2 .4
1 6 .4
4 7 .7

232.9
271.7
167.5

213.6
274 .2
163.7

205.1
2 7 3 .9
158.0

206 .0
276.2
166.1

206.4
274.0
173.4

204.4
266.5
153.3

195.3
271.0
166.5

187.0
266.4
176.3

190.3
261.4
191.0

229.5
247.1
175.4

237.5
263.8
174.0

340 .6
268.6
182.9

301.1
271.9
172.8

178.6
273.1
156.5

2 0 .1
6 .5
11.0
13.5
10 .2
8 3 .9
12.0
27 .3

187.3
172.9
20 2 .6
162.8
246.1
230 .2
231.4
179.4

212.7
191.0
196.5
229.8
235.1
202.5
201.5
196.6

205 .7
2 2 5 .6
192.9
212.1
186.7
185.0
192.4
193.1

193.3
386.5
220.4
149.2
176.8
179.1
190.3
216.1

244.8
42 5 .2
258.7
189.3
173.2
177.6
189.7
218.7

303 .5
239.6
206 .0
164.3
144.0
172.3
182.5
254.7

310 .6
158.5
203 .8
167.6
133.1
163.8
177.5
193.6

228.4
125.6
203.1
173.3
128.9
154.0
161.2
167.9

154.5
126.5
177.0
159.2
133.8
163.5
159.3
131.6

160.1
134.3
180.2
155.8
148.7
178.8
184.8
86 .1

143.7
142.5
181.2
150.7
174.0
202.0
216.0
117.5

165.6
158.7
195.1
138.9
197.4
216.3
198.5
215.4

151.0
174.3
181.7
167.3
187.1
219.3
209.4
208.3

274.9
173.9
202.6
220.1
216.9
196.5
205.6
165.3

3 3 .6
3 8 .7

174.9
178.1

174.6
178.8

174.3
179.7

173.8
178.3

172.8
178.5

172.1
177.5

168.2
176.1

166 .7
176 .0

164.6
175.7

158.3
175.0

151.5
174.8

142.4
172.7

140.1
172.0

141.8
174.2

C o r n 11............................... N o . 303 c a n . .
T o m a t o e s _____________ N o . 2 c a n . .
P e a s 72______________ N o . 303 c a n . .

17 .8
2 0 .6
2 1 .8

164.2
230.4
118.8

164.4
226.4
118.8

163.6
2 2 3 .6
119.3

139.5
163.9
114.8

137.5
161.5
112.9

138.4
161.6
114.3

144.1
158.2
113.1

109 1

272.8
230.7

273Ü
233.8

273^3
235.5

154.3
176.3
117.8
100.0
264.6
226.7

141.4
164.4
116.0

10 0

159.5
191.2
119.5
100.2
26 8 .0
231.8

147.8
169.1
117.3

2 7 .6
17.1

161.8
209.1
119.7
100 8
271.4
234 .9

150.5
172 .0
117.2

D r i e d f r u it s , p r u n e s _______ ___ p o u n d . .
D r ie d v e g e ta b le s , n a v y b e a n s ------- d o ___
B e v e ra g e s :
C o ffe e . . --------------------------- ______d o ____

162.8
215.9
119.6
101. 4
272.1
235.4

261.4
218.8

253.4
214.0

242.0
210.7

238.2
209.4

235.7
203.9

237.8
202.7

232.5
206.9

8 7 .2
2 8 .3

346 .7
108.0

346.5
108.2

344.1
108.5

342.9
108.3

343.5
107.9

3 4 0 .7
107.8

331 .4
100.0

332 .5

3 4 3 .2

336.1

328.1

303 .6

294 .9

298 .9

2 4 .7
41 .0
40 .1

166.2
198.4
166.1
194.3

167.8
201.1
164.8
197.8

173.7
201.1
165.8
199.9

174.4
198.4
165.5
199.1

173.3
197.4
164.2
199.5

166.3
191.2
161.4
193.9

149.5
175.1
152.9
179.9

142.0
169.4
148.9
173.0

142.6
169.0
148.4
173.8

156.1
168.2
148.1
174.5

157.9
166.1
146.9
173.7

118.7
157.2
142.4
164.2

116.0
155.6
142.1
161.1

113.1
148.8
138.3
155.3

187.4
101.0

186.4
101.0

186.7
101.5

187.4
100.8

187.3
187.6
100.5 1 100.3

186.5
100.0

186.8

187.3

188.5

188.7

177.0

175.3

179.8

F a t s a n d o ils:
L a r d ______ __ . -------------- ___ p o u n d . .
S h o r te n i n g , h y d r o g e n a t e d - ______ d o ____
S a la d d r e s s in g ------------------- _____ p i n t . .
M a r g a r in e _ ______________ ____p o u n d . .
TTn c o lo r e d 13
, * do
do
S u g a r a n d s w e e ts :
S u g a r . . .................................... . . 5 p o u n d s . .
G r a c e ie llv 4 ____________ ..1 2 o u n c e s ..

3 8 .6
3 6 .3
5 0 .2
24.1

1 S p e c if ic a tio n c h a n g e d to 13 o u n c e s in D e c e m b e r .
8 J u l y 1947= 100.
6 P r ic e d in 28 c itie s .
2 F e b r u a r y 1943= 100.
7 1938-39= 100.
< D e c e m b e r 1950= 100.
* A v e ra g e p r ic e n o t c o m p u te d .
• P r ic e d i n 46 c itie s .
• S p e c ific a tio n r e v is e d in N o v e m b e r 1950.
m O c to b e r 1949= 100.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

u N o . 303 c a n of c o m i n t r o d u c e d i n M a y 1951 i n p la c e o f N o . 2 c a n .
72 N o . 303 c a n f a n c y g r a d e p e a s in t r o d u c e d i n A p r il 1950 i n p la c e o f
N o . 2 c a n s ta n d a r d g rad e.
12 P ric e d in 16 citie s b e g in n in g A p ril 1951,18 citie s J a n u a r y th r o u g h M a rc h 1951,
a n d 19 c itie s A u g u s t t h r o u g h D e c e m b e r 1950. P ric e d in 56 citie s b e fo re t h a t d a te .
77 P r ic e d i n 37 c itie s A u g u s t t h r o u g h D e c e m b e r 1950, 38 c itie s J a n u a r y
t h r o u g h M a r c h 1951, a n d 40 c itie s b e g i n n in g A p r il 1951.

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

D: PRICES AND COST OF LIVING

243

T able D -7: Indexes of Wholesale Prices,1 by Group of Commodities, for Selected Periods
[1 9 2 6 = 1 0 0 ]

M is ­
c e lla ­
neous
com ­
m o d i­
tie s

R aw
m a te ­
ria ls

S e m im anufactu re d
a r tic le s

M anu­
fa c ­
tu r e d
p ro d ­
u c ts 2

A ll
com ­
m o d i­
tie s e x ­
cept
fa rm
p ro d ­
u c ts 8

A ll
com ­
m o d i­
tie s
ex­
cept
fa rm
p ro d ­
u c ts
and
fo o d s i

A ll
com ­
m o d i­
tie s 2

F a rm
p ro d ­
u c ts

Foods

H id e s
and
l e a th e r
p ro d ­
u c ts

T ex­
tile
p ro d ­
u c ts

F uel
and
li g h t ­
in g
m a te ­
ria ls

A v e r a g e ............
J u l y .....................
N o v e m b e r ___
M a y ....................
A v e r a g e ______

6 9 .8
6 7 .3
136.3
167. 2
95.3

71 .5
71.4
150 .3
169.8
104.9

6 4 .2
6 2 .9
128.6
147.3
9 9 .9

68.1
69 .7
131.6
193.2
109.1

57.3
55.3
142.6
188.3
9 0 .4

6 1 .3
55.7
114.3
159.8
8 3 .0

9 0 .8
79.1
143.5
155.5
100 .5

5 6 .7
5 2 .9
101.8
164.4
95 .4

8 0 .2
7 7 .9
178.0
173.7
9 4 .0

56.1
56 .7
9 9 .2
143.3
9 4 .3

93.1
8 8 .1
142.3
176.5
8 2 .6

6 8 .8
6 7 .3
138.8
163.4
9 7 .5

7 4 .9
6 7 .8
162.7
253.0
9 3 .9

6 9 .4
66. 9
130. 4
157.8
9 4 .5

6 9 .0
6 5 .7
131.0
165. 4
9 3 .3

7 0 .0
65 7
129 .9
170. 6
9 1 .6

1932: A v e r a g e ______
1939: A v e r a g e ______
A u g u s t _______
1940: A v e r a g e ______

6 4 .8
77.1
7 5 .0
78.6

4 8 .2
6 5 .3
6 1 .0
6 7 .7

6 1 .0
7 0 .4
6 7 .2
7 1 .3

7 2 .9
9 5 .6
9 2 .7
10 0 .8

54 .9
6 9 .7
6 7 .8
73.8

70.3
73.1
7 2 .6
71.7

8 0 .2
94.4
9 3 .2
9 5 .8

71.4
9 0 .5
8 9 .6
94 .8

73 .9
76 .0
7 4 .2
77 .0

75.1
8 6 .3
8 5 .6
8 8 .5

6 4 .4
7 4 .8
7 3 .3
77.3

55.1
7 0 .2
6 6 .5
71 .9

59.3
7 7 .0
74. 5
79.1

70. 3
8 0 .4
79.1
8 1 .6

68. 3
79. 5
77. 9
8 0 .8

70 2
8 1 .3
80 1
8 3 .0

1941: A v e r a g e _____
D e c e m b e r ____
1942: A v e r a g e ______
1943: A v e r a g e ______
1944: A v e r a g e ............

8 7 .3
9 3 .6
9 8 .8
103.1
104.0

8 2 .4
94 .7
105 .9
122.6
123.3

8 2 .7
9 0 .5
9 9 .6
106.6
104.9

108.3
114.8
117.7
117.5
116.7

8 4 .8
9 1 .8
9 6 .9
97.4
98 .4

7 6 .2
78.4
7 8 .5
8 0 .8
83 .0

9 9 .4
103.3
103.8
103.8
103.8

103.2
107.8
110.2
111.4
115.5

8 4 .4
9 0 .4
95 .5
94 .9
95 .2

9 4 .3
101.1
102.4
102.7
104.3

8 2 .0
8 7 .6
8 9 .7
9 2 .2
93 .6

8 3 .5
92 .3
100.6
112.1
113.2

8 6 .9
9 0 .1
92 .6
92 .9
94.1

89.1
9 4 .6
9 8 .6
100.1
10 0 .8

8 8 .3
93 .3
97 .0
9 8 .7
9 9 .6

8 9 .0
9 3 .7
95. 5
96. 9
9 8 .5

1945: A v e r a g e ______
A u g u s t ............ _

105.8
105.7

128.2
126.9

10 6 .2
106.4

118.1
118.0

100.1
99 .6

8 4 .0
84 .8

104.7
104.7

117.8
117.8

9 5 .2
9 5 .3

104.5
104.5

9 4 .7
9 4 .8

116.8
116.3

9 5 .9
9 5 .5

101.8
101.8

100.8
100.9

99. 7
99 .9

1946: A v e r a g e ______
J u n e ____ _____
N o v e m b e r ___
1947: A v e r a g e ______
1948: A v e r a g e .......... ..
1949: A v e r a g e ______
1950: A v e r a g e ______
J u n e _____ . . .
J u l y --------------A u g u s t _______
S e p te m b e r ___
O c to b e r ______
N o v e m b e r ___
D e c e m b e r ___

121.1
112.9
139.7
152.1
165.1
155.0
161. 5
157.3
162.9
166.4
169. 5
169.1
171.7
175.3

148.9
140.1
169.8
181.2
188.3
165.5
170.4
165. 9
176.0
177.6
180.4
177.8
183.7
187.4

130.7
112.9
165.4
168.7
179.1
161.4
166.2
162.1
171.4
174.6
177.2
172.5
175.2
179.0

137.2
122.4
172.5
182.4
188.8
180.4
191.9
182 .6
187.2
195.6
203 .0
2 0 8 .6
211.5
218 .7

116.3
109.2
131.6
141.7
149.8
140.4
148.0
136.8
142.6
149.5
158.3
163.1
166.8
171.4

90.1
87 .8
94. 5
108.7
134.2
131.7
133.2
132.6
133.5
134.2
134.9
135.3
135.7
135.7

115.5
112.2
130.2
145.0
163.6
170.2
173.6
171.9
172.4
174.4
176.7
178.6
180.4
184.9

132.6
129.9
145.5
179.7
199.1
193.4
206 .0
202.1
207.2
213.9
219.7
218.9
217.8
2 2 1 .4

101.4
96 .4
118.9
127.3
135.7
118.6
122.7
114.5
118.1
122.5
128.7
132.2
135.7
139.6

111.6
110.4
118.2
131.1
144.5
145.3
153.2
146.9
148.7
153.9
159.2
163.8
166.9
170.2

100.3
9 8 .5
106.5
115.5
120.5
112.3
120.9
114.7
119.0
124.3
127.4
131.3
137.6
140.5

134.7
126.3
153.4
165.6
178.4
163.9
172.4
167.7
175.8
179.1
181.8
180.2
184.5
187.1

110.8
105.7
129.1
148. 5
158.0
150.2
156.0
148.4
152.9
159.3
165. 7
169.3
173.0
178.1

116.1
107.3
134. 7
146.0
159.4
151.2
156.8
153.5
158.0
161.2
164.0
163.5
165.1
169.0

114.9
106. 7
132. 9
145. 5
159. 8
152. 4
159.2
155.2
159.8
163.7
166.9
166.9
168. 8
172.4

109. 5
105 6
120. 7
135. 2
151.0
147. 3
153.2
148.7
151. 6
155. 5
159.2
161. 5
163.7
166.7

1951: J a n u a r y ___
180.1
F e b r u a r y ____
183.6
M a r c h ................
184.0
A p r i l . . . . . . 4 183.6
M a y __________ 4 182. 9
J u n e __________
181.7

194 .2
202 .6
203.8
202.5
199.6
198.6

182.2
187.6
186.6
4 185. 8
4 187.3
186.3

234.8
238.2
236 .2
4 233.3
4 2 3 2 .6
230 .6

178.2
181.1
183 .2
182.8
181.9
177.6

136.4
138.1
138.6
138.1
137.5
137.8

187.5
188.1
188.8
189.0
188.8
188.2

226.1
228.1
228. 5
228.5
227.8
225 .6

144.5
147.3
146.4
4 147.9
4 146. 4
142.9

174.7
175.4
178.8
4 180. 1
4 180. 0
179.3

142.4
142.7
142.5
142.7
141.7
141.7

192.6
199.1
199.4
197.7
195. 5
194.7

185.0
187.1
187.5
187.1
186.5
180.4

173.1
175.5
175.8
4 176.1
4 176. 2
175.5

176.7
179. 2
179.3
4 179. 2
4 179.0
17 7 .8

170.3
171. 8
172.4
4 172.3
4 171.7
170.5

Y e a r a n d m o n th

1913:
1914:
1918:
1920:
1929:

M e ta ls
and
m e ta l
p ro d ­
u c ís 8

B u ild ­
in g
m a te ­
ria ls

1 B L S w h o le s a le p r ic e d a t a , fo r t h e m o s t p a r t , r e p r e s e n t p ric e s in p r i m a r y
m a r k e ts . T h e y a r e p ric e s c h a rg e d b y m a n u f a c tu r e r s o r p r o d u c e r s o r a re
p ric e s p r e v a ilin g on o r g a n iz e d e x c h a n g e s . T h e w e e k ly in d e x is c a lc u la te d
fro m 1 -d a y -a -w e e k p ric e s ; t h e m o n t h l y in d e x fro m a n a v e ra g e of th e s e p ric e s .
M o n t h l y in d e x e s fo r t h e l a s t 2 m o n t h s a re p r e l im i n a r y .
T h e in d e x e s c u r r e n t l y a r e c o m p u te d b y t h e fix e d b a s e a g g re g a te m e th o d ,
w i t h w e ig h ts r e p r e s e n t in g q u a n t i t i e s p r o d u c e d fo r sa le in 1929-31. ( F o r a
d e t a il e d d e s c r i p tio n of t h e m e th o d of c a lc u la tio n see “ R e v is e d M e t h o d of
C a l c u la tio n o f t h e B u r e a u o f L a b o r S t a t is tic s W h o la s a le P r ic e I n d e x ,” in
t h e J o u r n a l of t h e A m e r ic a n S ta t is tic a l A s s o c ia tio n , D e c e m b e r 1937.)
M im e o g r a p h e d ta b le s a r e a v a ila b le , u p o n r e q u e s t to t h e B u r e a u , g iv in g
m o n t h ly in d e x e s for m a jo r g r o u p s o f c o m m o d itie s s in c e 1890 a n d fo r s u b g r o u p s
a n d e c o n o m ic g r o u p s s in c e 1913. T h e w e e k l y w h o le s a le p r ic e in d e x e s a re

9 5 8 5 5 4 -5 1 -


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

C hem ­
H o u se ic a ls
fu rand
n is h a llie d
in g
p ro d ­
goods
u c ts

a v a ila b l e in s u m m a r y fo rm s in c e 1947 fo r a ll c o m m o d itie s ; a ll c o m m o d itie s
le ss f a r m p r o d u c t s a n d fo o d s; f a r m p r o d u c t s ; fo o d s; te x tile p r o d u c t s ; fu e l a n d
li g h tin g m a te r ia ls ; m e ta l s a n d m e ta l p r o d u c t s ; b u il d in g m a te r i a ls , a n d
c h e m ic a ls a n d a llie d p r o d u c t s . W e e k ly in d e x e s a r e a lso a v a ila b l e fo r th e
s u b g r o u p s o f g r a in s , liv e s to c k , a n d m e a ts .
2 I n c l u d e s c u r r e n t m o t o r v e h ic le p ric e s b e g in n in g w i t h O c to b e r 1946. T h e
r a t e of p r o d u c t io n of m o t o r v e h ic le s in O c to b e r 1946 e x c e e d e d t h e m o n t h l y
a v e ra g e r a t e o f c iv ilia n p r o d u c t io n in 1941, a n d in a c c o r d a n c e w i t h t h e a n ­
n o u n c e m e n t m a d e in S e p te m b e r 1946, t h e B u r e a u i n t r o d u c e d c u r r e n t p ric e s
fo r m o t o r v e h ic le s in t h e O c to b e r c a lc u la tio n s . D u r i n g t h e w a r , m o to r
v e h ic le s w e r e n o t p r o d u c e d fo r g e n e ra l c iv ilia n s a le a n d t h e B u r e a u c a rr ie d
A p r il 1942 p ric e s f o r w a r d in e a c h c o m p u ta t io n t h r o u g h S e p te m b e r 1946.
4 C o rre c te d .

MONTHLY LABOR

D : PRICES AND COST OF LIVING

244

T able D -8: Indexes of Wholesale Prices,1 by Group and Subgroup of Commodities
[1926=100]
1950

1951

1946

1939

Ju n e

A ug.

G ro u p a n d s u b g ro u p

A ll c o m m o d itie s 3.......................

Ju n e

M ay

A p r.

181.7

« 182.9

« 183.6

N ov,

O c t,

F eb.

Jan.

D ec.

184.0

183.6

180.1

175.3

171.7

169.1

202.6
192.0
238.2
268.0
9 4 .3
182.8
117.0

194.2
186.6
222.2
250.6
8 4 .7
178.2
116.5

187.4
180 .9
2 0 4 .9
2 3 1 .8
7 4 .5
177.4
149.5

183.7
172.1
197.3
2 2 2 .6
7 4 .9
177.4
148.2

177 .8
165.3
198.7
2 2 3 .8
7 7 .1
167.4
141.0

M ar.

A ug.

J u ly

169 .5

166.4

162 .9

157.3

112.9

75.0

1 8 0 .4
166.5
211 .3
2 3 7 .5
8 5 .3
164.4
12 8 .8

177.6
167.7
217.3
2 4 3 .8
9 0 .2
155.3
110.1

176.0
173.5
2 1 5 .8
2 4 2 .5
8 7 .6
151.8
103.8

165.9
169.3
197.5
2 2 2 .4
7 7 .2
145.0
9 1 .3

140.1
151.8
137.4
14 3 .4
P)
137.5
9 7 .3

61.0
51. 5
66.0
67.7
(*)
60.
47.

S e p t.

Ju n e

L i v e s to c k a n d p o u l t r v
T iiv p s to flk r
P n n ltrv r
O th e r f a r m p r o d u c t s ____
Eggs
.........................

198.6
178. 6
235 .8
265 .1
94 .4
180.4
137.1

19 9 .6
185 .6
2 3 4 .8
2 6 3 .6
9 6 .5
181.0
1 2 8 .6

«202.5
189.1
240.9
269 .9
102.1
181.7
125.1

203.8
188.0
241.2
270.4
101.1
184.3
124.7

D a i r y p r o d u c t s ________
C e re a l p r o d u c t s
___
F r u i t s a n d v e g e ta b le s __
M e a t s , p o u l t r y , fis h f ___
M e a ts r
_____
P o u l t r y r_ ________
O t h e r f o o d s ............................

186.3
163.4
162.3
146.3
255 .2
275.4
104.3
160.8

« 187.3
164.9
163.6
« 146. 5
2 5 7 .2
276 .3
113.5
160.7

« 1 85.8
166.6
16 4 .5
« 140.0
255.1
274.1
112.5
158.8

186.6
170.3
164.5
139.9
254.5
273.7
108.7
160.0

187.6
173.0
166.3
142.4
255.2
274.8
107.1
159.0

182.2
171.5
163.0
136.1
242.7
261.5
9 8 .2
157.7

179.0
16 4 .4
157.6
138.0
23 3 .7
25 1 .9
9 2 .3
161.5

175.2
164.1
154.1
140.4
223.4
240.5
9 0 .8
158.9

172.5
160.8
153. 8
129 .5
2 2 3 .7
2 4 0 .8
9 0 .2
156.4

177.2
154.7
155.5
131.0
241 .0
259 .5
9 9 .0
158.7

174.6
148.0
154.9
132.0
240 .2
258.3
103.5
154.1

171.4
141.8
151.2
137.0
240 .7
260.1
9 7 .9
145.1

162.1
135.9
145. 6
140.5
2 2 3 .7
2 4 1 .4
9 1 .5
133.1

112.9
127.3
101.7
136.1
110.1
116.6
o
9 8 .1

67.
67.
71.
58.
7 3 .'
78.
(!)
6 0 .:

H id e s a n d le a th e r p r o d u c t s . .
S hoes.
_ __________
H id e s a n d s k i n s ________
L e a th e r
_____________
O t h e r le a t h e r p r o d u c t s . .

230.6
223.3
284.3
227.5
180.6

« 232. 6
* 223.8
2 9 3 .8
2 2 8 .2
180 .6

« 233.3
« 223.5
297 .8
228.7
1 8 0 .6

236.2
222.0
313.0
229.2
188.2

238.2
224.6
317.8
229.1
188.0

234.8
219.4
318 .2
224.8
188.0

« 2 1 8 .7
« 2 0 9 .3
277 .5
2 1 3 .8
173 .9

« 2 1 1 .5
« 2 0 3 .7
269.3
2 0 4 .9
164.9

« 2 0 8 .6
« 200. 5
266.3
201 .3
164.9

« 2 0 3 .0
« 194. 9
2 6 4 .7
196.8
151.3

195.6
191.4
238 .2
192.3
151.3

187.2
185.8
2 1 9 .8
185.3
143.1

182 .6
184.8
202.1
180 .6
143.1

122.4
129. 5
121.5
110.7
115.2

9 2 .'
100.
77.
84.
97.

T e x tile p r o d u c t s ____________
___________
C lo th in g ..
C o t t o n g o o d s ____________
H o sie ry a n d u n d e rw e a r.
R a y o n a n d n y l o n r_____
S ilk '
W o o le n a n d w o r s t e d ___
O t h e r te x til e p r o d u c t s . . .

177.6
163.9
229.4
113.1
43.1
7 3 .2
225.1
247.3

181.9
163.9
234.1
113.5
43.1
7 6 .3
243 .4
247 .0

182.8
163.9
236.2
«113.5
43.1
« 8 5 .2
24 3 .7
24 9 .2

183.2
163.9
239.9
«113.5
43.1
9 0 .8
2 4 0 .2
246.1

181.1
163.9
240.5
113.8
43.1
9 0 .8
227.3
243.8

178.2
161.6
239.2
115.2
43.1
86.1
217.4
238.1

« 1 7 1 .4
155. 4
« 2 3 6 .6
113.7
43 .0
7 5 .0
« 195. 6
2 2 9 .6

« 166.8
151.4
231.7
111.4
4 2 .7
6 9 .0
« 192.7
210 .4

163.1
147.7
2 2 5 .7
109.2
4 2 .5
65.3
« 189.1
207 .3

158.3
146.7
2 2 1 .6
105.3
4 1 .7
6 4 .9
178.7
191.3

149.5
145.2
2 0 6 .8
101.2
41.3
6 5 .6
157.7
181.5

142 .6
144.3
190.7
9 9 .2
4 0 .7
6 0 .3
150.9
168.5

136.8
« 143.9
173.8
97 .7
3 9 .9
4 9 .3
148.3
164.5

109.2
120 .3
139 .4
7 5 .8
30. 2
G)
112.7
112.3

67.
81.
65.
61.
28.
44.
75.
63.

F u e l a n d li g h tin g m a te r i a ls .
A n t h r a c i t e . . . . ________
B it u m i n o u s c o a l. _____
C o k e ____________________
E l e c t r i c i t y ______________
G a s __________ __________
P e tro le u m a n d p ro d u c ts r

137.8
152.5
195.4
234.8
(3)

138.1
152.8
« 195.6
234.8
6 5 .1
9 3 .3
120.0

138.6
156.1
197.1
234.5
65 .1
93. 8
120.3

138.1
156.5
197.5
234.1
66 .4
9 2 .2
119.4

136.4
145.8
193.2
232.8
6 5 .4
9 0 .0
119.4

« 135. 7
144.7
193.3
2 3 2 .5
6 5 .5
90 .5
118.1
180 .4

« 1 35.3
143.9
193.3
231.1
65 .2
8 8 .9
118.0
17 8 .6

« 134.9
142 .8
« 193.2
2 2 5 .6
6 5 .6
89 .0
117.8
176.7

« 134.2
142.1
192.5
2 2 5 .6
65 .5
88.1
116.8
« 1 7 4 .4

« 133.5
141.0
191.9
2 2 5 .6
67 .0
88 .3
115.5
17 2 .4

« 132 .6
140.1
192.1
2 2 5 .6
6 7 .0
87.3
113.9
171.9

72.
72.
96.
104.
7b. '
86.
51.

188.2

« 135. 7
145.7
193.2
2 3 2 .7
6 5 .7
9 0 .2
118.0
« 184.9

8 7 .8
106.1
132. 8
133. 5
67. 2
79. 6
6 4 .0

M e ta ls a n d m e ta l p r o d u c t s 3.
A g r ic u l tu r a l m a c h in e r y
a n d e q u i p m e n t r_____
F a r m m a c h in e r y ' . .
I r o n a n d s te e l_____ ___
S te e l m ill p r o d u c t s ___
S e m i- f in is h e d _____
F i n i s h e d __________
M o to r v e h ic le s r .............
P a s s e n g e r c a r s ______
T r u c k s ______________
N o n f e r r o u s m e t a l s ______
P lu m b in g a n d h e a tin g ..
P l u m b i n g r . . ............ ..

137.5
151.0
« 195. 2
2 3 4 .8
(3)
9 2 .9
119.7
188.8

112.2

93.

«152.1
154.5
173.2
172.7
185.4
171.1
176.8
187.0
133.9
173.3
177.2
132.0
218.9
« 177.2
« 140.2
358 .4
145.7
142.4
152.1
177.2
132.0
191.6
186.6

150.3
152 .7
172 .2
172.5
185.4
170.9
176.5
186.6
133.9
166.1
166.9
125.4
« 219. 7
« 170.2
136.3
371.5
145.9
142.4
152.4
166.9
125.4
191.6
182.5

« 145.6
147.7
171.0
172.3
185.4
170.6
176.1
186.4
133.1
156.3
164.6
123.9
213.9
« 167.9
135.5
357 .6
142.4
141.3
146.2
164.6
123.9
191.6
178.7

« 144. 0
146.2
169.8
172 .3
185.4
170.6
175.1
185. 2
133.0
150. 6
156.5
116.9
« 207. 2
« 165.4
135.3
338.0
138.6
138.6
141.3
156.5
116.9
191.6
177.4

« 143. 8
146.0
169.4
172.2
185.4
170.4
175.1
185.2
133.0
148.4
« 156. 4
116.7
202 .1
164.3
134.9
3 2 2 .6
137.7
138.5
139.5
« 156.4
116.7
191.6
175.0

104.5
104.9
110.1
112. 2
108. 9
112.8
135. 5
142. 8
104. 3
99. 2
106. 0

93
94.

B u il d in g m a t e r i a l s __________
B r ic k a n d t i l e ___________
C e m e n t _______________
TvUmher __ __ ______
P a in t , p a in t m a te ria ls r
P r e p a r e d p a i n t ’____
P a i n t m a te r i a ls r___
P lu m b in g a n d h e a tin g ..
P l u m b i n g ’_________
S t r u c t u r a l s t e e l ________
O t h e r b ld g , m a t e r i a l s . . .

« 153.3
« 1 5 5 .8
174.0
172 .8
185 .4
171.2
176.9
187.1
133.9
181.7
182.5
137.3
217 .8
« 177. 6
140.8
347.6
148.2
143.6
156.1
182.5
137.3
191.6
189.4

120.1
118.4

107.
89.

(3)

120.0

189.0

188.8

188.1

187.5

159.0
161.0
185.7
186.2
196.2
184.9
179.0
187.1
143.1
191.1
183.7
139.4

156.2
158.4
185.7
186.1
196.2
184.9
178.8
187.1
142.2
187.9
183.7
139.4

159.1
161.1
185.9
186.2
196.2
184.9
184.1
193.7
143.1
184.1
183.7
139.4

225.6
180.8
147.2
352.3
161.6
153.9
173.1
183.7
139.4
204.3
198.1

159.1
161.1
185.9
186.2
196.2
184 .9
184.1
193.7
143.1
182.8
183.7
139.4
2 2 7 .8
180.8
147.2
359.0
163.7
153.9
177.6
183.7
139.4
204.3
198.2

« 159.1
«161.1
185.6
186.2
196.2
184.9
184.1
193.7
143.1
183. 5
183.7
139.4

228 .5
180.8
« 1 47.2
361 .0
164.7
153 .9
179 .6
183.7
139.4
204.3
198.3

228.5
180.8
147.1
361.2
164.4
153.3
179.8
183.7
139.4
204.3
198.2

228.1
180.8
147.1
359 .8
164.0
153.3
178.9
183.7
139.4
204.3
198.2

226.1
180.7
147.2
356.8
162.1
152.1
176.2
183.7
139.4
204.3
195.8

« 155. 7
« 158.2
182.1
183.2
196.2
181.6
178.4
187.1
140.6
182.5
183.6
139.3
« 2 2 1 .4
«179.1
141.2
348 .4
154.9
147.3
166.2
183.6
139.3
204.3
193.8

142.9
144.0

* 146.4
« 145.2

« 147. 9
« 145. 0

146.4
138.2

147.3
139.0

144.5
138.1

139.6
136.1

« 135. 7
134.3

132 .2
131.6

« 128.7
125.4

122.5
« 121.9

118.1
« 119.1

114.5
« 117.1

96. 4
9 8 .0

74.
83.

185.3
115.1
108.6
165.8

185.2
117.1
108.6
186.4

184.5
117.8
108 .6
198 .7

185.1
118.1
108.9
214.6

185.2
118.1
108.9
217.3

184.4
118.1
108.9
200.4

« 180.0
« 195. 9
162.9

« 180.1
« 1 95.9
« 163.1

178.8
193.4
163.2

175.4
186.9
163.2

174.7
186.2
162.7

161.1
111.2
« 103.4
160.3
163.8
« 173.6
c 153.6

153.4
111.4
« 1 0 3 .4
163.9
159.2
168.1
149.9

135.0
112.1
« 103. 4
« 142. 7
153.9
162.8
144. 6

129.1
110.1
« 103.4
« 126.0
148.7
156.2
141.0

1 2 2 .7
« 108.6
« 103.7
111.9
146.9
154.2
139.4

77.
65.
73.
40.

179.3
196.0
161.5

163.8
112.0
« 105.1
171.5
166.9
176.6
156.7

109.4
82. 7
86. 6
102.1

H h n s e f u m is h in g g o o d s ______
F u r n i s h i n g s ______ ______
F u r n i t u r e r............................

175.1
115.6
107.4
180.9
« 170. 2
« 180. 6
159.2

110.4
114. 5
108. 5

85.
90.
81.

M is c e lla n e o u s ______________
T i r e s a n d tu b e s r_______
C a t t l e f e e d ______________
P a p e r a n d p u l p _________
P a p erb o ard P a p e r ______________
W o o d p u l p _________
"R u b b e r, c r u d e .
__
O t h e r m is c e lle a n o u s ____
S oaps a n d d e te rg e n ts f.

141.7
8 2 .8
245.0
196.2
221.1
173.5
273.8
135.1
136.7
153.8

141.7
8 2 .8
24 4 .9
196.2
2 2 1 .0
173.5
2 7 3 .8
135.1
136.7
154.1

142 .7
8 2 .8
261 .9
196.2
221.0
173.5
2 7 3 .8
137.5
136.7
154.1

142.5
82 8
236.5
196.3
221.0
173.8
272.5
145.4
136.8
155.3

142.7
8 2 .8
229.6
196.5
221.0
174.2
272.5
147.3
137.6
162.5

142.4
82 .8
226.3
196.5
221.1
174.2
272.1
148.4
137.1
157.8

140.5
8 2 .5
2 2 4 .4
189.0
214 .0
173.3
2 2 2 .6
146.1
136.6
152.3

137.6
8 2 .3
21 1 .4
178.7
193.0
164.5
2 2 2 .6
150.5
134.7
144.4

131.3
78.1
199 .6
173.4
184.3
159.4
2 2 2 .6
131.5
130.5
143.2

127.4
77 .4
2 0 3 .8
167.1
171.6
157.3
2 0 1 .8
114.7
127 .8
140.0

124.3
0
205. 6
163.9
165.5
154.5
20 1 .5
106.1
125.4
130.5

119.0
6 8 .7
240 .5
« 159. 8
15 2 .8
15 2 .0
« 2 0 2 .9
7 8 .4
121.7
122 .0

114.7
b 7 .0
213 .2
155.6
146. 6
150.3
• 186. 8
6 3 .4
120.7
122.1

9 8 .5
65. 7
197.8
115.6
115. 6
107.3
154.1
46 .2
101.0
101.3

73.
59.
68.
80.

t

C h e m ic a ls a n d a llie d p r o d u c ts
_______________
C h e m ic a ls ..........................
D ru g a n d p h arm aceu ­
ti c a l m a t e r i a l s .................
F e r t i l i z e r m a t e r i a l s _____
M ix e d f e r t ili z e r s ________
O ils a n d f a t s ____________

159.1
161.1
185.9
186.2
196.2
184.9
184.3
193.7
144.1
178.2
183.7
139.4

95.
98.
99.
92.
77.
/4.

(*)

129 9
121.3
102.6
176.0
108.6
9 9 .3
120.9
106.0

(4)

89.
90.
91.
90.
82.
92.
71.
79.

(*)

66

83
69.
34
81.
78

1 See footnote 1, table D-7. 3See footnote 2, table D-7. 3Not available. 1Index based on old series not available. Revised series first used in index in
May 1950. • Corrected. ' Revised.
[Revised indexes for dates prior to August 1949 available upon request.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

245

E : W O RK STOPPAGES

E: Work Stoppages
T able E -l: Work Stoppages Resulting From Labor-Management Disputes 1
N u m b e r o f s to p p a g e s

W o r k e r s i n v o l v e d i n s to p p a g e s

M a n - d a y s id le d u r i n g m o n t h
or year

M o n th a n d y e a r
B e g in n in g
in m o n t h o r
year
1935-39 (a v e ra g e )
1 9 4 5 . . . . . ................ .
1946
...........
1947
.........
1948..........................
1949........................ ..
1950...........................

I n e ffe c t d u r ­
in g m o n t h

B e g in n in g
in m o n t h o r
year

1, 130, 000
000
000
1, 000
000
000

2,862
4, 750
4,985
3,693
3, 419
3,606
4,843
463
635
521
550
329
218

768
732
918
820
801
605
423

278.000
224, 000
346.000
270.000
197.000

1951: J a n u a r y 2._
F e b ru a ry 1
M a r c h >___
A p r i l 1____
M a y 2 ___
J u n e 2____

400
350
350
350
400
375

550
550
550
550
580
560

185.000


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

200.000
61,100

220.000
140.000
165.000
150.000
190, 000

P e r c e n t of
e s ti m a t e d
w o r k in g tim e
0. 27
.4 7
1 .4 3
.4 1
.3 7
.5 9
.4 4

373, 000
389.000
441.000
450.000
330.000
308.000
114.000

2 .6 3 0 .0 0 0
2, 750,000
2 .6 6 0 .0 0 0
3, 510,000
2.5 9 0 .0 0 0
2 .0 5 0 .0 0 0
912,000

.3 4
.3 9
.3 2
.4 8
.3 2
.2 7

215.000
300.000
280.000
235.000
250.000
260.000

1, 200,000

.1 5
.2 5
.2 9
.2 5
.22

4, 600,
2, 170, 000
960,
3, 030,
2, 410,

483

N um ber

16.900.000
38, 000,000
116,000,000
34,600, 000
34.10 0 .0 0 0
50, 500,000
38.80 0 .0 0 0

3, 470,

1950: J u n e .............
J u l y .............
A u g u s t___
S e p te m b e r .
O c to b e r...
N o v e m b e r.
D e c e m b e r.

1 A ll k n o w n w o r k s to p p a g e s , a r is in g o u t o f la b o r - m a n a g e m e n t d is p u te s ,
in v o l v in g six o r m o re w o r k e r s a n d c o n t in u in g a s lo n g a s a f u ll d a y o r s h if t
a r e in c lu d e d in r e p o r t s o f t h e B u r e a u of L a b o r S ta t is tic s . F ig u r e s o n “ w o rk e rs
in v o l v e d ” a n d “ m a n - d a y s id l e ” c o v e r a ll w o r k e r s m a d e id le fo r o n e o r m o re

I n e ffe c t d u r ­
in g m o n t h

1 .7 0 0 .0 0 0
2.3 0 0 .0 0 0
1, 850, 000
1 .7 5 0 .0 0 0
1 .6 0 0 .0 0 0

.12

.21

s h if ts in e s ta b lis h m e n ts d ir e c tl y in v o l v e d in a s to p p a g e . T h e y d o n o t
m e a s u r e t h e i n d i r e c t o r s e c o n d a r y e ffe c ts o n o th e r e s ta b lis h m e n ts o r i n d u s tr i e s
w h o s e e m p lo y e e s a r e m a d e id le a s a r e s u lt of m a te r i a l o r s e rv ic e s h o r ta g e s .
2 P r e li m in a r y .

MONTHLY LABOR

F: BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION

246

F: Building and Construction
T able

F -l: Expenditures for New Construction 1
[Value of work put in place]
Expenditures (in millions)

Type of construction

July2 June3 May3 Apr. Mar. Feb.

Jan.

Dec. Nov.

Total new construction 4.... .................- $2, 790 $2, 702 $2, 551 $2,387 $2,188 $1,973 $2,100 $2, 234 $2, 569
Private construction__________ ___ 1,858 1,824 1, 734 1,673 1,603 1,518 1,586 1, 721 1,901
Residential building (nonfarm)......... 922 914 881 882 852 827 902 1,003 1,131
815 810 785 795 775 750 830 923 1,040
New dwelling units. _ _______
62
73
60
55
61
88
71
90
80
Additions and alterations_____
18
17
17
18
16
16
Nonhousekeeping *_ ________
17
16
16
403
Nonresidential building (nonfarm)8... 466 461 435 407 399 384 378 395
191 177 162 150 142 135 129 125 120
Industrial.. ................. .......
Commercial................... ......... 119 130 130 125 128 121 122 140 149
Warehouses, office and loft
47
45
46
47
48
47
47
45
47
buildings ----------------Stores, restaurants, and ga72
83
83
80
83
75
92 102
75
rages....... ........ .............
156 154 143 132 129 128 127 130 134
Other nonresidential building__
40
35
39
42
41
35
37
38
35
Religious. .................. .....
29
29
26
27
28
29
27
26
Educational. ... . . . ____
30
22
19
20
1
4
1
4
16
18
15
15
Social and recreational... ...
30
32
30
30
38
38
31
Hospital and institutional7—
37
34
1
2
13
32
22
20
1
7
1
3
31
27
Miscellaneous________ _
72
71
81
83
76
95
Farm construction.................. ...... 134 126 113
279
229
247
318
264
226
331
283
300
Public utilities______ ______ _
32
20
31
26
26
28
33
31
29
Railroad________ ________
34
35
38
42
42
40
39
33
43
Telephone and telegraph______
Other public utilities................. 255 245 227 214 199 173 169 184 209
5
7
5
5
5
5
5
5
6
All other private 8. _________ _
932 878 817 714 585 455 514 513 668
Public construction______________
30
31
36
33
46
44
42
55
50
Residential building >__________
Nonresidential building (other than
military or naval facilities)______ 324 313 312 292 251 210 224 216 228
31
29
49
30
36
95
83
73
Industrial_______________
80
Educational ________ _____ 132 130 130 125 120 112 112 110 112
39
42
52
42
36
39
52
52
48
Hospital and institutional.. ___
45
40
32
37
36
48
46
Other nonresidential_________
45
50
29
29
24
26
72
39
87
59
Military and naval facilities 10. _ ___ 102
95 103 221
65
Highways___ _______________ 270 250 215 160 110
60
52
55
56
68
64
58
Sewer and water.. ____ _______
66
61
Miscellaneous public service enter12
13
19
21
9
21
14
20
17
prises 11___________ ______
60
65
76
83
64
49
Conservation and development____
85
80
73
7
8
5
6
6
All other public 71_____________
8
7
7
8
1Joint estimates of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Department of
Labor, and the Building Materials Division, U. S. Department of Com­
merce. Estimated construction expenditures represent the monetary value
of the volume of work accomplished during the given period of time. These
figures should be differentiated from permit valuation data reported in the
tabulations for building authorized (tables F-3 and F-4) and the data on
value of contract awards reported in table F-2.
*Preliminary.
»Revised.
4Includes major additions and alterations.
• Includes hotels, dormitories, and tourist courts and cabins.
8Expenditures by privately owned public utilities for nonresidential
building are included under “Public utilities.”


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

1950

1950

1951

Oct. Sept. Aug. July
$2, 773
2,025
1,247
1,145
84
18
382
112
136
43
93
134
40
29
23
30
12
95
294
32
39
223
7
748
30
247
31
115
42
59
28
265
65
21
84
8

$2, 848
2,095
1,322
1,211
94
17
354
101
121
39
82
132
39
28
23
30
12
115
297
29
39
229
7
753
28
230
23
109
42
56
21
298
64
20
84
8

$2, 817
2,090
1,322
1,212
93
17
333
91
114
35
79
128
37
26
24
30
11
127
297
29
40
228
11
727
27
213
19
103
42
49
16
295
61
20
87
8

$2, 696
2,016
1,269
1,161
93
15
324
84
116
31
85
124
35
24
23
30
12
125
287
28
39
220
11
680
24
202
18
98
39
47
10
273
59
17
86
9

1949

Total Total
$27,902 $22, 584
20.789 16,181
12, 600 8,267
11, 525 7,257
900
825
175
185
3, 777 3,228
1,062
972
1,288 1,027
402
321
886
706
1,427 1,229
409
360
294
269
262
247
344
202
133
136
1,170 1,292
3,130 3,316
315
352
440
533
2,375 2,431
112
78
7,113 6,403
345
359
2,402 2,068
224
177
934
1,163
476
477
539
480
177
137
2,350 2,129
619
671
186
203
793
886
96
95

7Includes Federal contributions toward construction of private nonprofit
hospital facilities under the National Hospital Program.
8Covers privately owned sewer and water facilities, roads and bridges,
and miscellaneous nonbuilding items such as parks and playgrounds.
9Includes nonhousekeeping public residential construction as well as
housekeeping units.
1° Covers all construction, building as well as nonbuilding (except for pro­
duction facilities, which are included in public industrial building).
u Covers primarily publicly owned airports, electric light and power sys­
tems, and local transit facilities.
UCovers public construction not elsewhere classified, such as parks, play­
grounds, and memorials.

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

F : B U IL D IN G AN D C O N STR U C TIO N

247

Table F-2: Value of Contracts Awarded and Force-Account Work Started on Federally Financed

New Construction, by Type of Construction 1
Value (in thousands)
Conservation and
development

Building
Period

1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946.
1947.
1948.
1949.
1950.
1949: January__
February...
March
April____
May...... .
June____
July_____
August......
September..
October__
November..
December..
1950: January__
February...
March___
April____
May____
June____
July------August___
September..
October__
November..
December..
1951: January__
February...
March..... .
April u___
May I2 ..

Total
new
Air
con­
struc­ ports 3
tion 3
Total

$1,478,073 (?) $442,782
1, 533,439 (?)
561,394
990,410 (7)
344, 567
1,609,208 (?)
676, 542
1,586,604 $4, 753 669, 222
2,316,467 137,112 1, 537, 910
5,931, 536499,427 4, 422,131
7,871,986 579,176 6,226, 878
2,877,044 243,443 2,068,337
1,861,449 110, 872 1, 438,849
1,092,181 41, 219 806,917
1, 502, 701 15,068 617,132
1,473,910 25,075 454, 593
1, 906,466 55, 577 543,118
2,174,203 49, 317 880,101
2, 706, 650 54, 461 1, 278, 263
97,047 5, 520 40,410
101, 298 242 45, 058
182, 992 4,288 45,051
133, 535 4,212 34,148
257,834 7,233 71,383
325, 997 12,262 143,870
142, 768 4, 818 37, 979
272, 671 3,385 134, 548
173, 584 1,902 83, 971
103, 616 3,413 36, 718
222,263 790 131,881
160, 598 1,252 75,084
129, 514 4,827 48, 467
119,057 2, 533 38, 020
233, 791 8, 616 51, 294
169, 416 7,341 66, 516
224,363 4,196 59, 921
367,371 5.345 155, 460
162, 239 5,852 59, 664
178, 355 5, 247 66, 961
181,316 2,862 82, 757
240, 426 4, 060 145, 796
150, 223 2, 576 30, 588
550, 579 1,006 472,819
414,191 9,412 105, 651
207, 755 10, 773 92,825
286,085 6,330 134,681
287,254 16,691 95,964
260,927 35,337 109,983

Nonresidential
Resi­
den­
tial

Total

Edu­
ca­
tional 4

$7,833 $434,949 (8)
63,465 497,929 (8)
17,239 327,328 <8)
31,809 644, 733 (8)
231,071 438,151 (8)
244, 671 1,293,239 (8)
322, 2484, 099,883 (8)
565, 2475, 661, 631 (8)
405, 537 1,662,800 (8)
117, 504 1, 321,345 (8)
60, 535 746, 382 (8)
452, 204 164, 928 $14, 664
60, 694 393,899 47, 750
47,198 495, 920 1.424
46,800 833, 301 1,041
15, 445 1, 262,818 3,123
101 40, 309 148
2,535 42, 523 635
4,602 40,449
0
4,498 29, 650
18
6,245 65,138
30
23, 017 120,853
0
821 37,158
10
49 134, 499 140
446 83, 525
0
672 36,046
0
9 131,872
60
3,805 71,279
0
213 48, 254 144
127 37,893 138
1,059 50,235
20
3, 453 63, 063
70
1,605 58,316
0
5,847 149, 613 1,923
634 59,030 616
60 66, 901 174
1,284 81, 473
0
200 145, 596
19
233 30, 355
2
730 472,089
17
846 104,805
96
916 91, 909
41
39 134. 642 179
3,008 92,956 1,217
1,574 108,409
6

Total

Vet­
erans

River, High­ All
ways other 8
Ad­ Other
Rec­ har­
minis­ non- Total lama­ bor,
and
trative resition flood
and
control
gen­ denOther eral
tial
8

(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
$14, 281
101,992
263, 296
355, 541
389,848
8,192
12, 651
26, 663
21,352
23, 649
64,985
22, 756
43. 544
57, 995
15,004
16, 600
42,150
28, 528
32, 081
23,100
40,184
32, 572
68, 384
43, 914
28, 741
35, 717
19, 797
21, 388
15, 442
14,818
15, 388
42, 943
28,357
12,793

(8)
(*)
(s)
(*)
(«)
(*)
(*)
(*)
(8)
(*)
(*)
$9,032
96,140
168, 616
123, 967
118, 565
428
5, 477
9, 612
1,204
1,045
14,814
202
25, 492
26, 500
8, 737
7,387
23,069
19, 407
17, 354
14, 534
21, 969
13, 688
7, 766
8,007
1, 450
12, 957
643
676
114
110
701
19,141
18,970
317

(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
$5, 249
5, 852
94, 680
231, 574
271, 283
7,764
7,174
17,051
20,148
22,604
50,171
22, 554
18,052
31, 495
6, 267
9, 213
19,081
9,121
14, 727
8, 566
18, 215
18,884
60, 618
35, 907
27, 291
22, 760
19,154
20, 712
15, 328
14, 708
14, 687
23,802
9,387
12,476

Hospitals and
institutional

1Excludes projects classifiedas “secret”by the military. Data for Federalaid programs cover amounts contributed by both owner and the Federal
Government. Force-account work is done not through a contractor, but
directly by a government agency, using a separate work force to performnon­
maintenance construction on the agency’s own properties.
3 Includes major additions and alterations.
3Excludes hangars and other buildings, which are included under “Other
nonresidential” building construction.
4Includes educational facilities under the Federal temporary re-use edu­
cational facilities program.
s Includes post offices, armories, offices, and customhouses. Includes
contract awards for construction at United Nations Headquarters in New
York City, the principal awards having been for the Secretariat Building


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

(8)
(8) $438, 725$158,027 $280, 698$381,037 $215, 529
(8)
(8) 189, 710 73, 797 115, 913 511; 685 270, 650
(8)
(8) 133,010 59,051 73,959 360; 865 151,968
(8)
(*) 303,874 175, 382 128, 492 372, 238 256, 554
(8)
(8) 225,423 115,612 109,811 355, 701 331, 505
(8)
(8) 197,589 69,028 128, 561 364; 048 79,808
(8)
(8) 199, 684 41, 880 157,804 446,903 363,391
(8)
(8) 217, 795 150, 708 67,087 347,988 500;149
(8)
(8) 155, 737 101, 270 54,467 161,852 247; 675
(8)
(8) 112,415 66,679 45] 736 111805 87; 508
72,150 30, 765 41, 385 100, 969 70,926
(8)
(8)
$9, 713$126, 270 290,163 149,870 140,293 534, 653 45,685
32, 550 211,607 307, 695 75, 483 232,212 659, 645 26; 902
29, 926 201,274 494,871 147, 732 347,139 767,460 45,440
88,856 387,863 497, 557 184,803 312, 754 690, 469 56, 759
58, 255 811, 592 435, 253 195,845 239, 408 835, 606 103; 067
25,008 6,961 15,141 7, 596 7, 545 34,465 1, 511
22, 719 6, 518 24,032 3,083 20, 949 29,000 2,966
1,747 12,039 84. 342 22; 546 61, 796 41, 646 7,665
949 7,331 39,899 18, 778 21,121 52; 099 3,177
13, 658 27,801 89,536 61, 537 27, 999 83; 769 5; 913
10, 564 45,304 80,530 26,603 53,927 80, 348 8; 987
2,018 12,374 22,115 6,822 15, 293 75, 448 2,408
969 89, 846 52, 304 12,375 39,929 79,020 3 414
538 24, 992 20, 679 10,179 10, 500 63,035 3, 997
4,333 16, 709 12,914 1,091 11,823 49,910 7661
5,308 109, 904 42,186 5; 677 36; 509 38,100 9,306
1,045 28,084 13, 879 8, 516 5,363 63, 629 6, 754
13, 261 6,321 26,147 17, 993 8,154 41, 027 9, 046
1,259 4,415 29, 953 7,087 22, 866 42', 357 6,194
3, 459 23, 656 103, 559 69, 840 33, 719 61, 032 9, 290
2,585 20, 224 20, 572 2,782 17, 790 63, 462 11, 525
2,537 23, 207 68,100 7,726 60, 374 80, 934 11, 212
25,880 53, 426 80, 602 43, 720 36,882 111, 416 14, 548
2, 217 12, 283 13, 938 10, 600 3,338 77, 973 4; 812
1,849 36,137 15, 910 8, 364 7, 546 83,316 6, 921
1,580 44,176 16, 046 9,549 6, 497 73; 883 5; 768
1,234 124, 546 19, 630 13, 471 6,159 55; 632 15, 308
1,853 7,112 32, 538 i; 753 30, 785 81,142 3, 379
541 «456,089 8, 258 2,960 5, 298 63,432 5, 064
728 89,163 213,044 •0206,077 6, 967 75, 551 10, 533
10,096 66, 384 30,333 10,125 20, 208 59, 067 1< 757
8, 773 82, 747 45, 613 15,346 30, 267 71,238 28, 223
2,880 60,502 101,498 10, 803 90, 695 58,066 15; 035
2,015 93, 595 43,416 9,293 34,123 58,360 13; 831

(January 1949: $23,810,000), for the Meeting Hall (January 1950: $11,238,000),
and for the General Assembly Building (June 1950: $10,704,000).
8Includes electrification projects, water-supply and sewage-disposal
systems, railroad construction, and other types of projects not elsewhere
classified.
7Included in “All other."
8Unavailable.
5 Includes primarily construction projects for the Atomic Energy Com­
mission.
10Includes primarily steam-electric generating projects for the Tennes­
see Valley Authority.
11Revised.
13 Preliminary.

F : B U IL D IN G AN D C O N STR U C TIO N

248

M ONTHLY LABO R

T able F-8: Urban Building Authorized, by Principal Class of Construction and by Type of Building 1
Valuation (in thousands)
New residential building

Privately financed

Addi­
New non- tions,
Pub­
altera­
resiPublicly Nonfi­
Multi- licly
dential tions,
2-fam­
nanced
1-fam­
housePrivately financed dwelling units financed
fam­
dwell­ keep- building and Total
ily
8
ily
ily 4
repairs
ing
ing*
units
Multi­
2-fam­
Total 1-family ily 2 family *
Housekeeping

Period
Total all
classes 1

1942.
1946.
1947.
1948.
1949.
1950.
1950: May—......
June____
July____
August__
September.
October__
November.
December..
1951: January—.
February..
April8.
May 7_.

Number of new dwelling units—House­
keeping only

$2, 707, 573 $598, 570 $478, 658
4, 743, 414 2,114, 833 1, 830, 260
5, 563,348 2, 885,374 2, 361, 752
6, 972, 784 3,422, 927 2,745,219
7, 396, 274 3, 724, 924 2, 845,399
10,408,292 5, 803, 912 4,845,104
1, 056, 835 644,098 534, 758
1,045, 894 613,915 518,444
1,065,117 589, 643 512, 594
1, 097, 651 606, 346 501,489
' 848,041 438, 852 375, 214
870, 325 428,078 363, 263
707, 673 341, 335 297, 465
781, 384 345, 278 291, 219
758,917 379,178 329,624
585, 683 330, 520 294, 756
770, 269 406, 76S 356, 55C
777,318 420,085 374.674
802,455 454,889 392, 593

$42, 629
103. 042
151,036
181,493
132,365
179, 214
20,000
15, 421
17,321
17, 328
13,308
12, 782
11,192
9, 297
14,109
10, 955
14, 58C
19,005
14,146

$77, 283 $296, 933 $22, 910 $1, 510,688 $278,472 184,892 138, 908
181, 531 355, 587 43,369 1,458,602 771,023 430,195 358,151
372, 586 42,249 29,831 1, 713,489 892,404 502, 312 393, 606
496, 215 139,334 38,034 2,367,940 1,004, 549 516,179 392, 532
747,160 285, 627 39, 785 2, 408,445 937, 493 575, 286 413, 543
779, 594 301, 961 84,508 3,127, 769 1,090,142 796,143 623,330
89, 340 28,041 22,184 261, 512 101,001 88,814 69,377
80,050 4, 584 5,093 308,910 113,391 82, 934 66,885
59, 728 41, 997 7,935 313, 522 112,020 79, 473 64,586
87, 529 36, 510 8,690 330,836 115, 268 79,140 61, 740
50, 330 37,237 6, 599 266,006 99, 346 58,172 46,498
52,033 14, 460 4,406 329,426 93, 955 55, 210 43, 761
32, 678 29, 261 5,546 250, 616 80, 915 44,588 36, 244
44, 762 76,095 4,919 280, 717 74,375 44,697 34, 810
35,445 9,066 3,123 270,314 97,236 48,786 39,346
24,809 10, 201 1,252 174,050 69,660 39, 749 32,962
35, 633 5,966 3,082 263, 920 90,538 50, 668 41, 206
26,406 33,305 3,346 234,024 86,558 50,494 42,816
48,150 7,027 1,477 233,205 105,857 54,302 43,911

i Building for which building permits were issued and Federal contracts
awarded in all urban places, including an estimate of building undertaken
in some smaller urban places that do not issue permits.
The data cover federally and nonfederally financed building construction
combined. Estimates of non-Federal (private and State and local govern­
ment) urban building construction are based primarily on building-permit
reports received from places containing about 85 percent of the urban popula­
tion of the country; estimates of federally financed projects are compiled from
notifications of construction contracts awarded, which are obtained from
other Federal agencies. Data frombuilding permits are not adjusted to allow
forlapsed permits or for lag between permit issuance and the start of construc­
tion. Thus, the estimates do not represent construction actually started
during the month.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

15, 747
24,326
33, 423
36, 306
26,431
33,302
3, 859
2,828
3,118
2,992
2,236
2,313
2,056
1,747
2,813
2,103
2,816
2,857
2,472

30, 237
47, 718
75, 283
87,341
135,312
139, 511
15, 578
13, 221
11, 769
14,408
9, 438
9,136
6,288
8,140
6,627
4, 684
6,646
4,821
7,919

95, 946
98, 310
5, 833
15,114
32,194
34, 363
3, 271
513
4, 590
4,041
4,154
1,619
2,940
9,289
972
1,039
579
3,343
836

Urban, as defined by the Bureau of the Census, covers all incorporated
laces of 2,500 population or more in 1940, and, by special rule, a small numer of unincorporated civil divisions.
3Covers additions, alterations, and repairs, as well as new residential and
nonresidential building.
3Includes units in 1-family and 2-family structures with stores.
* Includes units in multifamily structures with stores.
*Covers hotels, dormitories, tourist cabins, and other nonhousekeeping
residential buildings.
8Revised.
TPreliminary.

REVIEW, AUGUST 1951

249

F : B U IL D IN G A N D CO N STR U C TIO N

T able F-4: New Nonresidential Building Authorized in All Urban Places,1 by General Type and by

Geographic Division 2
Valuation (in thousands)
Geographic division and
type of new nonresi­
dential building

1951
May 3 Apr.4 Mar.

1950
Feb.

Jan.

Dec.

Nov.

Oct.

Sept.

Aug.

July

June

May

1950

1949

Total

Total

All types.......... ......... $233, 205$234,024 $263, 920$174,050 $270,314 $280,717$250, 616$329,426 $266,006$330,836 $313, 522$308,910 $261,512$3,127,769 $2,408, 445
New England........ 15.821 29, 751 14,09c 12, 916 10, 47f 16,46c 13,675 15, 652 12, 701 21,082 19,81i 13,728 17,966 193,386 115, 582
Middle Atlantic__ 32, 43Ê 26, 901 55,334 20, 989 41,909 36,916 47, 556 68,678 45,95c 41,646 50,614 62,541 41,651 516, 583 429,042
East North Central. 69, 602 52, 623 85, 212 40, 62C 63,558 42,105 46, 315 95, 545 62, 556 71,914 63,031 65,130 59, 978 675, 555 492.384
West North Central- 15, 652 22,682 12, 235 11,643 20,627 17, 797 21,064 25,09£ 24, 489 27,80C 24,731 40, 841 24,910 262,737 203,409
South Atlantic...... 23,995 17,940 27,262 17,949 37, 526 37,65C 25,316 26, 447 31, 62É 42,836 35.38C 35,01f 35,008 375,803 311,540
East South Central. 9, 651 17, 617 11,823 6,087 11,347 10, 826 7,905 16,44C 8,407 13,43C 16, 478 16, 438 8,889 144,084 133,377
West South Central. 20, 220 19, 743 25,156 25, 949 35,967 60,882 28,016 34,900 30,808 43,115 43, 248 33,131 28,827 388,201 270,407
Mountain______
5,283 14, 554 4, 84C 6, 543 9,636 8,610 8, 92£ 6,955 13,45.1 15,285 8, 43C 10, 813 7,310 112,265 104,112
Pacific.... ............. 40, 542 32, 213 27,965 31,354 39,265 49,468 51,845 39,708 36,014 53,731 51, 795 31,280 36, 970 459,155 348,592
Industrial buildings •— 42, 921 37,655 45, 989 24, 995 36,675~ 26,646 27,228 44,892 29,203 31,373 29, 866 24,575 20, 893 296,803 203, 699
New England____ 4, 877 1,497 4, 232 1,678 1,415 1,062 1,653 1,755 1, 558 2,173 1,282
928 1,225 13,999
6, 450
Middle Atlantic__ 8,133 8, 200 8,308 4,194 11, 703 5, 705 2,586 7,281 4,308 4, 762 11,235 3,927 5,219 55,679 40,386
East North Central. 15,159 14, 970 21,309 9, 987 8,566 8,074 9,619 23, 745 13,572 11,948 7,005 9,077 6,955 110,829 77,037
West North Central. 1,961 2,349 1,768 2, 861 2. 266 1,696 5,149 3,077 1,143 2, 906 2,223 1,109 2,200 23,369 15, 689
1,853 1,682 1,688
South Atlantic___
963 1,017 1,033 1,619 1,297 3, 298
677 3,168 1,495
778 17,019 19,173
East South Central. 3,316 1,209
459
946 1,000 1,888
417
375 1,832 1,972 1,456 1,168
234 13,355
8,736
522 2, 631 2, 231 1,172 2,612
West South Central.
903 1,677 2,388 1,815 2,332 2,025 1,411
691 17,800
6,859
965
Mountain...... ......
550
373
440
789
190
278
592
846
161 1,420
481
288
5, 469
4; 370
Pacific........ ....... . 6,135 4, 567 5, 621 3, 570 4,673 4,950 3, 936 4,182 3,983 4,042 2, 751 2,990 3,302 39, 284 24,999
Commercial buildings •_ 55, 467 62,308 69,317 53,922 103, 244 119,091 95, 985 117,952 93,691 124,698 96,505 97,177 90,895 1,122, 583 752,810
New England____ 2,042 2,231 1,789 4,945 3, 783 7,244 2,115 5,343 5,700 3,270 5,170 4, 767 6, 327 53,675 36.668
Middle Atlantic__ 8,744 9,448 9,645 6,506 17,727 14,622 28,391 37,017 14,293 18,846 13,096 16,498 12,825 212,645 127,049
East North Central. 15, 708 8,689 31,163 7,277 18,072 15,107 15, 971 17,697 18,152 24, 797 20,370 20,683 18,857 201,314 147,620
West North Central. 2,932 5,635 2,960 3,239 5,809 6,873 5,045 8,335 10,336 10, 984 7,720 8,813 10,780 94,104
52, 907
South Atlantic___ 5,999 5,083 7, 445 7,255 17,325 17, 467 8, 553 11,877 10, 280 16,071 12,397 13,016 11,678 139,990 106,037
East South Central. 1,054 12, 315
983 1,644 7,065 4,208 2,226 3,344 4,055 4, 720 5,255 5,662 4,060 46,076 36,020
West South Central. 5,640 7, 778 6,827 9, 609 16,115 35,996 15,383 14, 578 10,613 21,801 16,006 12,645 11,236 175,129 101,025
Mountain...... ...... 1,300 2,674 1,238 1,132 2,424 3,014 3, 620 3,308 4, 758 6, 994 3, 948 3,425 3,662 47,481
25, 589
Pacific................. 12,048 8,455 7,267 12,315 14, 924 14, 560 14,682 16,453 15, 505 17,216 12, 543 11,668 11,469 152,169 119,895
Community buildings 7. 94, 656 104, 474 124, 661 70,913 94,835 98, 545 85,024 118,820 111,346 130,167 136,091 127,388 114,538 1,260,078 1,018,637
New England...... . 7,772 22,790 4, 789 5, 773 4, 556 6, 630 9,025 7,238 3, 520 11,839 11,743 6,528 9,151 107, 541 43,770
Middle Atlantic__ 10, 595 6,907 34,325 8,151 10,470 7, 959 12,862 20, 957 24,137 13, 764 19, 772 18,849 18,825 169,036 179,463
East North Central. 22,835 21, 547 28, 233 18, 721 26,000 14,077 16,401 37,411 21, 658 24,964 26, 598 26,119 24,911 275,029 201,808
West North Central. 8,638 11, 561 5,668 3, 818 11,277 6, 796 6,673 10,808 8,636 10,417 7,002 26, 763 8, 585 105,603 100, 282
South Atlantic___ 12, 543 8,939 16,446 8, 967 13,753 15,096 13,191 11,327 19,003 17,949 17, 873 11,921 20,295 179,035 103, 666
East South Central. 4, 928 3,245 10,040 3,688 1,653 3,036 3,860 3,438 2,281 6,803 8, 236 9, 439 3,728 62, 529 71,114
West South Central. 9, 985 7.004 13,038 11,239 8, 360 17, 552 9,257 12,641 13, 942 14,980 22, 370 14,177 11,632 146,688 135,620
Mountain............ 1,673 8,946 2,515 3, 721 5, 895 3, 756 4,164 1,709 6, 563 4,929 2, 888 3, 280 2,387 43,296 59,923
Pacific_________ 15, 687 13, 535 9, 607 6, 835 12, 871 23,643 9, 593 13,291 11,607 24, 522 19,611 10,311 15,024 170,721 122,991
9,493 2,962 2,680 6,741 13, 972 9,226 19,225 11,719 5,087 7,229 15, 506 35,215 5,615 134,894 153,103
Public buildings *___
0
410
New England____
0
38
809
0
70
30
53
216
481
49
128
2,584
4,863
Middle Atlantic__ 1,410
102
307 1,195
662 2,495
611
247
657
688 1,211 20,306
992 40,178 36,154
241
East North Central. 5,338
524
642
527
329
742
382 1,561 3,411
160 3,997
684
9, 513
8,157
0
0
West North Central.
12
48 1,621
0
111
30
711
108 1,079
262
219
4,896
9,560
381
South Atlantic___ 1, 748
392
653
92
558
952 4,496
826
372 3,869
165
176 15,008 50,313
12
66
0
East South Central.
0
366
35 7,966
0
171
0
318
0
92
9,279
6,257
305
West South Central.
620
0
303
178
820 2,566
185
573 1,859
145
769 6,195
8,268
5; 041
122 1,165
Mountain.......... .
102
451
29
695
494
186
247
0 1,159
69
235
3,240
5,436
558
553 4,115 1,928 1,584 18,001
Pacific.................
766
759
604
925 10,885 2,106 2, 901 41,928 27,322
Public works and utility
buildings <L_............ 11,368 10,629 8,777 7,308 9,507 17,939 7,119 14,235 7,432 9, 954 11,318 6,403 6,681 106,164 148,375
380 2,476 1,367
New England____
323
279
119
161
941 2,769
491
248
100
49
6,478 16,012
554
679 1,554
759 1,263 2,908
Middle Atlantic__ 1,570
66 5, 358 1,322
325 1,385 16,868 27, 651
313
3,
580 1,095 1, 259 1, 562 4, 576 3,260
East North Central.
206 10,279
607 1,830 1,759 1,111 2,348 26, 585 22,302
307 1,534
West North Central.
247 1,014
750
323 1,534
266 2,233
606
622 1,207
318
9, 314 11,337
917
465
South Atlantic..... .
650
842 1,766
340
835
105
240 1,281
299
623
592
7,658 23.281
26
10
11
70
East South Central.
549
647
7
370
225
494
221
181
257
3,316
7,223
421
829 1,289 1,896
West South Central.
903 4,310
254
433
543
170
147
799 1,239 13,646 11,944
370
0
180
Mountain.........
68
38
0
125
338
370
485
361
474
41
2,702
2, 566
Pacific________ _ 3, 798 2,749 2,586 1,458 1,998 1,996 3, 211 1,457 1,536 2, 490 3,246 1,359
488 19, 597 26,059
All other buildings 10__ 19,300 15, 996 12,496 10,171 12, 081 9,270 16,036 21,807 19, 247 27,416 24, 236 18,152 22,890 207, 247 131,821
750
New England____
439
757 1,506
364
763 1,085
952
978
917
371
776 1,086
9,109
7,819
Middle Atlantic__ 1,988 1,565 1,195
777 2,148 2,258 1,899 2,323 2,392 2,636 2,405 22,177 18,339
630 1,280
East North Central. 6,982 5,798 3,007 2, 913 2,348 1,060 3,474 6,084 7,825 7,993 5,738 4,729 6,223 52,285 35,460
West North Central. 1,814 1,592 1,592
477
488 2,663 2, 501 2, 111 2,176 7,056 1,870 2,765 25, 451 13,634
491
935 1,195
837
South Atlantic___
835 3,088 1,580 1,656 1,489 16, 493
833
587 1,785 1,000 2,177
9,070
315
East South Central.
298
265
786
321
597
454
755
511
198
605
345
554
9,529
4,027
West South Central. 3,347 1,500 1,151 1,265 1,782 1,818 1,267 4,040 1,329 3,647 2,127 2,240 3,884 26, 670
9,918
853 1,151
612
Mountain______
801
388
986
762 2,163 1,063 1,055
356
655
697 10,077
6,228
Pacific................. 2,316 2,140 2,331 3,061 2,871 2,735 2,422 3, 566 2,779 4,536 2, 759 2,846 3,786 35,456 27,326
>Building for which permits were issued and Federal contracts awarded
in all urban places, including an estimate of building undertaken in some
smaller urban places that do not issue permits. Sums of components do not
always equal totals exactly because of rounding.
»For scope and source of urban estimated, see table F-3, footnote 1.
• Preliminary.
*Revised.
*Includes factories, navy yards, army ordnance plants, bakeries, ice plants,
industrial warehouses, and other buildings at the site of these and similar
production plants.
• Includes amusement and recreation buildings, stores and other mercantile
buildings, commercial garages, gasoline and service stations, etc.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

7Includes churches, hospitals, and other institutional buildings, schools,
libraries, etc.
8Includes Federal, State, county, and municipal buildings, such as post
offices, courthouses, city halls, Are and police stations, jails, prisons, arsenals,
armories, army barracks, etc.
• Includes railroad, bus and airport buildings, roundhouses, radio stations,
gas and electric plants, public comfort stations, etc.
10Includes private garages, sheds, stables and barns, and other building
not elsewhere classified.

250

F : B U IL D IN G A N D CO N STR U C TIO N

T able F-5: Number and Construction Cost of New Permanent Nonfarm Dwelling Units Started, by

Urban or Rural Location, and by Source of Funds 1
Number of new dwelling units started
All units

Period
Total
non­
farm
1925__________ ________ 937,000
1933 8___________________ 93,000
19414__ ______ ________ 706,100
1944 8___________________ 141,800
1946____________________ 670, 500
1947____________________ 849,000
1948____________________ 931,600
1949____________________ 1,025,100
1950 «___________________ 1,396,000
1949: First quarter--------------- 169, 800
January. .... ...... 50,000
February_______ 50,400
March_________ 69, 400
Second quarter________ 279, 200
April. ________ 88, 300
May____ . . . __ 95, 400
June_________ _ 95, 500
Third quarter_____ ___ _ 298, 000
96,100
July...---- ------August........... ..... 99,000
September............ 102, 900
Fourth quarter________ 278,100
October________ 104, 300
November______ 95, 500
December______
78,300
1950: First quarter__________ 278,900
January_____ ...
78, 700
February_______ 82,900
March_____ ___ 117,300
Second quarter____ ___ 426,800
April____ ____ 133, 400
May__________ 149,100
June__________ 144,300
Third quarter___ . ____ 406, 900
July---------------- 144, 400
August________ 141,900
September____ _ 120, 600
Fourth quarter________ 283, 400
October________ 102, 500
November- .......... 87, 300
93, 600
December______
1951: First quarter 8-------------- 260, 300
85,900
January_______
February.. ___
80, 600
March 8____ ___ 93,800
88, 000
April ________
May 10.................. 97, 000

Privately financed

Urban

Rural
non­
farm

Total
non­
farm

752,000
45,000
434,300
96,200
403, 700
479, 800
524,900
588, 800
827,800
94, 200
29, 500
28,000
36, 700
157, 300
49, 500
53,900
53,900
171,600
53,300
55, 900
62,400
165, 700
60,000
56, 700
49,000
167, 800
48, 200
51, 000
68,600
247,000
78, 800
85, 500
82, 700
238, 200
84, 200
83, 600
70, 400
174,800
59, 400
53,100
62,300
147, 800
49, 600
47, 000
51, 200
(9)
(9)

185,000 937,000
48,000 93,000
271, 800 619, 500
45, 600 138, 700
266, 800 662, 500
369, 200 845,600
406, 700 913, 500
436,300 988,800
568,200 1,352,200
75,600 159,400
20, 500 46,300
22,400 47, 800
32, 700 65,300
121,900 267, 200
38, 800 85,000
41, 500 91, 200
41, 600 91,000
126, 400 289,900
42, 800 92, 700
43,100 96, 600
40, 500 100,600
112, 400 272,300
44, 300 101,900
38, 800 93, 400
29, 300 77,000
111,100 276,100
30, 500 77, 800
31, 900 82, 300
48, 700 116,000
179,800 420, 400
54, 600 131,300
63, 600 145,700
61, 600 143, 400
168, 700 393,600
60, 200 139,700
58, 300 137,800
50, 200 116,100
108, 600 262,100
43,100 100, 800
34, 200 82, 700
31, 300 78,600
112, 500 248,800
36,300 82, 200
33, 600 76, 500
42, 600 90,100
(«)
84, 500
93,800
(9)

1 T h e e s ti m a t e s s h o w n h e r e d o n o t in c lu d e t e m p o r a r y u n i t s , c o n v e rs io n s ,
d o r m i to r y a c c o m m o d a tio n s , tr a ile r s , o r m i l i t a r y b a r r a c k s . T h e y d o in ­
c lu d e p r e f a b r i c a t e d h o u s in g u n it s .
T h e s e e s tim a te s a re b a s e d o n b u il d in g - p e r m it r e c o rd s , w h ic h , b e g in n in g
w i t h 1945, h a v e b e e n a d j u s t e d fo r la p s e d p e r m its a n d fo r la g b e t w e e n p e r m it
is s u a n c e a n d s t a r t of c o n s tr u c tio n . T h e y a r e b a s e d a lso o n r e p o r t s of
F e d e r a l c o n s tr u c tio n c o n t r a c t a w a r d s a n d b e g in n in g in 1946 o n fie ld s u r v e y s
in n o n - p e r m it- is s u in g p la c e s . T h e d a t a i n t h i s t a b le re fe r to n o n f a r m
d w e llin g u n i t s s t a r t e d , a n d n o t to u r b a n d w e llin g u n i t s a u t h o r iz e d , a s s h o w n
i n t a b le F - 3 .
A ll of th e s e e s tim a te s c o n t a in s o m e e r r o r . F o r e x a m p le , if t h e e s ti m a t e
o f n o n f a r m s t a r t s is 50,000, t h e c h a n c e s a r e a b o u t 19 o u t of 20 t h a t a n a c tu a l
e n u m e r a ti o n w o u ld p r o d u c e a fig u re b e t w e e n 48,000 a n d 52,000.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Publicly financed

Urban

Rural
non­
farm

Total
Rural
non­ Urban non­
farm
farm

752,000
45,000
369, 500
93,200
395, 700
476, 400
510,000
556, 600
785,600
84,100
25, 800
25, 500
32,800
147, 800
46, 700
50, 600
50, 500
164, 500
50,100
54,300
60,100
160, 200
57, 700
54, 700
47,800
165, 600
47,300
50, 800
67, 500
241, 200
77,000
82, 200
82, 000
225, 200
79, 500
79, 600
66,100
153,600
57, 700
48, 500
47,400
137,000
46, 400
43,100
47, 500
(9)
(9)

185,000
48,000
250,000
45, 500
266,800
369, 200
403, 500
432, 200
566,600
75,300
20, 500
22,300
32, 500
119, 400
38,300
40, 600
40, 500
125, 400
42, 600
42,300
40, 500
112,100
44,200
38, 700
29,200
110, 500
30, 500
31, 500
48, 500
179, 200
54,300
63, 500
61.400
168, 400
60, 200
58, 200
50, 000
108, 500
43,100
34, 200
31, 200
111,800
35,800
33, 400
42,600
(9)
(9)

0
0
86,600
3,100
8,000
3, 400
18,100
36,300
43,800
10, 400
3, 700
2,600
4,100
12,000
3, 300
4, 200
4, 500
8,100
3, 400
2,400
2,300
5,800
2, 400
2,100
1,300
2,800
900
600
1,300
6, 400
2,100
3, 400
900
13,300
4, 700
4,100
4, 500
21,300
1,700
4,600
15,000
11, 500
3, 700
4,100
3, 700
3, 500
3, 200

0
0
64,800
3,000
8,000
3, 400
14, 900
32, 200
42, 200
10,100
3,700
2, 500
3,900
9, 500
2,800
3,300
3, 400
7,100
3,200
1,600
2,300
5,500
2,300
2,000
1,200
2,200
900
200
1,100
5,800
1,800
3,300
700
13,000
4,700
4,000
4, 300
21, 200
1,700
4, 600
14,900
10, 800
3, 200
3,900
3, 700
(9)
(9)

0
0
21,800
100
0
0
3,200
4,100
1,600
300
(7)
100
200
2, 500
500
900
1,100
1,000
200
800
(7)
300
100
100
100
600
0
400
200
600
300
100
200
300
(7)
100
200
100
(7)
(7)
100
700
500
200
(7)
(9)
(9)

Estimated construction cost
(in thousands)1
Total

Privately Publicly
financed financed

$4, 475,000 $4, 475,000
0
285,446 285,446
0
2,825,895 2, 530, 765 $295,130
495,054 483,231
11,823
3, 769, 767 3, 713, 776
55, 991
5, 642, 798 5,617, 425
25,373
7, 203,119 7,028,980 174,139
7, 702, 971 7,374, 269 328, 702
11,788, 595 11,418,371 370. 224
1, 287, 228 1,189, 640
97, 588
374,020 340,973
33,047
382, 778 357, 270
25, 508
530, 430 491,397
39,033
2,120, 637 2, 007, 563 113,074
666, 969 637,170
29,799
733,967 692,063
41,904
719, 701 678,330
41,371
2, 222,103 2,153, 937
68,166
710,341 682,863
27,478
743,389 722, 208
21,181
768,373 748, 866
19, 507
2,073,003 2, 023,129
49,874
776,674 756, 712
19,962
723,097 704, 220
18, 877
573,232 562,197
11,035
2,162,425 2,138, 565
23,860
589, 997 581,497
8,500
637, 753 632, 690
5,063
934,675 924,378
10,297
3, 564,856 3, 511,204
53, 652
18,082
1,093, 726 1,075, 644
1,232, 976 1, 204, 978
27, 998
1, 238,154 1,230,582
7, 572
3, 564,953 3, 446, 722 118,231
42, 595
1,253,34C 1,210,745
1,266,198 1, 230, 238
35,960
39, 676
1,045,415 1,005,739
2,496,361 2, 321,880 174,481
915, 895 902,190
13,705
762,625 724, 876
37, 749
817,841 694,814 123,027
2, 293, 974 2,191,489 102,485
755,600 721, 014
34, 586
716,629 681, 607
35,022
821, 745 788,868
32,877
781,133 751,343
29, 790
870,837 845,620
25; 217

1 P r i v a t e c o n s tr u c tio n c o s ts a re b a s e d o n p e r m i t v a l u a ti o n , a d j u s t e d fo r
u n d e r s t a t e m e n t of c o s ts s h o w n o n p e r m i t a p p l ic a t io n s . P u b l i c c o n s tr u c ­
ti o n c o s ts a r e b a s e d o n c o n t r a c t v a lu e s o r e s t i m a t e d c o n s tr u c tio n c o s ts for
in d i v i d u a l p ro je c ts .
* D e p r e s s io n , lo w y e a r.
4 R e c o v e r y p e a k y e a r p r io r to w a r t i m e l i m it a ti o n s .
8 L a s t f u ll y e a r u n d e r w a r ti m e c o n tr o l.
* H o u s in g p e a k y e a r.
7 L e ss t h a n 50 u n it s .
* R e v is e d .
9 N o t a v a ila b le .
19 P r e li m in a r y .

U. S . GOVERNMENT P R IN T IN G O F F I C E : 1951


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