Full text of Monthly Labor Review : November 1951, Vol. 73, No. 5

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Mont
NÛV 3 o 1351

Review
NOVEMBER 1951 VOL. 73 NO.


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ILGWU Approach to Leadership Training
Occupational W ages in Five Cities
Union Status Under Collective Agreem ents
Merchant Marine Manpower Problems

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Manrice J. Tobin, Secretary

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

M aurice J. Tobin , Secretary

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
E w an C lague,
A r tn ess

J oy

Commissioner

W ic k e n s ,

Deputy Commissioner

Assistant Commissioners
H erm an

B.

B yer

H e n r y J . F it z g e r a l d
C harles D . Stew art

Chief Statistician
S a m u e l W e is s

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 ollander, Chief, Division of Prices and Cost of Living
R ichard F. J ones, Chief, Division of Administrative Services
W alter Q. K eim , Chief, Division of Field Service
H ersey 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 olfbein , Chief, Division of Manpower and Employment Statistics
P aul R. K erschbaum, Chief, Office of Program Planning
B oris Stern , Special Assistant to the Commissioner
M orris W eisz, Special Assistant to the Commissioner

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Monthly Labor Review
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR • BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

L a w r e n c e R . K l e in ,

Chief, Office of Publications

CONTENTS
Special Articles
529
536
541
547

ILGWU Approach to Leadership Training
Occupational Wages in Early 1951, Five Major Cities
The New York State Unemployment Insurance Amendments of 1951
Seventieth AFL Convention, San Francisco, 1951

Summaries of Studies and Reports
552
556
558
559
561
564
567
569
570
572
573
575
577
578
581

Union Status Under Collective Agreements, 1950-51
Report on Wage Stabilization by the Retiring WSB Chairman
Defense Mobilizer’s Third Quarterly Report
The 1951 Meeting of the British TUC
Operations of Credit Unions in 1950
Manpower Problems in the American Merchant Marine
Maximum Utilization of Employed Manpower
Housing Characteristics in 34 Large Cities
Ceiling Price Regulations Numbers 69-77
Auto Repair Shops: Earnings, April-June 1951
Men’s and Boys’ Suit and Coat Industry: Earnings, March 1951
Earnings in Power Laundries, April-June 1951
Federal Programs Affecting Children and Youth
Senate Committee Report on Voluntary Medical-Care Insurance
Congressional Report on the Consumers’ Price Index

Departments
hi

585
589
591
595
602

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 (list of tables)

November 1951 . Voi. 73 . No. 5
For sale

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This Issue in
Bri ef . . .

T he problem of leadership training is a consid­
erable one for the American trade-union movement.
Many of the men who are or will historically be
considered the architects and builders of the house
of labor are aging. It is thus with some perti­
nence that the article on the ILGWU A pproach to
L eadersh ip T raining (p. 529) traces the origin
and development of the Garment Workers’ planned
effort to build a trained corps of secondary leader­
ship. In a combination of classroom and out-oftown, on-the-job field training, the unions’ institute
has taken the first step toward demonstrating
that leadership can be brought forward system­
atically and that the institute methods can be
utilized by most unions, although best employed
by some joint effort. Most of all it demonstrates
that business unionism is best promoted by a
business-like union.
The epitome of business unionism is the Ameri­
can Federation of Labor, now nearly 9 million
strong. At the S ev en tieth AFL C o nv en tio n ,
S an F rancisco , 1951 (p. 547), international labor
affairs and international relations dominated the
proceedings, as they have since the 1947 conven­
tion. The Federation speakers were critical of
some aspects of the Marshall Plan (in a general
sense, its productivity program) and of the em­
ployers’ delegation to the ILO. A lengthy foreign
policy declaration advocated, among other items,
the inclusion of Greece and Turkey in the Atlantic
Alliance. Domestically, the convention supported
wage stabilization with an admonition anent esca­
lator clauses. Strong political action with in­
creased supporting funds were promised.
Across the Atlantic, T he 1951 M eeting of the
B ritish TUC (p. 559) stood firm against all resolu­
tions introduced by its minority left wing, pledged
solid support to the Labor Party, and took a firm
stand for equal pay for women. Its international
program was generally in consonance with that of
the AFL.
n


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With all its preoccupation with international
matters, American labor was not relaxing its
vigilance on the home front, as evidenced by the
N ew Y ork S tate U nem ploym ent I nsurance
A mendm ents of 1951 (p. 541). The Hughes-

Brees amendment, regarded by labor as more than
a local cause celebre, was unequivocally opposed
by it as a “plot to kill unemployment insurance.”
The law now has new experience-rating provisions
which will greatly increase each employer’s interest
in each benefit check drawn by an employee.
clues to the progress of labor
in the United States—especially the organized seg­
ment—is provided by U n io n S tatus U n der C ol­
lective A greem ents , 1950-51 (p. 552) and O ccu ­
S ome miscellaneous

pational

W ages in F ive M ajor C ities in E arly

1951 (p. 536). The union shop is apparently gain­
ing. An analysis of some 2,650 labor-manage­
ment agreements covering nearly 6 million workers
showed that more than three-fifths contained un­
ion-shop provisions; about two-thirds provided for
a check-off of dues. This compares with 50-per­
cent union-shop coverage reported a year earlier.
However, 13 States, widely dispersed geograph­
ically, now have laws outlawing this form of union
security. Interarea wage differentials have long
been characteristic of the American economy. A
study of 77 jobs in San Francisco, Chicago, New
York, Boston, and Atlanta show average occupa­
tional wage rates descending from city to city in
the order named. The degree of unionization
varied. In San Francisco nearly all nonoffice jobs
were covered by union agreements. The other four
followed in the order of the wage-rate trend (except
for a transposition of Chicago and Boston), with
Atlanta showing about 50 percent.
Some of the dangers which currently or shortly
will beset collective bargaining are contained in
R eport on W age S tabilization by the R etiring

WSB C hairm an (p. 556), the valedictory of Pro­
fessor George W. Taylor. In addition to wage
stabilization, the Board has a threefold objective:
preservation of industrial relations stability, safe­
guarding the concept and practice of free collective
bargaining, and fostering of maximum defense
production. Fundamentally and in essence, these
objectives were what much of the AFL and TUC
meetings in September and the CIO meeting early
in November were all about.

The Labor Month
in Review
D elegates to the CIO convention made plans
for renewed drives to organize unorganized
workers, to support the Administration’s foreign
policy, and for political action in 1952; however,
hopes for achievement of labor unity dimmed.
State and Federal mediators were called upon to
arrange settlements in several disputes where
agreements could not be reached by bargaining.
The Wage Stabilization Board turned down a
panel recommendation for maximum area rates
for tool and die makers and took up consideration
of a report on application of stabilization to
health, welfare, and pension plans.

CIO’s 13th Constitutional Convention

Organization of the unorganized, support of the
Nation’s foreign policy, and renewal of political
action in 1952 were set as the major goals of the
CIO at its annual convention early this month.
Calling for a rebirth of “ the Spirit of 1936,” Vice
President Allan Haywood outlined plans for an
aggressive campaign to organize unorganized
workers. To prevent competition in organizing
workers, machinery for elimination of jurisdic­
tional friction between affiliated unions was
formulated by the CIO executive board.
President Philip Murray made it clear that in
any negotiations for labor unity with the AFL,
no CIO affiliate will forfeit any “rights and privi­
leges” ; and industrial unionism as an organizing
principle will be preserved. The AFL was
criticised sharply for “ scuttling” the United Labor
Policy Committee.
Much of the attention of the convention was
focused on the Wage Stabilization Board and its
regulations. Several Government officials ad­
dressing the convention touched on the dangers
of inflationary wage policies. The CIO reiterated
its belief in equality of sacrifice, but contended
that in enacting the new Defense Production Act,
the Eighty-Second Congress placed the chief
burden on wage earners.


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CIO-PAC Director Jack Kroll emphasized the
necessity, from the CIO point of view, for greater
labor political action in 1952.
President Truman’s foreign policy was given
firm support. The successes which have been
achieved and the problems still ahead in labor’s
struggle against Communism were reported by
J. H. Oldenbroek, general secretary of the ICFTU
and by Victor Reuther, CIO representative in
Europe. Continued support was given to the
extension of civil rights; the urgency of squaring
American democratic beliefs with actual practices,
because of the world-wide exploitation of racerelations issues by the Communists, was under­
scored by Mr. Murray, by UAW-CIO President
Walter Reuther, and by Lester Granger, executive
director of the National Urban League.
Although the CIO went on record once more
for repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act, immediate
improvement of the act through elimination of
the use of the injunction was also advocated.
Incumbent officers were re-elected for another
term, while Mr. Haywood was appointed to the
newly created post of executive vice-president.
Crucial Work Stoppages

There were several breakdowns in labormanagement relations in crucial industries during
October. Hearings began on the dispute between
the UAW-CIO and the brass and copper rolling
mill employers before the WSB disputes section
on October 15. The union’s objective was
industry-wide bargaining.
President Truman refused to decertify the
dispute between the UAW-CIO and the BorgWarner Corp., despite union claims that the
company’s units were not a substantial part of
the defense effort. Unionists finaJly suspended
their strike in response to repeated pleas from
WSB Chairman Feinsinger that they return to
work. The primary objective of the union was
establishment of company-wide bargaining.
The UAW-CIO was also involved in two dis­
putes in the airplane industry. In New Jersey,
two plants of the Wright Corp. were stopped
briefly. On the west coast, the UAW struck at
Douglas Aircraft. In both situations, the men
returned to work when the disputes were turned
over to the WSB.
A stoppage at Brown and Sharpe Manufactur­
ing Co., machine-tool makers in Rhode Island,
in

IV

LABOR MONTH IN REVIEW

was ended after the AFL machinists had been on
strike for nearly 3 months. A 2-year contract,
providing wage raises of 8 cents an hour for hourly
paid employees and 5 cents for incentive workers,
with contract reopening at 6-month intervals, and
fringe benefits valued at 4 cents an hour, was
signed.

CIO Steelworkers’ dispute with American Smelting
and Refining Co., Garfield, Utah, when a 3%-centand-hour differential was recommended for the
company’s job evaluation program. This settle­
ment was voted by labor and public members of
WSB, with industry members dissenting.
WSB Policies

New York Longshoremen Strike

Insurgent dockworkers in the Port of New York
led a 25-day strike in protest against an agreement
negotiated by officials of the AFL Longshoremen.
The stoppage ended on November 9. During the
long and costly strike, adjacent facilities in New
Jersey, and the port of Boston, were tied up.
“Missionaries” from the insurgents attempted to
spread the walkout to Philadelphia and Baltimore.
Antiadministration rebels in five New York
locals stopped work in protest against a 10-centan-hour wage increase agreed to by ILA President
Joseph Ryan; they wanted a 25-cent an hour in­
crease. Mr. Ryan’s methods in securing ratifica­
tion of his agreement were also questioned.
Both Federal and New York State mediators
tried to arrange a settlement. When the latter
failed, a three-man State board of inquiry was
named. An injunction in New Jersey, together
with dwindling resources of the strikers and a
growing back-to-work movement, foreshadowed
the strike’s end. Upon assurance of the board of
inquiry that investigation of the dispute within
the union would be continued, the strikers decided
to return to work. Sympathetic strikers in Boston
quickly followed suit.

A proposal made by a triparite Tool and Die
Study Committee to establish ceiling wage rates
for tool and die makers, with suggested maximum
rates ranging to as much as 77 cents an hour over
present pay levels, was rejected by WSB. The
majority of the panel, labor and public members,
advocated setting maximum rates for major areas
to avoid labor pirating and to insure an adequate
supply of skilled workers. Industry and public
WSB members joined in rejecting the report, bas­
ing their rejection chiefly on fears of unstabilizing
existing collective-bargaining contracts.
The report of the public and labor members of
the WSB tripartite panel on health, welfare, and
pension plans was published late in October.
Board review of the report was to follow. The
majority recommended that health and welfare
programs be virtually exempted from WSB con­
trols. Pension plans, however, would be placed
within stabilization limits set by the Board. While
certain changes in existing pension plans might be
allowed without application to the Board, alter­
ations exceeding “ accepted industrial practice”
would be subject to WSB review, the panel major­
ity recommended. Industry members of the panel
dissented from the findings.

Disputes Settlement by WSB

Miscellany

In addition to four dispute cases certified to
WSB by the President, the board accepted two
cases on the voluntary submission of the parties.
One of these involved “isolation pay” for construc­
tion workers at the Hanford Atomic Energy in­
stallation. In accepting voluntary submissions,
the disputes section of WSB worked out new pro­
cedures; parties submitting disputes voluntarily
agreed in advance to accept the recommendations
of the board.
WSB arranged an acceptable settlement of the

The 0.6 percent rise in the Consumers’ Price
Index, reported for September 15, brought esca­
lated wage increases to employees of Sperry Gyro­
scope and General Electric. AFL international
union heads met to make plans for accelerated
political activity during 1952. Leon Jouhaux,
leader of the CGT-Force Ouvriere, anti-Communist French union center affiliated with the
ICFTU, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. M.
Jouhaux was the first official of organized labor
ever to be so honored.


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ILGWU Approach to Leadership Training
Careful Selection of Students,
Full-Time Field and Classroom Schedule, and

KALAMAZOO

Union Employment on Graduation
M . M e a d S m it h *

E d i t o r ’ s N o t e : The present article on the
leadership training school of one union is to be
followed from time to time by others on varied
workers’ education projects. In selecting schools
for inclusion in this series, the Bureau’s aim is to
give Review readers a balanced view of activity
in a significant field of education.

L abo r ’s n e w e st full-fledged “ college”—the Train­
ing Institute of the AFL International Ladies’
Garment Workers’ Union—graduated its initial
class in May 1951 and placed its graduates in jobs
with the union. In 12 months’ intensive training,
the Institute had successfully surmounted the
major difficulties predicted by those who felt that
union leadership could be developed only through
years of rank-and-file experience. With the
cooperation of Institute Director Arthur A. Elder
and Assistant Director E. T. Kehrer, the writer
made an intensive study of the school and its work
in June 1951 and observed the early phases of its
second year of operation.
The class and field work methods devised by the
ILGWU for the Institute could readily be applied
by other unions. However, the length of time for
which such a project would be useful to any
individual union would depend on the size of the
organization, age of its leadership, turn-over of the
labor force, labor relations in the industry, and
other such variables. Because of these limiting
factors, the conclusion is inevitable that a fullscale labor college could endure for an indefinite
period only if supported by several unions acting
jointly or by the labor movement as a whole.


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NOV f * 1951

PtlBtlfi LIBRARY

Role of the Institute

ILGWU interest in a labor college dates back to
its 1937 convention, when such an institution was
urged for the labor movement as a whole. ILGWU
president David Dubinsky, then and subse­
quently, pointed out the aging leadership of
many of the major United States labor organiza­
tions, the failure to develop younger replacements,
the increasing need for leaders who were skilled
technicians capable of handling the increasingly
complicated functions of the modern trade-union.
Trade-union disunity ruled out any such general
labor college, however; and at the 1947 convention
an ILGWU training institute was authorized.
The Institute represents the first union effort to
train young people, with or without union ex­
perience, for specific staff jobs.1 Most large
unions provide some training for members already
elected to union office, as well as for new member­
ship. For a number of years the ILGWU itself
has maintained an Officers’ Qualification Course,
and only a member who had a year’s experience as
a paid union officer before the course was set up
or had completed the course (if it was available)
was to be eligible for paid union office. In
practice, this requirement operated only in New
York and few officers had either taken the course
or received ILGWU scholarships to the special
labor courses at such institutions as Harvard
University. Neither the ILGWU nor any other
union had previously made such a heavy financial
commitment to leadership training,2 had required
529

530

ILGWU LEADERSHIP TRAINING

prospective officers to forego employment for so
long, had set up such careful selection standards,
or had guaranteed jobs on graduation.
Although the first year’s operation convinced
Institute officials of the practicability of the train­
ing, the permanency of the Institute in its present
form is not assured. ILGWU needs for organizers,
though larger than those of trade-unions in indus­
tries with a lower worker and establishment turn­
over, are not unlimited. In supporting the project
at the 1947 convention, President Dubinsky called
upon the ILGWU to “sponsor an educational proj­
ect and attract to it other sections of the labor
movement * * * for the purpose of training lead­
ership for our union and for the trade-union move­
ment in general.” Queried in 1951 on whether
the Institute could train trade-unionists from
other industries, Institute officials thought it pos­
sible, through supplying such students with basic
classroom courses and assigning them to unions in
their own industry for field work. But this could
better be handled by a separate Institute operated
by the AFL or, in the event of labor unity, by
the trade-union movement as a whole.
Meantime, Institute officials have undertaken
a number of supplementary projects to utilize the
facilities built up and the experience gained in the
ILGWU program. One such is the use of Insti­
tute faculty and equipment for brief refresher
courses for officers, held concurrently with the
regular Institute classes; the first of these, on an
experimental basis, was a 2-week course in July for
16 ILGWU staff members from 6 departments in
various parts of the United States and Canada.
Another is a new union song book, worked up by
one of the students and utilizing current tunes and
words of particular significance to the present-day
labor force as well as some of the better-known
traditional labor songs. On the basis of Institute
experience in both class and field work, a new
organizer’s handbook is also being prepared to in­
clude techniques found effective for the problems
of a well-established labor movement.
Selection of Students

As minimum standards, applicants for leader­
ship training at the Institute must have completed
high school or its equivalent, be between 21 and
35 years old,3 and provide doctors’ certificates of
health. Consideration is also given, both in the

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MONTHLY LABOR

application form and in personal interviews, to
the applicant’s union connections, his previous
activities and interests, and his reasons for wanting
to attend the Institute. No limitations are
placed on home locality, marital status, sex, reli­
gion, or race. In keeping with the ILGWU
leaders’ belief that potential leadership is to be
found in other industries and unions, and that
many persons have never had the opportunity to
serve the labor movement to the extent of their
desire and ability, candidates need not have
experience in the garment industry, although
preference is given to those who have.
Candidates are interviewed exhaustively by a
three-man Admissions Committee and the Com­
mittee on Education to determine two fundamen­
tal qualifications—leadership ability and “sticking
power” or dedication to the trade-union move­
ment. To this end, the negative aspects of union
work are emphasized, as well as any personal hand­
icaps the individual may have which would require
extra effort on his part. Negro applicants are
warned that, while they will be placed where their
race will hamper their effectiveness as little as
possible, they will inevitably have to resolve some
difficult situations. A young German-born appli­
cant for the second-year class was told he would
have to get rid of his accent; even with the Insti­
tute’s help, he would have to work hard.
The individual’s political and social beliefs are
also checked into in this connection and consider­
able weight is put on ambition. As stated by the
Institute’s Assistant Director:4 “The applicant
had to have a mature, aggressive, out-going per­
sonality, with a rather well-developed desire to live
a life of service. Progressive political ideas, famil­
iarity with the objectives of the labor movement,
a receptiveness to learning, were considered . . . ”
Another factor carefully scrutinized is the appli­
cant’s family status. Union employment often
entails considerable travel, irregular hours, and
frequent evening and Sunday work. The stu­
dent’s wife (or parents) must be aware of this and
in sympathy with the objectives of his work.
Women applicants must recognize that permanent
staff employment practically precludes a normal
family life for them, according to staff officials.
The applicant must also be willing to work out­
side New York City. Due to the long-time con­
centration and high degree of organization of the
women’s garment industry in New York City, cur-

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

ILGWÜ LEADERSHIP TRAINING

rent ILGWU staff needs are chiefly outside that
city (particularly in the organizing “frontiers” of
the South, Southwest, and West). Yet the major­
ity of applicants, and those most familiar with the
ILGWU and its objectives, have to date come from
New York. Students sign no contracts, but
agree that employment will be offered “ in such
place and capacity” as the ILGWU determines.
Finally a prospective student must be able to
finance a year’s maintenance. The course was set at
1 year in consideration of the organization’s needs,
on the one hand, and the length of time a student
could be expected to be willing and able to inter­
rupt his employment, on the other. No tuition is
charged but neither is any remuneration provided
students (except to meet field expenses), thus
eliminating all but those sufficiently serious about
the project to provide their own maintenance.
For New Yorkers, who frequently can live at home
without expense, this is less of a problem. Lim­
ited opportunity to earn small sums is given by the
Institute in various forms, such as paying students
to work up classroom notes for mimeographing.
Thus far some students have been eligible for vet­
erans’ education rights. Others have relied on
savings or, in some cases, support by their wives.
Part-time work outside the Institute is discour­
aged, although necessary in some instances. The
current emphasis on drawing students from out­
side New York would increase this consideration.
Advance publicity given the establishment of
the Institute resulted in roughly a thousand re­
quests for application blanks the first year, and
close to 300 persons were interviewed. Estimates
of the number of staff openings available in any 1
year, plus the importance of individual attention,
limited the size of the class, and in the first year
35 students were finally admitted.5 More em­
phasis was placed the second year on obtaining
applicants through ILGWU locals, which were
urged to encourage promising young persons to
apply. The second class started with 27 students.
In both classes the majority of students had
substantially more than the minimum educa­
tional requirement, each group including a few
who had done graduate work. Four-fifths of
the first class were from the State of New York
while nearly half of the second class came from
outside that State; in each class, however, only
two students came from States outside the New
England and Middle Atlantic areas.

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531

The ethnic composition of the New York in­
dustry’s labor force was reflected in the large
number of Jewish students participating, as
well as several having Italian background. Only
four women were included in the first class and
three in the second, in spite of the preponderance
of women in garment employment; far fewer
women had applied, but those who did usually had
above-average qualifications. Over half the stu­
dents in each class were less than 25 years old.
In spite of the preference given applicants from
the industry, only about a third of the students in
the first class had garment experience—all of
these being ILGWU members except one who
had previously belonged to the CIO Amalgamated
Clothing Workers of America. A number of addi­
tional students had other union affiliations but
roughly a third had had no previous connection
with the labor movement. A stronger emphasis
on obtaining persons from the garment industry,
agreed to at the General Executive Board meeting
in February 1951, plus the greater reliance on
recruitment through ILGWU locals were reflected
in the make-up of the second class. Of the 27
students, 14 had industry and ILGWU experience,
9 had some other union affiliation or former affilia­
tion (including several from the CIO), and only
4 had no union affiliation whatsoever.
Students accepted in both classes reflected the
emphasis placed on ambition, both in their evident
interest in advancing in the ILGWU and in their
definite ideas of what union programs should in­
clude. Students evinced much interest at the
beginning of each class in working eventually into
the Education Department. However, through
their field experience, the first-year students gradu­
ally became absorbed in the local operations which
were to be their work. Many realized that the
opportunities for carrying out union programs, in­
cluding education, were greatest in local staff work.
Class and Field Work

Flexibility and practicality are outstanding
characteristics of both the formulation of the leader­
ship training program and the methods which
the students are taught. All aspects of the train­
ing are directed toward preparing the individual
for the particular job he is to do—that of an organ­
izer initially, but with the possibility of working
into other union jobs. To this end the approach

532

ILOWU LEADERSHIP TRAINING

of both faculty and staff is personalized, with
considerable individual counseling, even on seem­
ingly small points. Students from New York,
for example, are helped in the speech workshop to
get rid of any local accent they may have, and are
advised that the stylized clothing popular in some
parts of the city might prove a handicap in the field.
Alternating class and field work periods are pro­
vided—3 of the former, 2 of the latter. Field work
is the most profitable part of the training, both
students and staff agree. It serves a dual function:
(1) Early job experience matures the students;
gives them a more realistic approach and a more
directed interest in class material than they would
otherwise have; demonstrates any personality
problems they may have to overcome; and shows
in operation the techniques found effective by
union officers after years of trial and error; (2)
close relations with the field officers familiarize
the Institute staff members with the needs of the
locals, show them the “curriculum in action/' en­
able them to adjust the training accordingly, and
clarify for local personnel the Institute’s function.
Class Work. Classroom work at ILGWU head­
quarters in New York runs from 9 a. m to 4 p. m.,
Monday through Friday. It is divided between
lectures, attended by the whole student body, and
workshops for which the class is broken up into
three groups that meet concurrently and study the
various workshop subjects in rotation.
Lectures cover general subjects and specific
union and industry questions, including economics
for workers; labor legislation and history; dynam­
ics of the American community; international labor
problems; comparative economic systems; the
American corporation; management engineering;
history, structure, and operation of the ILGWU;
history, economics, and business practices of the
garment industry, and garment construction; and
problems of organization, union administration,
collective bargaining and agreements, and political
action techniques. Workshops provide instruc­
tion in speech; leaflet writing; public relations;
audio-visual techniques; radio script-writing and
broadcasting; mimeographing; and typing.
Instructors are drawn largely from academic
and other professional circles in and around New
York and from the ILGWU staff. To avoid some
difficulties encountered in the first year, every
effort is made to engage instructors who are prac­

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MONTHLY LABOR

ticing their profession as well as teaching its rudi­
ments. Guest lecturers, including Government
and local ILGWU officials, are worked in fre­
quently. Both classrooms and workshops are
informal. Students are vocal about experiences
and opinions, even if at variance with the instruc­
tors.
In working out its leadership training program,
the Institute staff stressed not only selection of
appropriate subjects but treatment of the infor­
mation in a manner calculated to prepare the
students for their work. The economics course,
for example, is not the standard academic begin­
ning course but is “economics for workers,” and is
taught with a sociological approach. When the
Supreme Court decision, upholding the terms of
the Smith Act governing conspiracy against the
United States, was handed down early in the Insti­
tute’s second year, the labor law instructor inter­
rupted his course to discuss the various Court
opinions, as of particular interest to the students.
Lectures are integrated by the staff (one member
of which sits in briefly on each lecture period) and
through faculty meetings which were instituted in
the second year. Thus, when the instructor in
dynamics of the American community points out
which groups usually lead in the community,
the instructor in “ how to organize” takes the
opportunity to explain methods for reaching those
leaders.
The difficulties of giving the students an inti­
mateunderstanding of the various garment proc­
esses and trades—sufficient both to “ speak the
same language” as garment workers and to repre­
sent them skillfully—were repeatedly advanced
against the labor-college type of leadership train­
ing. Proponents of the project were themselves
skeptical of success in this regard. The problem
is particularly important for unions in the garment
industry. Because of the seasonal nature of the
work as well as recurring fluctuation with style,
garment workers generally are employed on “ piece
prices,” which must yield the average hourly
minimum rate set by collective agreement. A
major portion of the ILGWU business agent’s time
is spent adjusting and checking the piece prices
with changes in style or material used. He must
be able to determine, for example, whether a
worker complaint that she “ can’t make out” (i. e.,
earn the minimum hourly rate) is caused by an
employer attempt to get more time-consuming

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

ILOWU LEADERSHIP TRAINING

work done without a commensurate rate increase
or by a worker slow-down to obtain higher rates
and thus raise earnings, as sometimes happens.
Suggestions by ILGWU officers and students
alike that each student be placed temporarily in
a shop were rejected when it became apparent that
in a brief assignment he could not obtain rounded
experience. Even a student with industry ex­
perience generally knew little about operations
other than his own. The “ trade” training evolved
proved surprisingly successful, including:
(1) A detailed description, in the economics
of the garment industry course, of every part of
a garment shop and its operations.
(2) An evening course in garment construction.
Here, an experienced operator demonstrated and
explained the different operations of garment
construction in detail, showing the students the
effect on speed of different styles and materials,
at what stage the operator must remove a piece,
often to the other end of the shop, for pressing
before continuing the operation, etc.
(3) A 1-week course in machines, which are
most efficient, what type is in use in a particular
shop and its effect on the worker. Each graduate
received a list of these machines for use in dis­
cussions with management on shop efficiency.
(4) A sewing class for students without garmentshop experience. Under the supervision of an
experienced student, they used sewing machines
2 hours on school nights for 2 weeks.
Another problem encountered in planning the
classroom curriculum was the need to meet the
requirements of both the students with industry
experience, who wanted more general education,
and those without such experience, who wanted
industry and union information. The tailoring
of the program to the specific job to be performed
has contributed to solving this problem: college
graduates discover that the economics course is
substantially different from any they have had;
and industry students receive information on
unfamiliar aspects of the trade and see their own
jobs described in relation to the industry as a
whole. Interest is also maintained through con­
tinually drawing on the students themselves for
their own ideas and experiences. The student
who spoke for the first class at graduation con­
cluded that it was impossible to satisfy fully all
the varied needs, but that the Institute had gone
a long way in that direction. The evaluation of
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533

the Institute staff was that no difference existed
in the caliber of the organizer, between those with
and without industry experience.
Through the workshops, theory is converted
into practice in the classwork periods as well as in
the field. During the first year, students prac­
ticed their speech instruction from soap boxes in
Union Square. During the second year, the
student political committee was assigned briefly
to get signatures for the election petition of an
ILGWU-supported candidate.
Homework assignments for the workshops
likewise consist of drafting leaflets, preparing
radio programs, etc. In the leaflet lay-out work­
shop, for example, each student is hypothetically
assigned to help organize a garment shop which
the ILGWU has previously attempted to organize.
Given a series of descriptions of campaign devel­
opments, the student drafts a leaflet appropriate
to each new development. Workshop discussions
of these leaflets point up the varied problems
likely to confront an organizer, ranging from
whether AFL affiliates cooperate with CIO
unions in antiunion towns to whether it is prac­
tical to cite the protective provisions of the 1947
Taft-Hartley Act when the AFL favors repeal.
In the workshops stress is laid on learning
the mechanics of equipment in order to prevent
losses of equipment which frequently occur
through improper use or neglect. Before instruc­
tion is given in the use of movies, for example,
the students must learn to operate the equipment
and service it. They may be called on, without
warning, to run a movie for the class, having to
handle breaks purposely put into the film. The
students are cautioned that they are working under
ideal conditions at the Institute, where any equip­
ment needed is promptly obtained; and that they
must be prepared frequently to improvise.
The efficacy of the curriculum is checked and
rechecked by the Institute staff. Occasional
written tests are used primarily to find out whether
essential information is being put across to the
students successfully. Regional and local officers
are urged to make suggestions. The lecture
series on time studies—a subject of considerable
concern to the ILGWU at the present time—
was included in response to field requests. The
Institute staff feared that this course might lead
the graduates to regard themselves as management
engineers and to try to do work they were not

534

ILGWU LEADERSHIP TRAINING

properly equipped to perform, but to date, this
fear has proved unjustified and the course has
been retained. Students are also encouraged to
make suggestions. Additions to the Institute li­
brary have been made on the basis of student
suggestions. In another instance, a recommen­
dation (by a graduate who was trying to stop
trucks servicing a struck shop) to include infor­
mation on State trucking laws was vetoed by the
ILGWU legal department as requiring too much
time; information on a particular law could quick­
ly be obtained locally, when needed.
Curriculum adjustments in response to students’
field experience include shifting the dynamics
of the American community course from the second
to the first semester. Difficulties encountered by
first-year students in their first field-work period,
attributed by the staff to lack of understanding of
community forces (particularly in the small town),
diminished after the dynamics course.
Field Work. An attempt is made to expose the
students to the widest possible variety of situa­
tions in their two periods in the field. Insofar
as is feasible, students are assigned to large, wellorganized locals, usually in large cities, for one
period, and to small locals, usually in small
towns in “frontier” areas, for the other. Regional
directors, who are responsible for the students in
the field (under the general supervision of the
Institute staff), are requested to fit them into
the day-to-day operations of the locals as much
as possible, while at the same time exposing them
to the maximum number of different operating
functions. Ideally, each student would be as­
signed to a separate local, to avoid their plan n i n g
together and to force them to work into the com­
munity; to date, however, this has not always
been possible and as many as six students were
assigned to one local during the first year.
By and large, this system of field practice has
worked out well, according to the Institute staff,
who receive weekly reports from the students on
each day’s activities and who visit the various
regions throughout the field periods to discuss
problems with the students and their progress
with the regional staff. Only in two or three
instances have students been transferred because
of personality conflicts or lack of opportunity
for adequate experience.

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MONTHLY LABOR

In the more highly organized centers, such as
Chicago or New York, where the union’s service
functions (e. g., resolving grievances) make up
the bulk of union operations, the student gets a
good sample of business agent work. He observes
an agent in all his activities and is given oc­
casional opportunities to speak at local meet­
ings, do office work, and so on. The experience
obtained by the student in this situation is ex­
tremely broad: he visits shops to receive com­
plaints; observes piece-price settlements; partic­
ipates in picket lines; sits in on contract com­
mittee, executive, local, and mass meetings;
checks on overdue vacation payments or unem­
ployment insurance rights; observes NLRB hear­
ings; attends plant conferences on engineering
problems; helps put on union shows.
In contrast, in the less organized areas the
student often acts as a full-time organizer, with
supervision frequently limited to occasional
“strategy” conferences. Such assignments fur­
nish a narrower but more concentrated expe­
rience. While he sees little of service operations,
he participates in all phases of an organizing
campaign. He drafts, mimeographs, and dis­
tributes leaflets; works out means of obtaining
information on managerial activities in the shop
and names of workers to contact; drives for long
hours on bad roads to locate workers and sign
them up; and may even be the target of eggs and
bags of water tossed out plant windows by anti­
union workers. One group of students was
arrested during the first year for obstructing an
entry way; they obtained a dismissal of the case
by measuring the sidewalk at the entrance and
demonstrating that side by side the students were
not broad enough to achieve such a block.
Reluctance, in a number of instances, of both
students and staff to have the students return to
class demonstrates the degree to which students
are integrated into local operations in this latter
type of field situation. In one case, two students,
who were the mainstays of a picket line, were
permitted to stay an extra week to enable two
full-time staff organizers to acquaint themselves
with the situation and take over the work.
Placement of Graduates
The general allocation of graduates to various
regions is determined by the over-all needs of
the organization, as seen by top ILGWU officials,

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

ILGWU LEADERSHIP TRAINING

and by the requests sent in by regional directors
based on personal observation and brief descrip­
tions sent out on each student toward the close of
the school year. Individual assignments are
then made by the Institute staff, giving as much
weight as possible to student and regional di­
rector preferences, but also considering the organ­
ization’s needs in a particular region, the abilities
of the students, and the personalities involved.
A number of snags were encountered in placing
the first group of graduates:
(1) Regional officers made commitments to
particular students that they would be hired in
their regions, and to local unions that they would
be allocated a certain number of students, and even
in some instances, specific students. All personnel
have now been notified that no job commitments
of any kind are to be made in the field.
(2) Regional directors requested more students
than could be allocated and, in some instances,
particular students by name. It was clear that
the Institute’s inability to meet all the requests
would create considerable disappointment. Some
of the students with the broadest experience and
ability were requested for several regions.
(3) Students expressed predilections for or objec­
tions to particular areas. In spite of the students’
initial commitment to accept any assignment,
considerable discussion was needed to persuade
some to take positions in the more remote or other­
wise less desirable spots, especially since first-year
students had been permitted to indicate preferences
(both for field and final assignment). In future,
students are to be given a choice of two or three
locations previously determined as appropriate.
Success in attracting students from more varied
areas would minimize this problem, since the
students would, in general, be most effectively
placed in an area similar to their home locale.
Within a month after completion of the first
course, all the graduates had been hired and were
at work, largely as organizers and in some cases as
business agents. Scattered reports received by
the Institute during that period indicate that the
new staff members were engaging in a wide variety
of operations and were, with some exceptions,
already closely integrated in their new work.
Within the first month of employment, one re­
ported negotiation of a piece-price increase;
another, sufficient organization for a shop election.
Others helped in organization campaigns which

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

535

failed. Still others worked on service operations.
Critics of the project doubted whether regional
and local personnel would accept the students as
staff members, predicting local fears and resent­
ment of persons given responsible jobs without
coming up through the ranks. However, the re­
gional directors have demonstrated their support
of the project by their enthusiastic requests for
graduates. Personnel at the local level have
cooperated also, but problems still exist in this
regard.
Students of the first class reported some
instances of resentment by local staff members in
their field-work periods. But this came, they said,
largely from persons already insecure, who were
not doing the best possible jobs and who therefore
feared replacement. The opinion was expressed
by these students, however, that acceptance at the
local level might have been at least partially due
to the Institute’s support by top ILGWU officers.
The experience of the students has carried over
to the graduates. On the whole they have been
accepted, although individual experience varies.
One graduate was introduced to the owners’
association representative (with whom he was to
negotiate) as “a student from our Institute.”
At the other extreme, another has already run
a shop meeting. One who regretted leaving New
York comments that he is glad he did; he has a
status and a sense of important responsibility he
feels he would not have in the larger city.
Difficulty at the local level has not been as great
as the Institute bad anticipated. Both the staff and
the graduates recognize, however, that the ques­
tion of local acceptance, as well as the final demon­
stration of the value of training, can only be settled
by time and the effectiveness of the individual’s
work. Time alone can also determine whether the
graduates stay with the union long enough to make
the cost of the training a worthwhile ILGWU
investment.
* 0 f the Bureau’s Office of Publications.
1 ILG W U locals have three types of full-time paid staff members—local
managers, business agents, and organizers—as well as the elective offices of
president, vice president, etc.
2 The initial annual budget voted for the project was $100,000; the first
year’s operation cost an average $4,000 per student, though the total was
expected to be smaller in subsequent years.
s The maximum age was raised from 30 to 35 years after the first year.
4 E. T. Kehrer, Training for Union Leadership, The Standard, The Ameri­
can Ethical Union, New York, M ay 1951.
* Final number graduated was 30. One student was dropped after 5
months on grounds he was unable to handle the work; another dropped out
for personal reasons; five were drafted before the year was out, though two
were so near completion of the course that they were formally graduated.

Occupational Wages
in Early 1951,
Five Major Cities
A. N. J a r r ell *

I n terarea variations in w ages , which have
long characterized American industry, are brought
out in a recent study of occupational wage rates
in five important labor markets. In general,
early 1951 wage and salary levels in the five cities
studied by the Bureau of Labor Statistics were
highest in San Francisco, followed by Chicago,
New York, Boston, and Atlanta, in descending
order.1 Some of the factors which have undoubt­
edly contributed to the differences are historical
patterns, extent of unionization, industrial com­
position of the local economy, labor supply, and
use of incentive systems of wage payments. How­
ever, interarea differences are subject to important
qualifications and exceptions, as exemplified in the
present article.
Of the 77 jobs selected for comparison in this
analysis, San Francisco wage or salary levels
were highest in only 53.2 Although Boston ranked
above Atlanta on an over-all basis, this order was
reversed with respect to weekly salaries for clerical
occupations. Office clerical worker salaries on a
weekly basis in Chicago tended to exceed those in
New York; on an hourly basis, however, New
York outranked Chicago.
Unionization varied considerably in extent
among the five areas. Nearly all workers in non­
office jobs in San Francisco were covered by union
agreements. Workers (other than in office jobs)
employed in establishments with union agreements
made up about four-fifths of the total in New York;
three-fourths in Boston; two-thirds in Chicago;
and nearly half in Atlanta. Comparatively few
536


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office workers, even in the highly unionized areas >
were employed in establishments having collective­
bargaining agreements with labor organizations
representing office workers. Office workers em­
ployed under terms of union contracts ranged from
a sixth of the total in the San Francisco Bay area
to about a tenth in Atlanta.
The influence of industrial composition of a city
on community wage levels and the relative impor­
tance of the various industry groups within an
area should be considered in any discussion of
inter-city rankings. For example, Chicago, with
its great concentration of heavy manufacturing
industries, was the only city in the survey with
over half of its workers employed in manufactur­
ing establishments (mostly durable goods). In
contrast, seven-tenths of the workers in Atlanta
and San Francisco were employed in nonmanufac­
turing industries. Boston and New York tended
to be more representative of the Nation’s cities
with a 3 to 2 ratio of workers employed in nonmanufacturing and manufacturing establishments,
respectively. New York, as a financial center,
had a greater proportion of its workers employed
in banks and insurance companies than the other
four cities. Atlanta’s position as a distribution
point for the Southeast was reflected in a high
proportion of workers employed in wholesale trade.
Wage and salary levels tend to be higher in
manufacturing than in nonmanufacturing establish­
ments. Yet, wages for comparable jobs in trans­
portation, communication, and other public
utilities and the wholesale trade group (which are
usually the highest in the nonmanufacturing in­
dustries) exceed those in manufacturing, in many
cases. Generally, the intercity rankings by in­
dustry group did not differ appreciably from the
over-all rankings, but there were quite a number of
exceptions. For example, San Francisco has the
highest over-all earnings for the maintenance
trades but Chicago ranked higher when nonmanu­
facturing was considered separately.
The wage range for individual workers for the
different jobs studied was much smaller in San
Francisco than elsewhere. For example, 350 of
the 464 production machinists reported in the
machinery industry in San Francisco were earning
$1,805 an hour; the over-all range on this job was
from $1.80 to $2.05, contrasted with a range of
$1.60 to over $2.60 an hour for the same job in
Chicago.

OCCUPATIONAL WAGES IN FIVE CITIES

Several factors contributed to this concentration
of rates in San Francisco. Employers in this area
usually bargain with the unions through an associ­
ation of employers in the same industry or a con­
federation that unites various industry associ­
ations. By contrast, unions ordinarily bargain
with individual firms or establishments in the other
four areas and this type of bargaining tends to
result in a wider variation in individual earnings.
As a result of area-wide standards of bargaining in
San Francisco, nearly three-fourths of the plant
workers were employed in establishments having
a single rate for each job and only about a fifth in
plants with rate ranges.3 This concentration
contrasted sharply with the situation in Atlanta
where less than a fourth of the plant workers were
employed in plants having a single rate for each
job and about half in plants with rate ranges.
Incentive pay is another factor contributing to
a dispersion of employees’ earnings. San Francisco
had no incentive systems of pay in effect in the
77 jobs selected for comparison, but they were
quite frequent in some of the other cities.
The Bureau’s community wage studies provide
two types of data, namely, for jobs which have a
high degree of transferability of skill and knowl­
edge among industries, and for specialized jobs in
important local industries. Cross-industry meth­
ods of sampling were utilized in compiling earnings
data for the first type of job, which includes office
clerical, maintenance and power, custodial, ware­
housing, and shipping jobs.4 The following dis­
cussion covers both these types of data together
with information on supplementary wage practices.
Cross-Industry Occupations

Average weekly salaries paid to office workers
ranged from a high of $74.50 for men band book­
keepers in Chicago to a low of $33.50 for office
boys and girls in Boston (table 1). Salaries in
San Francisco were the highest in 5 of the 6 men’s
jobs and in all 24 of the women’s jobs. They
averaged $10 or more a week higher than in
Boston or Atlanta.
Low salaries in some industry groups were at
least partially offset by short hours. In the
finance, insurance, and real-estate industry group
in most cities, weekly salaries usually ranked low
in a comparison with other industry groups, but
scheduled weekly hours were often relatively lower.

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537

Chart 1.— Average W eekly Earnings for Women
in Selected Office Occupations in Five Cities,
Early 1951

Lowest scheduled weekly hours on an all-industry
basis were found in New York where the average
for office jobs ranged from 36% to 38K hours per
week compared with 39 to 43 % in Atlanta. Ad­
justment of salaries to reflect differences in hours
worked resulted in the following rankings accord­
ing to average hourly earnings: San Francisco,
New York, Chicago, Boston, and Atlanta in
descending order.
In routine office jobs, salaries were about the
same for both men and women in a given city,
but in those involving a substantial amount of
training or experience, men in all areas had a
salary advantage over women that usually
amounted to $12 or more a week. Boston showed
the greatest over-all difference between salaries
for men and women, and New York, the smallest.
In an over-all cross-industry comparison of
maintenance and power jobs (table 2), earnings
in manufacturing were generally higher than in
nonmanufacturing establishments, except in Chi­
cago and Atlanta. In Chicago maintenance and
power men in nonmanufacturing earned more
than in manufacturing in nearly all jobs, and in

538

OCCUPATIONAL WAGES IN FIVE CITIES
weekly salaries 1 in selected office occu­
pations in 5 areas, early 1951

T a b le 1.—Average

At­
lanta

Sex, occupation, and grade

Bos­
ton

Chi­
cago

New
York

SanFranciscoOakland

M en

Bookkeepers, hand_______________
Clerks:
Accounting_________ ________
Order______ _ ______________
Payroll_______________________
Office b o y s ______________________
Tabulating-machine operators_____

$68.00 $68.50 $74. 50 $73. 50
63.00
52.00
57.00
34.00
55.00

55.00
58.50
59.50
33.50
55.50

61.50
65. 50
61.50
40.00
60.50

59.00
63.00
62. 50
35.50
58.00

$74.00
67.00
70.00
67.00
41.50
66.50

W om en

Billers, machine:
Billing machine_______________
Bookkeeping machine_________
Bookkeepers, hand_______________
Bookkeeping-machine operators:
Class A _______ __ __________
Class B ______________________
Calculating-machine operators:
Comptometer type____________
Other than Comptometer ty p e.—
Clerks:
Accounting----- --------------------File, class A __________________
File, class B ________ _______ _
Order----------- ----------------------Payroll------- --------- -------------Duplicating-machine operators_____
Key-punch operators______________
Office girls____________ - ----------Secretaries------ ----------------------------Stenographers, general______ ______
Stenographers, technical_____ _____
Switchboard operators____________
Switchboard operator-receptionists. .
Tabulating-machine operators_____
T ranscribing-m achine operators,
general-------------------------------------Typists, class A ______ ____ __ ___
Typists, class B ----------------------------

42.00
40.00
46.00

41.00
41.50
52.50

50.00
46.50
62.50

48.50
52.00
65.00

51.50
53.50
66.50

49.00
40.50

49.50
40.50

58. 50
48.00

53.50
45.50

61.00
51.00

46.00
42.50

41.50
38. 50

51.50
50.50

50.50
48.00

54.00
56.00

46.00
42.50
35.00
42.00
48.50
36.00
40.50
36.00
56.00
47.00
47.00
42.00
41.00
48.00

41.50
42.00
34.50
41.00
45.50
39.00
42.00
33.50
53.00
43.00
46.00
43.00
42.50
47. 50

49. 50
46.50
40.50
47.00
53. 50
44.50
49.00
39.00
61.00
51.50
57. 50
48.00
49.50
49. 50

49.00
48.50
38.00
47.00
53.50
42.50
47.00
35.50
62. 50
49. 50
57.00
49.00
48.00
53.00

53.00
53.00
42.50
53.50
55.50
48.50
52.00
43.00
64.50
55.00
57.50
50.50
50.00
57.50

43.50
42.00
36.50

39.50
43.00
36.50

48.00
50.00
44.00

48.00
48.50
41.00

53.00
51.00
44.50

1 Data relate to salaries for the normal workweek, excluding overtime pay
and nonproduction bonuses, but including any incentive earnings.

Atlanta wages were about the same for both types
of establishments. Carpenters were paid more
in nonmanufacturing in all five cities; general
maintenance men were consistently the higher
paid in manufacturing; but in the other jobs
covered in the study variations occurred from
city to city.
Workers in San Francisco had the highest
average earnings in 10 of the 12 maintenance and
power jobs covered with average earnings exceed­
ing $2 an hour in 6 occupations. Chicago was the
only other city in which averages of $2 or over
were recorded for any of the 12 job classifications.
The greatest intercity range was in the general
maintenance man category with hourly earnings
from $1.32 in Atlanta to $1.90 in San Francisco.
Electricians had the narrowest range, averaging
$1.76 an hour in Boston and $2.05 in San Fran­
cisco.
New York ranked third in the intercity com­
parisons ordinarily. It had higher rates than

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MONTHLY LABOR

Chicago in most of the custodial, warehousing,
and shipping jobs covered in the study. In the
latter job category, manufacturing rates exceeded
those for nonmanufacturing in all cities except
New York, where the relationship was reversed
in 6 of the 10 jobs studied. Packers received the
same average earnings in both broad industry
divisions.
Characteristic Industry Occupations

Three industries—machinery manufacture, auto
repair shops, and power laundries—were selected
for interindustry comparison of earnings. Chicago
had the highest earnings for most production
workers in two, machinery and auto repair
(table 3).5 However, San Francisco ranked highest
in jobs such as janitors and tool-and-die makers in
machinery manufacture; washers and greasers in
auto repair shops; and in all occupations in power
laundries. Workers in San Francisco were all
paid on a time basis, whereas in the four other
cities some of the jobs studied were paid primarily
on an incentive basis. For example, over half of
the class A auto mechanics in each of the four
other cities were paid on an incentive basis,
whereby they received a percentage of amounts
charged customers for labor. Mechanics paid on
hourly earnings 1 for men in selected
plant occupations in five areas, early 1951

T a b l e 2. —Average

Occupation

A t­
lanta

Maintenance and power:
Carpenters___________________ $1.56
Electricians__________________
1.85
Engineers, stationary__________ 1.47
1.21
Firemen, stationary boiler_____
M achinists_______ ____ _______
1.67
Maintenance men, general utility. 1.32
Mechanics___ ________________
1.62
Mechanics, automotive________
1.51
Oilers________________________
1.11
Painters______________________ 1.80
1.82
Pipe fitters___________________
Sheet-metal workers____
1.91
Custodial, warehousing, and ship­
ping:
Janitors, porters, and cleaners...
.90
1.13
Order fillers__________________
Packers___________ _________
.99
Stock handlers and truckers,
hand________ ____ ___ _____ _
.99
Truck drivers:
Light (under
tons)...........
.84
Medium (1H to and includ­
.98
ing 4 tons)______________
H eavy (over 4 tons, trailer
1.15
type)---------------------- -----Truckers, power (fork lift)_____
1.11
Truckers, power (other than fork
1.39
lift)________________________
.95
W atchmen___________________

San
FranciscoOakland

Bos­
ton

Chi­
cago

New
York

$1.67
1.76
1.68
1.51
1.75
1.46
1.68
1.60
1.39
1.53
1.66
1.66

$2.00
1.98
2.04
1.61
1.98
1.65
1.88
1.98
1.55
2.09
1.96
1.95

$1.81
1.92
1.95
1.58
1.92
1.65
1.83
1.75
1.51
1.67
1.87
1.83

$2.12
2.05
1.90
1.74
1.99
1.90
1.96
2.07
1.62
2.01
2.05
2.01

1.09
1.26
1.20

1.22
1.44
1.33

1.22
1.41
1.27

1.30
1.55
1.51

1.30

1.40

1.44

1.57

1.54

1.78

1.92

1.78

1.44

1.88

1.77

1.89

1.68
1.56

1.92
1.53

1.90
1.70

1.89
1.67

1.43
1.14

1.55
.98

1.73
1.20

1.61
1.41

1 Excludes premium pay for overtime and night work.

OCCUPATIONAL WAGES IN FIVE CITIES

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

this “flat-rate” system averaged about 30 cents an
hour more than hourly rated workers in the four
cities. Nevertheless average earnings on this job
in San Francisco were $2.04 an hour and individual
earnings were within the narrow range of $1.80 to
$2.30 an hour, contrasted to Chicago’s average of
$2.06 an hour and a range of from $1.15 to over
$3.40 for individual earnings.
Chart 2.— Average Hourly Earnings for Men in Se­
lected Plant Occupations in Five Cities, Early 1951

DOLLARS PER HOUR

0

-------.50------ I.00
▼

1.50

2 .0 0

2.50

▼--------------------- ▼------------------- ▼------------------- ▼

539

for the unskilled and the consistency in pay for
the skilled between the two areas.
Minimum wage rates negotiated for the major
building trades in New York exceeded the scales
in effect in the other four cities (table 4). Painters
and building laborers were the only occupations
with rates below $3 an hour in New York. San
Francisco had the second highest general level of
construction rates, but ranked as low as fourth for
building laborers. The greatest differential in
rates among cities was found in the latter job;
rates ranged from $1.05 an hour in Atlanta to $2.15
in New York. The greatest intercity difference
for a skilled job was $1; the union scale for
carpenters was $2 an hour in Atlanta and $3 in
New York. The lowest union wages listed for
any of the skilled trades in the five cities was $2.
In newspaper printing (day work), New York
had the highest scales for hand compositors and
web pressmen. San Francisco listed the highest
scale, $2,439, for mailers; among stereotypers,
Boston, with $2,734 an hour, had the highest rate.
Supplementary Wage Practices

Information on such benefits as paid holidays,
vacations and sick leave plans, nonproduction
bonuses, and insurance and pension plans shows
that the most liberal supplementary wage prachourly earnings 1for characteristic oc­
cupations in selected industries in jive areas, early 19512

T a b l e 3. —Average

Industry, occupation, and s e x 3

A t­
lanta

Chi­
cago

New
York

$1.76

$1.85

$1.94

$1.79

1.44
1.11
1.55

1.67
1.27
1.89

1.53
1.20
1.80

1.53
1.38
1.84

Note: Averages for mechanics and stock handlers and hand truckers are for all
industries-, averages for tool and die makers are for the machinery industry.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Boston usually ranked fourth and Atlanta fifth
in the intercity comparisons. However, only
minor differences existed in earnings for skilled
workers such as tool-and-die makers, machinists,
auto-body repairmen, and class A mechanics in
the two cities. In the less skilled jobs, auto
greasers in Boston averaged $1.09 compared with
93 cents in Atlanta; auto washers were paid 17
cents more an hour in Boston and janitors in
Atlanta machinery plants earned 20 cents less per
hour than Boston janitors. The abundance of
unskilled as contrasted with skilled workers in the
South accounts, in part, for the difference in pay


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Machinery manufacture:
Assemblers, class A ___________ $1.46
Drill-press operators, single and
multiple-spindle, class B _____ 1.15
Janitors-.- _____________ _____
.91
Machinists, production................
1.57
Tool-and-die makers (other than
tool and die jobbing shops) - - . 1.73
Auto repair shops:
Body repairmen, metal________
1.74
Greasers____________ ________
.93
Mechanics, automotive, class A_ 1.60
Washers, automobile.....................
.76
Power laundries:
Extractor operators......... ............
.73
Finishers, flatwork, machine
(women)___________________
.39
Markers (women)_______ _ ___
.57
P r e s s e r s , m a c h in e , s h ir t s
(women)___________________
.53
Washers__________________ ___
.87

San
FranciscoOakland

Bos­
ton

1.80

2.11

2.02

2.21

1.76
1.09
1.63
.93

2.33
1.41
2.06
1.17

1.93
1.26
1.87
1.20

2.23
1.63
2.04
1.61

1.02

1.15

1.12

1.37

.73
.77

.85
.95

.85
.98

.99
1.19

.93
1.13

1.06
1.34

1.04
1.41

1.09
1.41

1 Excludes premium pay for overtime and night work.
2 Data for machinery manufacturing relate to December 1950 in N ew York,
January 1951 in Atlanta, Boston, and San Francisco, and March 1951 in
Chicago; data for auto-repair shops and power laundries relate to March 1951
in Atlanta, Boston, and N ew York, April 1951 in Chicago, and January 1951
in San Francisco.
2 Data relate to men workers except where otherwise indicated.

OCCUPATIONAL WAGES IN FIVE CITIES

540

Union wage scales 1 for selected building and
printing trades in five cities, April 1951

T a b l e 4. —

Occupation

Atlanta Boston Chicago

New
York

San FranciscoOaklandJ

B u ild in g con stru ction

Bricklayers................ .............. —
Carpenters--------------------------Electricians_________________
Painters____________________
Plasterers---------- -------------Plumbers------ ---------------------Building laborers____________

$ 2 .5 0 0

$ 2 .7 7 5

$ 2 . 650

$ 3 . 250

$ 3 . 250

2 .0 0 0
2 .5 0 0
2 .0 0 0
2 .5 0 0
2 .6 0 0
1 .0 5 0

2 .3 7 5
2 . 750
2 .2 5 0
2 .8 5 0
2 .6 9 5
1 .7 5 0

2 .5 5 0
2 . 625
2 .6 0 0
2 .7 5 0
2 .6 0 0
1 .8 5 0

3 .0 0 0
3 .2 0 0
2 .6 0 0
3 .3 0 0
3 .0 0 0
2 .1 5 0

2 .3 7 5
2 .7 5 0
2 .4 5 0
3 .0 0 0
2 .7 5 0
1 .6 5 0

2 .5 3 3
1 . 975
2 .4 5 3
2 .5 3 3

2 .6 7 4
2 .1 2 0
2 .4 8 4
2 .7 3 4

2 . 759
2 .1 8 7

2 .8 2 8
2 .0 8 5
2 .7 1 3
2 .5 6 0

2 .7 1 5
2 .4 3 9
2 .6 0 8
2 .5 9 7

P r in tin g : N e w s p a p e r s

Compositors, hand.....................
M ailers, __________________
Pressmen, web presses------ -Stereo typers----- -------------------

« 2 . 520
2 . 600

i These scales represent the minimum wage rates agreed upon through col­
lective bargaining between employers and trade-unions. The day rate is
shown for newspaper printing.
s Minimum rates shown are for San Francisco; Oakland rates were the same
except for electricians ($2.60), plasterers ($3.167), and plumbers ($2.625).
s Rate of $2.500 reported in one agreement.

tices were not always granted in the cities with
the highest wage and salary levels. Three-fourths
of the office workers in Boston and half of those in
New York were in establishments providing either
10 or 11 paid holidays a year. In Atlanta, fourfifths of the office workers were employed in con­
cerns with from five to six paid holidays; and threefifths of the office workers in San Francisco were in
establishments with seven or eight holidays.
Half of the office workers and about a third of
the plant workers in San Francisco were employed
in establishments with formal provisions for paid
sick leave. Only about a fourth of the office work­
ers in New York and a twelfth of the plant workers
in Boston were employed in such establishments.
The proportion of office workers in establish­
ments with nonproduction bonuses was about the
same in all cities, but in San Francisco only a
tenth of the plant workers, compared with a fourth
or more in the other cities, were in establishments
supplementing basic pay of plant workers with


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nonproduction bonuses. These bonuses were usu­
ally in the form of a Christmas or year-end bonus.
Generally, office workers received more liberal
benefits than plant workers. For example, office
employees' vacations usually were scheduled for
2 weeks after 1 year's employment in the same
establishments that gave plant employees 1 week
after similar service. Approximately three-fifths
of the office workers in each city were employed
in establishments with retirement pension plans;
only about two-fifths of the plant workers had
such coverage.
Workers employed in the transportation, com­
munication, and other public utilities and the
finance, insurance, and real estate industry groups
generally received more liberal supplementary
benefits or a larger percent of the workers were
covered than in other industry groups. Nonpro­
duction bonuses were an exception, however. The
largest proportion of workers receiving noDproduction bonuses, usually in the form of a Christmas or
year-end bonus, were in retail aud wholesale trade.
♦Division of Wages and Industrial Relations.
i Data were collected from 201 establishments in the Atlanta area; 430 in
Boston; 503 in Chicago; 651 in N ew York; and 427 in the San FranciscoOakland area. Further detail on salaries, work schedules, and supplemen­
tary benefits is available in individual bulletins for each of the five cities.
These bulletins may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents,
U . S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D . C., as follows: San
Francisco (BLS Bulletin No. 1028,50 cents); Atlanta (BLS Bulletin No. 1031,
30 cents); Boston (BLS Bulletin No. 1033, 40 cents); Chicago (BLS Bulletin
No. 1034, 40 cents); N ew York (BLS Bulletin No. 1037, 45 cents).
J Uniform job descriptions were used in classifying workers by occupation.
s A small percentage of the workers were paid according to individual merit
or other considerations rather than on a job basis.
4 Office, maintenance, power, custodial, warehousing, and shipping jobs
reported in tables 1 and 2 were studied in establishments having more than
100 workers in manufacturing, retail trade, and transportation (except rail­
roads), communication, and other public utilities, and in establishments
with more than 20 workers (more than 50 in N ew York and Chicago) in
wholesale trade, finance, insurance, real-estate, and service industries.
* Characteristic jobs reported in table 3 were studied in machinery plants
and power laundries with more than 20 workers, and in auto repair shops
with more than 4 workers. Establishments manufacturing machine-tool
accessories with 8 or more workers were included in the machinery study.

The New York State
Unemployment Insurance
Amendments of 1951
R u t h R e t ic k e r *

T hough the N ew Y ork unem ploym ent in su r ­
ance law has been amended 117 times since its
enactment in April 1935, no amendment has
aroused as much controversy as the Hughes-Brees
Act of 1951 (Ch. 645, 1951). The bill had been
recommended by the majority of the Joint Legis­
lative Committee on Unemployment Insurance,
with two members of the seven-man committee
dissenting. The amendments were urged by many
employer groups and by the State Commerce
Commissioner, but the Welfare Commissioner of
New York City and labor groups whose members
are among the beneficiaries of the program
opposed the bill.
An AFL-CIO Joint Committee issued a folder
condemning the Hughes-Brees bill as a “Plot to
Kill Unemployment Insurance.” Over 200 mem­
bers of AFL unions attended the legislative hear­
ings on the bill and further opposition to the
Hughes-Brees amendments was voiced at the State
Federation’s convention, June 20-22. The New
York State Advisory Council on Placement and
Unemployment Insurance 1 reported February 21
that it was “unable to arrive at solutions accept­
able to both labor and management” on the bill.
The AFL representative resigned from the Advis­
ory Council after 11 years of service because he did
“not want to be a part of any administration which
is responsible for enacting so retrogressive a piece
of legislation.”
The act amends the experience-rating provisions
and the benefit and entitlement provisions of the
law and establishes relationships between benefits
and employers’ contribution rates that did not
exist before in New York. Although most


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elements of the New York formula have been tried
in one form or another in one or more States, the
New York law represents new combinations of
provisions. Since 13 percent of the covered
workers of the country are covered by this law, it
is timely to analyze the significance of the contro­
versial 1951 amendments. What does the new
law provide? What does it mean to employers
who finance the program and to workers who are
its beneficiaries? 2
Many employers will have “reduced rates” in
1952, although not the zero rate which will be
effective later for those who meet certain require­
ments if the unemployment-insurance fund reaches
a stated percentage of payrolls. Under the old
law, many employers would have had “credit
certificates” to reduce their contributions payable
in 1952; some might have had credits equal to the
full amount of contributions payable. However,
the employers’ publicity about the changes
stresses that employers will know in advance what
their tax rate for the next year will be. If their
payrolls are rising, this fixed rate will be to their
advantage. Moreover, the new law emphasizes
the individual employers’ accounts. It provides a
greater incentive for securing good experience­
rating records than did the old unemployment tax
credit plan.
As to the workers, some will get higher benefits
because of the new maximum weekly and annual
amounts; some will get lower benefits (or none)
because of new qualifying provisions and benefits
based on average rather than highest weekly
wages. What happens on balance depends on
economic conditions, especially on wage levels and
patterns of employment and unemployment. The
new law will cut out some “repeaters.” Although
repeaters of certain types should be eliminated, the
new law may make it so difficult for claimants to
requalify that unemployment insurance in New
York will become a once-only program for anyone
with a period of extensive unemployment.
Workers are apprehensive about the increased
employers’ interest in each benefit paid. Under
the new experience-rating provisions each check
paid to a former employee influences the “reserve”
of the employer to whom it is charged and his
resulting rate of contributions. Under disquali­
fication amendments, which failed of passage
this year but may be urged again next year, it
would be even more profitable than at presenUto
541

542

NEW YORK UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

employers to challenge benefit payments to their
former workers. While benefits should not be
paid to claimants under disqualifying conditions,
an increase of alleged disqualifications can defeat
the purposes of the law by clogging administration
and discouraging claimants from filing.
The Experience-Rating Formula3

The New York unemployment insurance pro­
gram is financed entirely by a tax on employers’
payrolls. From 1938 to 1945 all subject em­
ployers (those employing 4 or more persons on 15
or more days in a calendar year in employment
subject to the law) paid 2.7 percent to the State
Government; in 1945, employers who met certain
requirements were relieved of part of the State tax
by a system of experience rating unique to New
York. Instead of reducing employers’ contribu­
tion rates, it allowed qualified employers credit
against their future payments of contributions.
At the end of each year, any surplus over the
reserve required by law was distributed in the form
of credit certificates which an employer could
apply against his next year’s contributions,
figured at 2.7 percent of his payroll. The unprece­
dented amount paid in benefits during 1949 meant
that there was no “surplus” to distribute, though
the fund balance has not gone below $847 million
in any recent quarter. Thus all employers in New
York have been paying the standard rate, 2.7
percent, since the beginning of 1950. Pressures
were therefore inevitable for the amendment of the
experience-rating provisions, particularly the re­
quirement of a balance equal to the lesser of $900
million or 3 and a half times the preceding years’
contributions. The result is a new experience­
rating system.
Under the old law, employers’ “ experience with
unemployment risk” was measured by three
factors which determined their share of the sur­
plus: (1) a benefit-experience index; (2) a quar­
terly-decrease quotient, measuring quarterly de­
creases in payrolls over the past 3 years; and (3)
years of liability for contributions. The benefit
factor represented 12 of a possible 23 points. It
was called a benefit-wage ratio because it measured
that part of the wages paid by an employer on
which benefits were based against all wages paid
by him. The employer was charged not for the


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

MONTHLY LABOR

exact amount of benefits paid his former employees
but for the wages of any such workers who drew
benefits equal to four times their weekly benefit.
Thus, the payment of 1, 2, or 3 weeks of benefits
to a former employee did not influence an employ­
er’s rate, excepting as it reduced the total fund
available for benefits. Similarly, once a claimant
had drawn 4 weeks of benefits and the employer
had been charged with the wages concerned as
“ benefit wages,” the payment of additional benefits
did not influence the employer’s benefit-wage ratio
and hence his contribution rate.
Because the benefit-wage system did not give
the employers as much control over their rates as
the reserve-ratio system used in the majority of
States, the benefit-wage system has been under
attack in recent legislative sessions.4 New York
has now substituted a reserve-ratio factor, while
continuing the quarterly-decrease-quotient factor
and the employer’s age-of-business factor, and
adding an annual-decrease-quotient factor. Each
of these latter factors counts for a maximum of
only 2 points compared with the maximum of 16
points for the reserve-ratio factor; thus the reserve
ratio is the principal determinant of employers’
contribution rates. The reserve ratio is figured
by subtracting benefits charged to an employer’s
account from his contributions and expressing
the resulting balance as a percentage of his taxable
payrolls, in order to facilitate comparisons between
large and small employers. Each employer’s
reserve ratio is translated into a benefit factor,
0 if the reserve is less than 5 percent of payrolls,
1 if it is 5 but less than 5.5 percent, and so on
up to 16 if the reserve is 12.5 percent or more.
The law provides eight different tax rate sched­
ules, the one effective for a particular calendar
year depending on the total funds available for
benefits on the preceding July 1 as a percentage of
taxable payrolls in the State. The percentage is
figured on the preceding calendar year’s payrolls
or the average of the preceding 3 years’ payrolls,
whichever is greater. When the fund is less than
4 percent of payrolls, all employers with aggregate
experience factors of less than 17 (out of the pos­
sible 22 points) pay the standard rate of 2.7 percent
and the lowest rate any employer can be assigned
is 1.7 percent (for 20 points or more). At the
other extreme, when the size-of-fund index is 12.5
or over, only employers with an experience factor

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

NEW YORK UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

of less than 2 (out of the 22 points) pay 2.7 percent
and those with an experience factor of 20 or better
have a zero rate. This most favorable schedule
includes 18 intermediate rates from 0.2 to 2.5 per­
cent. The existing fund (over $975 million as of
June 30, 1951) represents more than 6.5 percent
of taxable payrolls for 1950 and, under the sched­
ule, give employers with good records rates as
low as 0.8 percent. However, the law specifically
provides that with respect to wages paid in the
year 1952 no employer can have a rate below 1.7
percent.
Individual Employer Accounts

To start such a system, it was necessary to give
each employer a reserve balance, intended to ap­
proximate his tax payments and benefit-charge
experience in the past. Employer accounts were
set up, as of July 1, 1951, with specified percent­
ages (0 to 2.9 percent) of their last 3 years’ pay­
rolls, according to their experience under the old
experience-rating system. It was expected that
about $600 million would be assigned in this way.
Naturally, employers with large payrolls get the
larger initial account balances; the better their
recent experience with unemployment, the larger
the initial balance. It was estimated that about
$300 million would be left in a “general account”
to which will be charged benefits which are not
chargeable to individual employers’ accounts. If
this general account falls below 1.5 percent of total
taxable payrolls (which State officials do not ex­
pect to happen), all employers will be assessed an
emergency contribution of 0.5 or 1.0 percent (de­
pending on how much the account drops). The net
earnings on moneys in the fund, interest and pen­
alties collected from employers, balances in em­
ployers’ accounts which lapse, and moneys im­
properly paid to claimants and recovered will be
credited to the general account. Any negative
balance of an employer’s account on any compu­
tation date will be wiped out by debiting the
amount to the general account.
Each week of benefits paid is charged against
a week of employment, the latest weeks first. If a
claimant had two or more employers in his most
recent 26 weeks of employment, the employers
will be charged in turn, except that if he had 26 or
more weeks of employment with his last employer


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

543

within the past 52 weeks, no charge is made to
any other employer. If a claimant who had
20 but less than 26 weeks of employment (with one
or more employers) remains unemployed, his
benefits in excess of his weeks of employment—up
to the maximum of 26 weeks in a benefit year—
will be charged to the general account.
New York has always had what is called a
pooled-fund law. It continues to have a pooledfund law in that “all moneys in [the unemployment
insurance] fund, from whatever source derived and
to whatever account credited, shall be pooled and
available to pay benefits to any individual entitled
thereto” (sec. 581.1 (d)). However, each in­
dividual employer’s reserve will be influenced by
the amount of benefits paid his former employees
and charged to his account. While many economic
factors beyond an individual employer’s control
influence the duration of unemployment suffered
by his former workers and the total charges to his
account, the amendments emphasize factors within
the employer’s control. Each employer is notified
currently of each experience-rating charge against
his account. These are only bookkeeping ac­
counts, but each such charge represents what he
considers his own money because it may affect his
contribution rate for the next year. Thus, the
experience-rating amendments provide incentives
to employers not only to stabilize employment and
prevent unemployment but also to prevent the
payment of benefits for unemployment which
cannot be prevented.
The Weekly Benefit Formula

Under the New York formula, to be eligible for
benefits, any claimant must have had at least 20
weeks of employment in his base period (the 52
consecutive weeks preceding the week in which
he filed a valid original claim) and must have
earned an average of at least $15 per week in at
least 20 such weeks. If the last employer gave
him 20 or more weeks of employment in the base
period, his weekly benefit is figured on his average
weekly wage with that employer in all these weeks
(20 to 52). If he did not have 20 weeks of em­
ployment with the last employer, his weekly
benefit is based on his average weekly wage with
all his base-period employers in 20 to 52 weeks.
Weeks of less than $15 earnings are excluded in

NEW YORK UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

544

these computations unless their exclusion reduces
the total weeks of employment to fewer than 20.
This represents a great change from the highquarter formula in effect from the time that bene­
fits first became payable in New York in 1938,
under which a claimant’s weekly benefit was 1/23
of his wages in “that quarter of his base period
in which his wages were highest.” 5 The qualifying
requirement emphasizes length of employment
more than the former requirement of earnings
equal to 30 times his weekly benefit (i. e., $300 to
$780) within a calendar year and at least $100 in
one calendar quarter. A low-wage worker can
qualify as formerly on 20 weeks of employment
with wages totaling $300; a high-paid worker with
only 19 weeks of employment and wages totaling
$1,900 can no longer qualify. A report of the
Joint Legislative Committee on Unemployment
Insurance to the Legislature estimated that enact­
ment of the bill would take away entitlement from
100,000 claimants a year, including 40,000 who
cannot meet the 20-week test.
The claimant’s weekly benefit, in dollar amounts
from $10 to $30, is set forth in a weighted table
in terms of average weekly wage. The following
selected amounts show the weights:
Weekly
A verage w eek ly w age (in dollars)

Less than 16---------------------------------------16 but less than 17------------------------------17 but less than 19____________________
23 but less than 25------------------------------33 but less than 35------------------------------43 but less than 45 _ _ „-------------------------45 but less than 48------------------------------51 but less than 54.50__________________
58 or more____________________________

benefit
rate

$10
11
12
15
20
25
26
28
30

The increase of the maximum weekly benefit to
$30 continues adjustments which New York, like
other States, has been making to take into account
higher wages and higher cost of claimants’ nondeferrable expenses since the program started
with a maximum $15 weekly benefit.6 The former
maximum was $26 but opponents of the amend­
ments point out that it was easier to get $26 per
week under the old law than now. Such $26 bene­
fit required high-quarter wages of at least $586, or
an average weekly wage of about $45 for claim­
ants with 13 weeks of work in the high quarter,
and base-period wages of $780. To get $26 under


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

MONTHLY LABOR

the present law requires average weekly wages
of $45 to $48, i. e., at least $900 if a claimant had
wages in 20 weeks only from one or more subject
employers up to at least $2,340 if his benefit is
based on wages of at least $15 in each of 52 weeks,
averaging at least $45 per week. To get $30 per
week requires average weekly wages of $58, at
least $1,160 if a claimant qualifies on 20 weeks’
wages only, up to $3,016 if he qualifies on a full
52-weeks period. The average weekly wage for­
mula counts as a full week of employment any
week of underemployment occurring in the period
used (unless it was a week of less than $15 wages).
As a result, for some claimants the average will
not represent normal weekly earnings and benefits
will be less than formerly when they were based
on the best segment of a worker’s base-period exper­
ience.
Benefits are continued on the day-base plan in
that unemployment is measured in effective days,
which are defined as “full days of total unem­
ployment.” This system is unique in New York.
The day-base plan has no effect on workers who
are totally unemployed throughout a week, but
“partially unemployed” workers are paid in terms
of days of unemployment. One-fourth week’s
benefit is paid for each day of total unemployment
in excess of 3 days in a week beginning on Monday
in which the claimant earns no more than $30
(formerly $24). To illustrate with a claimant
whose weekly benefit amount is $25 (based on an
average weekly wage of $43 to $45): If, in a given
week, he is unemployed 4 days (which may include
Saturday and Sunday), and if he earned no more
than $30 in his 3 days of work, he gets benefits of
$6.25. If he is unemployed 5 days, he gets $12.50;
6 days, $18.75; and the full week, $25. Formerly,
benefits for weeks of unemployment which in­
cluded only 1 to 3 effective days were not paid
until 4 effective days had been accumulated and
a full week’s benefit could be paid. By this
change, the Legislature has eliminated a bad fea­
ture of the day-base plan under which claimants
did not get prompt payment for weeks of partial
unemployment and might lose benefits for 1, 2,
or 3 effective days at the end of a benefit year.
But the day-base plan still rules out benefits for
individuals who have partial employment, how­
ever slight, on given days.

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

NEW YORK UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

Base Period and Benefit Year

The law changes substantially the framework
of the benefit year in which benefit rights are
measured and the base period in which they are
earned. Since April 1938, New York has used a
uniform base period and benefit year, a device
still followed by 10 States. The benefit year for
all claimants began the first Monday in June.
For any claimants initiating a claim between that
date and the Sunday following the last Monday
in May of the next calendar year, benefits were
computed on the basis of wages in the calendar
year preceding the beginning of the benefit year.
Now the benefit year is related to an individual
claimant’s own date of unemployment; it begins
the first Monday after he files a valid original
claim. This makes the definition of “valid claim”
of crucial importance.
A valid original claim is defined by the statute
as one filed by a claimant who not only meets the
qualifying wage and employment requirements
for benefits (the most frequent definition) but who
also is not disqualified from benefits. If a claimant
is disqualified for 7 weeks because he lost his
employment on account of a strike or through
misconduct or for 6 weeks because he left his
employment voluntarily without good cause, he
cannot file a valid claim until the disqualification
period ends. Then some of the early weeks of
employment will have passed out of the base
period; in some cases the benefit rights will be
eliminated; and in others, reduced. This pro­
vision will have a limited effect as long as the
present disqualification provisions, which merely
postpone benefits for a specified period, remain in
the law. It would have a far more serious effect
if the law were amended to provide more severe
penalties for the claimants who are disqualified.
Assembly Bill 3307, designed for this purpose in
1951, was introduced by the Committee on Rules
in the last days of the Legislature, but did not pass.
It would have extended disqualification for
voluntary leaving and discharge for misconduct
to the duration of the unemployment and would
have canceled benefit credits with the separating
employer. Then a claimant who was disqualified
could not start a benefit year until he had returned
to covered employment and had worked long
enough to qualify on wages earned after his


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545

disqualification, together with any prior employ­
ment and wages within the new 52-week period
from some employer other than the one from
whom his wage credits were canceled.
Most States with individual benefit years allow
a disqualified worker to establish a benefit year,
although he cannot immediately begin to draw
benefits. After the disqualification period has
expired, if he is still unemployed and otherwise
eligible, he can draw benefits on the assumption
that his continuing unemployment is due to the
condition of the labor market, not to his own
disqualifying act. If the proposed disqualification
provisions were enacted, the New York definition
of benefit year and valid claim would mean
that many disqualified workers are out of the
system until they have returned to covered
employment and have worked long enough to
qualify all over again.
For the claimant who is not disqualified, the
change in the benefit year and base period is not
necessarily adverse. Benefits based on recent
wages in a base period related to the beginning of
a claimant’s own unemployment may be more
realistic as a measure of wage loss and more
equitable as between claimants than the old system
under which one claimant’s benefits were based on
a quarter beginning 8 months earlier and another
on wages in a quarter beginning 2 years before.
New entrants into the labor market may qualify
for benefits more quickly (i. e., after 20 weeks of
work) and more equitably than under a system
whereby no one could qualify short of 9 months and
some had to have worked 20 months earlier in
order to qualify, depending on the dates of the
start of their employment and their unemploy­
ment.7
Waiting Period

The waiting period, 4 effective days of uncom­
pensated unemployment, was changed in ac­
cordance with the changes in the benefit year.
The waiting period may be served either wholly
within the week in which a claimant establishes a
valid claim or, if he does not have 4 effective days
in that week (i. e., 7 days of unemployment begin­
ning on Monday), it may be served partly within
that week and in 1 to 3 weeks of the benefit year
established by that claim. Thus the New York

546

NEW YORK UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

law requires a waiting period of 1 week of total
unemployment or 2 to 4 weeks of partial unem­
ployment; this is more than is required in 40
other States.8
Potential Duration of Benefits

The new law continues the provision of uniform
potential duration of benefits for all eligible claim­
ants and, with the new individual benefit year,
each eligible claimant has 52 weeks in which he
can draw the 26 weeks of benefits if he continues
unemployed and otherwise eligible. New York
has been a pioneer in providing uniform potential
duration and in improving the adequacy of such
protection.9
It was possible under the old law for some
claimants who remained in the labor force and
continued to be able to work and be available for
work to draw benefits in 2 benefit years without
any employment after they became unemployed
in the first benefit year. Some of these claimants
could draw benefits for 52 consecutive weeks,
except for an intervening week of waiting period
for the second benefit year. Thus, a claimant
becoming unemployed in November 1949 could
serve a waiting period and draw benefits for 26
weeks on 1948 wage credits; after June 4, 1950,
he could, if otherwise eligible, serve another wait­
ing period and draw 26 weeks’ benefits on his
wages January to November 1949.
This so-called “ double dip” is impossible under
the new law. A claimant beginning a benefit year
in January 1952 uses all his wage credits up to
his benefit year. He cannot start a new benefit
year until January 1953 and he must then have
worked at least 20 weeks in covered employment
in the preceding 52 weeks. If his unemployment
is seasonal and is repeated in January 1953, he
will not be eligible for any benefits unless he
returned to work for at least 20 weeks in 1952


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

and earned an average of at least $15 in at least
20 such weeks. Twenty weeks of employment in
the last 52 weeks seems a reasonable measure of
attachment to the covered labor force so long as
high employment continues, but it may prove to
be a harsh requirement for claimants who have had
1 year’s benefits. If they remain unemployed for
the full statutory period, they have only 26 weeks
in which to qualify with 20 weeks’ employment
before the possible start of a new benefit year.
In a period of declining employment opportunities,
the result may well be that many claimants are
out of the system after 1 year’s benefits.

•Of the I T . S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Employm ent Security.
1 B y law the Governor appoints an advisory council of nine men and
women, three each representing employees, employers, and the public, to
advise the Industrial Commissioner on all matters of major policies and
procedures connected with the administration of the unemployment insur­
ance law and to make an annual report to the Governor and the legislature.
2 Various amendments described here go into effect gradually. To sim­
plify the presentation, the intermediate steps are omitted and the discussion
is limited to the law as it w ill be fully in effect in 19.’12.
* For background information on the Federal-State system of financing
unemployment insurance, see Insurance Against Unemployment in the
United States, by William H. Wandel, in M onthly Labor Review, January
1950 (p. 9) and The Financing of Unemployment Insurance, by Ruth
Reticker, in the March 1950 issue (p. 257).
* Pennsylvania changed from a benefit-wage ratio to a reserve-ratio system
in 1949 and legislation to effect such a change has been enacted by the M ass­
achusetts Legislature and approved November 5, 1951. In Michigan also,
employer groups have been urging a change from a so-called benefit-ratio
system to a reserve-ratio system.
* The new formula follows in part a pattern established by Wisconsin in
1936 and adapted by Michigan in 1947. In New York, however, one benefit
amount applies throughout a benefit year, in contrast to Michigan and
Wisconsin where successive determinations of the weekly benefit are made
whenever there is a change in the employer to be charged for benefits paid.
6 The maximum in N ew York was successively increased to $18 in 1942,
$21 in 1945, and $26 in 1948 without changing the formula for determining
benefits. Five other States have adopted a $30 maximum in 1951.
7 Under the old law, a claimant who started work in September 1949 and
was unemployed in June 1950 could meet the qualifying wages; one whose
unemployment began in M ay 1950 could not qualify unless he had wages
in 2 quarters of 1948 or $780 in 1 quarter of that year.
8 Three States require no waiting period and 37 States require 1 week of
total or partial unemployment.
9 In 1939 the N ew York law provided for 13 weeks of uniform potential
duration; in 1942, 20 weeks; and in 1945, 26 weeks. At present two other
State laws include uniform duration of 26 weeks; 12 other State laws provide
uniform duration of less than 26 weeks; and 15 States which vary dura­
tion with base-period wages have a maximum of 26 or 26H weeks.

Seventieth AFL
Convention,
San Francisco, 1951
N el so n M . B ortz *

the critical course of world
events, much of the American Federation of
Labor’s seventieth convention in San Francisco
dealt with international labor affairs. The
approximately 700 delegates also reviewed the
past year’s developments on the home front at
the September 17-25, 1951, sessions. Continued
support, coupled with constructive criticism, was
expressed for the national defense effort in
obtaining greater production, more equitable
taxation, and fair price and wage stabilization.
Mindful of the forthcoming 1952 national elec­
tions, the delegates agreed to bolster by funds and
active grass-roots support the work of Labor’s
League for Political Education. Organic unifica­
tion of the bona fide American labor movement,
the Federation resolved, was now more urgently
needed than at any time since the partition a
decade and a half ago.

R eflecting

Attack on Com m unism

Demands for continued, unceasing war on
communism at home and abroad dominated much
of the convention’s time and activities. As in
preceding years the AFL’s international repre­
sentatives as well as fraternal delegates from other
countries described the progress—and problems—
in the world-wide struggle to buttress the free and
democratic labor movements against threats of
Communist infiltration and subversion.1
Irving Brown, AFL European representative,
reported that although economic difficulties have


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complicated the tasks of the democratic world
“the growing strength of the Atlantic Pact nations
is beginning to have an effect on the morale and
psychology of the masses.” He warned, however,
that the Communists, having been set back in
frontal political attacks (as in the recent French
elections), are now seeking to ensnare the tradeunion movement “in a phony international united
front.” Prompt and vigorous rejection of such
overtures were taken by the International Con­
federation of Free Trade Unions which, Mr. Brown
reported, now represents over 52,000,000 workers
from 80 national trade-union affiliates in over
60 countries.
All speakers affirmed the value of the Marshall
Plan in rehabilitating the economic life of the free
world. Major stress, in the year ahead, will be
to increase the productivity—the output—of
European mines, mills, and factories. This effort,
several speakers warned, must be accompanied by
raising the present very meager living conditions
of the masses. Standards to aid employers and
unions in shaping productivity programs and for
sharing in the greater output will be developed,
Nelson Cruikshank, director of the European
Labor Division of the Economic Cooperation
Administration, told the delegates. Approval will
not be given, he added, to any productivity drive
that “fails to provide for the sharing out to wage
earners and consumers the rewards of the increased
production achieved.”
In similar vein, AFL Vice President Charles J.
MacGowan, returned from a 2-month tour of
Western Europe, spoke critically of the rise of
“iniquitous cartels” which, he charged, were
“skimming off all the fat from the industries” to
the detriment of the workers’ living standards.
Mr. MacGowan was likewise critical of what he
described as the practice of ECA missions in
various countries of “making unilateral decisions’^
without consulting the labor advisers attached to
the missions.
The “practical job” of assuring that the benefits
of ECA’s Productivity Assistance Program accrue
equitably to the workers, the stockholders, and the
consumers, William H. Joyce, Jr., Assistant ECA
Director, told delegates “belongs to the free tradeunions in each country.” ECA, he advised them,
cannot intervene in the internal affairs of foreign
countries. He added: “You can bring to your
fellow trade-unionists in Europe the advantages
547

548

AFL CONVENTION

American labor has reaped through being not the
opponents of but the champions of more effective
and efficient production and the independent
militant use of their economic power as an agency
of social justice and social progress.” At the
conclusion of his address, Mr. Joyce presented to
the Federation a “Freedom’s Scroll” plaque in
recognition of the AFL’s “dynamic support of the
EC A program of strength for the free world, its
unswerving and vigorous fight against slavery, its
historic endeavors to give strength to the world’s
Free Trade Unions and its unselfish efforts to bring
to all the workers in the world a more abundant
life.”
George P. Delaney, international representative
of the Federation and chief labor delegate to the
International Labor Organization, spoke out
sharply against the employer representatives to
that body with respect to “tactics . . . in their
operations both within and outside” the ILO. It
was the first time the AFL has openly and officially
criticised the actions and utterances of the em­
ployer delegation. He accused them of continu­
ing “to profess their sympathy with the aims of
ILO” while seeking “to neutralize [it] as an
effective ally” of social programs.
Program of Action

A comprehensive policy declaration “towards
preserving and promoting international peace and
freedom, furthering social justice, and fostering
national independence and individual freedom”
was adopted. Significant portions of this state­
ment recommended:
(1) Negotiation of a treaty with the Federal
German Republic guaranteeing its unconditional
sovereignty and complete national independence.
(2) Greater support of the genuine democratic
forces in Germany—especially the 6,000,000member German Federation of Labor.
(3) Conclusion of a treaty of peace and friend­
ship with Austria.
(4) Revision of the present “unjust” Italian
treaty which will permit that nation to play its
appropriate and rightful role in the European
collective-security system.
(5) Strengthening of the Atlantic Alliance by
inclusion of Greece and Turkey.
(6) Development of a Middle East Regional


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MONTHLY LABOR

Security and Prosperity Pact which would include
Iran, Israel, and Turkey.
(7) Resumption, under appropriate conditions,
of Korean peace negotiations.
(8) Continued support of the democratic resist­
ance movement on the Chinese mainland and
furtherance of democratization of the constitu­
tional regime on Formosa and the strengthening of
its Nationalist military forces.
(9) Establishment of a commission, including
representatives of labor, management, farmers,
and the public, to plan for the orderly readjust­
ment of the domestic economy, once the peak of
armament production has been passed.
(10) Continued support of the Point Four
Program with full agreement and participation of
the peoples involved.
(11) Steps to make the Voice of America more
effective, assuring it adequate funds.
Strong endorsement was voted to the Govern­
ment’s mutual military-assistance and economicaid programs. With respect to the Marshall
Plan the resolution warned against “cunning
short cuts or model efficiency-unit factories,”
or “mere speed-up systems.” Increased pro­
ductivity, it was pointed out, is only a means to
an end, the ultimate objective being a strong,
rearmed Europe with constantly rising living
standards.
Attack on Inflation

Defeat can come from within as well as from
without, Eric Johnston, Administrator of the
Economic Stabilization Agency, told the conven­
ing delegates, as he urged them to combat the twin
“horsemen of communism and inflation.” These
perils were likewise stressed by President Truman
whose message to the convention also warned of
a third threat—the danger of reaction spurred by
those “who want to strike down all the social and
economic progress we have made, and by people
who are using the threat of communism as a
screen for their attacks on the very foundations
of our civil liberties.” The President praised
the efforts of organized labor in promoting all-out
production.
The Chairman of the Wage Stabilization Board,
Nathan P. Feinsinger, in his address to the con­
vention declared that wage stabilization had

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

AFL CONVENTION

become a necessary part of the Government’s
anti-inflation program but that there is “ample
room” for real collective bargaining under wage
stabilization. It is not the Board’s job “nor is
it our desire to reform the world of industrial
relations under the guise of wage stabilization.”
He warned, however:
“If collective bargaining is to be preserved with­
in the framework of wage stabilization, labor and
management must not expect the Board to enter
the collective-bargaining room to tell you what
you can or should negotiate in a particular case.
We do not wish to encourage agreements which the
parties know themselves cannot be approved under
any circumstances. But employers and unions
have the right to make any agreement which they
believe in good faith is not unstabilizing, if they
are prepared to defend it before the Board, and
provided it is clearly understood that the agree­
ment cannot be placed into effect prior to Board
approval.”
A convention report, unanimously adopted,
urged support of a wage stabilization program
“even though it is clear that the key to an effec­
tive program of inflation control lies elsewhere
than in the device of wage restraint.” Allow­
ance must be made, the report continued, for the
negotiation of wage increases based on increased
productivity. As to escalator clauses: “Labor
has never accepted the concept of the cost of
living as the sole criteria for wages, and it never
will.” Unions were cautioned against “hasty or
unnecessary recourse” to the Wage Stabilization
Board for the settlement of disputes. All the
“potentialities” of collective bargaining should
be exhausted, the delegates were told, so that the
“traditional processes of free collective bargaining
will emerge from this era of controls unimpaired.”
Likewise stressing the need for “free and re­
sponsible collective bargaining between free and
responsible parties,” Secretary of Labor Maurice
J. Tobin advocated a “fresh substitute” for the
Taft-Hartley Act.
While urging a completely rewritten law with a
return to the spirit of the Wagner Act, Mr. Tobin
emphasized the desirability for labor and manage­
ment in key industries to work out their own
machinery for handling emergency disputes. If
the Government must intervene, Secretary Tobin
added, the method of intervention should be


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549

flexible, uncertain, and unattractive to the parties,
thereby stimulating their own efforts to attain an
amicable adjustment.
Political Activity in 1952

The delegates listened to a serious analysis of
the work of Labor’s League for Political Education,
established 4 years ago in the same convention
hall. George Meany, League secretary, in review­
ing the 1948 and 1950 political campaigns, warned
against “ over-optimism after victory” (in reference
to the 1948) and “ defeatism after taking a few
political bruises” (1950). He outlined four essential
steps for a political program which was subse­
quently approved by the delegates: (1) A national
drive fora minimum $1 voluntary contribution by
each AFL member; (2) separate fund-raising
campaigns by State leagues (in contrast with the
former practice of $2 contributions, with half of
the amounts collected remitted to the State
LLPE); (3) a “ seeking out” of worthy candidates
for State office by the State AFL units; and (4)
prompt launching of “registration committees” to
see to it that all workers register and vote. This
latter point was stressed by Mr. Meany who de­
clared that the past record of union members in
this respect was “ very disappointing.” In some
localities fewer than 50 percent of the AFL
membership were registered and eligible to vote.
Both Mr. Meany and Joseph D. Keenan, the
retiring director of LLPE, mindful of past experi­
ences in the endorsement of candidates for political
office, emphasized the necessity of exercising
greater caution in advancing AFL support.
Mr. Keenan declared that straight trade-union
issues and politics should be paramount, with no
commitments until after next summer’s national
presidential conventions. Repeal of the TaftHartley Act—which gave the impetus to the
creation of the LLPE in 1947—still remains as a
Federation objective in its political program.
James McDevitt, president of the Pennsylvania
Federation of Labor, was selected by the Admin­
istrative Committee as the new director of the
LLPE.
Labor Unity

As in preceding years, the AFL urged the
“ organic unification” of all bona fide trade-union

550

AFL CONVENTION

organizations. The need for a united labor move­
ment is “urgent,” the AFL asserted, if organized
labor is to meet fully its grave responsibilities
both at home and abroad. Resumption of con­
ferences with the CIO was called for.2
The delegates also approved, without discussion,
the withdrawal of the AFL representatives, on
August 28, 1951, from the United Labor Policy
Committee. They accepted the report of the
AFL executive council which stated that the ULPC
“ had performed a valuable service in securing for
Labor representation in the vital agencies having
to do with the national defense.” Since the ULPC
had “ adequately fulfilled the purpose for which
it was created” its work, in the words of the
executive council’s report, was “ brought to a
satisfactory conclusion.”
Convention Business

During the year several changes occurred in the
AFL’s official family, which now numbers 110
national and international affiliates. The most
significant of these was the reaffiliation—as of
January 1, 1951-—of the International Association
of Machinists. Traditionally a part of the
Federation, IAM withdrew in 1946 because of
jurisdictional difficulties with a member union of
the Building and Construction Trades Department.
With its reaffiliation, the AFL’s membership was
boosted by over a half-million.
The granting of a charter to the American
Federation of Hosiery Workers, however, was
protested on the floor of the convention by the
United Textile Workers, claiming that jurisdiction
over hosiery workers had previously been accorded
them. After extended debate, the convention
voted to uphold the action of the executive council
in chartering the 30,000 member Hosiery Workers
Union last August.
Other jurisdictional conflicts, which did not
reach the convention floor, however, involved the
American Federation of State, County, and
Municipal Employees against the teamsters and
building service unions; and the Brotherhood of
Maintenance-of-Way Employees, which continued
to protest encroachments by the building trades
unions in connection with the construction of
buildings on railroad properties.
Also chartered since the Federation’s last
convention was the Insurance Agents Interna­

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MONTHLY LABOR

tional Union comprising several thousand whitecollar employees of large insurance companies.
Two amalgamations of AFL affiliates witnessed
the merger of the United Leather Workers
International Union with the larger Amalgamated
Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North
America, and the International Brotherhood of
Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers and Helpers with the
more powerful International Brotherhood of
Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders and Helpers of
America. In both instances the AFL approved
the mergers with the understanding that the
amalgamated unions would not extend their
previous jurisdictions.
Largely but by no means entirely as a result of
the reaffiliation of the Machinists union, the
reported per capita paid-up membership of the
Federation rose to 7,846,245—the highest on
record.3 This compares with 7,142,603 in 1950
and 7,577,716 in 1947, the previous peak.
As in the past, the report of Secretary-Treasurer
Meany also presented in detail the Federation’s
finances. During the year ending August 31,1951,
the AFL had receipts totaling over $3,800,000 and
expenses of $4,060,000. Of this latter amount,
about 45 percent went for organizing purposes.
Per capita taxes to the International Confedera­
tion of Free Trade Unions amounted to $58,100
with another $37,000 paid to the Inter-American
Regional Organization of the ICFTU. A further
indication of the AFL’s concern with interna­
tional affairs was manifested in its largest contri­
bution—$20,000 to the Free Trade Union Commit­
tee. This committee was established in 1944
by the Federation as part of its world-wide efforts
to combat totalitarism and encourage free, demo­
cratic trade-unions.
A unanimously approved constitutional amend­
ment increased the per capita dues of AFL
affiliates from 3 to 4 cents per member per month.
This increased revenue of approximately $1,000,000
a year will offset higher organizational and
administrative costs experienced by the Federation
and provide funds for expanding the educational
activities of Labor’s League for Political Education.
Re-election of Officers
President William Green was re-elected for his
twenty-eighth term and Secretary-Treasurer
Meanv for his thirteenth successive term. Also

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

AFL CONVENTION

re-elected unanimously were the AFL’s thirteen
vice presidents: William L. Hutcheson (Carpen­
ters) ; Matthew Woll (Photo-Engravers); George
M. Harrison (Railway Clerks); Daniel J. Tobin
(Teamsters); Harry C. Bates (Bricklayers); W. C.
Birthright (Barbers); W. C. Doherty (Letter
Carriers); David Dubinsky (Ladies’ Garment
Workers); Charles J. MacGowan (Boilermakers);
Herman Winter (Bakers); D. W. Tracy (Electrical
Workers); William L. McFetridge (Building
Service Employees); and James C. Petrillo
(Musicians).
New York City was selected as the site for the
1952 convention which, according to the Federa­
tion’s constitution, will begin the third Monday
in September.
*Chairman of the Railroad and Airline Wage Board. At the time this
article was written, the author was Assistant Chief of the D ivision of Wages
find Industrial Relations of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
1
Fraternal union delegates and foreign labor representatives addressing
the convention were: Francisco Aguirre, General Secretary, Inter-American


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551

Regional Organizations, IC FT U ; Bernard Shane, Fraternal Delegate,
Canadian Trades and Labor Congress; Tom Yates and James Kelly, Fra­
ternal Delegates, British Trades Union Congress; Paul Finet, former presi­
dent, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions; Christian Fette,
President, German Trade Union Federation; Tetsu Katayma, first postwar
prime minister of Japan and leader of the Social Democratic Party; Ismail
Aras, General Secretary, Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union of Turkey;
Olav Lindblom, Secretary, Finnish Trade Union Federation; C. P. Dave,
Assistant Secretary-General, All-Pakistan Confederation of Labor; Wang
Chung, (underground) Free Trade Union M ovement in Communist China;
Reg. R . Broadby, Secretary, Australian Council of Trade Unions; Far hat
Hatched, General Secretary of General Union of Tunisian Labor.
2
One delegate, a representative of the Seattle newsboy’s union, spoke on
the labor unity report urging inclusion of the United M ine Workers in the
negotiations.
2 Actually, the total membership of unions affiliated with the A FL exceeds
8,000,000. Although article X of the Federation’s constitution states that a
per capita tax of 3 cents per member per month (increased to 4 cents by
amendment of the convention) shall be paid upon “the full paid-up member­
ship” , some unions follow a practice of not remitting per capita tax for their
entire membership. Thus, a number of the larger affiliates have maintained
a constant level of per capita payments during the postwar period despite
reported substantial gains in membership. In addition, the A FL per capita
figure of 7,846,245 for 1951 does not reflect the full membership of the Machin­
ists which rejoined during the year. Another factor, which also has the
effect of understating the full membership strength of the A FL, was the
protest action of the dissatisfied Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union in
reducing their per capita payments from 318,100 to 175,400 members. This
union, which feels that its president has been bypassed several times in filling
vacancies on the executive council, refused to send delegates to the convention
for the second successive year.

Summaries of Studies and Reports

Union Status Under
Collective Agreements, 1950-51
U nion- shop clauses in collective-bargaining agree­
ments increased in prevalence during 1950-51,
compared with 1949-50/ while those providing
for maintenance of membership or merely sole­
bargaining recognition decreased.
Significant
contracts in which union-shop or modified unionshop provisions were incorporated during the
past year were: Chrysler-United Automobile
Workers (CIO), Crucible Steel-United Steel­
workers (CIO), and United Rubber Workers
(CIO) agreements with Firestone, Goodyear,
Goodrich, and United States Rubber Co. In
addition, union security was affected by passage
of State and Federal legislation and by legal
interpretation of the Labor-Management Rela­
tions Act. The Railway Labor Act was amended
in January 1951 to permit negotiation of unionshop agreements in the railroad and air transport
industries, and by midsummer, several large
railroad companies had signed such agreements.
Two States, Texas and Nevada, enacted laws
during the first half of 1951, which, in effect, ban
union-security agreements, bringing to 17 the
number having statutes regulating or prohibiting
such agreements.2
Legal interpretations of union-security provi­
sions were noticeably affected by a decision of
the United States Supreme Court; in May 1951
the Court held that the Labor Management
Relations (Taft-Hartley) Act of 1947 required
non-Communist affidavits from national officers
of the American Federation of Labor and Congress
of Industrial Organizations as well as from officers
of their affiliated unions. On the basis of this
decision, the National Labor Relations Board
ruled in July 1951 that union-shop agreements
signed by AFL and CIO affiliates were illegal
if such agreements had been negotiated in the
period between the effective date of the Act and

552

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

the subsequent filing of the affidavits. Later
the Board reversed its ruling, and a law was also
enacted by Congress affirming the legality of
these agreements. This law also amends the
1947 Act by eliminating the requirement that a
majority of the employees in the bargaining unit
must vote in favor of the union shop before such
a provision can be incorporated in an agreement.
Generally, workers have voted approval of the
union shop in these elections. In 1950, for ex­
ample, the union shop was approved in 5,718 out
of 5,938 NLRB elections.
The relative importance of the union-shop
over other union-security provisions is revealed
in a recently completed survey of 2,651 agree­
ments, covering 5,581,000 workers, and in effect
in late 1950 and 1951: 61 percent of these
contracts had union-shop clauses, 13 percent
provided for maintenance of membership and 26
percent gave only sole-bargaining recognition;
in addition to these union-security provisions,
check-off clauses were included in 67 percent
of the agreements. By comparison, a survey of
2,150 agreements, in effect a year or so earlier
and covering an estimated 4 million workers,
showed that the union shop was provided by
50 percent of the contracts; maintenance of
membership, by 21 percent; sole bargaining, by
29 percent; and check-off, by 64 percent.
Union Shop. Of the 2,651 agreements analyzed
in the 1950-51 period, 1,612, covering nearly
three-fifths of the workers provided for the
“union-shop” ; i. e., all or nearly all employees
in the collective-bargaining unit are required to
be members of the union (table 1).
The most common of the several types of unionshop provision 3 specifies that present employees
must be union members and that new employees,
not union members at the time of hiring, must
join within a specified time after starting work.
This type of clause was found in 62 percent of the
1,612 union-shop agreements. Some agreements
(14 percent of all union-shop contracts) further

UNION STATUS UNDER AGREEMENTS

provided that preference must be given union
members in filling vacancies.
A modified union shop (i. e., providing specific
exemption of certain groups of employees from the
membership requirement) was stipulated in an
additional 14 percent of the union-shop agree­
ments. The most important of these, in te rm s of
number of workers involved, were the agreements
incorporating the General Motors-type of pro­
vision. Under such contracts, employees hired
after the effective date of the agreement are
required to join the union and maintain member­
ship for at least a year; those who were union
members when the agreement became effective
are also required to maintain their membership;
but employees who were not members at that
time are not required to join. Another inter­
esting—although not necessarily new—modifica­
tion, found mostly in contracts of the American
Newspaper Guild (CIO), requires a specified
proportion of new employees (e. g., nine out of
every ten) to become union members within a
specified time or face discharge. None of these
agreements indicate by what process those workers
who do not have to join the union are to be
selected.
The remaining 10 percent of the union-shop
agreements required that employees must be
members of the union before beginning work.
Although some of these contracts did not state
specifically that an employee must be a union
T a b l e 1.—

Types of union-status provisions established by
collective-bargaining agreements
All agreements
in sample 1

Types of union status
N um ­
ber
T otal______ ____________
Union s h o p ..............
Membership maintenance.
Sole bargaining....... ............

2

Per­
cent

Agree­
ments
with
employ­
ment
data

Workers covered

Number

Per­
cent

2,651

100

2,448

5, 581,000

100

1, 612
343
696

61
13
26

1,469
327
652

3,231,000
912, 000
1,438,000

58
16
26

1 N ot included in the final sample of 2,651 agreements were 26 contracts with
no union-status clause and 80 in which union-status provisions could not be
definitely classified. M ost of these agreements made the type of union secur­
ity contingent on developments and interpretations of the Labor Manage­
m ent Relations Act of 1947, or various State laws. The most significant of
these are the national anthracite and bituminous-coal mining agreements
covering approximately 475,000 workers, which provide for a union shop’
“ to the extent and in the manner permitted by law .”
2 Includes a few agreements which provided that the union shop would
become effective after a union-shop election, as required by the Labor M an­
agement Relations Act of 1947. Also included are the company-wide contract
between the Ford Motor Co. and the United Automobile Workers (CIO)
and several other company-wide contracts which provide for a union shop
except in States where the union shop is banned by law. Since the number
of workers who are covered by the contracts and employed in such States is
not known, the number of workers under union-shop contracts is overstated
to a minor extent.


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553

Chart 1.— Union Status Provisions in Collective-Bar­
gaining Agreements, by Region, 1950-51

New England
Middle Atlantic
East North Central
West North Central
South Atlantic
East South Central
West South Central
Mountain
Pacific
Inter- regional
Membership
Maintenance

Y/yXA Sole
Bargaining

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

member before starting work, the stipulated con­
ditions of employment were such that the great
majority of workers hired would be union mem­
bers. For example, a few agreements provided
that graduates of a union-sponsored training
school would be given preference for employment.
Analysis of union-shop provisions in the 1950-51
agreements showed that at least three-fourths of
the workers in 10 of the 26 industry groups were
covered by union-shop clauses. They were ap­
parel, paper and allied products, rubber, printing
and pubfishing, transportation equipment, con­
struction, wholesale and retail trade, services,
hotels and restaurants, and transportion (table 2).
Union shops were provided for in three-fourths of
the agreements negotiated by unions affiliated
with the AFL, compared with a half of the contracts
of CIO affiliated unions, and a third of the agree­
ments of unaffiliated or independent unions
(table 3). In the Pacific region (California,
Oregon, and Washington), four-fifths of the
agreements analyzed called for a union shop
(table 4 and chart 1). By contrast, the proportion

UNION STATUS UNDER AGREEMENTS

554

of such clauses was lowest (18 percent) in the
West South Central States (Arkansas, Louisiana,
Oklahoma, and Texas).
Maintenance oj Membership. Union security by
means of maintenance-of-membership clauses be­
came important during World War II, when this
provision was adopted by the National War
Labor Board as a compromise between labor’s de­
mands for the union-shop and employer opposition
T a ble 2. —

to it. Under a maintenance-of-membership clause,
an employee need not join the union, but if he is
a member on the effective date of the contract, or
later becomes a member, he must maintain his
membership for the duration of the agreement as a
condition of continued employment.
This type of union status has declined in
importance since the end of World War II hostili­
ties, and was provided by only 13 percent of the
1950-51 agreements studied. It is most prevalent

Union status provisions, by industry
Type of union status

Total in sample

Membership main­
tenance

Union shop
Major industry group

Total-----------------------------------------------------------M a n u f a c t u r i n g ___________

_

--------------------

Food and kindred products____ _______________
Tobacco_______ _ ------ ------------------- ---------Textile mill produ cts_________________________
Apparp.l arid other finished textile products
Lumber and timber basic products-------------------Furniture and finished wood products__________
Paper and allied products............................ ..............
Printing and publishing_______________________
Chemicals and allied products_______
Petroleum and coal products______________ . .
Rubber products.___ ____________________
Leather and leather products_________________
Stone, clay, and glass products_________________
Primary metal industries______________________
Fabricated metal products_____ . . . -----------------Machinery (except electrical)_____ -Electrical machinery____________ - _________
Transportation equipm ent., - ________________
Professional, scientific, and controlling instrum e n t s -__ _______ ______ - _____ __________
M iscellaneous2_________ __________________
N o n m a n u f a c t u r in g ______________

__________

Mining, crude-petroleum, and natural-gas production----------------------- -----------------------Transportation3.
----------------- -------------Com m unications_______ - _______________ --Utilities, electric and gas
- - ----------------- -Wholesale and retail trade___ _
- ----------Ho to,Is and restan rants
Services4
_ _____
_______ _______ _
Const,motion
M iscellaneous5___
__________
__________

MONTHLY LABOR

Agree­
ments

Workers 1

2.651

5,581,000

61

58

13

16

1 ,7 9 7

4 ,0 5 1 ,0 0 0

69

57

16

20

5
9
7

Percent
of agree­
ments

Percent
of work­
ers

Percent
of agree­
ments

Percent
of work­
ers

Check-off
Sole bargaining
Percent
of agree­
ments

Percent
of work­
ers

Percent
of agree­
ments

Percent
of work­
ers

26

26

67

78

25

23

75

85

36
74
27
1
25
23
2
7
29
76
3
17
8
6
11
39
70
15

61
94
96
45
62
79
56
17
93
80
86
74
89
89
80
82
84
83

76
89
98
48
38
71
48
19
94
82
95
80
78
98
79
92
95
95

195
18
189
93
73
52
87
89
85
30
22
61
72
112
145
191
85
106

330,000
40,000
249,000
345, 000
47,000
37,000
110,000
51,000
97.000
59,000
124,000
75,000
98, 000
542,000
193, 000
275,000
323,000
979,000

67
22
51
97
57
65
82
85
40
20
78
57
61
45
65
41
47
59

59
17
66
99
69
74
93
87
32
7
90
74
68
14
51
42
22
77

8
28
12
1
7
8
7
6
18
30
18
17
13
38
19
27
18
23

6
3
5
6
39
17
7
9
24
80
38
19
8
8

25
50
37
2
36
27
11
9
42
50
4
26
26
17
16
32
35
18

31
61

35,000
42, 000

48
66

53
65

23
11

14
13

29
23

33
22

84
75

78
80

854

1 ,5 8 0 ,0 0 0

64

60

7

6

29

S4

50

62

38,000
309, 000
467,000
142, 000
133,000
121, 000
115', 000
199,000
6 , 000

20
67
7
56
76
98
82
90
59

10
82
8
61
91
99
95
94
72

28
4
12
16
3
2
4

55
2
11
9
3
1

52
29
81
28
21

35
16
81
30
6

80
46
97
64
40

1

5
6
27

43

5

14
10
36

93
48
100
78
48
46
53

55

62

66
228
72
69
172
43
141
41
22

18

1 T hese workers are covered b y 2,448 agreem ents for w hich em p loym ent data
are available.
2 Includes jew elry and silverw are, b utton s, m usical in stru m en ts, to y s,
a th letic goods, ordnance and am m u nition .
2 E xcludes rail and air carriers.

4 Includes financial, insurance, and other business services, personal serv ­
ices, au tom obile repair shops, am usem ent and recreation esta b lish m en ts,
m edical and other health services.
6 Includes farming, fishing, educational in stitu tio n s, nonprofit m em b ersh ip
organizations and governm ental estab lish m en ts.

in the primary metal industries, in which four-fifths
of the employees were covered by such provisions.

the union bargains for all employees in the unit,
irrespective of whether they are or are not mem­
bers of the union. A provision of this type is
significant only if the union has not utilized the
services of the NLRB for certification.
A few agreements containing sole-bargaining
clauses also included “ harmony” provisions such
as the following:

Sole Bargaining. About a fourth of the agree­
ments, covering 1,438,000 workers, grant sole
bargaining rights to a union without the protec­
tion of a union-shop or maintenance-of-member­
ship clause. Under such contracts, the employer
is not permitted to deal with a rival union or group
of employees during the life of the agreement, and

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The company adopts the policy of encouraging
union membership for all its employees, both new and

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

UNION STATUS UNDER AGREEMENTS

T a b l e 3. —

All agreements_____ __
All workers1__ _ .
Total percent.. .
___

Union status provisions, by affiliation, and by type of recognition
American Congress
Indus­
Federa­ of trial
tion of
Organi­
Labor
zations

Inde­
pend­
ent

2,651
1,363
973
5, 581, 000 1,973, 000 2,987, 000
100
100
100

315
621,000
100

Total in
sample

Item

_ _ __

Percent of agreements with—
Union shop. . .
____ .
Membership maintenance___
Sole bargaining___________

555

61
13
26

76
9
15

50
19
31

33
10
57

Total in
sample

Item

Percent of workers covered by—
___
Union sh o p .._
Membership maintenance
Sole bargaining________ .
Covered by check-off:
Percen t of agreements.
. . . .
Percent of workers__

American Congress
Federa­ of Indus­
trial
tion of
Organi­
Labor
zations

Inde­
pend­
ent

58
16
26

79
8
13

51
24
25

25
6
69

67
78

46
47

90
96

86
92

1 See footnote 1, table 2.

old, and will cooperate with the union in advising its
employees that a contract exists between the company
and the union, so that all employees (except those
excepted) may be properly informed and thereby
afforded a suitable opportunity to join the union within
a reasonable time, and to remain therein in good
standing during the life of this agreement.
The company recognizes the right of the union to
know of the employees newly employed or recalled to
work and will furnish their names to the union.

Under the LMRA of 1947, employees who wish
their dues checked off are required to sign au­
thorizations which may not continue for more
than a year or the life of the agreement, which­
ever is shorter, without an opportunity for with­
drawal. Many contracts provide that the au­
thorization would be automatically renewed for
another year unless revoked by the employee dur­
ing an “escape” period:

Industries in which sole bargaining was most
prevalent, in terms of number of workers involved,
were tobacco, petroleum products, electrical
machinery, and communications.

Authorization shall be irrevocable for the period
of 1 year, and shall automatically renew itself for
yearly periods thereafter; provided, however, that it
may be revoked by giving written notice to the com­
pany and the union at least 60 days and not more than
90 days before the expiration of any such yearly period.

Check-Off Provisions. Two-thirds of the agree­
ments, covering over three-fourths of the workers,
had “ check-off” provisions; i. e., union dues, and,
in some instances, such items as initiation fees,
and assessments are deducted from the worker’s
pay by the employer.
T a ble 4. —

Many unions favor the check-off as a method
of dues collection, not only because of its con­
venience, but also because it assures dues pay­
ment by employees who might otherwise fail to

Union status provisions, by region

Total in sample

Type of union recognition
Membership mainte­
nance

Union shop

Region 1

Sole bargaining

Agreements Workers 2
Percent of Percent of Percent of Percent of Percent of Percent of Percent of Percent of
agreements workers agreements workers agreements workers agreements workers
Total............................

2,651

5,581,000

61

58

13

16

26

26

67

78

N ew England _..........
M iddle Atlantic___
East North Central.
W est North Central.
South Atlantic_____
East South CentralWest South Central.
M ountain...................
Pacific____________
Inter-regional3..........

226
641
664
191
200
96
97
60
290
186

297,000
1,234,000
933,000
162,000
201,000
86,000
95,000
35,000
552,000
1,986,000

61
71
64
63
28
40
18
47
80
55

57
76
54
47
20
26
15
30
75
52

18
12
16
9
9
11
15
13
7
17

13
9
18
20
11
34
10
29
8
22

21
17
20
28
63
49
67
40
13
28

30
15
28
33
69
40
75
41
17
26

80
71
72
49
80
79
78
57
27
77

64
83
76
89
79
85
64
45
92

1 Regions referred to in this article include the following States: N e w E n g ­
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island,
Vermont; M i d d l e A t l a n t i c — N e w Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania; E a s t
N o r th , C e n tr a l— Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin; W e s t N o r t h
C e n tr a l— Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota,
South Dakota; S o u th A t l a n t i c —Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida,
Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, W est Vir­

lan d.—


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

84

ginia; E a s t S o u th C e n tr a l— Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, TennesseeWest S o u th C e n tr a l— Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas; M o u n t a i n —
Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, W y o m in gP a c i f i c — California, Oregon, Washington.
2 See footnote 1, table 2.
3 Each of these agreements covers two or more plants located in different
regions.

REPORT ON WAGE STABILIZATION

556

Chart 2.— Percent Distribution of Agreements and
Workers Covered by Type of Payment Checked off

Dues Only
Dues and Initiation Fees
Dues and Assessments
Dues, Initiation Fees
and Assessments
No Provision
5 ,5 8 1 ,0 0 0 WORKERS COVERED
Dues Only
Dues and Initiation Fees
Dues and Assessments
Dues, Initiation Fees
and Assessments

MONTHLY LABOR

visions were not widespread. In such industries
as apparel, printing, and construction, on the
other hand, the relatively high frequency of unionshop agreements was accompanied by a consider­
ably smaller proportion of check-off clauses
(table 2).
A third of the agreements provided for the
check-off of initiation fees as well as dues (chart 2)
and nearly a fifth required check-off of general
assessments. A few contracts also provided for
check-off of fines, reinstatement fees, and pay­
ments to the union welfare or death benefit fund.
— J a m e s N ix
D ivision of Wages and Industrial Relations

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

pay. Others, however, prefer to have shop
stewards collect dues, as one method of keeping in
close touch with the membership.
I Generally, employers feel that it is the responsi­
bility of the union to collect its dues. However,
some employers prefer the check-off because it
eliminates the confusion and loss of working time
sometimes caused by shop stewards collecting
dues in the plant.
Industry groups in which 80 percent or more of
the workers were covered by check-off provisions
were primary metal industries, fabricated metal
products, machinery, transportation equipment,
tobacco, textiles, chemicals, rubber, leather, pe­
troleum, and communications.
In general, the prevalence of check-off pro­
visions was greater among agreements without
union-security clauses than among those with
such clauses. Only about three-fifths of the con­
tracts which provided for some form of union
security—either union shop or maintenance of
membership—also provided for check-off, com­
pared with over four-fifths of the contracts having
no union-security clause. Less than 5 percent of
the agreements provided for neither union security
nor check-off.
This comparison between check-off provisions
and the type of union status or recognition was
reflected in the industry, region, and union affilia­
tion data. Thus, for example, in tobacco, petro­
leum products, chemicals, and communications,
the proportion of agreements providing for the
check-off was relatively high but union-shop pro­

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1 Union-Security Provisions in Agreements, 1949-50, M onthly Labor Re­
view, August 1950 (p. 224). Some of the agreements used in this study were
long-term contracts which were also included in the present survey.
> Closed and union shop and maintenance of membership are banned by
the laws or constitutions of Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, N e­
braska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee,
Texas, and Virginia. In Colorado, Kansas, and Wisconsin, agreements re­
quiring union membership as a condition of employment are prohibited un­
less an election has been held and a specified percentage of employees have
voted in favor of the agreement. In Massachusetts, it is an unfair labor prac­
tice to discharge employees for nonmembership in a union, unless they are
ineligible for membership because of occupational disqualification or breach
of discipline.
j For examples of various types of union-status and check-off clauses, see
Bulletin 908: Union Security Provisions in Collective Bargaining, U . S. D e­
partment of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Report on Wage Stabilization
By the Retiring W SB Chairman
An outline of the development of wage stabiliza­
tion policies, from initial regulations that were
designed to “unscramble 1950’s tangled wage sit­
uations’' to present and contemplated policies
aimed “for the long pull,” was presented in a
report1 by Dr. George W. Taylor upon his resig­
nation as Chairman of the Wage Stabilization
Board in late August. In addition, the report de­
fines the Board’s jurisdiction in disputes, its en­
forcement policies, and the purpose, problems, and
progress in wage stabilization. The cooperative
nature of the wage stabilization program result­
ing from the tripartite composition of the Board

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

REPORT ON WAGE STABILIZATION

is also explained. Dr. Taylor submitted his re­
port to the Economic Stabilization Administrator.
While covering activity from May 8, the date the
Board was reconstituted, to August 29, 1951, the
report, in essence, gives the background of WSB
activity from its origin.
Aspects of Program

“Wage stabilization presented itself as a twopart job, both to the existing 18-member Board
and to its predecessor, which ceased to function
after the withdrawal of the labor members on
February 15, 1951,” according to the report.
“The task was (1) to unscramble the mess which
the country’s wage structure had gotten into dur­
ing the turbulent year of 1950; and (2) to draft
policies which would insure long-range stability
in the wage field and contribute to the Nation’s
anti-inflation and mobilization effort.”
Through policies developed by the original WSB
and administered by the reconstituted Board, the
first part of its assignment has been virtually
completed; and “significant progress” has been
achieved during the 4 months covered by the reri port in the development of a long-range program.
In addition to the basic objective of wage stabili­
zation, Dr. Taylor listed three other objectives of
WSB policy making: (1) the preservation of in­
dustrial relations stability; (2) the preservation of
collective bargaining to the fullest possible extent;
and (3) the fostering of maximum defense produc­
tion. Policies developed by the Board must rep­
resent a balancing of the four objectives, accord­
ing to the report.
The reconstituted Board’s limited jurisdiction
in the field of labor disputes may only be utilized
after collective bargaining, mediation, and concili­
ation have failed, and only if the parties agree to
submit their dispute or if the President refers it
to the Board. “Voluntarism is the keynote in
this process,” the report emphasizes. “Collective
bargaining is subject to necessary restraints during
a national emergency and under wage stabiliza­
tion,” the report continues; that the dispute au­
thority of the Board serves as an “additional arm
in resolving industrial disputes in an emergency
period; and that “it does not bypass nor replace
existing procedures established by law.”
Cooperation of labor and management is stated
to be essential in the^wage stabilization program.
971543—51------3


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557

The current wage stabilization effort, according to
Dr. Taylor, is based on “voluntary compliance
with policies and regulations hammered out in the
give-and-take atmosphere of a tripartite Board
composed of experienced representatives of labor,
management, and the public.” Indicative of this,
he cites that “less than 1 percent of the Board’s
rulings were not unanimous. None of the dissents
occurred on major issues of basic policy and only
one, in the meat packing case, related to a matter
of general policy.”
Progress of the Board

Activity of the Board was concentrated on dis­
posing of a backlog of cases during the period
covered by the report. Various WSB administra­
tive actions which helped to expedite the processing
of these cases are noted in the report. Among these
was the appointment of a tripartite Review and
Appeals Committee, the formation of several sub­
committees to deal with particular cases, the
establishment of the tripartite Construction Indus­
try Stabilization Commission, and the appoint­
ment of other panels and commissions. In addition
five new General Wage Regulations were issued
and two previous regulations were amended.
In the performance of its function in the field of
labor disputes, the President has referred two
labor disputes (up to the time of the report), both
in the copper industry, to the Board.
To facilitate its work, 14 regional Board offices,
each staffed by 12 members equally representing
labor, management, and the public, have been
established. New wage adjustment petitions are
now being sent to regional offices. These offices
will help speed up processing of cases and provide
necessary informational services.
A three-member National Enforcement Com­
mission has also been established and plans are
being completed to create similar commissions at
the regional level. The WSB, according to Dr.
Taylor, looks on its enforcement job “not pri­
marily as a punitive undertaking but as a program
designed to insure that those who comply with
wage regulations are not put at a disadvantage.”
According to the retiring Chairman, “the year
1950 was characterized by an unstabilizing of wage
relationships. Employees sought and many em­
ployers granted wage increases in anticipation of
rises in the cost-of-living, tightening of manpower

558

REPORT OF DEFENSE MOBILIZER

and other factors.” During 1950, wage adjust­
ments were made ranging “from 5 to 15 cents an
hour and even higher and when about 40 percent
of the wage earners received no increase.”
The 10-percent “catch-up” formula, base date
abnormality policy, and the tandem regulation,
all issued prior to May 8, “were developed to
unscramble 1950’s tangled wage situations.” Dr.
Taylor anticipates that the tandem regulation aud
the abnormality policy will soon have completed
their function, and that the 10-percent formula will
soon be replaced.
During late July and August, the Board issued
regulations affecting long-range policies designed to
maintain stable and reasonable wage relationships.
Among these were regulations concerned with
(1) wage increases to help solve critical labor
shortages; (2) certain intraplant adjustments,
such as merit and length-of-service benefits;
(3) cost-of-living adjustments applicable to all
workers; and (4) deferred increases.
Other aspects of wage stabilization in which
some progress has been made but for which specific
policies have not yet been formulated are listed
as (1) standards under which pension, health,
and welfare plans will be allowed; (2) adjustments
covering interplant inequities (for recent action
on this policy, see Sept. 27 item on p. 589);
(3) problem of applying wage stabilization to
commission earnings; and (4) plan covering pro­
ductivity or annual improvement factor adjust­
ments.
* Entitled, “A Report on Wage Stabilization,” W SB, Aug. 31,1951.

Defense M obilizer’s
Third Quarterly Report
stability, and free-world unity are
the three keys to strength cited by Director of
Defense Mobilization Charles E. Wilson in his
third quarterly report1 to the President. They
are described by Mr. Wilson as the great problem
areas that will dominate the coming months of the
defense mobilization effort.
P r o d u c t iv it y ,


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MONTHLY LABOR

A recapitulation of the economic position at the
end of the quarter refers to the Nation’s emer­
gence from the “ tooling up” stage on many
military items and its readiness to undertake
volume production. Output of important types
of civilian goods, though substantially reduced,
remained high by any normal standard; and vir­
tually all civilian-goods demand was being met,
according to the report.
Manpower shortages were still limited to a few
areas and occupations. Inflationary pressures
were stated to be heavy on prices and wages in
some areas of the economy but relatively light in
others. Both the extensive buying and sharp in­
creases which followed the Korean invasion had
run their course. The effects of heavy military
expenditures still lay ahead.
Allocation of Production

Deliveries of military goods in the July-September 1951 quarter were expected to reach $5
billion—over a third more than in the previous
quarter and over four times the rate of deliveries
of a year earlier. However, the rate of deliveries
should equal $10 to $11 billion a quarter at the
same time next year. Some military production
is now starting on an assembly-line production
basis and major problems from now on will be
concerned with the breaking up of any bottle­
necks. Since the Korean conflict began, $45
billion has been obligated for military procure­
ment and construction. Combined with the 1951
appropriation, this figure amounts to nearly $100
billion.
Basic industrial expansion which supports mili­
tary output doubled within the past year. “ This
means that the period of greatest stringency has
now begun for metal-using industries,” the report
states. Industrial requests for the last quarter
of this year for various types of steel, copper, and
aluminum exceeded the supply by from 50 to 100
percent. Thus, the capacity to produce alumi­
num and the other basic materials is being sched­
uled ahead of programs designed to increase
capacity in industries consuming these materials.
Allocation of metals for consumer goods was being
maintained at about 60 percent of the rates for the
first half of 1950. Any further consumer-goods
reduction would cause many plants to close at a
time when military-program needs were being met.

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

BRITISH TÜC MEETING

Manpower

Almost no lags have occurred in defense pro­
duction because of manpower shortages, which
developed in only a few localities, industries, and
occupations. However, it is anticipated by the
Defense Mobilizer that more widespread short­
ages will appear as we go into mass production of
military goods. Currently, engineers, machinists,
and skilled metal workers are in greatest demand.
From a long-range viewpoint, shortages of highly
skilled technical and professional workers is an­
ticipated as the Nation’s mobilization program
develops.
An all-time high in total civilian employment
was achieved in August with 62.6 million em­
ployed according to the Defense Mobilizer’s
report. Total unemployment during the same
month amounted to 1.6 million. A sharp rise in
lay-offs in the consumer-goods industries occurred
in July and August, but in most cases, unemploy­
ment was of short duration.
Maintenance of Economic Stability

Uncertainties dominated price control, ac­
cording to the report, due primarily to legislative
developments relative to administration of price
control. However, the Office of Price Stabiliza­
tion has made some progress in the issuance of a
number of “tailored” regulations designed to fit
each industry’s particular business conditions,
accounting methods, and trade practices.
Substantial achievement toward the develop­
ment of a long-range wage stabilization program
has been accomplished by the Wage Stabilization
Board. Policies developed by the Board provide
for (1) wage changes related to changes in the
cost of living; (2) correction of interplant in­
equities under certain conditions; (3) limited
adjustments for merit, length of service, and other
specified benefits; and (4) increased wages to
relieve manpower shortages.
The quarter period analyzed has been relatively
stable, but the danger of strong inflationary
pressure, as defense spending grows and personal
and business incomes increase was stressed.
The importance of labor, industry, and the
public in upholding fair policies for wage stabiliza­
tion as well as in supporting fair policies for price
control during the next few months was stressed


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

559

in the report. In addition, continued reliance
was urged on “indirect measures” of control,
such as increased taxes, credit restriction, and
measures designed to stimulate greater savings.
Free-World Unity

The report emphasizes that the safety of the
United States depends on the creation of strength
on a free-world basis, not only in America, but in
Europe, The Middle East, The Far East, and else­
where. Mr. Wilson stated that progress has been
made in the task of world-wide defense mobili­
zation, but much still remains to be done. United
States military shipments to foreign countries
amounted to a value of $1.5 billion. Since the
invasion of Korea, economic assistance to other
free nations has reached about $3.4 billion.
Defense expenditures of European North Atlan­
tic Treaty Organization countries for 1952 are
likely to total more than 50 percent above those
in 1951 and 80 percent over 1950. However,
even this planned build-up is still insufficient,
according to the Defense Mobilizer.
The great continuing problem, according to the
report, is “creation and maintenance of an
effective system of cooperation throughout the
world so that each nation can maximize its con­
tribution to the common cause.”
1
Source: Third Quarterly Report to the President, Three Keys to
Strength, transmitted by the Director of Defense Mobilization, October
1, 1951.

The 1951 Meeting of
the British T U C
The T r a d e s U n i o n C o n g r e s s , representing
almost 8 million British workers, voted solid
support for the domestic and international policies
of its General Council, the Labor Party, and the
Labor Government at its annual meeting held at
Blackpool in September 1951A In the voting no
left-wing resolution carried.
Several explosive issues had been placed beyond
controversy before the Congress convened. In

560

BRITISH TÜC MEETING

its report to the Congress, the General Council,
omitting its former pleas for restraint, recognized
the need for wage increases to offset the rise in the
cost of living; the Government had revised the
compulsory arbitration order—a target of criticism
last year—and in July had announced its intention
of introducing statutory limitation of dividends.
Equal pay for men and women received the
unanimous support of the delegates, as it had
last year. The General Council announced that
it planned to press for immediate application of
this principle in the Government service. Pro­
duction problems of the basic industries, which
include the nationalized industries, were also
discussed at the TUC annual meeting.
International Action

President Alfred Roberts centered his opening
address upon the need for defense against totali­
tarian aggression. He told the delegates that it
was worth paying a high price in terms of material
comforts for such defense.
Three resolutions, which the General Council
considered critical of the Government and which
had the support of the Communists, were defeated
by large majorities. The first, a composite reso­
lution on peace, asking that Britain take the
initiative to end the arms race, was defeated by a
show of hands. This defeat followed a statement
by Sir Vincent Tewson (general secretary) ex­
pounding the necessity of Western defense in view
of specific Soviet acts of belligerence and intran­
sigence. The National Union of Railwaymen was
the only large union which supported the resolu­
tion; the basis for its stand was that Britain
should disarm first as a reassuring gesture. Dele­
gates for the miners, transport, and building
workers spoke against the resolution. The second
left-wing resolution opposed rearmament of Ger­
many and Japan, and was defeated by almost a
two to one vote. Advocates of a return to nondiscriminatory trading with Russia and China,
and freedom from American interference with
British trading policy met with an even greater
defeat.
A resolution condemning the arrival and
‘recognition” of the Spanish Ambassador was,
however, adopted without dissent.


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MONTHLY LABOR

Domestic Economic Issues

In his address to the Congress, Chancellor of
the Exchequer Hugh Gaitskell reviewed the pres­
ent economic situation and stressed the need for
moderation in presenting wage claims. Wage
freezing or rigid restraint, he considered, were
undesirable even as emergency measures as they
prevented changes in relative rates, which are
necessary to relieve hardship or to attract labor
to a particular industry. Predicting a further
(slight) rise in the cost of living, he told the Con­
gress that subsidies could not restrain the index
because additional taxing of incomes and profits
would not raise the £ 600 million required to offset
the higher cost of food and raw-material imports.
The existing level of profits, he said, was not an
important cause for the rise in living costs. He
suggested that trade-unions might include in their
program of securing a more even distribution of
wealth a demand that individual firms (or indus­
tries) issue to workers a portion of their currently
held undivided profits in the form of bonus stock
certificates. He also attacked “fear and inertia
on both sides of industry’’ which were making life
in Britain harder than necessary.
After debate the Congress rejected a left-wing
resolution demanding all-round wage increases
which was aimed at not only maintaining but
also improving living standards at the expense of
profits. The General Council’s report had pointed
out the impossibility of such action, while re­
arming, and both its report and the presidential
address had strongly upheld the priority of
defense. Among other things, the General Coun­
cil’s spokesman objected to any link between wages
and profits which would imply a downward wage
adjustment if business incurred losses. A sugges­
tion that the Council formulate a national wage
policy was also rejected.
Finally, the Congress adopted a resolution,
approved by the General Council, asking the
Government to adopt five measures for checking
the rise in living costs: (1) to improve price
controls for goods domestically produced; (2) to
reconsider its attitude toward extension of sub­
sidies; (3) to investigate methods of distribution;
(4) to tighten up profit control; and (5) to remove
the purchase tax from household necessities.

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

OPERATIONS OF CREDIT UNIONS

The resolution alluded to the need for greater
productivity in British industry.
A narrow majority defeated a resolution con­
demning the Government's imposition of charges
under the National Health Service (for false
teeth and spectacles). A left-wing resolution call­
ing for the reduction in compensation payments to
former owners of nationalized industries was lost
after amazement was expressed at a proposal which
would constitute a dishonoring of contracts.
Problems of the unorganized workers, partic­
ularly women, and of the role of women in the

Operations of
Credit Unions in 1950
C r e d it u n io n s in the United States, continuing
the steady progress which they have been making

T able

561

labor movement were discussed. Some women
delegates complained that only 3 percent of the
Congress delegates were women ; in their view, the
annual women’s meetings staged by the TUC
tended to prevent rather than promote women’s
full participation in the Congress.
— J e a n A. F l e x n e r
Division of Foreign Labor Conditions
1
Based on reports in the British press, Preliminary Agenda of the 1951
Congress, and the General Council’s Report to the 83d Annual Congress.
Amicable consultation with Churchill Government on economic problems
is indicated by post-election statement of the TU C.

since the end of World War II, established a new
all-time high in 1950. Assets, for the first time,
exceeded $1 billion, and loans made during the
year closely approached that figure. Further,
the rate of progress was greater in 1950 than in
1949, with membership increasing 12.7 percent,

1.— Operations, assets, and earnings of credit unions in 1949 and 1950, by State
[Some revisions in 1949 figures on basis of later information]

State and type of
charter

Number of
associations

Year

Number
of
members
Total Report­
active ing i

All States................. 1950 10, 581 10, 569
31949 10,073 9, 897
State. _ ______ 1950 5, 597 5, 585
31949 5, 427 5, 402
Federal______ 1950 4, 984 4, 984
1949 4, 646 4,495
A labam a.............
A laskaa_____
Arizona______
Arkansas. ______
C alifornia........... .
Canal Zone 9____
Colorado........... .
C onnecticut......... .
D elaw are9____
D ist. of Columbia.
Florida____ ______
Georgia__________
H a w aii9_________
Idaho_________

91950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
s 1950
51949
1950
31949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
31949

90
87
11
12
29
30
34
33
603
565
5
5
124
115
293
274
8
10
121
120
218
203
155
151
106
105
36
85


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

89
83
11
12
29
29
34
33
601
553
5
5
124
113
293
271
8
9
121
118
217
197
158
150
106
103
36
33

4, 609,362
4, 090, 721
2, 482, 539
2, 271,115
2,126, 823
1,819, 606
47,049
43, 022
1,855
1,372
8, 750
7,376
7,301
6,002
367, 706
310,892
2, 949
1,984
47, 509
37, 352
124, 482
108, 614
3,830
3,349
113, 736
95, 772
71, 762
62, 710
64, 542
58,101
43, 220
40, 529
7, 087
6, 221

Number
Amount of loans
of loans
made
during
Made during Outstanding
year
year
end of year

Paid in
share
capital

Reserves
(guaranty
fund,
general
reserve,
etc.)

Total assets

N et earn­
ings

D ivi­
dends
on
shares2

3, 301,595 $995, 959, 441 $679, 596,474 $850, 207, 504 $68, 989, 420 $1, 005,000,855 $35, 510, 509 $12, 572, 954
3,010, 352 781, 632, 983 504,132, 805 700, 936, 568 43, 348,044
827,088,969 26, 012, 471 17; 696 100
1,741,872 529,170,807 415, 860, 636 488, 282, 726 39, 351, 379
599; 165; 879 19; 751,954 12, 572, 954
1, 670, 685 432, 720, 696 329, 485, 441 415. 935,634 33, 379, 746
510, 726,465 14, 97i; 767 10 137 517
1, 559, 723 466, 788, 634 263, 735, 838 361, 924, 778 29, 638, 041
(<>
405,834, 976 15, 758; 555
1, 339, 667 348,912, 287 174, 647, 364 285,000, 934
9, 968, 298
316,362; 504 11,040, 704
7, 558, 583
79, 737
15, 761, 974
7, 534,176
8, 263. 079
994, 266
10, 238, 383
486. 003
285,000
80,142
13, 950, 217
6,535, 232
7,424,854
796, 291
9,085,173
398,179
260, 244
1,499
423, 037
179, 215
215, 329
11,070
233. 434
9, 698
(4)
760
153, 829
69, 336
99, 028
775
101. 508
1 531
i; 846
6,842
2,672,211
1,603. 895
1, 658, 826 '
150,821
1, 849, 972
90, 909
2, 722
5, 398
1,937, 812
1,088, 939
1,141,482
39,032
1, 303, 535
40 508
59,051
5,978
1, 075, 258
628,156
836, 005
70, 316
' 9 1 1 ; 462
52, 967
25,000
4, 953
869, 396
481. 792
714, 505
39, 919
783, 393
22t883
33,880
279, 468
99,165, 472
69,407, 481
74, 974, 405
4,816, 977
87, 709, 472
3, 578, 432
962,804
233, 308
74, 492,079
49, 306, 759
57, 015, 448
2,070,037
66,234, 330
2; 362, 422
1, 643; 212
2,882
111, 825
58, 752
83,119
3,048
86, 315
1,915
1, 757
53, 485
25,806
44, 547
703
' 1 90
45, 225
34,896
12, 715. 434
8, 706, 576
9. 579, 792
563,103
11,189, 260
446, 111
173, 697
22, 641
8,895, 610
6,184, 447
7, 600, 865
322, 520
8, 771, 540
313, 308
179; 094
9 87, 349
27, 962, 974
14, 255,185
25. 710, 568
1, 690, 318
29, 260, 578
858, 929
11,116
78, 467
20, 413,173
9,430, 600
20, 712, 449
629, 936
23,145,940
626,075
417, 558
2,975
856, 949
592, 269
667, 467
53,137
' 734,821
31; 276
(4)'
2,393
643, 597
372,112
482, 987
21,264
537,044
16,163
21,010
9 74, 209
22, 300, 676
13, 707, 713
16, 945,185
1,395; 981
18, 965i 493
723, 051
60,460
64,859
16, 932,034
9, 409, 640
12, 537, 051
669, 496
13, 973,079
491, 782
358, 587
68, 808
20,135,051
12, 215, 678
13, 991, 045
1,061,389
16,142,239
776, 277
204; 042
58, 250
15, 679, 230
8,875,035
11, 244,448
488,075
12, 608, 618
9 445, 294
334,418
«46, 420 4 12,449, 603
9,184, 577
3, 699,155
1,165,186
12,333; 761
9 486; 267
8 200,000
9 44,895 » 10, 638, 648
7, 581,885
2, 991, 270
772, 293
10, 737,088
9 358,391
9 273, 531
28, 551
13, 942,742
8,050,890
15,393, 933
1,064, 654
17, 704,185
524,188
(4) ’
22,823
9, 635,441
5,061, 446
13,340, 834
459, 221
14, 979, 573
404, 641
314,394
6 4,129
1, 260, 755
849,803
9 924, 940
75, 600
1,045,199
43; 183
115
9 4,812
9 1,110, 995
688,424
782, 933
9 25, 702
884,868
9 31, 220
23,392

MONTHLY LABOR

OPERATIONS OF CREDIT UNIONS

562
T able

1.— O p e r a tio n s ,

a s s e ts , a n d e a r n in g s o f c r e d it u n io n s i n 1 9 4 9 a n d 1 9 5 0 , b y S ta te — Continued
[Some revisions in 1949 figures on basis of later information]

Number of
associations
State and type of
charter

MassarVhnsfltts
M ichigan________
Mirmp.sota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
N ev a d a 8
N ew Hampshire
N ew Jprsp.y
N ew Mexico
N ew York
North Carolina..
North D a k o ta ..
Ohio____. . .
Oklahoma .
Oregon........... ....... ...
Pennsylvania_____
Puerto Rico______
Rhode Island_____
South Carolina___
South D a k o ta 8___
Tennessee-........... .
Texas______
U tah______

_ .

Vermont_________
Virginia__________
W ashington_____
West Virginia____
W isconsin___
W yom ing0_____

Year
Total Report­
active ing 1

Number
of
members

Number
of loans
made
during
year

1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
0 1950
81949
1950
1949
1950
81949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
81949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949
1950
1949

928
888
327
327
212
205
142
134
122
114
182
173
50
45
96
80
552
539
378
322
335
338
37
35
416
393
46
46
98
86
11
10
16
13
299
272
39
38
790
788
226
223
91
90
663
636
82
81
74
72
664
639
56
40
52
48
31
30
36
36
161
150
484
436
82
68
29
30
119
108
189
176
74
67

928
882
327
318
205
203
142
132
123
118
182
168
50
42
96
77
552
537
379
316
335
334
37
35
416
393
45
46
98
84
11
10
16
13
299
264
39
37
790
767
226
223
91
82
661
613
79
77
74
71
664
627
56
40
52
47
31
29
36
36
161
147
484
423
82
69
29
29
119
105
189
175
74
67

472,055
438,032
8 147,197
136,088
52,896
8 51,378
44, 524
38,961
8 36,102
8 31, 808
8 64,196
8 56, 825
19, 285
16,119
48', 289
39,071
343, 606
324,861
231, 875
185, 534
104, 953
94, 716
10,098
8,321
8 131, 967
8 120, 593
9, 952
9, 800
27, 794
25,142
2,506
1,722
8,262
7,211
142, 685
120,459
5,713
5,168
364, 824
331, 092
50, 323
47, 852
15,957
14, 783
301,821
267, 250
8 32,470
30, 344
26,398
23, 231
317, 254
287, 899
8,333
6,730
51,344
42,330
10, 949
8,067
6, 953
6,533
74, 547
63,041
179, 956
151,122
22, 758
18, 827
4,451
3,402
44, 028
8 37, 227
64, 021
56, 672
19, 843
17, 917

376, 279
360,419
8 97, 740
8 87,080
43,010
8 40,958
27, 928
35,257
8 27,983
8 27, 640
8 51,881
8 44,312
13,388
10,316
8 27, 867
8 28, 553
8 185,096
•217,307
172,035
141,189
70, 719
65, 576
12,980
14,293
8 88, 669
8 82,463
8 5, 729
5, 248
20, 578
18,511
1,807
1,468
8 5, 272
8 4,445
90,966
77,497
2,846
2,308
223, 238
203, 889
37, 775
35, 110
5,407
4,661
214, 945
190, 001
8 22,372
20,531
21,001
18, 408
218, 259
199,301
8, 892
8, 300
20, 573
16,013
10, 662
8,115
4, 972
4,611
64, 759
8 55,427
159, 536
138,423
16,332
8 12, 962
3,295
8 3,151
35, 993
«31,501
46,107
8 40, 297
16, 632
15, 410

1950
1949
1950
1949

540
535
19
17

540
535
19

193, 630
177, 616
3, 769
3,681

121, 940
112,034
2,389
1,909

17

Amount of loans
Made during Outstanding
year
end of year

Reserves
(guaranty
fund,
general
reserve,
etc.)

$97,844,864 $64,058,083 $97, 632,467 $7, 294, 289
5,320,103
84, 665, 754
49,139, 861
79, 802,480
2,153,472
26,915,306
18,646,360
8 29,157,434
1,096, 454
22,973,858
14, 201, 708
8 23, 775,176
499,445
10,104,456
7,827,788
10, 587,857
412,368
8,879, 789
5,804,259
8 7, 691, 860
373, 629
8, 258, 535
6,849,147
9,662, 362
218,122
6, 895,395
5,323,146
8, 105, 296
442, 279
8,170. 666
6, 778, 216
8 7, 681, 558
614,379
6,952, 539
5, 213,917
8 7, 571, 900
944, 630
8,863, 262
8,149,129
8 13, 711,117
357,071
7,065,377
5, 901,025
8 10,080, 221
248, 093
2,323,120
3,305,372
2,043, 963
133, 561
1,833, 675
1,336, 237
2, 281, 424
455, 532
5, 439, 958
4, 542, 921
8 5, 699,136
317,332
4,136,031
3,125,187
8 4, 640, 307
7,903,313
64, 641,953
49, 260,430
8 66, 952,198
6, 647, 681
56, 538,983
8 60,156,018
40,436, 270
3,
790, 996
51,
144,
530
42,
460,155
56,871,161
2, 428, 524
39, 854,626
31,514,764
43, 975,863
1,915,469
21,726,615
23,
233,343
27, 513,068
1,449,609
18, 913, 649
18,197, 652
15, 643,012
147, 530
1, 255, 546
1,153,419
1,936,626
89,196
943,638
830,081
1, 553,190
1, 265,661
26,375, 667
21, 543, 658
8 25, 174,338
1,003, 557
22, 499, 507
16, 260,016
8 19, 699,307
130, 782
1, 600, 914
8 1,344, 965
8 1, 974,353
40, 840
1,386, 984
8 995,312
« 1, 532,117
323,315
4,034,414
5,116,048
6, 775, 929
195,399
3,992, 781
8 5, 134, 299 8 2, 772, 780
24,915
299,987
310, 990
465, 593
5,403
204,132
179, 985
327, 685
219,425
942, 686
2,051,183
8 2,049, 545
169,416
853, 288
1, 568,442
8 1, 558,238
1, 580, 225
22,905, 672
13,068, 213
23,488,657
718, 616
19,131,322
8, 421, 213
17, 051, 548
50, 949
582,338
558, 788
8 837, 945
14, 892
434,690
376,490
646, 386
6,454,352
59,459,341
44, 862,069
71, 689, 907
4,186,301
50,911,886
34, 834, 582
59, 684, 550
356, 748
7,320, 790
6,052, 734
8,034, 676
284, 749
6, 702,472
5,379, 523
7, 281, 224
135, 510
4, 520, 248
2,807, 731
2, 278, 111
83,036
4,475, 792
2, 426,183
2, 684, 360
3,182,418
53, 964, 647
40,428, 700
67, 238, 210
1,602, 796
44,054,811
29,832,346
53,888,417
3,803,411
578,255
6, 255, 567
8 8, 425,198
3, 022,173
300, 256
4,313,022
6, 249,459
297,078
5, 326, 723
4, 961, 883
7, 232,100
155, 271
4,139,251
3, 594, 507
5,308,012
3,973,112
50,391,146
33,336, 260
60, 905, 915
1, 702,304
41,354, 725
23,873,863
49, 051, 756
16,386
441, 693
418, 060
808,473
11,351
314, 786
324, 937
665, 686
1, 223, 930
10, 760, 516
9, 775,346
14,833, 985
1,047,305
8,203,320
11, 669,089
6,824,136
116, 875
1,991,079
999, 657
1,120, 785
44,497
922, 482
672,784
1,334, 297
1,170,124
92, 764
1, 256, 255
806, 825
34,366
524,330
1, 007, 850
1,006,397
1, 287, 570
11,451,081
13,312, 738
16,297,417
834,427
10, 294, 587
7,324,347
8 11,395, 261
3,065, 489
38, 447, 257
35,125,039
54, 807, 954
1, 594, 736
23,839,440
29, 250, 398
41,089, 433
4,807, 747
303, 223
4, 934, 555
5, 774,959
3,862,464
183,913
8 4, 752,061
3, 902, 514
13,415
289, 531
345, 074
225, 971
5,649
193, 915
150, 061
8 247, 664
468,326
4, 462, 518
4, 584,382
8, 253, 619
357,407
3,060,847
3,468, 834
8 6,067,414
1,084,377
12,043, 240
10, 773, 839
15, 562,443
634, 801
9, 659, 290
8 11,489,472
7, 602,887
316, 352
2,463, 806
2,361, 855
3, 867, 913
149,844
1, 719, 997
2,150, 698
3,128, 578
« 28, 215, 258
22,353, 856
676, 460
757,254

1 In some States the number of credit unions reporting is greater than the
total at the end of the year because the former figure includes associations that
although transacting some business during the year, had ceased operations by
the end of the year.
2 1950 data are for State-chartered credit unions only; information for
Federal credit unions not yet available.
8 Revised figures.


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

Paid in
share
capital

8 29,067, 442
21, 745,139
395, 675
384, 583

38,396, 236
32,124, 911
486,066
523,053

3,092,601
2, 545, 573
50,824
21, 675

Total assets

N et earn­
ings

D ivi­
dends
on
shares2

$107,341,119 $4,337,494
3,407,044
92, 631, 537
29, 729,055 8 1,005, 554
25,476,174
8 700, 648
324,469
11,990, 912
8 235,336
10, 266, 701
404, 211
9, 219,267
298,095
7, 627,366
9,165,118
8 262,000
8 247,855
7, 732, 201
8 476, 884
10,194,492
8,104,923
342,159
117,120
2, 960, 938
2,366, 687
76,178
212, 245
6,436, 793
165,472
4, 877,490
81,051,409 8 1,751, 269
1, 593, 276
72, 231,355
2, 225,724
61,149,443
1, 595,682
48,952, 218
988,498
29,128,372
637, 055
24, 536, 748
67,753
1,458,193
47,047
1,153,166
163, 703
30,056, 996
89,391
25,235,184
77, 731
1, 775,053
53,351
1, 506, 685
221, 709
5, 643, 286
118,411
4,364, 752
16,180
338, 631
10, 576
235, 794
88,437
2,793, 533
69,449
2, 509,310
800,439
26,320, 775
620,418
21,397, 249
36, 687
666,844
25, 561
487,872
2,369, 215
67, 658, 719
1,656,500
58,104,198
265,092
8, 925, 747
252,839
8,388,605
111,608
4,826, 465
95,419
4, 735,993
2,328,973
60,170, 587
1, 717,874
48, 729,121
8 295, 896
7,513,510
8 180,314
6,002, 709
253, 295
6,119, 141
173,409
4, 671, 203
2,038, 073
57,388, 655
1, 558, 654
47, 424, 783
16,177
447, 526
8,244
379, 625
487, 899
21,342, 094
412, 919
17, 700, 648
58,288
1,404, 920
37, 632
1,036,203
48, 733
1, 289, 820
34,824
1, 092,264
626,814
15, 938,068
294, 677
11,731,435
2,119, 578
44, 216,347
1,398, 747
33, 238,096
168,345
5, 595, 592
4, 547, 295
8 191, 966
13,051
322, 795
8 3, 703
220,114
221, 813
5,851,951
362,151
4, 544, 477
624,360
13, 557, 765
440,164
10, 693.633
140, 236
3,150,011
104,766
2, 721,823

$2,305,960
2,147, 738
8 200,000
527,090
240,391
8 153,243
181,722
161, 198
8 180,000
8 200, 803
8 75,000
224,797
20,812
42,437
122,943
127,098
8 1, 250,000
1,378,204
996, 208
977, 640
584, 251
503,658
5,070
33, 203
* 50,000
'¿¿y 051
5,882
¿5, 0^3
• 65,000
8 78, 550
(4)
7,161
13,140
19,733
132,985
423,028
1, 277
14,341
563,044
1,195,965
8 185,000
196,894
40, 294
29, 591
777,166
1,081, 599
8 80,000
8 127, 595
90, 638
107,428
236,874
1,093,128
10,000

1, 612, 698
1,184,470
23,052
23,186

1,021,341
731,650
(4)
12,164

42, 912, 734
35, 646, 618
543, 505
595,800

271, 245
208, 685
6, 697
25,385
(4)

26,185
158, 960
165,190
442, 611
8 1,034,478
45, 581
8 146,602
351
2,795
49,360
8 206, 254
217,036
263,885
21,159
66, 616

4 Data not yet available.
8 Partly estimated.
8 Federal credit unions only; no State-chartered associations in this State.
7 Loss.
8 Estimated.
« Does not include loans on real estate, which can be made only from surplus
funds; for such loans, see table 2.

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

OPERATIONS OF CREDIT UNIONS

loans 27.4 percent, and assets 21.5 percent. The
corresponding figures for 1949 were 6.9 percent,
22.9 percent, and 18.0 percent, respectively.

568

T a b l e 2. — R e a l- e s ta te lo a n s o f S ta te - c h a r te r e d c r e d it u n io n s
in 1 9 5 0

L o a n s m a d e i n 1950

L o a n s o u t s ta n d in g , e n d
o f 1950

State

Statistics of Operation

Secured
T o ta l

by

Secured
T o ta l

real e sta te

Illinois retained its position of leadership on all
points except loans made, in which it was sur­
passed by California. Pertinent 1949 and 1950
data are given in table 1 for the 48 States, Alaska,
Canal Zone, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Dis­
trict of Columbia; in a few instances, 1949 data,
published in a previous study, have been revised
on the basis of new information.1
Some information on the extent of the realestate loans in 1950 was supplied by 23 States
(table 2). Mortgage loans made in that year
formed 15.4 percent of the total credit-union
business in the 10 States supplying such data. Of
the total loans outstanding at the end of the year
on the books of credit unions in 23 States which
furnished information on the subject, mortgage
loans constituted 28.6 percent.
Trend of Development, 1925-50

Progress of the credit unions chartered under
State laws and of those organized under the Federal

by
real e sta te

T otal....................

1 $ 7 2 ,228,480

$ 1 1 ,0 1 2 ,0 2 2

$ 2 3 1 ,4 5 4 ,7 5 4

$ 6 6 ,2 3 8 , 582

Arizona_______
California_____
Colorado.............
Florida________
Iowa.....................
K ansas...............
M aine_________
M assachusetts..
Minnesota...........
M ississippi_____
Missouri_______
M ontana______
Nebraska______
New Hampshire.
North D ak ota...
O hio................... .
Oklahoma_____
Oregon................ .
Rhode Island__
U tah____ _____ _
Vermont..............
West Virginia....
Wisconsin______

1 5 0 ,3 1 7

5 ,1 2 2

118, 910
3 2 ,8 5 3 , 474
6 ,3 2 2 , 633
5, 7 9 9 ,9 7 0
7, 6 9 5 ,2 6 7
4 ,7 4 1 .7 1 3
1 ,0 7 2 ,5 7 9
4 5 ,7 4 7 ,7 2 5
2 2 ,1 7 0 ,7 6 1
1 3 5 ,1 3 7
2 0 ,3 2 0 ,9 3 2
197, 716
1 ,9 1 6 ,0 9 1
1 ,7 4 3 ,4 1 8
2, 2 3 9 ,0 2 3
2 3 ,9 8 6 ,2 0 1
2 ,7 4 5 ,3 2 0
3, 3 3 6 ,9 3 5
14, 5 2 5 ,3 9 8
3 ,8 5 7 ,1 2 8
1 3 2 ,3 9 2
7 4 0 ,4 0 5
2 9 ,0 5 5 ,6 2 6

6 ,8 1 5
6 ,9 4 2 ,5 6 5
1 ,3 5 3 , 579
1 ,0 1 1 ,8 5 3
1 ,3 0 4 ,0 3 6
2 3 7 ,6 6 1
2 1 ,0 9 0
1 9 ,1 0 7 ,9 9 6
8 ,7 5 3 ,1 6 8
2 8 ,1 8 8
2 ,2 1 1 ,2 9 5
1 2 ,0 1 3
« 9 5 ,0 0 0
1 ,1 9 3 ,4 3 9
3 5 1 ,8 1 2
2 ,7 3 9 ,8 7 3
1 2 4 ,4 0 9
3 8 9 ,6 9 9
9 ,2 7 2 , 962
6 1 9 ,5 4 7
4, 685
1 4 4 ,8 9 8
« 1 0 ,3 1 1 ,9 9 9

(3)
8, 692, 648
8 ,7 3 2 , 757
1 0 ,3 3 1 ,0 1 8
6 ,9 3 9 ,8 5 3
1 ,6 0 1 ,1 1 7

(3)
6 1 7 ,2 3 5

(3)
4 9 5 ,2 2 8

(2)
1 3 ,8 9 2

(3)

(3)

2 5 ,9 3 9 ,6 8 8
1 9 2 ,1 6 0

3, 585, 523
1 7 ,4 0 6

m

(3)
3 ,1 1 7 ,4 8 4

(3)
1 ,5 8 7 , 519
3 7 ,4 1 9 ,3 0 0

(3)
4, 2 7 6 ,0 0 2
9 ,1 9 5 ,2 8 9

(3)
(3)
9 0 1 ,1 3 8
2 8 ,1 9 2 ,3 1 5

(3)
(J)
3 1 5 5 ,0 0 0

(3)
(2)
(3)
<2)
137, 632
5 ,9 8 4 ,9 8 4

(2)
(«)
(2)

1
2
3

Total loans made in States reporting on both total loans made and tota
secured by real estate.
No data.
Real estate loans are permitted to be made by credit unions in this State
only from their surplus funds, and such loans are regarded as “surplus invest­
m ents.” The figure here given is not included in the amount of loans out­
standing at the end of the year, shown here and in table X.

statute, through 1950, is shown in table 3. As it
indicates, the organizations operating under the
Federal law are fast overtaking the Statechartered associations.

T a ble 3. — R e la tiv e d e v e lo p m e n t o f S ta te -c h a r te r e d a n d F e d e r a l- c h a r te r e d c r e d it u n io n s , 1 9 2 5 - 5 0
Total number of
credit unions

Credit unions
reporting

Members

Amount of loans made

Assets

ear
Fed­
Total State Fed­
eral T otal State eral
1925.
1929-__
19311932-__
1933-__

419
419
974
974
1, 500 1, 500
, 612 1,612
2,016 , 016

193419351936.
19371938.__

2.450
3, 506
5,348
, 219
7,158

1

6

State

108, 000
264,908
286,143
301,119
359, 646

108, 000
264. 908
286.143
301,119
359, 646

$20,100,000 $20,100. 000
54, 048, 000 54. 048, 000
21, 214. 500 21, 214! 500
32.065,000 32, 065,000
28,217.500 28! 217! 500

2,028
427,097
427, 097
762
2, 589
716,274
597,609
2,734 1,725 1,162, 126
854.475
3,128 2,296 1, 538,177 1,055, 736
3,977 2,753 , 868,262 1, 236, 826

36, 200.000 36. 200.000
118, 665 39,172,308 36, 850, 000
307, 651 100,199, 695 84, 541,635
482, 441 141, 399. 790 110, 825,321
631,436 175,342,541 129,058, 548

176
176
838
838
1,244 1, 244
1,472 1,472
1, 772 1,772

2

2,450
2,028
2,600
906 3,351
3,490 1, 858 4,459
3, 792 2, 427 5,424
4,299 2,859 6,730

1939.__ 8,077 4, 782
1940.__ 9,152 5, 267
1941.
10,042 5. 663
1942.
10,099 5, 622
1943.
9, 549 5,285
1944-__ 9,041 4,993

3,295
3, 885
4,379
4, 477
4, 264
4,048

1945.
8,882
1946.
8,968
1947.
9.168
1948.__ 9,497
1949.__ 10, 073
1950.__ 10, 581

3,959
3,965
4,013
4, 224
4, 646
4,984

4,923
5,003
5,155
5, 273
5,427
5,597

Total

7, 849
8.914
9. 650
9, 470
8.983
, 702

1

Federal

Total

State

Federal

State

(l)
(l)

(1)

Federal

(I)

$33 645 343 $33 645 343
3 1 4 1 fi 072
31 416* 072
35*490 068 3fi’ 496 668
40 212 112

$2,332. 308
15, 658,060
30, 774, 469
46, 283, 993

4, 677
5,175
5,506
5,400
5,124
4,907

3,172
3,739
4,144
4,070
3, 859
3,795

2,309,183
2,826, 612
3,304, 390
3.144, 603
3, 023, 603
2,933, 507

1, 459,377
1, 700,390
1, 907, 694
1, 797,084
1, 721, 240
1,629.706

849, 806
1,126, 222
1. 396, 696
1,347, 519
1.302, 363
1,303.801

226, 491,867
305, 930,051
362, 291, 005
249, 999, 771
208, 807, 888
209,955,399

155. 473, 287 71.018, 580
200. 943, 260 104, 986. 791
227, 959.046 134,331, 959
158, 463,317 91. 536, 454
131.542, 506 77, 265, 382
131, 621, 502 78,333,897

4,858
4, 954
5,097
9,329 5,271
9, 897 5,402
10, 569 5, 585

3, 757
3,761
3,845
4,058
4, 495
4,984

2, 842,989
3,019, 748
3,339,859
3, 749,047
4,090, 721
4, 609,362

1, 626,364
1,717, 616
1, 893. 944
2.120, 708
2, 271.115
2,482, 539

1, 216, 625
1,302,132
1,445,915
1, 628, 339
1, 819, 606
2.126,823

211,355, 783
291,194,360
455, 833, 601
633, 783, 555
781, 632,983
995,959, 441

133, 086,939
176, 432, 535
271,324, 497
360, 546,180
432,720, 696
529,170,807

8
8, 615
8,715
8, 942

Total

40 212 112

50, 332' 589 47! 96L 068
82, 802, 080 73, 659,146
116, 337, 733 97,087, 995
147, 293,893 117,672,392

$2.368, 521
9,142,934
19, 249, 738
29, 621,501

193, 599, 722
253.149. 629
322. 214. 816
340,347,742
355,262,808
397,929, 814

145, 803,444
180. 649,090
216. 557, 977
221,114, 849
228,314,723
253,663,658

47. 796, 278
72, 500, 539
105, 656, 839
119, 232. 893
126, 948, 085
144, 266,156

78, 268,844
434, 627,135
114, 761, 825
495, 249, 012
184, 509,104
591,126, 677
273, 237, 375
701,461,389
348, 912, 287
827, 088. 969
466, 788,634 1,005,000,855

281, 524, 015
322,082,553
380, 751.106
443,049, 653
510, 726,465
599,165,879

153,103,120
173,166,459
210,375,571
258.411.736
316.362, 504
405,834,976

1 N o data.

1

For the State-chartered associations the statistical data on which the
present report is based were furnished to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in
each instance by the State official—usually the Superintendent of Banks—


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charged with supervision of credit unions. All of the information for the
Federal credit unions was supplied by the Bureau of Federal Credit Unions,
Federal Security Agency.

564

MANPOWER IN MERCHANT MARINE

Manpower Problems in the
American Merchant Marine
marine employment increased from
a total of about 75,000 seamen in June 1950 to
100,000 in July 1951. This expansion has sharply
reduced the pool of unemployed seamen that
existed when Korean hostilities started in mid1950; in some instances sailings have been de­
layed because of crew shortages. While the mer­
chant fleet can be expanded rapidly by recondi­
tioning some of the 1,600 vessels in the reserve
pool, it would be extremely difficult to recruit
experienced workers to man the ships.
If the present tempo of the limited mobilization
program continues through 1952, economic and
military requirements throughout the world prob­
ably will require the employment of another 5,000
to 10,000 American seamen. Currently our basic
foreign trade is being augmented by the Economic
Cooperation Administration’s heavy coal-ship­
ment program and seasonal world-grain shipments.
In addition to these factors, the military require­
ments for a European build-up will strengthen the
industry’s position. By early 1952 the American
fleet will begin to level off at about 2,000 ships.
It might continue to grow slowly to about 2,100
vessels in 1952, which would probably represent
the peak of maritime expansion under current
mobilization plans. In the event of full mobiliza­
tion the number of ships and men required would
of course greatly exceed this estimate. Therefore,
it is imperative to utilize manpower in the mari­
time industry effectively and to provide for a
supply of trained seamen to meet the needs of
varying degrees of mobilization.
Although employment levels are expected to re­
main high for the next few years in fight of un­
settled international relations, the long-range em­
ployment trend probably will be downward. Any
reductions in military shipping needs and Eco­
nomic Cooperation Administration requirements
would cut down the size of the active Govern­
ment-owned fleet. Moreover, any expansion of
foreign merchant fleets would intensify world­
shipping competition and force rates down. Any
substantial drop in the current rate structure
would have a definite impact upon the privately
owned American flag fleet.

M erchant


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MONTHLY LABOR

Size and Characteristics of the Merchant Fleet

The United States built the greatest merchant
fleet in world history during World War II. The
fleet skyrocketed from 1,165 vessels of about 10
million dead-weight tons in June 1941 to a war­
time peak of 4,385 vessels of 45,500,000 dead­
weight tons in September 1945. In this period
merchant-marine employment increased threefold.
Much of this fleet was either scrapped, sold, or
laid up in reserve anchorages in the postwar pe­
riod. By June 1950, just prior to the outbreak of
Korean hostilities, the active fleet numbered 1,400
vessels.1 By August 1, 1951, it had increased to
1,910 vessels (ocean-going ships 1,000 gross tons
or more), as follows:
N um ber
o f vessels

F leet s ta tu s

Total_____________________________________ 3, 564
Active fleet________________________________ 1, 910
Privately owned_______________________ 1, 304
Government-owned____________________
603
Under bareboat charter____________
218
General agency agreements------------225
Military Sea Transportation Service
owned and operated vessels---------160
Panama Railroad Vessels___________________
3
Reserve Fleet______________________________ 1, 654

Since 1939 there has been a sizable shift from
domestic to foreign shipping. Foreign trade
accounted for the largest proportion of activity
of the active fleet in August 1950. The National
Federation of American Shipping, Inc., has issued
the following comparative data based on privately
owned ship tonnage, which reflects this change:
Y e a r a n d ty p e o f tra d e

1939

P e rc en t o f to ta l vessels
C o m b in ­
a tio n pas­
T a n k e rs
Freighter senger

Domestic.
Foreign. _

70
30

30
70

85
15

Total

100

100

100

Domestic________
Foreign__________

15
85

5
95

60
40

Total__________

100

100

100

1951

American ship operators are at a disadvantage
in the highly competitive world market, because
their operating costs are comparatively high.
Labor costs, which comprise a large proportion

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

MANPOWER IN MERCHANT MARINE

565

of the total, are more than twice those of our
chief competitors. Mass-production techniques
and protective tariffs which enable other indus­
tries to meet foreign competition cannot be utilized
in the operation of a merchant vessel. When
there is a heavy demand for shipping space, as
there is currently, existing shipping rates are
high enough to allow profitable operations.
The level of activity in the merchant marine is
sharply influenced by Government policies re­
garding subsidies, foreign aid, ship sales, charters,
transfers to foreign registry of Government-built
vessels and tariffs. Shipping subsidies are par­
ticularly important, even though a very small
percentage of our merchant marine receives such
Government aid. Under the Merchant Marine
Act of 1936, the Federal Government provides
financial aid to American-flag operators on essen­
tial foreign trade routes to offset lower foreign
costs in ship construction and operation. Such
subsidies are paid to maintain a merchant fleet
adequate for national defense and for foreign and
domestic commerce. Another factor affecting
the size of the merchant marine currently is the
foreign-aid program requirement that at least 50
percent of Economic Cooperation Administration
cargo must be carried in American bottoms.
Korean hostilities created a sharp demand for
shipping space. This increased volume of world
trade resulted in a shortage of available ships and
a sharp accompanying increase of freight rates,
particularly in the unscheduled service. For
example, in July 1951 coal was transported to
Europe at a rate of $12 per ton compared with $4
per ton before the outbreak of hostilities in Korea.
To meet the demand for shipping space the active
American flag oceangoing fleet increased from
about 1,400 vessels in June 1950 to about 1,900
in July 1951 and is still continuing to increase.

the lowest point since World War II. Since the
outbreak of hostilities in Korea, employment has
increased substantially to about 100,000 seamen
in July 1951.
These men were employed in 28 key shipboard
occupations in July 1951. About 20 percent were
in professional and managerial positions; about 46
percent in skilled and semiskilled jobs, while less
than 6 percent were in unskilled jobs; and about
28 percent were employed in service occupations.
Few industries have as high a proportion of pro­
fessional and managerial workers. The work force
is predominantly male, however, a small number
of women are employed on passenger ships. The
composition of the Merchant Marine work force
by occupation as of July 1951 is as follows:

Size and Characteristics of Work Force

More than a third of the active work force held
jobs which require periods of training ranging
from 3 to 6 or more years. About a third held
skilled or semiskilled jobs which require minimum
periods of training ranging from 6 months to 1
year, while about 30 percent of the maritime
employees held entry jobs requiring little or no
previous training.
The nature of seafaring life makes a high labor
turn-over inevitable. Ocean voyages are gen­
erally long, confining, and hazardous so that

Wide fluctuations in Merchant Marine employ­
ment necessarily follow the ups and downs of the
ocean-shipping industry. The accompanying
chart shows that at the peak of World War II
average monthly employment2 on American flag
merchant vessels rose to almost 160,000 compared
with 55,000 prior to Pearl Harbor.
In the postwar period employment declined
steadily to a level of about 75,000 in June 1950,
971543— 51------4


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N um ber of
w o rk ers

All occupations__________________________ 100, 000
Deck department________________________
Master_____________________________
Mates______________________________
Radio operator______________________
Boatswain__________________________
Able seamen________________________
Ship’s carpenter...............................
Ordinary seamen____________________
Engine department---------------------------------Chief engineer_______________________
Assistant engineers__________________
Refrigerating engineer-----------------------Deck engineer_______________________
Electrician__________________________
Maintenance utility__________________
Fireman-water tender________________
Oiler_______________________________
Pumpman__________________________
Wiper______________________________
Steward’s department-----------------------------Chief steward_______________________
Cooks and bakers___________________
Assistant cooks______________________
Messman, utility, etc-------------------------

37, 000
1, 900
7, 200
2, 250
2, 100
13, 000
4, 000
6, 550
35, 000
1, 900
8, 000
700
1, 800
2, 200
1, 200
6, 100
6, 500
1, 050
5, 550
28, 000
3, 350
4, 600
1, 800
18, 250

566

MANPOWER IN MERCHANT MARINE

Estimated Average Monthly Employment on Am er­
ican Flag Merchant Vessels

MONTHLY LABOR

past year this reserve force has been sharply
reduced, and at the same time turn-over probably
has been rising. Jobs are plentiful and earnings
high so that after one or two voyages seamen take
time off before returning to work.
Manpower Supply

seamen customarily take time off between trips
for relaxation ashore. Others leave the sea for
short periods of time because of illness or for
personal or business reasons. Many more tire of
sea life and the frequent spells of unemployment
and permanently leave the industry for shore
employment. An independent study of employ­
ment in the merchant marine covering July 1945
through June 1946 illustrates the great volume of
turn-over in the industry.3 During that year an
estimated 383,000 persons were employed at some
time aboard ship. This figure is well over twice the
average monthly employment reported for the
period.
To replace men who temporarily or permanently
leave the industry a reserve of seamen is needed
for manning purposes amounting to roughly 25 to
30 percent of the number of men employed.
Actually this reserve force varies from time to
time. In bad times it may exceed 30 percent
because of the number of men looking for work.
It is generally much smaller than 25 percent when
maritime employment rises sharply. Over the


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The active work force and the pool of potential
seamen are far greater than was available at the
outset of World War II. But during the present
period of limited mobilization in which jobs are
generally plentiful, it has been extremely difficult
to persuade experienced men who left the in­
dustry to return. They can be given no assur­
ance of long-term employment and are thus
naturally reluctant to give up secure year-round
shore jobs. As a result, whenever ship sailings
are stepped up it is difficult to recruit experienced
men. Most of the shortages have been in the
following key shipboard occupations: radio
operator; marine engineer, particularly high pres­
sure engineers; able seaman; qualified members of
the engine department in such jobs as oilers,
firemen, water tenders, and electricians; and
steward.
Selective Service call-ups have been heavier than
in many other industries because young men make
up a large proportion of the work force. In 1941,
over 30 percent of the work force were less than
30 years old, and 80 percent less than 45. Over
the war years, many young men entered the
industry and were able to stay there because of
Selective Service deferments. By 1944, men
under 30 made up 58 percent of the maritime work
force, and by April 1946, more than 60 percent.
In the postwar period, many of these young men
left the industry so that the proportion of men
under 30 years of age is now estimated to be back
to the prewar level.
Under an arrangement with Selective Service
established early this year, men in essential
ratings are given special consideration for defer­
ment by local draft boards, provided the men
keep their local boards continuously informed of
their whereabouts and employment status. In
each case, the local board makes the decision as
to whether or not a man should be deferred.
Currently, it is more difficult for merchant seamen
to get deferments than it was during World War II.
In the event of stepped-up mobilization many

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

UTILIZATION OF MANPOWER

experienced seamen could be persuaded to return
to the sea to help meet wartime shipping needs.
However, it is unlikely that enough men would
be available to meet the greatly expanded man­
power requirements. Some of the measures de­
veloped to solve manpower problems in World
War II may have to be used in any future man­
power program. Following is a brief summary
of the World War II experience in recruiting
men for the merchant marine.
About 55,000 merchant seamen and officers were
employed in December 1941. Thousands of
experienced seamen were ashore, many of them in
permanent, well-paying jobs. Upon America’s
entry into World War II, the fleet, augmented by
foreign vessels acquired by negotiation, requisition,
and seizure, totaled about 1,340 vessels. By the
end of hostilities with Japan, the total merchant
fleet exceeded 4,000 vessels. There were not
nearly enough men actively employed in the pre­
war merchant marine to man the rapidly expand­
ing fleet. To handle the job of providing ships
and men, the War Shipping Administration was
established.
Therefore, the first step was to bring back into the
industry ex-merchant seamen not vitally needed
ashore. A Nation-wide registration of seamen
was undertaken with the aid of the United States
Employment Service in September 1942. A
direct personal recruitment program followed.
To help the recruitment program, Public Law 87
was passed by Congress in mid-1943, guaranteeing
seniority and reemployment rights to men who
went back to sea. The War Shipping Admin­
istration reported that in all, nearly 100,000 men
with previous sea experience working ashore were
recruited into the wartime merchant marine.
Despite this program many more men were
needed to man the thousands of new ships as they
came off the ways. The War Shipping Admin­
istration expanded the maritime training program
begun in 1938 by the Maritime Commission.
From 1938 to December 1, 1945, the training
program graduated and made available to the
merchant marine more than 250,000 seamen.
In order to prevent the loss of trained seamen,
the Selective Service System delegated to the War
Shipping Administration authority to certify
active seamen to their local draft boards for
occupational deferments. These measures helped


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567

to provide a peak seagoing force of about 250,000
seamen in 1945.
— E u g en e P. S pector
Division of Manpower and Employment Statistics

1

This figure included about 160 vessels owned by the military and operated
with civilian crews and about 75 privately-owned vessels temporarily inactive
for lack of cargo.
Estimate is based on the number of personnel employed on active mer
chant steam and motor vessels of 1,000 gross tons and over, engaged in deepsea trades from data compiled by the United States Maritime Administra­
tion. It includes only workers on combination passenger and freight, freight,
and tank vessels. Employees on vessels under bareboat charter, or owned
by the military through 1947 are excluded. (Civilians on military vessels
after 1949 are included in these estimates.)
The tabulation below from “Stability of Employment in the American
Merchant Marine” by Herman M . Sturm (unpublished thesis, American
University, 1949) shows the duration of employment of merchant seamen
from July 1945 to June 1946. Following is a definition of terms used in the
tabulation: Regularly—seamen employed before and after the period studied
and at sometime during the year; Irregularly—seamen employed at some
time during the year but not employed before or after the period studied;
Withdrawals—seamen employed before and during the period studied but
not afterward; New entrants—seamen not employed prior to the period
studied; but employed at sometime during the year and afterward. The
sharp drop in employment in the postwar period accounts for the large
number of withdrawals. In a period of rising employment entrants out­
number withdrawals and in a period of stable employment entrants and
withdrawals nearly balance.
Number
Average
employed number of
during the
months
Employment status
year
worked
Total.....................................................................
382,700
5.5

3

3

Regularly em ployed,........................................
Irregularly employed......................................
Withdrawals___________ _______________
N ew entrants....... .............................................

125,800
53,800
141,200
61,900

7.9
3.4
4.4
5.1

Maximum Utilization of
Employed Manpower
on the individual worker rather than on
equipment and material as the prime asset of a
company is stressed as a means of raising produc­
tivity, in a recent study issued by Princeton
University. 1 Need for a “free man” approach in
attaining the maximum utilization of employed
manpower is stated to be the key, and to that end
a check list is furnished as a guide for plant
management.
The survey of hundreds of plants during World
War II and subsequent close observation of
developments in industry provided the basis for
the original formulation of the check list and its
recent revision. “The suggested remedies for
losses in manpower potential come in large measure
from the day-to-day experience of thousands of
executives, supervisors, and foremen.” Changes
E m phasis

568

UTILIZATION OF MANPOWER

that take place in a plant’s personnel problems in
times of emergency, sudden increased production,
and a resultant tight labor market are stressed in
the revision.
Manpower problems in 1951 differ from those
encountered between 1939 and 1945 in the follow­
ing respects: (1) The available labor reserve is
relatively smaller. (2) The psychology of the
times has changed. Short of outright war, it is
more difficult to get workers to sacrifice on
patriotic grounds. (3) Many adults—especially
young women who were once in the labor market
and are now busy rearing families—are not avail­
able. (4) Extensive unionization and the widening
scope of collective bargaining suggest the need
for closer union-management cooperation.
These changed conditions make it necessary for
each worker to produce more. “Full in-plant
utilization of labor means that each worker is
employed full-time at his highest skill under the
best possible working conditions, and is producing
at the highest rate per hour or per day that can be
maintained indefinitely by the individual.”
Relatively little attention is given to the effects
of managerial conditions on plant operations in
the study. However, losses in plant efficiency,
attributable to management, are identified as
resulting from the failure to select and train super­
visors and executives; poor plant lay-out; lack of
balance between plant processes; interruption in
the flow of incoming parts and materials; insuffi­
cient labor-saving tools and equipment; uavoid­
able suspensions of work caused by breakdowns
and design changes; and the overmanning of
plants in terms of current needs or possible econo­
mies.
Emphasis is placed upon the instability of the
work force, ineffective labor management, and
subjective factors affecting the individual em­
ployee. Attention is directed toward varied con­
ditions affecting the worker and to the steps
needed to increase productivity. Excessive turn­
over is to be expected when individuals not per­
manently a part of the labor force are hired.
“Management will need to create conditions of
employment within a plant which will minimize
the tendency to quit.” Personnel departments
should keep complete records and should find out
why workers leave. Similarly, excessive absen­
teeism should be checked for causes, and remedies


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MONTHLY LABOR

should be instituted such as exit interviews, active
union-management committees, visiting nurses,
and arrangements for employee shopping and
recreational conveniences.
Ineffective management of labor can reduce
productivity, the report notes. In this connec­
tion, a first major fault concerns the selection and
placement of workers. More marginal people
must be employed because of the existing tight
labor market, and greater care must be taken in
matching the worker and the work. Other pitfalls to be avoided include inadequate training; a
lack of continuous upgrading to obtain the highest
individual potential; ineffective supervision; un­
duly short or long working schedules; lack of
adequate medical, sanitary, or safety programs;
ineffective wage and salary administration; and
inadequate flow of ideas and information between
employer and employees.
Within the plant much can be done to adjust
the worker to the specific job, the group in which
he works, and the plant organization, according
to the report. He may experience a sense of
grievance over wages, hours, individual status, or
working conditions. Grievance procedures should
be understandable and available to every em­
ployee. The worker who is not informed about
the importance of his job may have no feeling of
participation in the national effort. He may be
physically and psychologically affected by noise,
confusion, monotony, boredom, undue physical
strain, and bad air and light on the job. Danger­
ous operating conditions in a plant can cause
worker anxiety and require careful explanation.
Management cannot afford to overlook the con­
ditions of life outside the plant that affect the
worker, such as bad housing conditions resulting
in a sleepless and tired employee; bad transporta­
tion facilities to and from the plant resulting in
great loss of time and energy; personal difficulties
of the family and its finances resulting in a tense
and unnerved worker. Management should seek
every means of cooperating with local authorities
in extending those public and personal services to
the worker that make for his satisfactory adjust­
ment to both his community and job.
i Maximum Utilization of Employed Manpower—A Check List of Com­
pany Practice. Princeton University, Department of Economic and Social
Institutions, Industrial Relations Section, 1951. (Research Report Series
N o. 83; revision of Research Report No. 68).

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

HOUSING CHARACTERISTICS

Housing Characteristics in
34 Large Cities
O w ners outnumber renters of both existing and
new residential dwellings in urban areas, accord­
ing to recent Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys.1
These findings are similar to those of the United
States Bureau of the Census for the country as a
whole which, in addition disclose a substantial
shift from renting to home owning since 1940.
Surveys conducted by the Bureau of Labor Sta­
tistics in 34 large urban areas from December 1949
to February 1950 showed that in 24 centers the
majority of dwellings were owner-occupied. This
information was obtained as a part of the Bureau’s
general program of revising the Consumers’ Price
Index. The area surveys covered a sample of all
residential dwellings, both old and new, located in
all types of neighborhoods. Single-family houses
were most prevalent in 24 of the 34 cities. Owneroccupied houses were generally larger and of better
quality than rented dwellings.
Among the cities with the highest rates of owneroccupancy were Detroit, Philadelphia, and Seattle,
where at least three out of every five dwellings
were owned by the occupants. In New York City,
only one out of every five dwellings was occupied
by the owner; the next lowest rates of owneroccupancy were in Boston, Chicago, and New
Orleans. The distribution of cities by percent of
owner-occupancy is as follows:
P e rc en t o f to ta l d w e llin g s

Detroit, Philadelphia, and Seattle. 60 and over.
Atlanta, Baltimore, Buffalo, Cleve­
land, Denver, Houston, Indian­
apolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City
(Kans. and Mo.), MinneapolisSt. Paul, and Portland, Oreg___ 55 and under 60.
Birmingham, Cincinnati, Los An­
geles, Memphis, Milwaukee, Mo­
bile, Pittsburgh, Richmond, St.
Louis, and Scranton---------------- 50 and under 55.
Manchester, N. H., Norfolk, Port­
land, Maine, San Francisco, and
Washington, D. C--------------------40 and under 50.
Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, and
Savannah------------------------------- 30 and under 40.
New York C ity_________________ 21.5.

Type of Structure

About four out of every five dwellings in Bir­
mingham and Mobile were single-family homes.

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569

In Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Manchester, and
Milwaukee, 2- to 4-family structures were pre­
dominant. Apartments (five or more units in a
structure) prevailed in New York City, where 60
percent of the dwellings were so classified; Chicago
and Washington also ranked high in this type of
structure, with almost a third of the units located
in apartment houses.
Among the tenant-occupied dwellings, the single­
family house constituted more than half of all
rented dwellings in only four cities, all in the
South—Birmingham, Mobile, New Orleans, and
Savannah. Only 2 percent of the rented dwellings
in New York City were of this type. Three out
of every four rented dwellings in Buffalo were
located in 2- to 4-family structures, and this type
of structure also predominated among rented
dwellings in 14 of the 34 cities. Apartments con­
stituted half or more of the rented units in Chi­
cago, Kansas City, New York City, Seattle, and
Washington.
In all 34 cities, single-family dwellings were
customary for owner-occupancy, although the
proportion ranged from 97 percent in Mobile to
about 54 percent in New York City and Boston.
More than half of the owners in Philadelphia and
Baltimore occupied single-attached homes and
one out of four in Washington was of this type.
Brick or stone was the principal building ma­
terial used in 9 cities; in 19 cities, including all of
the Southern cities, frame prevailed.
The median number of rooms for owner-occu­
pied dwellings was 5 rooms in 22 cities, and 6 in
the 12 remaining cities. In no city was the median
room count for owner-occupied dwellings less than
5 rooms. In contrast, 30 of the 34 cities reported
a median size of 3 or 4 rooms for rented units. In
only Boston, Buffalo, Cleveland, and Scranton
was the room count among rented dwellings rela­
tively larger—five rooms.
Facilities in Units

Availability of complete private bathroom
facilities in residential dwellings located in urban
areas is considered a sensitive indicator of housing
quality. In only 10 of the 34 cities were more
than 90 percent of the dwellings (both owner and
tenant occupied) equipped with complete private
bathroom facilities. Los Angeles (98 percent)
and San Francisco (97 percent) led all the cities in

5T0

this characteristic. Southern cities, including
Birmingham, Memphis, Mobile, and Savannah,
had the smallest proportion of units equipped
with complete bathroom facilities.
Nine out of every 10 owner-occupied dwellings
in 28 cities had complete private bathrooms, and
in only 3 cities—Birmingham, Memphis, and
Mobile—did fewer than 8 out of 10 owner-occu­
pied dwellings have this facility. On the other
hand, one out of every three rented units in nine
cities did not have complete private bathrooms^
and these nine cities were scattered throughout
the United States (e. g., Denver, Indianapolis, and
Pittsburgh). Birmingham, Memphis, and Savan­
nah reported less than half of the rented dwellings
having this facility.
Gas was the predominant cooking fuel used in
29 of the 34 cities. Electricity was the second
most important cooking fuel. More than 40 per­
cent of the units in Jacksonville, Portland, Oreg.,
and Seattle used electricity for cooking. Among
the units built or created by conversion after 1946,
a definite trend toward the use of electricity in
cooking was shown by the survey. However,
about one out of every three of all occupied units
in Birmingham, Jacksonville, Mobile, Portland,
Maine, Savannah, and Scranton, used fuels such
as' wood, kerosene, or gasoline for cooking.
Electric refrigeration was the principal type
used in all 34 cities, although 1 out of every 5
occupied dwellings in New York City used gas
refrigerators. No mechanical refrigeration was
reported for at least a fifth of the dwellings in 9
cities.
Because of the mild winters, the Southern and
West Coast cities reported lower percentages of
homes using central heating equipment than the
North. In Philadelphia and Washington, more
than 9 out of 10 occupied units had central heat­
ing equipment. In virtually all cities, a higher
proportion of owner-occupied units were equipped
with gas or electricity for cooking, with mechanical
refrigeration, and with central heating, than was
was the case for tenant-occupied units.
Average Monthly Rent

Contrary to a widespread impression, the aver­
age rent for single-family dwellings was less than
the average for all rented dwellings in 28 of the 34
cities. This reflects not only differences in quality,

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MONTHLY LABOR

PRICE REGULATIONS

age, and similar factors, but also the tendency for
single-family dwellings to have fewer facilities
included in the rent. The average monthly con­
tract rent for single-family dwellings ranged from
$19 in Birmingham to $61 in Washington. For
apartments, the monthly rent ranged from $27 in
Manchester to $65 in Washington. In 8 cities,
the average monthly rent for apartments exceeded
the average monthly rent for single homes by
at least $20.
Monthly rent, in general, increased with the
number of rooms. In some cities, however,
average monthly rents were higher for the smaller
than for the larger units, partly because new rental
construction has been concentrated in small-unit
apartment dwellings. Among the 34 large cities,
average monthly rents ranged from $16 for
units of less than 3 rooms in Birmingham, to
over $100 for units of 7 rooms or more in New
York City and Washington.
— T helma K eim
Division of Prices and Cost of Living

1 Detailed information on existing housing for each of the 34 areas which
are discussed in this article is available in individual releases which can be
obtained free, upon request to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In addition,
the Division of Construction Statistics has prepared a report on housing
characteristics of new dwellings in 15 standard metropolitan areas, which is
also available.

Ceiling Price Regulations
Numbers 69-77
price regulations issued by the Office
of Price Stabilization during the month of Sep­
tember 19511 are here shown in tabular form.
Previously, these regulations were covered in text
form. The new procedure was adopted in order to
facilitate use of the information. The tabular
procedure shows the general coverage and outlines
the major provisions of the ceiling price regula­
tions; for complete provisions regarding the com-

C eiling

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

PRICE REGULATIONS

modities covered by the regulations, original docu­
ments should be consulted. Continuance of
tabular presentation in preference to text treat­
ment will depend upon the number of regulations

571

issued in any one month.
1Sources: Federal Registers, vol. 16, No. 174, Sept. 7,1951, pp. 9079 and 9084;
vol. 16, No. 175, Sept. 8,1951, pp. 9160 and 9163; vol. 16, No. 179, Sept. 14,1951,
p. 9310; vol. 16, No. 187, Sept. 26, 1951, p. 9759; vol. 16, No. 190, Sept. 29, 1951,
pp. 9962, 9965, and 9974.

Major Provisions of CPR’s Adopted in September 1951
No.

Date issued

Effective
date

69

Sept. 6

Sept. 11

Certain food commod­
ities sold in the Terri­
tory of Hawaii.

70

Sept. 7

Sept. 12

71 — do___

Sept. 10

Passenger automobiles,
taxicabs, busses (other
than school), trucks,
truck tractors, com­
mercial trailers, and
semitrailers.
Sintered tungsten car­
bide products and
mixed powders.

72

Sept. 5

Sept. 5

Mixed fertilizer and fer­
tilizer materials sold
in Puerto Rico.

Mixers and
agers.

73

Sept. 12

Sept. 14

Certain food and food
products sold in the
Virgin Islands,

Various levels_

74

Sept. 25

Oct.

1

Pork _ _ __

Wholesale

75

Sept. 28

Oct.

3

Canned and frozen soups. Processors________

Commodity covered

Distribution level

Wholesale. ._

Allows increased prices for packaging and
delivery beyond customary free-delivery
zone. Indicates factors which may be
included in landed cost. Provides spe­
cific categories of foods and an appropropriate uniform margin for each.
Lease or rental basis. Establishes ceiling rates at the levels pre­
vailing during the period Dec. 19, 1950,
to Jan. 25, 1951.

Manufacturers____

pack­

76 — do___ — do___

Glassine and greaseproof
paper.

M anufacturers.__

77 — do___

Agricultural liming ma­
terials.

Producers, w hole­
salers, and retail­
ers.

Oct.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

1

Scope of provisions

Sets forth specific dollars-and-cents ceil­
ings for various standard or base prod­
ucts. In calculating ceilings, manufac­
turers are permitted to use the appli­
cable extras and quantity and other
differentials in effect on Jan. 25, 1951.
Does not apply to export sales or sales
for export.
Establishes formula for determining ceil­
ing prices. Permits periodic adjust­
ments in prices to reflect increases in
material costs since the period of Dec.
19, 1950-Jan. 25, 1951.
Establishes dollars-and-cents ceiling prices
for the sale of live cattle, sheep, and
goats, and for the sale at retail and
wholesale of locally produced, unin­
spected beef, veal, beef byproducts,
sheep mutton, and goat mutton.
Establishes specific dollars-and-cents ceil­
ings for most sales of pork at wholesale.
Defines and standardizes the pork
products which may be sold.
Covers all kinds of soups both seasonal
and nonseasonal. Does not cover dried
soup, dried soup mixes, “baby” or
“junior” soups. Outlines methods for
determining ceiling prices.
Establishes specific dollars-and-cents f. o. b.
mill-ceiling prices for 25 pound No. 1
bleached glassine paper and 25 pound
No. 1 bleached greaseproof paper. Pro­
vides method for calculating ceilings of
related grades and new grades.
Fixes ceilings for all sales of agricultural
liming materials except imports.

572

Auto Repair Shops:
Earnings, April-June 1951

Straight-time average hourly earnings 1 of men in selected
occupations in automobile-repair shops in 34 areas,
April-June 1951

Area

A verage hourly earnings of class A automotive

mechanics employed in auto repair shops and
repair departments of dealer establishments in
April-June 1951, ranged from $1.56 to $2.26 in
34 large cities representing all sections of the
country. Earnings in this occupation averaged
at least $2 an hour in nine cities and less than
$1.65 an hour in five cities.
Body repairmen, with average hourly earnings
ranging from $1.49 in Providence to $2.44 in
Detroit, ranked highest among the 6 occupational
classifications surveyed.1 (See table.) In the
34 cities as a group, about a third of the class A
mechanics and about half of the body repairmen
earned $2 an hour or more.
Hourly earnings were lowest, generally, for
automobile washers, their various area levels
ranging from 69 cents to $1.61. Greasers’ earn­
ings averaged from 79 cents to $1.81 an hour.
Averages under $1 were reported for washers
in 14 areas and for greasers in four areas.
Varied methods of incentive wage payments
determine earnings in this industry to a substan­
tial extent. The most common of these is the
“flat rate” system, under which a worker receives
a percentage of the labor cost charged to the
customer. This pay method accounts partly for
wide fluctuations in individual earnings.
Earnings usually averaged highest in the Pacific
coast or Great Lakes areas, and lowest in New
England or the southeastern sections of the
Nation.
Comparison of earnings in April-June 1951
with those reported in the Bureau of Labor
Statistics study conducted in July 1948 showed
that in most areas occupational averages increased
at least 10 percent.2
A weekly work schedule of from 44 to 48 hours
was most common in almost three-fourths of the
areas. All workers in San Francisco-Oakland and
Seattle and about 90 percent of those in St. Louis
and Toledo were, however, on a 40-hour week.
Workweeks of 50 or more hours were reported for
some workers in a majority of the areas studied,
but in only 3 areas was the longer work schedule
applicable to half or more of the workers.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

MONTHLY LABOR

EARNINGS IN AUTO REPAIR SHOPS

Atlanta 2____ - ----------Baltimore____________
Birmingham------------ Boston 2_______ . . . -Bridgeport----------------Buffalo_______________
Chicago___________ -Cincinnati____________
Cleveland____________
Dallas________________
Denver 2_____ . . . . . .
D etroit................... ...........
Houston....................
Indianapolis--------------J a c k s o n v ille .. . . . ..
Kansas C ity----------- . .
Los Angeles___ —
Louisville___ ___
M emphis__________ . .
M ilwaukee___________
Minneapolis-St. P a u l...
Newark-Jersey C ity ___
New Orleans........ .
.
New York 2__________
Philadelphia------------ .
Pittsburgh------ -------Portland-Vancouver—
Providence...... ................
Richmond-----------------St. Louis_________ . . .
San Francisco-Oakland2.
Seattle----------------------Toledo---------------------Washington__________

Elec­
Body
tri­
repair­ cians,
men,
auto­
metal motive

Mechanics,
automotive
Greasers

$1.74
1.84
1.72
1.76
1.89
1.85
2.33
1.87
2.28
2.08
1.81
2.44
. 26
2.37
1.77

$1.87

$0.93

1.59
1.78
(3)
2. 27
(3)
(3)
(3)
.1.97
(3)
(3)
2.06
2.08
(3)

2. 25
1.97
1.84

2. 52
(3)
(3)

1.15
1.09
1.19
1.40
1.41
1.08
1.46
1.33
1.18
1.54
1.18
1.57
.98
1.41
1.81
1.37

1.93
1.75
1.95
1.94
1.49

1.43
1.79
(3)
1.94
(3)
1.89
2.09
(3)
(3)
(3)
2.18

2

2.00
2.11
1.86
1.58
1.86
1.86

2.06
2.24
2.09
2.26
2.03

1.68

2.68
1.86

2.02
1.86

(3)

1.00

1.22

1.23
(3)
1.16

1.11
1.26
1.06

1.20

1.57
1.19
.79
1.45
1.58

1.68

1.65
.94

Class
A

Class
B

$1.60
1.64
1.72
1.63
1.70

$1.14
1.17
1.06
1.31
1.35
1.38
1.48
1.26
1.59

1.88

2.06
1.70
2.25
1.73
1.77
2.26

2.11
1.96
1.62
1.98
2.06
1.65
1.77
1.85
1.78
1.82
1.82
1.87
1.69
1.94

2.01
1.56
1.79
1.93
2.03

2.01

2.05
1.81

1.22

(3)
1.75
1.23
1.36
(3)
1.41
1.44
1.15
1.38
1.39
(3)
1.46
(3)
1.46
1.31
1.44
(3)

1.22

1.09
(3)
(3)
(3)
1.61
1.16

Wash­
ers,
auto­
motive

$0. 76
.79
.76
.93
1.18

1.10
1.17
.93
1.46
.84
1.06
1.19

.86
1.01
.78
.99
1.31
.90
.69
1.15
1.38

1.12
.78
1.20

1.03
1.05
1.29
(3)
.71
1.26
1.58
1.61
1.43
.95

1 Excludes premium pay for overtime and night work.
2 Relates to a period in 1051 prior to April.
8 Insufficient data to justify presentation of an average.

Auto repair workers received paid holidays in
practically all areas. The most typical arrange­
ment was for six holidays, but in the Southeast,
five paid holidays were most common. Over 95
percent of the St. Louis workers received pay for
seven holidays, and all Seattle workers were paid
for eight holidays.
Paid vacations of 1 week after a year of service
were customary. A 2-week vacation after 5 years
of employment was the prevailing practice in about
three-fourths of the areas studied. In each area,
however, some workers received paid vacations of
2 weeks after 2 years’ service.
Insurance plans for which employers pay at least
part of the cost were in effect in auto-repair
establishments employing half or more of the
workers in over three-fourths of the areas studied.
In only one area were insurance plans applicable to
less than a third of the workers. Life insurance,
the most prevalent plan, was provided by estab­
lishments employing from 10 to 98 percent of the
workers in individual areas. In about a third of
the areas, less than half the workers were covered

R E V I E W , N O V E M B E R 1951

EARNINGS: MEN'S AND BOYS' SUITS AND COATS

by life-insurance plans. Hospitalization and
other health-insurance benefits were also reported
by some establishments in practically all areas. A
majority of the workers in about half the areas
were employed in establishments providing hospi­
talization plans ; in only two areas were such plans
entirely lacking. Retirement pension plans were
relatively uncommon and applied only to a small
percentage of the workers in 10 areas.
— A lexander M oros
Division of Wages and Industrial Relations

1

The study of earnings and related wage practices was limited to auto
repair shops and repair departments of dealers having 5 or more workers.
Approximately 175,000 workers were employed in establishments of this size
in the 34 areas studied. The data were collected by field representatives
under the direction of regional wage analysts of the Bureau of Labor Statistics
and are exclusive of premium pay for overtime and night work.
More detailed information on wages and related practices in each of the
selected areas is available on request.
1 See M onthly Labor Review January 1949 (p. 37) for earnings in July 1948.

M en ’s and Boys’ Suit and Coat
Industry: Earnings, March 1951
W omen sew ing - machine operators in the
men’s and boys’ suit and coat manufacturing
industry in 10 leading areas had average hourly
earnings on coat fabrication in March 1951 rang­
ing from $1.37 in Baltimore to $1.68 in Los Angeles
and the Newark-Jersey City area. On trouser
fabrication, they averaged from $1.24 in St. Louis
to $1.61 in Los Angeles. Average earnings for
this occupational group amounted to more than
$1.50 an hour, in half of the areas.
The accompanying table shows straight-time
average hourly earnings in March 1951 for men
and women workers in selected occupations in 10
areas, according to a recent Bureau of Labor
Statistics survey.1
In New York City over two-thirds of the sewingmachine operators were men; their earnings
averaged $2.14 an hour on coats and $1.93 on


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

573

trousers. In the other areas, earnings of men
operators averaged from $1.72 to $2.09 on coats
and from $1.56 to $1.81 on trouser fabrication.
Among the selected hand-sewing operations on
coats, men basters of body lining and facing had
average hourly earnings ranging from $1.42 in
Baltimore to $2.21 in Los Angeles. Women hand
sewers in coat departments averaged from $1.07
as finishers in St Louis to $1.85 an hour as basters
of body lining and facing in Newark-Jersey City.
In eight areas for which data are shown, women
hand sewers in trouser making had average hourly
earnings from $1.08 in Rochester to $1.47 in
Los Angeles.
Cutting and finish pressing, usually performed
by men, were among the higher paid occupations.
Earnings averaged above $2 an hour for cutters
and markers in eight of nine areas. Body-lining
cutters and finish pressers also received, on the
average, more than $2 an hour in most areas.
In Los Angeles, Newark-Jersey City, New York
City, and Rochester, none of the occupations for
which data are presented had averages below $1
an hour. In the other areas, janitors and work
distributors most commonly averaged below that
level.
More than three-fourths of the total workers
studied in the industry were employed in 4 of
the 10 areas which are the leading centers in the
manufacture of men’s and boys’ suits and coats;
the four areas were New York City, Philadelphia,
Chicago, and Rochester. Of these, occupational
average earnings ranked highest in New York
and next in Philadelphia.
Contract shops predominated in the men’s and
boys’ suit and coat industry in Newark-Jersey
City. In three other areas substantial propor­
tions of the workers were also employed in contract
shops—about two-fifths in New York, a third in
Philadelphia, and a fourth in Baltimore.
Comparison of average hourly earnings in
March 1951 with those reported in a similar study
for August-September 1948 shows that most
occupational averages for plant workers had
advanced during that period, generally from 5
to 15 percent.
Of the occupations studied in March 1951
for women office workers, hand bookkeepers
had the highest earnings, ranging from $1.22

MONTHLY LABOR

EARNINGS: MEN’S AND BOYS’ SUITS AND COATS

574

Straight-time average hourly earnings 1 for selected occupations in men’s and boys’ suit and coat manufacturing, in 10 areas,
March 1951
[M =m en; W =women]

Balti­
more

Boston

Chicago

Cincin­
nati

Los
Angeles

N ewark Jersey
City

M.

M.

M.

M.

Occupation and grade
M.

W.

M.

W.

W.

W.

W.

W.

N ew
York
M.

W.

Phila­
delphia

Roches­
ter

St. Louis

M.

M.

M.

W.

W.

W.

P la n t O c c u p a tio n s

Cutting:
nnt.t.p.rs and markers
Critters, body-lining
__ ____ ___
Cutters inner-lining
Spreaders
Coat fabrication:
Basters, body-lining and facing, hand___
Pesters earnvas, hand
............... .....
"Rasters, eollar, hand _________________
"Rot,ton sewers, hand
____________
"Buttonhole makers, hand
Finishers hand
________________
Fitters
"Pairers and turners _________ ______
Pressers, finish, hand_________________
Pregsers finish, maehine
Sewing-machine operatorss.........................
Baste edges
Baste jump stitch machine
__ __
Button sewing
Buttonhole making
Pell body-lining, bottom and side
Join shoulders, cloth............................
Join side seams
Join under-collar, join sleeve lining,
or piece poekets _ ___________
Pad collar and lapels
Pipe edges
Rew darts (cloth) _______________
Sew edge tap©
__ ______________
Sew in sleeve_____________________
Stitch edges
Tape armholes
Shapers edge and bottom
Shapers, under collar ________________
Tailors, all-around __ _________ ___ _
Thread trimmers (cleaners)
________
_____
TTnder-pressers
.
_
Trouser fabrication:
Pressers finish
Sewers, hand (bench workers, finishers)
Sewing-machine operators 2_ _ ____ _ .
Attach fly
_ _______ ______
Attach waistband
Attach zipper _ ______ _ _ _____
Join inseams
_______________
Join outseam s.__
_
Join sea tsea m s.._________________
Make pockets _
Piecing flys . ___ ________________
Serging
____________________
Sew on waistband lining __________
Stitch pockets _____ ___________
Tacking
Thread trimmers (cleaners)____________
TJnder-pressers . __________________
Other selected jobs:
Adjusters (repairmen), sewing machines.
Inspectors, final (examiners) . _______
Janitors and janitresses . .
_______
Maintenance men, general utility___
Packers
.
________ _____ _
Stock clerks, garments ________________
Stock clerks, piece goods______________
Truck drivers. _ _____________________
Watchmen
. . . _______
W n r lr d i s t r i b u t e r s ( b u n d l e e a r r ie r s)

$2.16
2.14
2.07
1.33

$2.36

$1.96
1.81

$2.18
1.87

2.22

1.61 $1.49 .......... $1.41
1.51
1.62
1.42 1. 57 1.52
$1.34
1.37
1.33
1.27
1.43 1.75 1.34
1.49
1.27
1.31
1.54 1.24
.96 1.90
1.04
1.18
1.13 1.30 1.37
1.34
1.76
2.18
1.85 1.52
2.19
1.95
1. 72 1.37
1.39 1.74 1.52 1.91 1.47
1.45
1.41 1.51 1.42
1.37
1.32
1.50
1.60
1.29
1.34 1.51 1.16
1.54
1.53
1.36
1.57
1.35
1.59
1.52 1.49 1.69 1.31 1.77 1.59 . . . . . 1.53
1.62
1.80 1.34 1.92 1.44
1.40
..........

1.66

1.20
1.22

2.02

2.21$1.66
2.02 1.68
1.56
1.64
1.44

1.22

1.86
2.02
1.88

1.34
2. 48
2. 48
2.09

1.66

1.75 1.26
1.30
1.31
1.23
1.59 1.38
1.74 1.53
1.34
1.60
1.61 1.43
1.90 1.53
1.64 1.28
1.07
1.75 1.43
1.23

1.66 1.35

1.44
1.50

1.21

1.60 1.46
1.74 1.33
1.75
1. 57 1.43
1.31
1.29
1.31

1.21
1.45
1.11

1.88

2.00
1.79

1.10

1.66
1.76

1.22

1.60
1.97 1.56

2.11

1.68

2.12

2.10

1.97
2.16
2. 24
1.30 1.50 1.30
1.15
1.78 1.53 1.72 1.51
1.37
1.79 1.52
1.36
1.38
2.25 1.45
1.44
1.53
1.76
1.43
1.57
1.57
1.36
1.69 1.47
1.43
1.57 1.63 1.47
1.34
1.45
1.35
1.38
1.51
1. 57
1.54
1.73
1.45
1.44 1.43 1.52
1.48
1.49
1.61
1. 52
1.65
1.35
1.83
1.74 1.63 1.75
2.23

1.68

1.21

1.02

2.20
1.93
1.82
1.95
2.19
1.77
1.95
2.03
1.91
1.82
1.85
2.03
1.93

.98

2.01

1.30

2.03 1.53
1.57
1.82 1.69 1.54
........
1.49

1.89

1

1. 53
1.64
1.58
1.50
1.52 1. 74
1.76 1. 95
1.71
1.67
1.84
1.89
1.53

1.12

1.80

1.75
1.80
1.32
1.59
1.38
1.67
1.31

1.87
1.32
1.81 1.53 1. 56
1.63 1.61
1.97 1.69
1.75
1.80 1.61
1.59
2.09
1.73 1.62
1.85 1.48
1.35
1.73 1. 53
1.64 1.39
1.67 1.39
1.07
1.69
1.76

1.88

2. 28

1.31

2.25
1.81 1.24 1.43
1.08
.90
1.65
1.85
1.64
1.40
1.41
1.51
1.61
.98
1.71
1.64

1.30

1.14 1.04

1.97
1.32

.96

1.25

1.33
1.44
1.41
1.46

1.21

1.53
1.29
1.47 1.34
. 22
1.16
1.73

1

1.08
1.40
1.41
1.54
1.64
1.44
1.47
1.63
1.39
1.48
1.30

2.02
1.24
1.27
1.34
1.32
1.29
1.14

1. 22
1.21

1.34
1.37
1.36

1.82
1.78
.80 1.17

1.22

.99

1.10
1.01

1.47
1.42
1.40

1.01

1.46
1.48
1.30
1.42
1.29
1.40
1.59
1.25
1.55
1.48

1.52

2.19

1.36
1.59
1. 57
1.76
2.04
1.73

1.16
1.07
1.09
.94

1.60

1.88 1.66
2.10 1.87

2
2.02

1.12

1.12

.83
.94

1.31
1.31
1.17

$1.21

1.74
2.05
2.15
1.89
2.09
1.98 1.55 1.78 1.46
1.38
1.97 1.82
1.45
1.34
1.85 1.54
1.42

2

1.86
2.01

1.66

1.12

1.31
1.31

1.66 1.25
2.39
1.52 1.21

2

1.56

1.21

$2. 05

1.66 2.01

1.78

1.98
1.42 1.13 1.45 1.19 1. 58 1.13 1.61 1.27
.90 .94
.84 .77
1.23
1.72
1.92
1.17
1.39
1. 51
.95
1.13
1.19
1.41
1.16
1.23
1.17
1.39
1.13

$2.07
1.97
1.76

1.86$1.64 1.66
—
1.93 1.66
$1.29
1.86 1.31 1.64

1.50 1.93 1.57 1.74
1.64 . 26 1.35
1.75 2.16 1.56
1.44 1.79 1.71 1.73
2.28
2.06
2.38 2.18 . 21
2.06 1.64 2.05
1.76 1.81
2. 32 1. 56 . 02
1.81
1.78 1. 54 1.67
1.25
. 88
1.96

1.47
1.61
1.75

1.88

2.11
2.11
2.12

2

2

2. 26

1.22

1.92 $1.85 1.87 $1.59
1.51 1.83 1.56
1.90 1.55
1.47
1.48
1.55
1.37
1.27
1.38
2.08
2.71
1.54 1.48 2.05 1.23
2.14
2.53
2.25
2.14 1.64
1.96
1.74
1.98
1.83
1.30
2. 47 1.44
1.91 2. 29 1.72
. 26
2.13 1.77
2.05
1.89

1.53 2.37 . 06
1.43
1.83
1.35
1.41 1.54 1.63
1.67
2.16
1.76
2.51
1.49
1.83
1.57
2.13
2.39
1.55 2.18
2.30
1. 29
1.23
2.27
1.93
1. 76

1.95 1.30
1.47
1. 48
1.37
1.42
1.62
1.43
1.55
1.84 1.54 1.81
2.05 1.45
1.53 2.17
1.77 1.46 1.64 1.46
1.56
1.57
1.97
1.99
1.70
1.69 1.55 1.63
1.65
1.56 1.59

2.11

1.68

1.91
1.61

1.68

1.76

$2. 22
2.18
2.15
1.76

2.33

1.42 $1.41 1.75
1.43
1.64 1.33 1.82

2.23

$2.48
2.47

$2.55
2.57

$2.28
2.03

1.21

.8 8

1 .1 1

Office O c c u p a tio n s

Bookkeepers, h a n d .. _________ . ________
Clerks, payroll
Stenographers, general _
Typists, class A . .
.
. . _ . __________
Typists, class B

1 .3 2
1 .0 2
1 .1 8
1 .0 5
.8 8

i Excludes premium pay for overtime and night work.

1 .3 6
1 .0 6
1 .1 5

1 .4 5
1 .3 2
1 .3 0
1 .1 2

5Data relate to all sewing-machine operators including those shown separately,


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1 .2 3
1 .2 9
1 .2 3
1 .1 2
1 .0 0

1 .6 8
1 .3 4
1 .4 8

1 .4 9
1 .2 0

1 .6 9
1 .3 9
1 .2 7
1 .2 1

1 .5 8
1 .1 9
1 .1 5
1 .1 5
.9 2

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

R E V I E W , N O V E M B E R 1951

E A R N IN G S IN

POWER

an hour in St. Louis to $1.69 in New York.
Average hourly earnings in other office occupations
also varied by area, ranging from $1.02 to $1.39
for payroll clerks and from $1.15 to $1.48 for
general stenographers. Class B typists had the
lowest average earnings in each of five areas for
which data are available.
Related Wage Practices

A scheduled workweek of 40 hours was in
effect in establishments employing a large majority
of the workers in nearly all areas. In NewarkJersey City, however, slightly more than half
of the men were in plants reporting a 36-hour week.
Most workers were employed in establishments
having collective bargaining contracts with the
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (CIO).
Insurance and retirement benefits provided through
these agreements include life insurance, accident
and health insurance, hospitalization, surgical
(including maternity) fees, and retirement pen­
sions. These benefits are financed by employer
contributions of 2 percent of gross weekly payrolls
to the Amalgamated Insurance Fund and 3
percent to a retirement fund. In Chicago,
workers also contributed 1 percent of their earn­
ings to the insurance fund.
Paid vacation provisions were also included
in all contracts. Plants normally shut down

Earnings in Power Laundries,
April-June 1951
M en operating washing machines in power
laundries in 32 representative cities studied1
had average earnings in April-June 1951 ranging
from 78 cents to $1.62; in the same period, ex­
tractor operators earned 64 cents to $1.45 hourly.
Within the same area average earnings of washing
machine operators were generally from 10 to 20
cents an hour higher than those for extractor
operators.


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575

L A U N D R IE S

in most areas for a 1- or 2-week vacation period
each year. The amount of vacation pay varied
with length of service. The most common
provisions were a half-week’s pay after 6 months
of employment; three-fourths of a week’s pay
after 9 months; and a week’s pay after 1 year.
Vacation pay was usually based on the average
hourly earnings of each worker for the 4-week period
of the preceding year in which earnings were high­
est. In Baltimore and Philadelphia, workers with 1
year’s employment or less received 2 percent of their
gross earnings during the previous 12-month
period as vacation pay. Additional benefits
of 1 and 2 percent of the preceding year’s earnings
were provided in most areas for employees with
2 and 3 years of service, respectively.
Paid holidays were granted by almost all
establishments. The most common practice was
6 days a year.
— F

eed

W.

M

ohr

Division of Wages and Industrial Relations

1Data in this study were collected by field representatives under the
direction of the regional wage analysts of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
More detailed information on wages and related practices in each of the
selected areas is available on request.
The study included cutting shops, which have sewing operations performed
by contractors and employ 5 or more workers,and regular (inside) and contract
shops employing 21 or more workers. Approximately 88,000 workers were
employed in establishments of this size in the 10 areas studied.

Workers operating washing machines earned,
on an average, between $1.00 and $1.30 an hour
in half of the areas studied, less than 90 cents in
four areas, and more than $1.50 in two areas.
In about two-thirds of the cities, the hourly
average for extractor operators was between 80
cents and $1.10.
Among the plant occupations studied (table 1),
earnings were highest for stationary boiler firemen
in 13 of the 23 areas for which comparisons could
be made. They varied from 74 cents an hour in
Birmingham to $1.59 in Milwaukee.
Average earnings for women, among the areas

576
T

able

MONTHLY LABOR

E A R N IN G S IN P O W E R L A U N D R IE S

1. —

Straight-time average hourly earnings 1 for selected occupations in power laundries in 32 areas, April-June 1951
Women

M en
Area

A tlan ta 2 ____________________________
Baltimore
_______________________
Birmingham____________________ ______
Boston 2______ _________________ ___ _____
B ridgeport____________________________
Buffalo _____________ _________________
_________________________ ___
Chicago
C in cin n a ti________________________ _____
Cleveland ___ __________ _ ____________
Dallas
___________________________ -D en ver2 ___________________________ -Detroit
___ __________________________
Houston
_ ________ _________________
Indianapolis
_ _ _ _ _ _______________
Jacksonville
_____ _____ _ __________
Kansas City
__________________________
T,ns Angeles _ __________________________
Louisville ______ _________ _______ —
Memphis
___________________________
Milwaukee ___________ _______ ___
Minneapolis-St. Paul_____________ ____ _
Newark-Jersey C itv________________ N ew York 2
__________ _______ ____ _
Philadelphia ___________________________
Pittsburgh _ _________________________
Portland (Oreg.)____________ _____ ___ ___
Providence__________________ __________
Richmond______________ ____________ St Louis
_ ________________________
San Francisco 2 _________________________
Seattle
_____________________________
W ashington____________________________

Extractor
operators

Firemen,
stationary
boiler

Washers,
machine

Clerks,
retail
receiving

Finishers,
machine,
flatwork

$0.73
.84
.64

$0.78
1.18
.74
1.14
(3)
1.14
1.56
1.32
1.27
(3)
1.04
1.34
(3)
1.06
.90
1.29
(3)
1.27
(3)
1.59
1.38
1.35
(3)
1.48
1.44
(3)

$0. 87
.98
.83
1.13
1.05
1.18
1.34

$0. 67
.67
.52
(3)

$0.39
.65
.43
.73
.74
.83
.85
.74
.69
.47

1.02
.89
1.03
1.15

.88

.98
.80
.87
1.05
.81
. 97
.76
.89
1.14
.90
.73
1.15
1.03

1.02
1.12
.90
1.00
1.42
1.00
.72
.87
1.37
1.45
.90

1.12
.78
.90

(3)
(3)

1.03

.88

.77
.93
.81
.84
.81
.70
.91
.71
.84
.71
.81
.99
.71

1.02
1.15
.99
1.07
1.36

1.02

1.17
.90
.98
1.28
1.14
.83
1.43

1.11

1.16
1.41
1.29
1.24
1.52
1.25
.78
1.03
1.41
1.62
.96

.68
.86

.89
(3)

.83
.76
.77
1.04
.79

.82
.44
.71
.43

.66

.87
.62
.45
.84
.76
.79
.85
.71
.76

1.01
.74
.47
.65

1.20

.99
.99
.76

.86

Markers

$0. 59
.67
.63
.85
(3)

$0. 57
.64
.52
.77
.76

1.03

.95
.78
.83
.65
.78

.86

(3)

.66

.68

.71
1.15

Identifiers

.84
.61
.72

.88
.86

.55

.61
.72
1.03
.72
.58
.89
.78
.92
.96
.81
.78
1.04
.74
(3)
.67

1.17
1.11
(3)

.86
.88

.65
.81
.59
.74
1.05
.71
.52
.87
.80
.87
.98
.80
.83
1.05
.98
.51
.72
1.19
1.14
.85

Pressers,
machine,
shirts
$0.53
.71
.50
.93

.88

.98
1.06
.79

.88

.57
.72

1.01
.56
.88
.49
.73

1.01
.82
.52
.89
.81
.97
1.04
.85
.83
1.04

1.02

.59
.75
1.09
1.04
.85

Wrappers,
bundle
$0.45
.62
.45
.80
.76
.85
.87
.73

.68
.54
.66

.83
.58
.76
.51
.67
.98
.65
.47
.83
.77
.84
.90
.77
.76
1.03
.84
.46
.67

1.20
1.04
.77

i E xcludes premium pay for overtim e and nightw ork.
* R elates to a period in 1951 prior to A pril.
3 Insufficient data to ju stify presentation of an average.

studied, tended to concentrate between 70 and 90
cents an hour. About half of the averages in each
of six occupations for which data are presented
in table 1 were within this relatively narrow range.
In the two finishing occupations, hourly earning in
three-fourths of the areas averaged 60 cents or
more for flat-work finishers, and at least 70 cents
for machine shirt pressers. Workers in the latter
occupation in April-June 1951 averaged from 3 to
28 cents an hour more than machine flatwork
finishers, numerically the most important occupa­
tion studied. The differential amounted to 5
cents or less in five areas and to 20 cents or more
in four areas.
The four Pacific coast cities included in the
study usually had the highest averages for plant
workers; and the southeastern region, the lowest.
Average earnings of plant workers generally
advanced from 5 to 15 percent2between June 1949,
the date of the previous Bureau of Labor Statistics
study, and April-June 1951.
Average weekly earnings, including commis­
sions, for retail routemen in power laundries in
April-June 1951 ranged from $58.55 to $99.75
in the 32 areas studied. In four areas, they

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amounted to $90 or more weekly and in only
two areas were they lower than $65 (table 2).
Related Wage Practices

Scheduled workweeks generally ranged from 40
to 45 hours for plant workers. Weekly schedules
in excess of 45 hours were of major importance in
only two areas; in each instance they applied to
over three-fifths of the plant workers. Work­
weeks of 40 hours were reported for all plant work­
ers in Cincinnati and Seattle.
Paid holidays were granted to power-laundry
workers in all but two areas. The most common
practice was to grant six days a year. In about
a sixth of the areas, holiday pay for 4 days
was general and affected a majority of the workers.
In three areas over four-fifths of the workers were
not granted paid holidays; however, from a tenth
to a sixth of the employees in these areas received
compensation for six holidays.
A paid vacation of 1 week after 1 year’s service
prevailed in the power-laundry industry. Twoweek vacations after 2 years’ employment were
common in a third of the areas. The majority of

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

C H ILD R E N AN D

2.— S t r a i g h t - t i m e a v e r a g e w e e k l y e a r n i n g s 1 f o r
reta il ro u tem en in p o w e r la u n d rie s in 3 2 areas, A p r i l J u n e 1951

T able

Area

All workers

Workers having scheduled work­
week of—
5 days

A tlan ta 2.......................... .
B altim ore_____ _________
B irm in gham ____________
B oston 2....... .........................
B ridgeport............................
B u ffa lo ...................................
C hicago............ .....................
C in cin n a ti_________ ____
C levelan d _______________
D a lla s................... ............. ..
D e n v e r 2...................... .........
D etr o it_____ ___________
H o u sto n .................................
In d ian ap olis..... ...................
Jack sonville.........................
K ansas C it y .......................
L os A n g e le s ........................
L o u isv ille........ .....................
M e m p h is..............................
M ilw a u k ee............. .............
M inn eap olis-S t. P a u l___
N ew ark-Jersey C ity ____
N e w Y ork 2_____________
P h ila d elp h ia____ ____ _
P ittsb u rg h ............................
Portland (O reg.).................
P ro v id en ce...........................
R ich m o n d .............................
S t. L ou is................................
San Francisco 2..... ......... ..
S e a t t le ...................................
W ashin gton .........................

$65. 09
70. 94
. 47
68.17
69.20
78.15
99. 45
77. 48
78. 86
58. 55
62.50
99.75
73.33
86.03
67.11
77.00
79.48
76. 92
66.13
91.09
81.15
78. 52
69.45
81.29
78.72
81.55
70.44
75. 61
72.82
90.41
84.12
74.05

68

(3)
$69.64
60.02
(3)
(3)
77. 48
85.35

102. 82
56.19
87. 58
(3)
(3)
61.29
78.99
69. 78
81. 29
78. 85
74.03
74. 59
(3)
90. 41
84.12
77.92

6days

days
$65.03
(3)
(3)
69.15
64.10
64.71
94.29

$72. 54
75.66
. 47
82. 21
77. 99
84. 34
102. 55

65.40
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
77.16
(3)

79.70
58. 55
62. 77
100. 69
73.33
89.01
72.83
77.00
. 48
75.74
63.93
97. 79
85. 69
63.70
(3)

68

68

77.35
78. 73
75.85
78.18
74.92
(3)
(3)

75.99

(3)
81. 55
50.49
(3)
(3)

78.16
(3)
69.45

(3)

1Excludes premium pay for overtime and night work.
2Relates to a period in 1951 prior to April.
3Insufficient data to justify presentation of an average.
workers, however, were employed in establish­
ments granting vacations of 2 weeks after 5 years’
service.
Insurance or pension plans, financed at least in
part by the employer, were in effect in 30 of the
32 areas. In only a third, however, were a ma­
jority of the workers employed in establishments
having such plans. Life insurance was the most
prevalent type of coverage, although hospitaliza­
tion and other health-insurance benefits were also
in effect in about three-fourths of the areas studied.
Retirement pensions were reported by establish­
ments in only two areas and covered a small per­
centage of the workers in the industry.
•— A

lexander

M

study of power laundries by the Bureau of Labor Statistics was
limited to establishments employing 21 or more workers; approximately
110,003 workers were employed in establishments of this size in the 32 cities.
The data were collected by field representatives under the direction of the
Bureau’s regional wage analysts and are exclusive of premium pay for over­
time and night work.
More detailed information on wages and related practices in each of the se­
lected areas is available on request.
For earnings in June 1949, see M onthly Labor Review, December 1949
(p. 665).

2


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577

Federal Programs Affecting
Children and Youth
T h e b r e a d t h of Federal Government participa­
tion in programs which benefit children and youth
is indicated in a report1 of the Interdepartmental
Committee on Children and Youth, which brings
together for the first time a description of this
work. Health, education, recreation, social wel­
fare, protection against child labor, vocational
counseling, and guidance in finding suitable
employment are included in the report. Special
services for certain groups are also described.
The real value of Federal participation in these
programs is the partnership established—with
parents, professional workers, voluntary groups,
and local and State governments. This partner­
ship is engaged in a most extensive and productive
activity: in effect, it is insuring the future of this
Nation.
Responsibility for the welfare of children centers
in the home, the report points out, but recognition
is ever widening that some services and oppor­
tunities essential for children are best achieved
through common action. Such action gradually
has been translated into governmental programs
benefiting children and youth. Young people
under 21 years of age constitute approximately a
third of the population of the United States (in
1950) and command a variety of services from
State and local governments as well as Federal
agencies.
Under the Constitution, the role of the Federal
Government in promoting the welfare of young­
sters—as indeed of the entire population—is
chiefly supplementary and advisory to that of the
States. The extent and method of Federal
participation varies with each program; in 1949
various units of 8 executive departments and 20
independent agencies were involved.2

oros

Division of Wages and Industrial Relations

1This

YOUTH PROGRAMS

Program Areas

Child health becomes a Federal concern in the
prenatal period and continues throughout infancy
and youth. Federal activity encompasses re­
search on the growth and development of children,
on prevention and treatment of illness, and on
food, clothing, and home management; financial
assistance for maternal and child health services,
care of crippled children, and school lunches; and

578

MEDICAL-CARE INSURANCE REPORT

public health services. In addition, Federal con­
tributions are made for construction of hospitals
and health centers, and the quality of food and
drugs moving in interstate commerce is regulated.
A comprehensive Federal housing program is
directed toward the achievement of the goal of
“a decent home and a suitable living environment
for every American family.”
Educational contributions of the Government
include land grants to States for common schools
and for certain colleges and universities; a share
in research essential to the development of educa­
tion; advice on all phases of education affecting
children and youth, including apprentice training;
and financial assistance for certain types of
education and extension work as well as direct
responsibility for education of some special groups.
Federal participation in child and youth welfare
and development also involves provision of
recreational facilities on public lands and recrea­
tional opportunities and advisory service in
educational programs.
A share of responsibility for social service to
help meet individual problems of children and
youth falls on the Federal Government: e. g.,
direct service to American Indian children;
research and consultation on the problems of the
handicapped; financial aid to States in developing
child welfare services; contributions toward the
support of children; and a variety of Federal laws
designed to sustain (family) income.
Federal controls of child labor ban employment
of children in production of goods purchased by the
Government and in production of goods and ser­
vices involved in interstate commerce. With
respect to employment of children in other
activities, Federal efforts center on the promotion
of desirable standards in State and local labor
legislation and labor law administration.
Vocational education and vocational counseling
and guidance to young people in preparing for and
finding suitable employment are partly financed
through Federal assistance to States.
The Future

These programs are not static; they cannot be.
It is impossible to count the youngsters benefited
by them, but present programs do not—and cannot,
owing to financial and personnel limitations—


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MONTHLY LABOR

reach all those who need such help. Constant
efforts are directed toward increased protective
measures, and many improvements have been
effected recently. Awareness of these problems
is evidenced by the Midcentury White House
Conference on Children and Youth, held in
December 1950.3
Nor is the interest of the Federal Government
confined only to the welfare of children in the
United States. Through such programs as tech­
nical assistance to underdeveloped countries
and through internationally sponsored programs,
the United States seeks to better the lot of children
everywhere.
» See Programs of the Federal Government Affecting Children and Youth,
Interdepartmental Committee on Children and Youth, Washington, 1951.
s Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, jinterior, Justice,
Lahor, State, and Treasury; Administrative Office of United States Courts,
Atomic Energy Commission, Civil Service Commission, Displaced Persons
Commission, Economic Cooperation Administration, Federal Security
Agency, Housing and Home Finance Agency, Institute of Inter-American
Affairs, Railroad Retirement Board, Selective Service System, and Veterans’
Administration.
i For discussion, see M onthly Lahor Review, February 1951 (p. 188).

Senate Committee Report on
Voluntary Medical-Care insurance
75 million—about 50 percent—of
the Nation’s population had some measure of
voluntary insurance protection against the costs
of illness at the end of 1950; at the same time,
there is a definite trend toward growth in the
number of persons covered by medical-care in­
surance programs and in the items for which they
are insured. These are among the findings of a
report made by a special staff for the United
States Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare.1 Describing its efforts as “introductory rather
than definitive,” the staff recommended that the
study of medical-care insurance be continued by
the Senate committee with the collaboration of both
governmental and nongovernmental agencies.
A breakdown of estimated medical-insurance
coverage follows:

A n estimated

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

MEDICAL-CARE INSURANCE REPORT
P e r s o n a c o v ered

I y p e o f co vera g e

N um ber

P ercen t
o f to ta l
p o p u la tio n

Hospitalization only-------------------- 23, 000, 000
Hospitalization and surgical care_. 31,000,000
Hospitalization, surgical, and limit­
ed medical care----------------------17, 000, 000
Comprehensive medical care (in­
cluding hospital, surgical, and
relatively complete medical care) _ 3-4, 000, 000

15
21
11

3

The other half of the population, except for
special groups, were not covered by medical-care
insurance. Exceptions included recipients of pub­
lic assistance, certain veterans and other individals with some public resources for medical care,
as well as an unknown number of persons whose
economic status eliminated the need for such
insurance.
Voluntary medical-care insurance is most com­
mon among people who are “easily accessible to
group insurance,” according to the findings in the
study. The reasons given for this tendency are
that it is difficult and expensive (1) to reach per­
sons (such as the self-employed and much of the
rural population) who do not fall into groups for
which payroll deductions and employer contribu­
tions can be made; (2) to insure, by nongroup
methods, persons regarded as “poor risks” such
as the disabled, the aged, and the very young.
Medical-care insurance is also far more highly
concentrated in industrial urban areas and in
high-income States than elsewhere. Twice as
many people (per unit of population) have hos­
pital insurance in urban as in rural States; the
same proportion exists between high-income and
low-income States.
Existing medical-care insurance, for the most
part, is limited to hospital care, surgery, and inhospital physicians’ services, according to the
study. Prolonged illness (hospitalized or nonhospitalized) such as chronic disease, preventive
care, and physicians’ care for short-term lionhospitalized illness, sickness in its early stages,
and ailments requiring nursing service, expensive
diagnostic service, and prolonged hospitalization
are not covered by the benefits allowed by most
medical-care insurance programs.
A most significant disadvantage in most existing
medical-care programs, according to the Com­
mittee report, is that they place great emphasis
upon hospitalization, surgery, and in-hospital


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

579

physicians’ services only, thus furnishing an in­
centive to physicians and patients alike to increase
the use of such benefits to an extent greater than
is medically necessary. At the same time, utiliza­
tion of preventive medicine and early diagnosis
and treatment are discouraged. The potentiali­
ties of medical-care insurance for effecting im­
provement in the health of beneficiaries, the report
states, will be greater if comprehensive plans
which stress preventive medicine and provision
for services outside the hospital are encouraged.
Costs and Coverage

Medical-care insurance accounted for benefits
of about $755 million or 8 percent of an estimated
total of $9 to $10 billion spent for public and
private medical care in the United States in 1949.
Individual private payments and taxes2accounted
for 70 and 20 percent, respectively; and private
gifts, income from hospital endowments, and the
like, accounted for only 2 percent of the total
medical-care expenditures.
Private expenditures for medical care in 1949
were estimated at $6,350 million.3 About 12
percent of these private costs were paid for by
insurance benefits which were distributed as follows:
$530 million for general hospital care; $225
million for physicians’ services; less than $1 million
for other services (dental and nursing care, and a
proportion of the cost of drugs or medical supplies
outside the hospital together with net costs of
insurance).
Insurance benefit payments for general hospital
care in 1949 constituted 26 percent of private ex­
penditures for this item; benefits paid for physi­
cians’ care, 10 percent; and benefits for other serv­
ices and supplies, only about a tenth of 1 percent.
Voluntary medical-care insurance is provided
or sponsored by three major groups: (1) nonprofit
Blue Cross and Blue Shield organizations; (2) casu­
alty, life, and other insurance companies; (3) a
number of other organizations independent of the
first two categories, which include sponsors of
industrial and trade-union plans, consumer co­
operatives, private medical groups, some medical
societies, community organizations, and others.
Half of the 75 million persons in the United
States having some form of medical-care insurance
in 1950 were insured for hospitalization by the
84 nonprofit Blue Cross plans. These plans ap-

580

m e d ic a l

-c

a r e

in s u r a n c e

pear to have paid from 70 to 80 percent of the
average hospital bills of their subscribers in 1949.
In all, Blue Cross plans paid $303 million in hos­
pital-care benefits in that year.
About 34 million persons held policies issued by
insurance companies protecting them against the
costs of hospital expense at the end of 1950; 20
million were insured under group policies and 14
million under individual policies. In 1949, insur­
ance companies appear to have paid 45 to 55 per­
cent of the average hospital bills of their policy­
holders or an estimated $192 million.
Insurance against the costs of physicians’ serv­
ices (mostly surgery and in-hospital expenses) was
held by 48 million of the 75 million persons having
medical-care insurance at the end of 1950; 66 non­
profit Blue Shield and similar plans had about
18 of the 48 million enrollees in 1950. It is esti­
mated that in 1949 these plans paid 45 percent
of the average total physicians’ charges for their
subscribers, with total benefits of $79 million.
Of the approximate 30 million persons holding
insurance company policies for protection against
E stim a te d n u m b er of person s

1 in su red

MONTHLY LABOR

r e p o r t

the costs of surgical and limited medical services
by physicians at the end of 1950, 21.5 million had
group policies and over 8 million had individual
policies. Benefits in 1949 totaled $103 million.
More than 4 million persons in 1950 had medi­
cal-care insurance through 1'independent” organ­
izations; of these over 3 million were insured for
comprehensive benefits. More than 80 percent
of the average costs of both physicians’ and hos­
pital services—an estimated total of $78 million ■
were paid in all for these comprehensive plans.
The national average per capita private ex­
penditure in 1949 for general hospital care was
$13.70 and for all services of physicians, $15.35,
according to the Senate Committee’s report.
Hospital-care benefits paid in 1949, according
to the study, averaged $6.90 from insurance com­
panies and $10 under Blue Cross and comprehen­
sive plans, respectively. Benefits paid for physi­
cians’ services averaged $4.10 from insurance com­
panies for surgical services only and $7 for both
surgical and medical services, $7 from Blue Shield,
and $14.25 under comprehensive plans.

f o r m e d i c a l c a r e i n th e U n i t e d S t a t e s , b y t y p e o f i n s u r a n c e a n d s p o n s o r , a n d b y r e g i o n
D ecem ber 31, 1949
[In thousands]
Geographic region 2

Type of insurance and sponsor

H o s p i t a l i n s u r a n c e __________________ __________
I n s u r a n c e c o m p a n i e s ...................... ......................... ..
G r o u p p o l i c i e s . - . ..........................................................
I n d i v i d u a l p o l i c i e s ---------- -----------------------------B l u e C r o s s ______ _____ - ................ ....................... .........
O t h e r o r g a n i z a t i o n s 3. ...................................................
S u r g i c a l i n s u r a n c e ___________________ _____________
I n s u r a n c e c o m p a n i e s . ...................................................
G r o u p p o l ic i e s ................................................................
I n d i v i d u a l p o l ic i e s ______ - _________ ________ _
B l u e S h i e l d a n d a f f i li a t e d B l u e C r o s s p l a n s .
O t h e r o r g a n i z a t i o n s 4.....................................................
L i m i t e d m e d ic a l i n s u r a n c e ____________ _________
I n s u r a n c e c o m p a n i e s .....................................................
G r o u p p o l i c i e s ________________________________
I n d i v i d u a l p o l i c i e s __________________________
B l u e S h i e l d a n d a f f i li a t e d B l u e C r o s s p l a n s .
C o m p r e h e n s i v e m e d ic a l i n s u r a n c e 6___________

1

Jnited
States

65. 444
28. 201
15,927
12. 274
33,381
3,862
36', 537
23, 352
15, 590
7, 762
12, 842
343
11,510
4,694
2,736
1,958
6,816
3,170

N ew
England

Middle
Atlantic

5,422
, 650
1,293
357
3, 740
31
2,732
1,485
1,262
223
1,246
(5)
1,340
377
273
104
963
31

16, 688
4,887
3, 504
1,383

1

Duplication has been eliminated by deducting a tenth of the insurancecompany group hospital-expense certificates under hospital insurance, and
by deducting a sixth of the insurance-company individual policies under
hospital, surgical, and limited medical insurance.
Because of rounding totals may not equal sums of items.
The regions used in this study include: N e w E n g la n d —Maine, New
Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut;
M i d d l e A t l a n t i c —N ew York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; E a s t N o r t h
C e n tr a l —Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin; W e s t N o r t h
C e n tr a l —Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, N e­
braska, and Kansas; S o u th A t l a n t i c — Delaware, Maryland, District of Co­
lumbia, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia,
and Florida; E a s t S o u th C e n tr a l— Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and

2


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

East
North
Central
17,601
9,162
5,122
4,040
7.917
523
10,389
7,038
4, 972
2,066
3,218
133
2,023
1,142
645
497
881
176

11,011
791
7,118
4,064
3,180
884
2,990
65
2,491
1,059
647
412
1,432
786

West
North
Central
5,723
2,064
1,066
998
3,381
278
2,875
1,647
1, 049
598
1,196
31
1, 590
428
215
213
1,162
267

South
Atlantic

East
South
Central

7,342
4,079
1.953
2,126
3.006
257
5,038
3,513
1,995
1,518
1,514

2, 555
1,320
702
618
1,019
216
1,516
1,204
698
506
311
(5)
354
151

11

1,150
690
269
421
460
191

88

63
203
158

Wrest
South Mountain
Central
3, 822
2,540
853
1,687

1,120

162
2,657
2,064
893
1,171
593
(5)
810
243
174
69
567
151

1,594
610
237
373
844
140
1,025
496
223
273
481
48
493
127
65
62
366
94

Pacific

4,697
1,890
1.198
692
1,343
1,465
3,187
1,841
1,318
5¿3
1,292
54
, 260
477
360
117
783
1,317

1

Mississippi; W e s t S o u th C e n tr a l —Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and
Texas; M o u n t a i n — Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico,
Arizona, Utah, and Nevada; P a c i f i c — Washington, Oregon, and California.
Includes 208 nonaffiliated plans and 5 Oregon plans (Blue Shield), the
California Physicians Service (Blue Shield), and the Washington State
Medical Bureau.
Includes 33 nonaffiliated plans offering limited surgical insurance.
Less than 1,000.
.
« Includes 184 plans. Persons having comprehensive medical insurance
through 5 Oregon plans (Blue Shield) and the Washington State Medical
Bureau appear in this column. Benefits of comprehensive medical insurance
include surgical care.

3

4
3

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

CONGRESSIONAL REPORT ON CPI

Regional Distribution

Regional estimates (using available 1949 data)
of the number of persons covered by each major
type of medical-care insurance—hospital, surgical,
limited medical, and comprehensive—and by the
type of insurer or sponsor were compiled in this
report4 for what the Senate Committee believes
to be the first time (see table).
On the basis of population, 437 persons of every
1.000 in the United States had hospital insurance
in 1949; 244 had surgical insurance; 77 had limited
medical protection; and 21 had coverage for com­
prehensive medical care. The total number of
persons insured against illness is not necessarily
the sum of those having different types of in­
surance; for example, many people having hospital
insurance also have surgical or other types
of insurance. Of the 4 geographic regions of the
United States having the highest income per
capita and greatest percentage of urban popula­
tion, 3 had the greatest number of persons per
1.000 population with some form of insurance
coverage: The New England States led in both
hospital and limited medical-care insurance; the
East North Central States led the other regions
in surgical coverage; and the Pacific Coast States
exceeded all others in comprehensive medical care.
The East South Central States, lowest in terms of
per capita income and urban population, ranked
lowest of all regions in three of the four forms of
medical-care insurance coverage.

1 Health Insurance Plans in the United States. Report of the Senate
Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, 82d Congress, 1st session (No.
359, pts. 1-3). Washington, 1951.
The study is based primarily on data furnished b y the principal groups
concerned with medical-care insurance: the Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Commissions; insurance companies; the Social Security Administration,
which surveyed a large body of “independent” plans outside the above
groups, and the Cooperative Health Federation of America.
Information was furnished on the 84 Blue Cross and 62 Blue Shield plans
of 1949 as well as related plans, some 250 nonaffiliated plans assembled by the
Social Security Administration, and operations of insurance companies in
the medical-care field, supplied by 7 insurance associations having some 200
companies as affiliates.
The term “medical-care insurance” was used throughout the study in
preference to “health insurance.” It is used in the broad sense, and in­
cludes coverage for services of hospitals, physicians, dentists, nurses, labora­
tories, and related services.
Includes State and local governmental general hospitals, State tuber­
culosis and mental institutions, Federal expenditures for veterans, merchant
seamen, etc., public medical care for the needy. Does not include Armed
Forces.
This estimate is based on private expenditures for physicians, hospitals,
dentists, nurses, a third of the cost of drugs and medical supplies outside the
hospital, and the net cost of insurance.
* Statistics for the individual States are given in the original study (pt. 1).

2

2


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

581

Congressional Report on
The Consumers’ Price Index
A special subcommittee of the Committee on
Education and Labor, House of Representatives,
was appointed on April 26, 1951, to investigate
the Consumers’ Price Index of the Bureau of
Labor Statistics. The subcommittee consisted of
Representative Tom Steed, of Oklahoma, chair­
man; and Representatives Roy W. Wier, of
Minnesota; Charles R. Howell, of New Jersey;
Thruston Ballard Morton, of Kentucky; and
Richard B. Vail, of Illinois.
In his letter establishing the subcommittee,
Chairman Barden of the Committee on Education
and Labor stated:
“ (1) The Consumers’ Price Index has become
an extremely important factor in maintaining
harmonious labor-management relations.
“ (2) The Consumers’ Price Index affects, in
numerous ways, all of the citizens of the country.
“ (3) Since the index is a statistic promulgated
by a governmental agency, it should be the best
and most accurate available.
“ (4) Any governmental statistic of such para­
mount importance as the Consumers’ Price Index
should be understood by the public so that it will
receive proper confidence and respect.”
With these facts in mind, the subcommittee held
extensive hearings in May and June 1951. Over
30 witnesses were heard, including the officials
responsible for computing the index and a ‘Targe
representative group of users of the index from
both labor and management.” The subcommittee
also heard members of the American Statistical
Association’s Technical Advisory Committee to
the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The report of the subcommittee was released
on October 29. It contains a nontechnical dis­
cussion of what the Consumers’ Price Index is,
how it is made, its major uses, and the history of
its development, together with the subcom­
mittee’s conclusions and recommendations.
These conclusions and recommendations, pre­
sented in the form of answers to a series of 14
questions, are abstracted below:
1. Is the Consumers’ Price Index a good indexf
“ On the basis of all the testimony presented to
the subcommittee, we believe that the Consumers’

582

CONGRESSIONAL REPORT ON CPI

Price Index of the Bureau of Labor Statistics is an
excellent index and that it enjoys widespread con­
fidence among labor and management groups and
the general public. The fact that more than 3
million employees and their employers have tied
wages to the Consumers’ Price Index in contracts
arrived at by collective bargaining indicates its
widespread acceptance as a fundamentally sound
index.
“ All witnesses, with the exception of those
representing the United Electrical, Radio, and
Machine Workers of America, were unanimous in
expressing confidence in the integrity of the per­
sonnel who work in the Bureau on the Con­
sumers’ Price Index. The subcommittee was
impressed with the competence and integrity
of the staff of the Bureau.”
2. Is the Consumers' Price Index a good measure of
the changes in living costs?
“ One of the most fundamental issues which the
subcommittee noted in the course of the testi­
mony was the distinction made by many witnesses
between a consumers’ price index and a cost-ofliving index. It was clearly brought out by the
staff of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as well as
by many other witnesses, that the present index
is a price index designed to measure solely the
influence of price changes upon the cost of living.
It measures the changes in the price of a fixed
*market basket’ of goods and services from one
period of time to another.
“ An index so constructed serves very well as a
rough measure of changes in living costs for the
great majority of American industrial workers
who continue to live and work in the same city
for long periods of time.
“ While the subcommittee is convinced that the
purposes served by the Consumers’ Price Index
are so important that it should be continued on its
long-established basis as an index designed to
reflect price changes, it is convinced that there is
need for periodic estimates of changes in living
costs due to changes in nonprice factors. . . .
Such changes should not be included in the Con­
sumers’ Price Index, and we therefore recom­
mend to the Commissioner that he and his staff
prepare and submit to the Congress a separate
plan for estimating periodically the extent of
changes in prices paid by wage earners and lowersalaried clerical workers who moved from one

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

MONTHLY LABOR

community"'to another, and the relative import­
ance of such changes to the group as a whole.
3. How frequently should the Consumers' Price
Index be revised?
“The subcommittee favors a policy of keeping
the index continuously under review, with revi­
sions as required when important changes in
buying habits occur, rather than infrequent
complete revisions as has been the practice in
the past.
“On the other hand, the subcommittee believes
that the Bureau should be extremely cautious
against making too frequent changes in the index
which are minor in character. The Bureau
should plan a program for assembling the necessary
information from American families for an annual
review of the buying habits of American consumers
so that it can see whether significant changes
have occurred. Revisions in the index should
then be made only when they are clearly required.”
4. Should the Bureau construct and publish addi­
tional indexes?
“The suggestions made by witnesses before the
subcommittee involving the publication of addi­
tional indexes fall into two categories: (1) It was
suggested that the Bureau should publish indexes
for special groups in the population; and (2) it
was suggested that the Bureau should publish
indexes for cities and geographical regions not
covered by the national index.
“Under the first suggestion . . . the subcom­
mittee believes that while such indexes might
serve a useful purpose, they should rank very low
on the priority list of projects to be undertaken
by the Bureau. . . .
“The second category of additional indexes
includes city indexes for some of the larger cities
which will be dropped from the new index, in­
dexes for key economic areas which are expand­
ing rapidly under the impact of defense activities,
or indexes for areas such as Alaska or Hawaii
which have particular military significance. The
subcommittee believes that the Bureau should pay
particular attention to the needs for such indexes,
and that the Bureau should be encouraged to
present such needs to the Appropriations Com­
mittee so that funds may be made available if
sufficient reason can be shown therefor. . . .
“The subcommittee approves the expansion

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

CONGRESSIONAL REPORT ON CPI

which will be undertaken in the new index to
include medium-sized and small cities. We be­
lieve that this will make the index a more repre­
sentative one for all the low-salaried clerical
employees and wage earners in the country. We
believe that under the new program the national
index will be technically better and will be avail­
able faster than the old index.”
5. Should taxes be included in the Consumers’
Price Index?
“The subcommittee recommends that the
Bureau continue its present practice of including
excise and sales taxes, but excluding income
taxes from the index.
“Most democratic nations of the world use
income taxes as their principal source of revenue
to finance government operations, and collect
such taxes from their citizens in accordance with
their ability to pay. We do not believe that it is
advisable for any one occupational group of the
public to have an automatic offset for such pay­
ments. This is especially important when the
Consumers’ Price Index is used for wage-escalation
pin-poses, either by private contract or by Govern­
ment policy. The effect of incorporating income
taxes in an official index used for this purpose
would be to relieve those workers covered by the
escalation from the burden of all further increases
in income taxes and would, as a result, throw a
larger burden of the cost of Government upon
other segments of the population. The sub­
committee believes that the burdens of taxation
should be distributed as equitably and fairly
as possible, and that this is a matter which should
be determined by the tax laws, and not indirectly
by private collective bargaining. The final deter­
mination on these matters rests with the Congress,
and it should be left there. Furthermore, if
escalation of this kind were permitted to exist and
spread throughout the economy, it would con­
stitute an instrument of inflation which would be
be difficult or impossible to control.”
6. Criticisms oj the Consumers’ Price Index by
the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine
Workers of America.
“The subcommittee does not believe that the
UE’s attack on the integrity of the staff of the
Bureau is justified; nor does the subcommittee
believe that their technical criticism of the index
merits a detailed discussion in this report.”

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583

7. How long should the index based on the 193f-36
survey be continued after the new index is
published?
“The subcommittee is not in a position to
recommend a fixed period of time for which the
old index should continue to be published after
the new figures are available; but, we urge the
Bureau to give special study and consideration
to the problems of parties who have long-term
collective-bargaining contracts so that no con­
fusion in collective-bargaining relationships will
result from a too abrupt cessation in the publi­
cation of the old index. At the same time, we
believe that the parties should make every effort
to accommodate their existing contracts to the
new index.”
8. Should the index be compiled and issued more
promptly?
“While the subcommittee recognizes that budget
considerations enter into the problem it is urged
that the Bureau make provision for the speediest
possible time schedule on the construction of the
monthly index. We suggest that the Bureau set
a goal of having it regularly available by the
middle of the month.”
9. Should the Bureau organize a tripartite advisory
committee?
“. . . In view of the fact that a tripartite
committee must necessarily have the cooperation
of all the parties [i. e., labor, management, and
the publicj, the subcommittee is not impressed
with the advisability of creating such a committee
at this time. However, we believe that this is a
matter for the Bureau to work out along lines that
will secure the maximum understanding of those
most concerned with the index.”
10. Should the ultimate responsibility for determin­
ing methods and procedures used in constructing
the Consumers’ Price Index remain, as it has
in the past, in the Bureau of Labor Statistics?
“The subcommittee feels that in the technical
aspects of constructing the index the Bureau
personnel should be free of interference or control
from officials in the executive branch of the Gov­
ernment, from the advisory committees, and from
the Congress. The high reputation which the
Consumers’ Price Index enjoys is, in our opinion,
a direct reflection of the degree of freedom exer­
cised by the officials of the Bureau of Labor Statis-

584

CONGRESSIONAL REPORT ON CPI

tics at both the policy and technical levels from
outside interference.
“The subcommittee believes that the Commis­
sioner of Labor Statistics must be the responsible
official who answers for the technical accuracy,
correctness, and honesty of the Consumers’ Price
Index. He can only be held responsible if he is
given full responsibility.
“The subcommittee heartily approves the pres­
ent system of advisory committees. We believe,
however, that the advisory committees should
remain just that: in an advisory capacity. . . .
Likewise, we do not believe that it is the function
of Congress to dictate to the Bureau on the tech­
nical aspects of the index . . .”
11.

D o e s the B u r e a u m a k e su ffic ien t effo rt to d evelo p
te ch n iq u es to m a in ta in a n d id e n ti f y q u a lity
s ta n d a r d s ?

“The subcommittee believes that the Bureau
has made an honest effort in the past to develop
techniques to measure such changes. However,
we also believe that there is a change both upward
and downward in quality which the Bureau has
not been able to measure in the past. We, there­
fore, urge that the Bureau make all possible efforts,
perhaps in cooperation with organizations such as
the Bureau of Standards, to develop techniques
which will more adequately reflect the quality
changes which take place in the goods priced for
the index.”
12.

S h o u ld the B u r e a u a tte m p t to im p r o v e p r ic in g
p ro c ed u res to reflect the effect o f f o r c e d u p tr a d in g , d e te r io r a tio n o f q u a lity , etc.?

“. . . We believe that the Bureau should make
every effort to develop techniques to take into
account these unusual factors, realizing at the
same time that such problems frequently demand
new techniques, additional funds for experimen­
tation, and additional personnel.”
13.

D o e s the re n t c o m p o n e n t o f the in d e x n e e d re ­
v isio n ?

“. . . We believe that most of the criticisms of
the rent component will be taken care of in the
new index to be published in 1952; nevertheless,
the subcommittee believes that the Bureau should
take all precautions to assure the accuracy of the
rent component.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

“The subcommittee further believes that the
Bureau should give very serious study to the prob­
lem of developing methods to directly measure
changes in home-owner costs. We do not believe
that the present system of estimating changes in
home-owner costs on the basis of the movement of
rents accurately measures the changes in such
costs.”
14.

S h o u ld the C o n s u m e r s ’ P r ic e I n d e x receive the
s u p p o r t o f the C o n g re ss?

“In the opinion of the subcommittee, the Con­
sumers’ Price Index of the Bureau of Labor Statis­
tics is the most important single statistic issued by
the Government. We believe that the index
merits the widespread confidence which the users
of the index have expressed in it. The subcom­
mittee received overwhelming testimony . . .
that the importance of the index is constantly
increasing.
“In view of the importance of the index, the
subcommittee feels strongly that it is imperative
that adequate financial support be given to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics for this work by the
Congress. In addition, it is clear that the tech­
nical perfection of the index depends to a large
extent upon an adequate budget.
“The subcommittee believes that the Con­
sumers’ Price Index has become so important that
it must be regarded as a fixed charge upon the
Government; it should not be subject to yearly
fluctuations in budget and at the same time be
required to do the same amount of work.
“. . . We feel it is of vital importance that when
the Congress has indicated the scope of the work
which they wish the Bureau to undertake, the
Bureau must then be given adequate funds to
properly do the work and that funds must be
available from year to year. . . .
“It is abundantly clear to the subcommittee
that the technical perfection of the index depends
to a large extent upon the availability of money.
The Bureau must have sufficient financial support
so that it can undertake the various studies that
are necessary to insure the technical accuracy of the
index. There are hundreds of checks which must
be constantly made on a sampling basis to insure
the technical accuracy of the index. Such a pro­
gram must be adequately financed if it is to
succeed.”

Recent Decisions
of Interest to Labor 1
Wages and Hours 2
Company Engaged in Vending Cigarettes Exempt from
FLSA. A United States district court in Maryland held 3
that a company which bought cigarettes and cigarette­
vending machines outside the State and installed the
machines in various stores and restaurants was exempt
from the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, as
amended in 1949.
Three employees of the company brought suit for
unpaid overtime compensation under the provisions of the
FLSA. The company, a subsidiary of an out-of-State
firm, purchased vending machines, cigarettes, and matches
both from the parent company and directly from the
manufacturers who were also located outside Maryland.
Under written or oral agreements with the owners of
restaurants and taverns, the company rented space in the
various establishments and made installation of the vend­
ing machines, retaining ownership and agreeing to service
them. The duties of the three employees were to find
suitable places for the machines in Maryland; to see that
they were properly serviced; to collect the money “earned”
and deposit it to the company’s account; and also to
supervise the work of other employees, in addition to being
in charge of the company’s motor vehicles used in Baltimore.
Arguing that its employees were exempt from provisions
of the act, the company stated that (1) it was engaged in a
“local retail and service establishment within the pro­
visions of section 13 (a)” of the FLSA; and (2) its em­
ployees worked in an administrative capacity within the
meaning of section 13 (a) (1).
As to the company’s first contention, the court stated it
was “satisfied by the clear weight of the testimony heard
that the company was a retail, if not a service establish­
ment and therefore was expressly exempted from the
operation of the act.” Conceding that the “servicing”
performed was different from that furnished by a gasoline
station or a laundry, the court maintained that the vending
machines’ sales were made only to retail customers and
only in Maryland. Discussion of the company’s second
contention was unnecessary, the court stated.
The three employees contended that the company was
engaged in commerce within the meaning of the act, since
it bought its machines and cigarettes outside the State of
Maryland. The court did not think that fact “sufficient
to prevent the exemption” as provided in the act from
applying to the three employees. The act “does not
become inoperative merely because a business selling


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intrastate makes its purchases interstate,” the court
stated, and in conclusion quoted from a decision 4 of the
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which had been presented
with a similar problem under the act, involving cigarette
machines, prior to the 1949 amendment of the act. That
decision had stated: “The machine is the mechanical arm
of the operator who sells directly to the customer. Such
sales may not otherwise be considered than as retail sales.”
Accordingly, the employees’ complaint was dismissed.
Employees Not Covered by FLSA When Working in Canada
for a U .S . Contractor. The FLSA does not apply to a com­
missary helper, a camp steward, a canteen manager, or
field clerks employed by a Government contractor engaged
in_constructing air strips and buildings along the Alcan
Highway, was the decision5 of a United States district court
in Nebraska. The court pointed out that the FLSA
applies to the “territorial boundaries of the United States,
its Territories and possessions,” and that all the work’
with one exception, performed by these employees was
within the territorial limits of Canada. Therefore, the
work done by the employees did not come within the
scope of the act.
Three construction companies were engaged in the orig­
inal construction of buildings, flight strips, and other work
supplemental to construction of the Alcan Highway. They
took no part in building the highway nor in its maintenance
or repair; nor did they operate any of the base installations
which they constructed. Such projects were turned over
to the Corps of Engineers, United States Army, as soon as
they were completed.
The court was also of the belief that the employees could
not recover their claim for overtime compensation, giving
the following reasons: (1) The employees were not engaged
in commerce, since they were erecting “new facilities” and
were not improving, repairing, or reconstructing existing
instrumentalities of commerce. (2) Although the coverage
of the act depends upon the employees’ activities rather
than upon the employer’s business, the evidence established
that the activities of these employees acting as camp
stewards, cooks, and field clerks, were not “an essential
part of the stream of commerce.” (3) The employees
were not engaged in the production of goods for com­
merce, since the buildings and installations were not
“goods” within the meaning of the act.

Labor Relations
Assaulting Attorney Barred from N LRB Practice. An
attorney, John L. Camp, was ordered 6 by the NLRB to
cease practicing, “directly or indirectly,” or appearing
before the Board, for a period of 2 years, because of his
assault upon E. Donald Wilson, attorney for the NLRB
General Counsel. Two Board members dissented from the
majority ruling.
The assault occurred during the sixth day of a hearing
in an unfair-labor-practice proceeding in Houston, Tex.
A company attorney had been questioning two company
witnesses, when an argument arose over their credibility.
Mr. Camp, aroused by Mr. Wilson’s statement that the
witnesses had been lying, struck him. The assault was
stopped when one of the other company attorneys pulled
Mr. Camp away.
585

586

D E C ISIO N S OF IN T E R E S T

In a proceeding brought by the Board to determine
whether Mr. Camp should be excluded from further
practice before the NLRB, he contended (1) that the
Board had no authority to conduct the proceeding; (2) that
it had invoked all the authority it possessed in this matter,
since its published rules provided that “contemptuous
conduct at any hearing” shall be ground for exclusion from
the hearing, and he had been excluded from the hearing.
The NLRB found no merit in either of Mr. Camp’s
arguments. It said that
. . the Board possesses, as it
must, an inherent power reasonably to control practice
before it, in the interest of preventing disruption of its
proceedings . . .
The majority opinion also stated
that it believed the Board had power to conduct such
proceedings “as may be necessary to that end,” and that
such power was as necessary to the Board as to the proper
administration of a court.
With respect to the “contemptuous conduct” rule which
it had established, the majority opinion pointed out that
use by the NLRB of some of its rule-making power did not
mean that it “exercised all of its valid power to impose
disciplinary measures for unruly conduct.”
Attempting to stop the proceeding, Mr. Camp brought
an action in the United States District Court in the District
of Columbia. The court, however, denied his application
for an injunction and ruled that “basically administrative
agencies have inherent power to control practice before
them.”
Board member Reynolds dissented because he felt that
the action of the Board was too stringent. He thought
the assault was not entirely unprovoked and that Camp
previously had a good reputation as a “peacefully disposed
citizen.” Barring Mr. Camp from further participation
in the case was, in his opinion, “a sufficiently corrective
remedy.”
Disagreeing entirely with the above view, Board member
Houston thought that his colleagues showed “unwarranted
leniency in remedying the situation.” He thought the
gravity of the situation called for at least a 5-year suspen­
sion of NLRB practice.

Employer Association’s Lock-out for Economic Reasons
Legal. With Chairman Herzog not participating, a 4-man
Board unanimously ruled7 that a shut-down of operations
by members of an employers’ association did not violate
sections 8 (a) (1) and 8 (a) (3) of the Labor Management
Relations Act, when such action (1) was taken because of
the economic uncertainty caused by a union’s threat to
strike without notice, and (2) was not in reprisal against
the strike action, nor motivated by union animus.
The ruling was made in an unfair labor practice case
filed by a union against 19 new car dealers in Des Moines,
Iowa, all of whom were members of the Des Moines
Automobile Dealers’ Association.
Both the union and the association had given notice that
they wished to make changes in their existing contract,
which was to expire on July 15, 1949. Negotiations were
entered into and both parties bargained in good faith but
without reaching an agreement on either the union’s
demand for higher wages or the association’s demand for


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TO L A B O R

MONTHLY LABOR

establishment of an incentive or bonus plan. The union
received notice on July 11 from its international that it
could strike.
On July 15, the union membership rejected the associa­
tion’s last offer; on that date the association was informed
of this rejection and of the probability that a strike would
be called. When the association’s representative asked
which companies would be struck, the union representative
would not give that information. On July 16, a strike
was called at the shops of 2 of the 21 dealers who were
members of the association; the remaining 19 dealers
closed their repair shops.
The Board adopted the findings and conclusion of the
trial examiner, which held that the union had pursued a
strategy of holding a strike threat over the 19 dealers whose
shops were not struck. The union’s strategy was lawful,
the trial examiner stated, and “it was entitled to pursue it;
but, having set out to produce an uncertain operating situa­
tion, it cannot complain now because it succeeded, or be
heard to say that it should not have been taken seriously.”
The Board and the trial examiner made it clear that the
“uncertain” operating conditions were very real. The
dealers had stopped taking auto repair jobs that they could
not finish in a day, when they thought a strike might be
possible before July 16. The Board’s final conclusion,
therefore, was that the shut-down was motivated by
economic considerations and was not in retaliation for
the union’s strike against two of the association’s members.
In reviewing earlier Board decisions, the trial examiner
stated: “An employer is not prohibited from taking
reasonable measures, including closing down his plant,
when such measures are, under the circumstances, neces­
sary for the avoidance of economic loss or business dis­
ruption attendant upon a strike. This right may, under
some circumstances, embrace the curtailment of operations
before the precise moment the strike has occurred. The
pedestrian need not wait to be struck before leaping for
the curb.”
This case was distinguished by the Board from the
ruling it made in the Davis Furniture Co. case.8 In the
Davis case, the Board found that the lay-off of employees
by 11 employer members of an association violated the
act, because the lay-offs, unlike those in the present case,
were made in reprisal against the strike, which was against
one employer. Also, in the Davis case, the union had not
threatened to strike against all the rest of the association
members.

Retail Clerks Union Can Strike for Supervisors. A Cali­
fornia court of appeals, in one of the first decisions made
regarding the right of supervisors to bargain collectively,
h eld 9 that a union representing both retail clerks and
store managers could not be enjoined from peaceful pick­
eting even when the object of the picketing was to secure
bargaining rights for the store managers.
The Safeway Corp. operated 76 retail food stores in two
California counties. Each store employed from 4 to 23
clerks in addition to the store manager, all of whom be­
longed to the retail clerks’ union. Since 1937 the union
had bargained collectively with Safeway for the managers’

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

DECISIONS OF INTEREST TO LABOR

wages and working conditions. When, in the summer of
1949, the company and the union were negotiating for a
new contract to replace the existing one, the company re­
fused to bargain concerning working conditions of its store
managers. Moreover, a prepared statement, sent by the
company to all store managers, said in part: “ . . . if a
supervisor insists upon retaining his union membership,
or having the union bargain for him the company will be
within its right in discharging him for such action . . .”
Shortly thereafter the local unions went out on strike
and many of the store managers joined them. The posi­
tion of the company and of the trial court was summed up
when the upper court quoted the language of Matthew
vi, 24: “ No man can serve two masters.” The right of
the store managers to join the union was not disputed by
the company, but, it argued, since they represented man­
agement, “ sound public policy” dictated that they should
not be allowed to enforce their demands through a rankand-file union.
The upper court did not agree. It pointed out that
section 14 (a) of the LMRA allowed supervisors to join a
union, but that they were expressly exempt from the pro­
tection of the act. It also pointed out that Congress did
not intend that supervisors should not have the right at
common law to serve their own interests by joining a union.
Continuing, the upper court said that this was also implied
by Mr. Justice Jackson’s majority opinion in the Packard
case,10 which stated: “ Though the foreman is the faithful
representative of the employer in maintaining a produc­
tion schedule, his interest properly may be adverse to
that of the employer when it comes to fixing his own
wages, hours, seniority rights, or working conditions. He
does not lose his right to serve himself in these respects
because he serves his master in others.”
By being barred from having the union bargain on their
behalf, the court pointed out, the store managers would be
in the position of Poland during the last war— “overrun
from both sides by forces which under the normal circum­
stances of labor disputes would be more likely to be
arrayed against one another.” Further, the court thought
that since for 60 years unions had been bargaining for their
supervisor members, this bargaining experience should not
be considered as contrary to public policy.
California Supreme Court policy, the court said,
dictated that “dogmatic and sweeping declarations of
public policy” should not be made by the courts but should,
instead, be formulated by the legislative body. Accord­
ingly, the court held that insofar as the injunction enjoined
unlawful acts (force and violence) it was proper and
affirmed. But insofar as it prevented the unions “from
attempting to bargain, by strike and picketing, for the
terms of employment of its store-manager members it
should be modified.”

Union's Dispute Must Be Clearly Disclosed To Avoid
Secondary Boycott. In a unanimous decision the NLRB
rules 11 that a union which did not clearly disclose that its
dispute was with the primary employer when it picketed
at a secondary employer’s premises, was guilty of violating


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

587

the secondary-boycott provisions (section 8 (b) (4) (A)) of
the LMRA.
Richfield Oil Corp. (the secondary employer) had con­
tracted with Superior Tank and Construction Co. to
install certain vapor-recovery systems on its oil wells.
Superior, the primary employer, was a nonunion organi­
zation, and the boilermakers’ union had been unsuccessful
for 12 years in attempts to unionize its employees. When
the AFL Bakersfield Council (with which the boilermakers'
union was affiliated) failed to come to an agreement with
a representative from Superior, it placed pickets at the
entrance to Richfield oil fields, where Superior was work­
ing. The pickets carried signs reading “Superior Tank
Co., Unfair to Building Trades Department, AFL.”
The trial examiner recommended dismissal of Richfield’s
complaint, since he found that the picketing in this
instance measured up to the tests set out by the Board in
the case of Moore Dry Dock C o The Board, however,
disagreed with the trial examiner’s recommendation and,
stated that only one of the four tests set up in the Moore
Dry Dock Co. case need be considered. “Did the picketing
at the secondary employer’s premises”, the Board asked,
“disclose clearly that the union’s dispute was not with
that employer, but only with another employer who was
engaged in a work project there?” The Board concluded
that it did not, since the strikers allowed the first truck
drivers for Richfield to cross a picket line but implied that
they could not thereafter cross picket lines.
Although the pickets carried signs stating that only
Superior was unfair, their actions were “designed to carry
far beyond Superior alone,” the Board noted. It stated
that it was “convinced” that “the picketing was designed,
at least in part, to force Richfield to cease doing business
with Superior by inducing third parties to refuse to enter
Richfield’s premises. “Thus”, the Board continued, “the
picketing had a proscribed objective and was violative of
section 8 (b) (4) (A) of the act.”

Proof Needed by Employer in Discriminatory Hiring.
Fifty men sought construction jobs with the Whittenberg Construction Co. Of these men, 34 belonged to the
Paducah Building and Construction Trades Council
(AFL), and 16 belonged to the International Association
of Machinists (then independent). The company hired
the 34 AFL men and said it was a “mere coincidence” that
none of the IAM men were hired. The NLRB ruled 1S
that though such coincidence was possible, the mathe­
matical chance for its happening was 1 in 5 trillion.
The Board therefore found that the company had tacitly
entered into a closed-shop agreement, thereby violating
the provisions of the LMRA.
The company contended that it had told its hiring fore­
man to employ men without regard to race, color, creed, or
religion, and without inquiry as to their membership in a
labor organization. However, the NLRB pointed out
that even though the foreman (himself an AFL member)
could not interrogate each applicant personally as to his
union membership or affiliation, he could obtain that in­
formation in other ways. The Board concluded that the

588

D E C ISIO N S OF IN T E R E S T TO L A B O R

company had applied a discriminatory hiring policy and
ordered it to reimburse the IAM men for loss of pay.

Veterans’ Reemployment Rights
Unaccepted Volunteer Before 1951 Amendment Held Without
Statutory Reemployment Rights. A district court held 14
that an employee who, after he had left his position to en­
list in the United States Navy, was not accepted by the
Navy, had no statutory rights under the Selective Train­
ing and Service Act of 1940.15
The employee was 17 years old when he resigned a posi­
tion as locomotive fireman on June 19, 1945, in order to
enlist. His parents refused the consent which was re­
quired because of his age. On June 30, 1945, he was once
more employed, but as a new employee. He therefore
lost his seniority date of May 24, 1945, and was given a
date of June 30, 1945. When he brought action to change
his seniority, the court held that he had acquired no statu­
tory rights, because he was not a “veteran” on June 30,
1945. He had not been in “active military service,” and
had not earned a certificate of satisfactory service, as
required by the act.
On April 16, 1946, this fireman was inducted into mili­
tary service, and he was honorably discharged and reem­
ployed thereafter. The court decided that his statutory
rights arising from this service could not aid his claim for
the earlier seniority date, and suggested that the situation
of rejectees should have the attention of Congress.16

Unemployment Compensation
Actively Seeking Work. An Ohio common pleas court
held 17 that a claimant who had registered at his union hall
was “actively seeking work,” as required by the statute.
The claimant was a plasterer’s helper and there was
testimony that substantially all employment in the con­
struction trade was obtained through the union. The
court stated that contact with contractors through the
union as his agent was the legal equivalent of contact by
claimant with those same employers. The Board of
Review’s denial of benefits was reversed by the court as
being against the weight of evidence, unlawful, and
unreasonable.
Agency's Duty To Investigate Facts. An Ohio court of
common pleas 18 remanded a case for further investigation
after the Board of Review had held the claimant ineligible
for benefits because of insufficient wages in covered em­
ployment. The issue was whether one of claimant’s
employers had employed a sufficient number of persons to
make the employer subject to the unemployment com­
pensation act. The file disclosed a letter from a coworker
and another from a customer showing that there were
sufficient employees. No subpena for one witness had
been issued; a subpoena to the other had been returned
“unfound” ; and a subpena to the employer was returned
marked “Moved. Left no address.” The court stated:
“The Board was under an affirmative duty either to compel
the appearance of these witnesses or to take their deposi­
tions wherever they were or to remand the matter back
to the administrator for similar action.”


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Company Pension Held Compensation for Loss of Wages.
A Connecticut superior cou rt19 held that a claimant who
was receiving a weekly pension under a voluntary retire­
ment plan of his former employer was not eligible for
unemployment compensation. Reversing the commis­
sioner, the court found that the pension was “payment by
way of compensation for loss of wages” within the meaning
of the statutory declaration of ineligibility for receipt of
unemployment-compensation payments.
Good Cause for Voluntary Leaving. The Washington
Supreme Court held 20 that a claimant, when transferred
from a job paying $1.63 an hour to work of the same
general type at $1.43 an hour, did not have good cause for
quitting and was consequently ineligible for benefits.
The court affirmed the trial court in reversing the decision
of the commissioner, holding that good cause is a question
of law and is not within the principle that findings of fact
by the commissioner, if supported by the evidence, are
conclusive on the courts.
Labor-Dispute Disqualification. An Alabama circuit court
held 21 that a railroad engineer employed in the railroad
department of a coal and iron company was disqualified
for benefits when he became unemployed due to a strike
of the company’s steel workers. The Alabama labordispute disqualification, unlike provisions in the statutes of
most States, does not except individuals who are not
participating in or directly interested in the dispute and
are not members of a grade or class of workers participating
in or directly interested in the dispute.
1 Prepared in the U . S. Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor.
The cases covered in this article represent a selection of the significant deci­
sions 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 eflect of particular decisions in jurisdications 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.
This 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.
2 B o g a s h v. B a l ti m o r e C ig a r e tte S e r v ic e (D . C. M d., Aug. 16,1951).
« W a ll in g v. S a n d e r s (136 F. 2d 78).
5 B y r n e v. M e tc a l f e C o n s tr u c tio n C o . (D . C. N eb., Sept. 10,1951).
« J o h n L . C a m p (90 N L R B No. 7, Sept. 10, 1951).
2 B e t t s C a d illa c O ld s , I n c . (96 N L R B No. 46, Sept. 23, 1951).
94 N L R B No. 52, M ay 3,1951.
8 S a f e w a y S to r e s v. C le r k s A s s n . , 28 L R R M 2583 (Cal. C. A. Aug. 14,1951).
i" 330 U. S. 489, 490.
11 B o i le r m a k e r s U n io n (R ic h f ie ld O il C o r p .) (95 N L R B N o. 160, Aug. 21,
1951).
m 92 N L R B No. 93, 27 L R R M 1108.
15 W h itte n b e r g C o n s t r u c ti o n C o . (96 N L R B No. 9, Sept. 10,1951).
m S a n d e r s v. C h ic a g o , R o c k I s l a n d a n d P a c i f i c R . R . C o . (W. D . Okla., M ay
28,1951).
n 50 U . S. C, App. 308.
i8 See Sec. 9 (g) (3) of the Universal M ilitary Training and Service Act,
added by the 1951 Amendments to that act, by which limited rights were
conferred on rejectees.
u N e l s o n v. V a n H o r n C o n s tr u c tio n C o . (Ohio Common Pleas, July 9,1951).
I* K e p s i s v. B o a r d o f R e v i e w (Ohio Common Pleas, July 9,1951).
i« K n e e l a n d v. A d m i n i s t r a t o r (Conn. Super. Ct., Aug. 27,1951).
I n r e A n d e r s o n (Wash. Sup. Ct., Sept. 6,1951).
1 U s h e r v. S t a te D e p a r t m e n t of I n d u s t r i a l R e l a ti o n s (Ala. Cir. Ct., M ay 23,
1951).

2

2

20
2

Chronology of
Recent Labor Events

September 12
T he Salary Stabilization B oard adopted General Salary
Stabilization Regulation 3 permitting employers, who pay
on a rate-range basis, to give merit and length-of-service
increases, without Board approval, in accordance with
(1) past practices, (2) an established plan, or (3) a 6-per­
cent option. Such increases may not exceed 6 percent of
the aggregate annual payroll. Employers using random
or personal rates may use the 6-percent method. (Source:
Federal Register, vol. 16, No. 183, Sept. 20, 1951, p. 9564.)
The Office of Price Stabilization issued Ceiling Price
Regulation 73, effective September 14, establishing ceiling
prices for certain articles of food at various levels of dis­
tribution in the Virgin Islands. (Source: Federal Register,
vol. 16, No. 179, Sept. 14, 1951, p. 9310.)
On September 25, CPR 74 established specific ceiling
prices for most sales of pork at wholesale; it is to become
effective October 1. (Source: Federal Register, vol. 16,
No. 187, Sept. 26, 1951, p. 9759.)
On September 28, CPR’s 75, 76, and 77 were issued.
CPR 75, effective October 3, establishes methods for cal­
culating ceiling prices for sales by processors of canned
and frozen soups. CPR 76, effective October 3, fixes
specific dollars-and-cents ceilings for bleached glassine
paper and bleached greaseproof paper and provides a
method of calculating ceilings for related grades and new
grades. CPR 77, effective October 1, outlines ceiling prices
for all sales of agricultural liming materials. (Source:
Federal Register, vol. 16, No. 190, Sept. 29, 1951, pp. 9962,
9965, and 9974; for further data, see p. 570 of this issue.)
On October 1, CPR 78 set basic price procedures for all
sales of both domestic and imported, distilled spirits and
wines; it became effective October 8. (Source: Federal
Register, vol. 16, No. 192, Oct. 3, 1951, p. 10078.)
On October 2, CPR 79 established dollar-and-cent ceiling
prices for all sales of processed duck items, except at retail.
(Source: Federal Register, vol. 16, No. 192, Oct. 3, 1951,
p. 10073.)
On October 8, CPR 80, effective October 13, established
ceiling prices for used machine tools and used machine
tool extras. (Source: Federal Register, vol. 16, No. 196,
Oct. 9, 1951, p. 10254.)
On October 11, CPR’s 81 and 82 were issued, effective
October 25. CPR 81 establishes ceiling prices for sales
of the 1951 pack of all frozen vegetables by processors
and base distributors. CPR 82 fixes tailored ceilings for
971543—51------5


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

sales by processors and base distributors of the 1951 pack
of all frozen fruits. (Source: Federal Register, vol. 16,
No. 199, October 12, 1951, pp. 10447, and 10454.)

September 13
T he Wage Stabilization B oard submitted to the Presi­
dent its report concerning the dispute between American
Smelting and Refining Co., Garfield, Utah, and United
Steel Workers of America (CIO) (see Chron. item for
July 26, 1951, MLR Sept. 1951), recommending an 8-cent
an hour general wage increase and the resumption of nego­
tiations on pensions and intraplant inequities. (Source:
WSB release 107, Sept. 13, 1951.)
On September 14, the company and union accepted the
Board’s proposals. (Source: New York Times, Sept. 15,
1951, and WSB release 125, Oct. 11, 1951.)

September 17
T he American F ederation of Labor opened its 70th
annual convention at San Francisco, Calif. (Source: AFL
News, Sept. 18, 1951; for discussion, see p. 547 of this
issue.)

September 19
T he WSB approved 6.2 percent of an 8-percent wage in­
crease, a reduction in the workweek, and various fringe
benefits negotiated by unions and maritime companies
on the East, West, and Gulf Coasts (see Chron. item for
June 16, 1951, MLR Aug. 1951). (Source: WSB release
111, Sept. 19, 1951.)

September 21
T he N ational Labor R elations B oard in the case of
Betts Cadillac Olds, Inc. et al. (Des Moines, Iowa) and
Lodge No. 254 of the International Association of Machinists
{AFL), ruled that a lock-out by a member of an employer
association was permissible because the action was taken
owing to economic uncertainty caused by the union’s
threat to strike without notice and was not in reprisal
against the concerted action itself. (Source: Labor Rela­
tions Reporter, vol. 28, No. 144, Oct. 1, 1951, LRRM
p. 1509.)

September 24
A s t r i k e of approximately 30,000 members of the United
Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers
of America (CIO) in the copper and brass fabricating
industry was averted following the President’s certifica­
tion of the dispute to the WSB. (Source: New York
Times, Sept. 22, 1951, and WSB release 121, Oct. 5,
1951.)

September 27
T he E conomic Stabilization Administrator approved
a resolution adopted unanimously by the WSB on Septem­
ber 14, concerning an interplant inequity policy. The
resolution permits low-paying firms in an appropriate
589

590

CHRONOLOGY OF LABOR EVENTS

industry or area to petition the Board for wage increases
to correct proven inequities. (Source: WSB release 117,
Sept. 28, 1951.)

the other side of the issues. (Source: Labor Relations
Reporter, vol. 28, No. 46, Oct. 8, 1951, p. LRRM 1547.)

October 4

The 2-month strike, which involved approximately
22,000 members of the United Automobile, Aircraft &
Agricultural Implement Workers of America (CIO) at
the Caterpillar Tractor Co., Peoria, 111., was settled. The
agreement provides for a 13J4-cent hourly wage increase
and a cost-of-living wage adjustment. (Source: New
York Times, Sept. 28, 1951.)

A pending strike of about 70,000 members of Inter­
national Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers
(CIO) in 55 General Electric Co. plants was averted by an
agreement providing for a general wage increase of 2)4
percent, a cost-of-living wage adjustment, and other
benefits. (Source: IUE-CIO News, Oct. 8, 1951.)

September 28

October 5

T he E conomic Stabilization Administrator established
a Railroad and Airline Wage Board to handle wage
stabilization for railroad and air transport workers who are
subject to the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, and
named Nelson M. Bortz, of the Department of Labor’s
Bureau of Labor Statistics, as chairman. (Source:
Federal Register, vol. 16, No. 190, Sept. 29, 1951, p. 10010
and ECA release, Sept. 28, 1951.)

h e WSB unanimously adopted General Wage Regulation
16A exempting employees in the Panama Canal Zone from
wage stabilization regulations. (Source: Federal Register,
vol. 16, No. 198, Oct. 11, 1951, p. 10386.)

T

October 8
The Supreme Court of the United States denied review
in the case of Boeing Airplane Co. v. Aeronautical Indus­

October 1

trial District Lodge No. 751 of International Association of
Machinists (AFL), thereby upholding a lower court’s

T he Administrator of the U. S. Department of Labor’s

decision (see p. 370, MLR Sept. 1950) that a strike called
by a union in violation of a no-strike clause was a breach
of contract, but the employer’s refusal to negotiate with
the union after rescinding the contract precludes him from
recovering damages. (Source: U. S. Law Week, Oct. 9,
1951, 20 LW, p. 3083.)

Wage and Hour Division announced, effective November
5, 1951, a minimum rate of 60 cents an hour for employees
in the alcoholic beverage and industrial alcohol industry
in Puerto Rico, under provisions of the Fair Labor Stand­
ards Act. (Source: Federal Register, vol. 16, No. 194,
Oct. 5, 1951, p. 10159.)

October 11
October 2
NLRB, in the case of Bonwit Teller Inc. (New York,
N. Y .) and Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America
(CIO) and Retail Clerks International Association (AFL),
ruled that an employer who delivers an anti-union speech
on company time and premises may not deny a union’s
request for a similar opportunity to give the employees
T

he


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T h e NLRB, in the case of Mackay Radio & Telegraph Co.
Inc. and Commercial Cable Co., and the American Communi­
cations Association (Ind.), ruled that employees who strike

to force an employer to adopt an illegal union-security
contract forfeit their rights to reinstatement or other
protection under the Labor Management Relations Act.
(Source: NLRB release No. R-386, Oct. 14, 1951.)

Developments in
Industrial Relations

E ssential and civilian production was ham­
pered during September by major strikes involv­
ing aircraft companies and atomic energy instal­
lations and the continuation of a prolonged stop­
page in the critical machine-tool industry. The
situation was brightened, somewhat, with the
settlement of the 2-month Caterpillar Tractor Co.
strike, postponement of a threatened walk-out in
the copper and brass fabricating industries, and
the negotiation of agreements in the electrical
products, textiles, shipping, and steel industries.
Contract goals in forthcoming negotiations were
announced by oil and shipbuilding unions. The
Wage Stabilization Board announced a policy per­
mitting adjustment of interplant wage inequities.

Strikes and Strike Settlements

Among the important strikes in effect in Sep­
tember, those in the aircraft and machine-tool
industries were still unsettled at the end of the
month.
Aircraft. Approximately 10,000 production and
maintenance workers at the Long Beach, Calif.,
plant of the Douglas Aircraft Co. were made idle
beginning September 5, the expiration date of
their contract, by a strike called by the United
Automobile Workers (CIO). The firm produces
Air Force cargo and troop transport planes. Union
demands include a pay increase, part of it to be
retroactive, an automatic progression plan, an es­
calator wage clause, union shop, and additional
shop stewards.
Airplane production at the Long Beach, Santa
Monica, and El Segundo, Calif., plants of the com­
pany were also curtailed by a wage strike of some
300 welders of the independent United Aircraft
Welders’ Union.
At the Garfield and Woodridge, N. J., plants of
the Wright Aeronautical Corp., the Nation’s larg­


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est producer of gasoline and jet aircraft engines,
about 10,000 UAW (CIO) production workers
walked out on September 26. An additional 5,000
to 6,000 UAW white-collar and AFL construction
workers observed picket lines. A key union de­
mand for a wage increase, reduced from 15 cents
to 12 cents an hour, was rejected by the company,
which offered hourly increases ranging from 3 to 9
cents. Other important issues in the dispute cen­
tered on union proposals for rehiring of plant cafe­
teria workers, laid off when a private cafeteria
firm was engaged, and recognition of the union as
bargaining agent for new cafeteria employees.
Increased vacation pay, pensions, life insurance,
and hospitalization, and a re-evaluation of job
classifications were other union demands.
Atomic Energy. At the Paducah, Ky., atomic
plant construction project, approximately 10,000
workers were idled for 3 days beginning September
20, when some 300 members of the Sheet Metal
Workers (AFL) set up picket lines to reinforce
their demand for travel and subsistence pay. In­
formation was not immediately available on the
nature of the settlement whereby workers were
scheduled to return to work on September 24.
Strikes involving construction workers also oc­
curred at atomic energy installations in Dana,
Ind., Los Alamos, N. Mex., and Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Machine Tools. A strike at the Brown and Sharpe
Manufacturing Co., Providence, R. I., which began
August 1 and continued in effect in September,
idled some 8,000 employees and completely cur­
tailed the company’s production of critical ma­
chine tools. Proposals by the International Asso­
ciation of Machinists (AFL), including a union
shop, increased wages, fringe benefits, and the
right to negotiate on working hours and shift
differentials, precipitated the walk-out.
Farm Equipment. Settlement of the prolonged
strike which affected some 22,000 production
workers at the Caterpillar Tractor Co., Peoria,
111., beginning on July 30, was announced by the
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service on
September 27. The agreement, ratified by mem­
bers of the United Automobile Workers (CIO) on
September 30, provided for a general 13K-cent
hourly wage increase and a cost-of-living adjust­
ment, effective February 1, 1952. The stoppage
had caused a complete suspension of the company’s
591

592

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

MONTHLY LABOR

production of tractors, diesel engines, electric gen­
erators, and other products.

15-cent hourly wage increase, company-financed
pensions, and fringe benefits.

Significant Negotiations

Electrical Products. Following prolonged negotia­
tions, 23 the International Union of Electrical,
Radio, and Machine Workers (CIO) and the
General Electric Co. reached an agreement on
October 4 providing for a general wage increase
and an escalator arrangement for about 70,000
employees. It called for a 2K-percent general
wage rise, with a guaranteed minimum of 3% cents
an hour and was effective September 15, 1951.
Under the escalator provision, wages were in­
creased by 1 percent for each 1-percent rise in the
Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumers’ Price
Index for the period March 15,1951, to September
15, 1951, effective as of the latter date. Under a
clause that permits reopening of the contract for
general wage negotiations on March 15, 1952, a
further wage adjustment will be calculated for the
period between September 15,1951, and March 15,
1952.
Provisions were also made for a reopening of
negotiations on the present pension and insurance
program on September 15, 1952 and for a 3-week
vacation after 15 years of employment.
The Federation of Westinghouse Independent
Salaried Unions declared that it would request a
cost-of-living wage increase of about 5 cents an
hour and improved vacation, pension, and insur­
ance benefits for about 15,000 Westinghouse
Electric Co. employees upon the expiration of its
contract on November 1.
A 1-year agreement, signed by the CIO Elec­
trical Workers and the Sylvania Electric Products,
Inc., on September 11, provides wage increases
averaging nearly 10 percent for about 4,500 em­
ployees. 4

Nonferrous Metals. The American Smelting and
Refining Co. and the United Steelworkers of
America (CIO), on September 24, accepted the
Wage Stabilization Board’s recommendation to
the President for settlement of the wage dispute
that had caused a 27-day strike beginning in July 2
at the company’s Garfield, Utah, copper smelting
plant. The Board recommended (1) a general
wage increase of 8 cents an hour; (2) settlement of
intraplant inequity problems through collective
bargaining; and (3) further negotiation on issues
of improved pension, health and welfare, and
holiday benefits. All differences except differen­
tials between various job classifications have been
settled and discussion on pensions was deferred,
pending formulation of WSB policy on this issue.
The protracted Nation-wide dispute involvdng
the copper and other nonferrous metals industry
and the International Union of Mine, Mill, and
Smelter Workers (Ind.) came a step nearer settle­
ment with the announcement, on September 27,
that the Phelps Dodge Corp. and the union had
reached an agreement. Terms of the settlement
were withheld, pending ratification by the union’s
membership. The firm is the second of the four
major copper companies to negotiate a contract
with the union since a Nation-wide strike was
called last August 27.3 Negotiations between the
union and the other two leading firms in the
industry continued during September.
The President’s certification to the WSB of a
dispute between the United Automobile Workers
(CIO) and copper and brass rolling mills and
fabricators, located largely in the Connecticut
Valley and the Middle West, led to the postpone­
ment of a strike scheduled for September 24 by
some 30,000 members. The certification followed
a Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
report that there was no immediate prospect of
settling the dispute and a statement of the
Director of Defense Mobilization that the
threatened strike “would have a serious impact on
the defense program.” Union demands include a


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Textiles. The American Federation of Hosiery
Workers (re-affiliated with the AFL in August)
signed a 2-year contract with the Full Fashioned
Plosiery Manufacturers of America, Inc., which
affects some 11,000 workers employed by 35 firms
in Northeastern States on September 17. The
agreement provides for wage increases ranging
from 7 to 13 cents an hour in certain departments
and for liberalized holiday and vacation benefits.

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Several days earlier, the union had announced
completion of negotiations with 40 mills, employing 11,000 workers, for payment of employerfinanced pensions through a newly-formed Hosiery
Industry Employees Fund. Most participating
mills are reported by the union to be members of
the Full Fashioned Hosiery Manufacturers of
America, Inc. Under the plan, eligible workers
without dependents will be able to retire at 65
with pension benefits ranging from $30 to $65 a
month, exclusive of Social Security benefits, de­
pending on length of service. A worker employed
by any of the participating mills will be eligible for
benefits regardless of job transfer.
Ratification of an agreement covering 18,000
workers in about 400 textile processing plants in
New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania was
announced by the Textile Workers Union (CIO)
on October 1. The contract4 calls for an imme­
diate wage increase of 6 cents an hour, an addi­
tional 6-cent increase on October 1 , 1952, Blue
Cross and Blue Shield benefits for employees and
their families, and an increase (from $2 to $4 a
month per worker) in employer contributions to
the industry’s pension fund.
The Masters, Mates, and Pilots Union
(AFL) reached tentative agreements with West
Coast, and East and Gulf Coast shipowners on
September 30 and October 2, respectively. Terms
of the agreements 4 include a 6.2-percent increase
in base pay, a 40-hour workweek at sea and in
port (beyond which overtime is paid), doubled
employer contributions to the union pension
fund, and increased vacation benefits. The East
and Gulf Coast settlement provided for the em­
ployment of all but first mates and captains
through union hiring halls.
Negotiations, involving the International Long­
shoremen’s Association (AFL) and the Sailors’
Union of the Pacific (AFL) on the West Coast,
continued beyond the September 30 expiration
dates of their contracts.
M a r i tim e .

S te e l. Surgical benefits for some 130,000 steel
workers and several hundred thousand dependents
were provided by agreements, effective September
1, reached by the United Steelworkers (CIO) and
the Bethlehem Steel and the Jones and Laughlin
Steel companies. Union members will receive
these benefits without additional payments; how­


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

593

ever, contributions not exceeding 50 cents a
month per worker may be required in the future,
should reserve funds fall below stipulated mini­
mum amounts.
O il. Following its recent convention, the CIO
Oil Workers Union announced that it will seek
wage increases averaging 25 cents an hour for
every member in forthcoming negotiations with
major oil producers. The union, which represents
about a third of the oil industry’s 300,000 workers,
will also seek to standardize pensions and the wage
differentials paid to workers on the 4 p. m. to mid­
night and the midnight to 8 a. m. shifts at 6 cents
and 10 cents, respectively.
S h ip y a r d s .
In negotiations between the Marine
and Shipbuilding Workers (CIO) and the Beth­
lehem Steel Co. on November 1, the union intends
to submit demands covering every major provision
of the present contract, due to expire on December
31, according to a union announcement. Workers
in the company’s eight East Coast shipyards will
be affected by the union’s proposals which include
an hourly wage increase of about 11 percent
higher pay for “dirty” work and increased night
differentials.

W SB A ctions

A unanimous statement intended to clarify WSB
functions in relation to the processes of collective
bargaining was adopted by the Board on Septem­
ber 21. Although recognizing that collective bar­
gaining is not as free as before the institution of
economic controls, the Board noted that there
still remained a considerable area for genuine
collective bargaining. In order to effectuate such
bargaining, the Board emphasized, it cannot, and
will not, undertake to advise negotiators in ad­
vance as to the permissible “limitations” within
which they can, or must, bargain. The Board
cautioned, nevertheless, against agreements which
clearly exceed existing wage stabilization regula­
tions and which tend “to raise false hopes among
workers and provoke industrial unrest.”
An interplant inequity policy under which the
lowest-paying firms in an appropriate industry
or area will be permitted4 to adjust wages and
salaries up to “stabilized levels” in order to correct
proved inequities, was announced by the Board

594

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

on September 28. The policy had previously
been approved by the Economic Stabilization
Administrator.
Partial approval was granted by the Board
on September 19 to agreements concluded in
June and early July by East, Gulf and Atlantic
Coast ship operators and the National Maritime
Union, the Marine Engineers Beneficial Associa­
tion, and the American Radio Association, all
CIO-affiliated, as well as the independent Marine,
Firemen, Oilers, Watertenders, and Wipers Asso­
ciation.2 5 The Board, with labor members dis­
senting, approved 6.2 percent of the 8-percent
general wage increase agreed upon by the com­
panies and the unions; approval was given under
authority of General Wage Regulations 6 (10percent catch-up formula) and GWR 8 (costof-living regulation). With industry members
dissenting, the Board approved provisions in
the agreements calling for a 2-step reduction
in the number of hours after which overtime is
paid, from 48 to 40. Fringe benefits agreed
to by the parties were approved unanimously.
Other Board action included unanimous papro val of pay increases of about 13 cents an hour
for some 23,000 workers at the Lockheed plant
in Los Angeles and the establishment of a tri­


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

partite division to study the problem of exempting
small business from wage regulation.
Rules and procedures under which salary
adjustments for individuals may be made without
approval of the Salary Stabilization Board are
set forth in General Salary Regulation 3, issued
on September 19. The regulation, an interim
adaptation of the WSB’s General Wage Regula­
tion 5, limits the total amount of merit and
length-of-service salary adjustment that an em­
ployer may grant in a calendar year to 6 percent
of the total base salaries of his employees.
A special board to handle wage stabilization
problems in the railroad and air transport indus­
tries was established on September 28 by the
Economic Stabilization Administrator. The board
supersedes the Temporary Emergency Railroad
Wage Panel appointed in August. Nelson M.
Bortz, formerly chief of the Industrial Relations
Division of the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
U. S. Department of Labor, was named to the
chairmanship of the new board.
Prepared in the Bureau’s D ivision of Wages and Industrial Relations,
s See September issue of M onthly Labor Review (p. 318).
3 See October issue of M onthly Labor Review (p. 473).
4 Subject to WSB approval.
5 s ee August issue of M onthly Labor Review (p. 192).

1

Publications
of Labor Interest
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 entries.
Listing of a publication in this section is for record and reference only and
does not constitute an endorsement of point of view or advocacy of use

Special Reviews
The Impact of the Union: Eight Economic Theorists
Evaluate the Labor Union Movement. Edited by
David McCord Wright. New York, Harcourt,
Brace and Co., 1951. 405 pp. $4.
The scope of this volume is somewhat narrower than its
title would suggest; it is concerned basically with the im­
pact of large-scale unionization on wages, prices, output,
and employment. The authors do not deal, to any sub­
stantial extent, with the noneconomic consequences of
union organization and power.
Eight recognized general economic theorists produced
the book: J. M. Clark, Gottfried Haberler, Frank H.
Knight, Kenneth E. Boulding, Edward H. Chamberlin,
Milton Friedman, David McCord Wright, and Paul
Samuelson. Nine formal papers (two by Wright) are pre­
sented as revised by the authors in the light of joint oral
discussions. Interwoven with the formal papers, and
lending a certain piquancy to the volume, are lengthy
excerpts from the discussions themselves, which were held
without the distractions of an audience.
The institutional importance of unionism has become
sufficiently great to warrant the most rigorous inquiry into
its implications for the economy. Labor economics in the
traditional sense, with its focus on “problems” and its
preoccupation with collective-bargaining techniques and
procedures, clearly needs to be supplemented by more
general analysis. With respect to unionism, the central
question for economic theory is its influence on the level
and structure of wages. It is predominantly through its
influence on wages that unionism can affect resource alloca­
tion, and hence levels and patterns of employment and
output.
This whole field of inquiry is immensely complex. Our
empirical knowledge is limited. Analysis, in the nature of
the case, will be somewhat influenced by general economic
and political perspectives. The most that we can ask for
at this stage is careful definition and exploration of the
issues. The insights thus gained may prove important in
terms of public policy and for the union movement itself.
As Clark remarks, “labor unions are beginning to think in
terms of economic theories, as distinct from the arts of


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power and bargaining pressure, and to mix their cultivation
of these arts with concern about external forces which set
limits on what sheer bargaining power can accomplish.”
The range of questions considered in the present volume
may be briefly indicated. Clark and Haberler, more
directly than the other contributors, are concerned in their
formal papers with union wage action in relation to price
stability and full employment. Haberler deals partic­
ularly with the relation of union wage policy (character­
ized as continuous upward pressure and downward rigid­
ity) to cyclical fluctuations. Friedman’s paper presents
the view that the wage effects of unions have been exag­
gerated. Knight discusses some ethical aspects of the
wage problem. Chamberlin is especially concerned with
the monopoly position that he believes unionism affords
workers in the struggle for income. Boulding analyzes
wages as a share in national income. Wright’s two papers
argue essentially for the creation of attitudes and policies
which, in his view, are essential for continued economic
expansion. Samuelson contributes a review of wage
theory.
I n g e n e ra l, t h e s y m p o s iu m is h ig h ly p r o v o c a t iv e and
u n d o u b te d ly w ill s tim u la te a d d itio n a l a n a ly t ic a l w o r k on
t h e role o f u n io n ism in t h e e c o n o m y . — H . M . D

outy.

Occupational Choice—An Approach to a General Theory.
By Eli Ginzberg and others. New York, Columbia
University Press, 1951. 271 pp., bibliography. $3.75.
The conclusions arrived at by Dr. Ginzberg and his
colleagues in their search for a general theory of occupa­
tional choice are briefly: (1) That occupational choice is
a developmental process rather than a single decision; (2)
that this process is largely irreversible in that later deci­
sions are limited by earlier ones; and (3) that the crystal­
lization of choice has the quality of a compromise to effect
a balance between subjective elements and reality.
These conclusions are not new to vocational counselors,
who have arrived at them empirically over the more than
a quarter of a century since vocational guidance emerged
as a distinct specialty. In fact, a vocational counselor
would have called the book “Occupational Planning” to
avoid the title’s implication of a single choice. But it is
valuable to have the tenets presented in terms of a general
theory by an economist concerned with the conservation
of human resources. It is to be hoped that suggestions
made in the book will carry weight with administrators
of educational programs and with all those concerned
with social and economic planning. One of the book’s
recommendations, however, warrants challenge: That the
“arithmetic of personnel resources” foreshadows a shift
to more contact of the counselor with parents and teachers
and less with youngsters. It is true -that more parent
and teacher cooperation in vocational guidance is needed,
but this should be in addition to, not in lieu of, more
counselor interviews with youngsters. A continuing
waste of human resources may be prevented by helping
young people make realistic educational and vocational
plans. But, the man-hours society must spend in giving
such help will be fewer if the counseling is done by experts
especially trained for the purpose. As in a health program,
parent and teacher cooperation are essential, but this
should be supplementary to, and not a substitute for,
595

PUBLICATIONS OF LABOR INTEREST

596

periodic interviews and “check-ups” by a competent
expert.
The analyses and the excerpts from interviews presented
in the book are of interest to all concerned with the wel­
fare of young people, although based on brief study of
very small and atypical groups. But an experienced
vocational counselor is likely to find overemphasis on
the freedom of choice among high-income groups and on
restrictions of choice among low-income groups. Both
these groups are subject to pressures from which the
middle-income group generally is free. The book’s
stress on the hazards of “irreversibility” also implies
more rigidity in school curricula and less allowance for
shifts in student plans than are customary. Undue
reliance on aptitude tests and interest inventories, a
fault attributed to counselors, is more likely to be made
by psychologists, and by parents and students seeking
quick solutions, than by counselors who have learned the
need for a variety of data collected from many sources
over a long period of time.
The emphases on the preventive aspects of vocational
guidance will be welcomed by counselors. They wish
to see all the children in a given grade in which pupils
are making subject choices, but often are handicapped by
administrators and teachers who tend to load them down
with problem cases requiring clinical attention.
An extensive bibliography covering related literature
published in Europe and in the United States is a valuable
addition to the book.
— Marguerite W. Zapoleon.

Child and Youth Employment
Programs of the Federal Government Affecting Children and
Youth. Washington, 1951. 126 pp., charts, map.
55 cents, Superintendent of Documents, Washington.
A summary prepared by the Interdepartmental Com­
mittee on Children and Youth. Important phases of
the programs are outlined in this issue of the Monthly
Labor Review (p. 577).

Hazardous Employments Prohibited to Minors Sixteen and
Over by State and Federal Laws and Rulings. New
York, State Department of Labor, Division of Re­
search and Statistics, 1951. I l l pp.; processed.
(Publication No. B-45.)

Mining Other Than Coal: Occupational Hazards to Young
Workers, Repgrt No. 9. Washington, U. S. Depart­
ment of Labor, Bureau of Labor Standards, 1951.
65 pp. (Bull. No. 144.) 25 cents, Superintendent
of Documents, Washington.

Where to Obtain Employment and Age Certificates: State
Agencies and Local Officials Responsible for Employ­
ment and Age Certificate Issuance. Washington, U. S.
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Standards,
1951. 12 pp.; processed. Free.


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MONTHLY LABOR

Cooperative Movement
Educational Activities of Cooperatives.

By Emory S.
Bogardus. Chicago, Cooperative League of the
U. S. A., [1951?]. Folder.
Outlines 25 different types of educational work that
might be done by cooperatives.

Federal Credit Unions: Report of Operations for the Year
1950. Washington, Federal Security Agency, Social
Security Administration, Bureau of Federal Credit
Unions, 1951. 24 pp., map, charts.
Largely statistical, but includes an analysis of various
aspects of credit-union operations (membership, assets,
income and expenses, dividends, liquidations).

Cooperation in Canada, 1950—Nineteenth Annual Sum.mary. By J. E. O’Meara. Ottawa, Department of
Agriculture, Marketing Service, 1951. 19 pp.; proc­
essed.
Annuaire de la Coopération, 1951. Paris, Fédération
Nationale des Coopératives de Consommation, [1951?].
218 pp., charts.
Contains statistical data relating to the members of the
National Federation of Consumers’ Cooperatives in France
and general information on the central federations and
other bodies in the various branches of cooperation.
Cooperative Milk Marketing in Norway. By John C.
Norby and Oddvar Aresvik. ( In Journal of Farm
Economics, Menasha, Wis., August 1951, pp. 320-335.
$1.25.)
Cooperative Ideas in the Eastern and Western Worlds. By
Laszlo Valko. Pullman, State College of Washington,
Department of Agricultural Economics, 1951. 15 pp.;
processed.
Explains how the Communists took over the cooperative
movement in the Iron Curtain countries and discusses
the sharp differences and the antagonism between true
cooperation and communism.

Housing
Characteristics of Occupied Dwellings in 34 Large Cities.

(In

Construction, U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of
Labor Statistics, Washington, July 1951, pp. 5-40.
Free.)
Some of the significant characteristics are analyzed in
this issue of the Monthly Labor Review (p. 569).
Expenditures for New Construction, 1915-1950. Washing­
ton, U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 1951. 35 pp.; processed. Free.

Housing Volume and Construction Cost of One-Family
Houses, 194-6-50, 15 Metropolitan Areas. Washing­
ton, U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 1951. 36 pp.; processed. (Supplement
to Construction, May 1951.) Free.

Fourth Annual Report of U. S. Housing and Home Finance
Agency, Calendar Year 1950. Washington, 1951.
xvii, 467 pp., charts, maps.
of Documents, Washington.

$1.25, Superintendent

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

PUBLICATIONS OF LABOR INTEREST

Housing Statistics—Special Midyear Issue, with Annual
Statistics. Washington, U. S. Housing and Home
Finance Agency, July 1951.
essed.

66 pp., charts; proc­

Survey of Problems of Low Cost Rural Housing in Tropical
Areas. New York, United Nations, Secretariat, De­
partment of Social Affairs, 1950. 93 pp., bibliog­
raphy; processed. (General, ST/SOA/2.)
A preliminary report with special reference to the Carib­
bean area.

Income
National Income and Product of the United States, 19291950. Washington, U. S. Department of Commerce,
Office of Business Economics, National Income Divi­
sion, 1951. 216 pp., charts. $1, Superintendent of
Documents, Washington.

State Income Payments in 1950.

(In Survey of Current
Business, U. S. Department of Commerce, Office of
Business Economics, Washington, August 1951, pp.
11-21, charts. 25 cents, Superintendent of Docu­
ments, Washington.)

1951 Survey of Consumer Finances, Part III: Distribution
of Consumer Income in 1950. (In Federal Reserve
Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, Washington, August 1951, pp. 920-937, chart;
also reprinted.)

Making Ends Meet on Less Than $2,000 a Year (Case
Studies of 100 Low-Income Families). Washington,
U. S. Congress, Joint Committee on the Economic
Report, 1951. 143 pp. (Joint Committee Print, 82d
Cong., 1st Sess.)
Communication to the Joint Committee on the Eco­
nomic Report from the conference group of nine national
voluntary organizations convened by the National Social
Welfare Assembly.

Income of Physicians, 1929-49. By William Weinfeld.
(In Survey of Current Business, U. S. Department of
Commerce, Office of Business Economics, Washington,
July 1951, pp. 9-26, charts, maps; also reprinted.)

Income Analysis. By Richard V. Clemence.

Cambridge,
Mass., Addison-Wesley Press, Inc., 1951. 182 pp.,
bibliography, charts. $2.50.
Introductory text for college-level students of economics.

Taxes and the Human Factor.

By Theodore J. Kreps.
Washington, Public Affairs Institute, 1951. 48 pp.,
charts. 50 cents.
Focuses attention on the effects of present tax rates on
individuals in the lower income brackets.

597

Industrial Accidents and Accident Prevention
Accident Facts, 1951 Edition.

Chicago, National Safety
Council, 1951. 96 pp., charts. 75 cents.
Contains a variety of data on occupational and nonoccupational accidents in the United States.

Disabling Work Injuries to Carpenters, California, 1949.
San Francisco, Department of Industrial Relations,
Division of Labor Statistics and Research, 1951. 6
pp.; processed.

Injuries and Accident Causes in the Manufacture of Clay
Construction Products. Washington, U. S. Depart­
ment of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1951. 49
pp., charts. (Bull. No. 1023.) 30 cents, Superin­
tendent of Documents, Washington.

Reducing Industrial Accidents.

By G. Roy Fugal. (In
Harvard Business Review, Boston, July 1951, pp.
82-90, charts. $1.50.)
Describes the successful plan of a large company which
utilizes individualized, rather than group, safety education
by the foreman to develop better work habits.

Safety Standards, Volume 1, No. 1.

Washington, U. S.
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Standards,
August 1951. 20 pp., illus. $1.50 per year, 15 cents
per single copy.
A new periodical combining the Safety Bulletin of the
Bureau of Employees’ Compensation and the Federal
Safety News of the Federal Interdepartmental Safety
Council.

Some Roof-Control Practices in Coal Mines of the United
Kingdom. By John W. Buch and Andrew Allan,
Jr. Washington, U. S. Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Mines, 1951. 7 pp., charts, diagrams;
processed. (Information Circular No. 7599.)

Industrial Health and Hygiene
Cardiovascular Disease in Industry. By S. Charles Franco,
M.D. (In Industrial Medicine and Surgery, Chicago,
July 1951, pp. 308-315, bibliography, charts, illus.)
Summary of a large utility company’s selective-employ­
ment and preventive medical program for cardiac work­
ers, with detailed statistics of cases. The findings showed
a “relatively large percentage of employees with heart dis­
ease who are capable of doing their regular work.”

Cardiovascular Disease in Cotton Workers, [England and
Wales}: Part I. By Richard Schilling and Nancy
Goodman. (In British Journal of Industrial Medi­
cine, London, April 1951, pp. 77-90, bibliography,
charts, illus. 7s. 6d.)

Epidemiology of Beryllium Intoxication.

The National Income [in Great Britain] in 1950 and Future
Prospects. By Dudley Seers. (In Bulletin of the

By James H.
Sterner, M.D., and Merrill Eisenbud. (In A. M. A.
Archives of Industrial Hygiene and Occupational
Medicine, Chicago, August 1951, pp. 123-151, charts.

Oxford University Institute of Statistics, Oxford,
March 1951, pp. 88-100. 3s. 6d.)
D ata on personal income and savings are included.

Notes increase in number of chronic cases reported
from beryllium-using industries, and summarizes current

971543- 51------- 6

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$ 1.)

PUBLICATIONS OF LABOR INTEREST

598

knowledge of the “relationships between acute and chronic
beryllium poisoning” and environmental and pathologic
factors.

Occupational Diseases Transmitted via Contact with Animals
and Animal Products. By Herbert K. Abrams, M.D.,
and Patricia Warr. {In Industrial Medicine and
Surgery, Chicago, August 1951, pp. 341-351, bibliog­
raphy. 75 cents.)

Industrial Hygiene [and Safety] in West Germany. By
Ludwig Teleky, M.D. {In American Industrial
Hygiene Association Quarterly, Chicago, June 1951,
pp. 73-82. 75 cents.)
Authoritative account of programs, both before and
after World War II.

Industrial Relations
Characteristics of 12,000 Labor-Management Contracts.
By Nelson M. Bortz and Alexander Moros. Washing­
ton, U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 1951. 5 pp., charts. (Serial No. R. 2047;
reprinted from Monthly Labor Review", July 1951.)
Free.

Cooperation in Industry-— Workers, Employers, Public
Authorities. Geneva, International Labor Office, 1951.
238 pp., bibliography. (Studies and Reports, New
Series, No. 26.) $1.50. Distributed in United
States by Washington Branch of ILO.

Government-Labor in Action {Labor Meets Government).
By Conley H. Dillon. Washington, National Capitol
Publishers, Inc., 1951. 64 pp., bibliography, illus.

Exclusions of Employees Under the Taft-Hartley Act. By
Robert J. Rosenthal. {In Industrial and Labor Rela­
tions Review, Ithaca, N. Y., July 1951, pp. 556570; also reprinted.)

Union Security Elections in the Building and Construction
Industry Under the Taft-Hartley Act. By J. E.
Covington. {In Industrial and Labor Relations
Review, Ithaca, N. Y., July 1951, pp. 543-555.
$1.25.)

Pattern Bargaining and the United Steelworkers. By
George Seltzer. {In Journal of Political Economy,
Chicago, August 1951, pp. 319-331; reprints of article
are available from Industrial Relations Center,
University of Chicago.)

Industry Reports (General)
Subsidies for Farmers.

Compiled by Robert E. Summers.
New York, H. W. Wilson Co., 1951. 208 pp., bibli­
ography. (Reference Shelf, Vol. 23, No. 1.) $1.75.
The editor presents nearly 70 selected readings on cur­
rent economic problems of American agriculture, including
the role of prices, price supports, the parity concept,
subsidies, the Brannan plan, and the current crisis.


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MONTHLY LABOR

The Ready-to-Wear Industry, 1900-1950.

By Florence S.
Richards. New York, Fairchild Publications, Inc.,
1951. 32 pp., illus. $2.
Popular history of the women’s ready-made garment
industry. Covers labor aspects, changes in production
methods and organization, unionization, prosperity or lack
of prosperity in the industry, and a wide variety of related
subjects. The background of the industry from 1849
through 1900 is traced in an introductory chapter.

Conditions of Employment in Postal, Telegraph and Tele­
phone Services. {In International Labor Review,
Geneva, May 1951, pp. 537-570. 50 cents. Dis­
tributed in United States by Washington Branch of
ILO.)

Earnings and Conditions of Employment in Agriculture
[in England and Wales], By H. Palca and I. G. R.
Davies. {In Journal of the Royal Statistical Society,
Series A, Vol. CXIV, Part I, London, 1951, pp. 50-58.
15s.)

First Report of the Australian Stevedoring Industry Board,
with Financial Accounts, Year Ended June 30, 1950.
Sydney, 1951. 141 pp., map, charts, illus.
Contains a brief historical summary of the Australian
stevedoring industry. Includes an analysis of causes of
waterfront disputes, and gives data on manpower, methods
of recruitment, and training schemes. Appendixes show
average weekly hours and wages, and employment, at
specified ports.

Medical Care and Sickness Insurance
An Annotated Bibliography of Group [Medical] Practice,
1927-1950. Chicago, American Medical Association,
Bureau of Medical Economic Research, 1951.
(Bull. No. 85—revision of Bull. No. 63.)

72 pp.

Cost of Medical Care: The Expenditures for Medical Care
of 455 Families in the San Francisco Bay Area,
1947-1948. By Emily H. Huntington. Berkeley
and Los Angeles, University of California Press,
1951. 146 pp., charts. $2.50.
This study, published under the auspices of the Heller
Committee for Research in Social Economics, University
of California, covered families of grocery clerks, milkwagon drivers, and painters.

The First Tennessee Regional Industrial Health Conference,
December 7-8, 1950, Nashville, Tenn. Nashville,
Tennessee Department of Public Health, Industrial
Hygiene Service, [1951?]. 55 pp., charts.
Symposium on (1) whether medicine in industry can
meet the needs of the American worker, and on (2) services
available for a health and medical program in industry.

A Survey of Accident and Health Coverage in the United
States [as of December 31, 1950]. New York (488
Madison Avenue, Room 800), Health Insurance Coun­
cil, 1951. 24 pp., bibliography, charts, map.

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

PUBLICATIONS OF LABOR INTEREST

Training and Certification of Industrial Physicians. By
A. G. Rammer, M.D. (In Industrial Medicine and
Surgery, Chicago, July 1951, pp. 299-304, charts.
75 cents.)

Impressions of Industrial Medicine and Social Legislation
in England, France, and Holland. By Leonard J.
Goldwater, M.D. (In Industrial Medicine and
Surgery, Chicago, July 1951, pp. 316-322; August
1951, pp. 369-375.
75 cents each.)
England is dealt with in the first article, and France and
Holland in the second.

Occupations
Occupational Information: Its Nature and Use.

By Max
Baer and Edward C. Roeber. Chicago, Science
Research Associates, Inc., 1951. 603 pp., bibliogra­
phies, forms. $5.75.
A textbook and basic reference volume for vocational
guidance. It discusses types and sources of occupational
data, appraisal of such information, techniques of making
local surveys, and uses of occupational information in
counseling interviews and in group activities, especially
with students.

Occupational Outlook Handbook: Employment Information
on Major Occupations for Use in Guidance. Washing­
ton, U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 1951. 574 pp., charts, illus. (Bull. No.
998-—revision of No. 940.) $3, Superintendent of
Documents, Washington.

Employment Outlook in Department Stores.

Washington,
U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics,
1951. 23 pp., charts, illus. (Bull. No. 1020.) 20
cents, Superintendent of Documents, Washington.

The Metallurgist in the Federal Civil Service.
U. S. Civil Service Commission, 1951.
(Pamphlet No. 42.)

Washington,
43 pp., illus.

An Evaluation of Negotiated Pensions. By Stuart L.
Knowlton. (In Personnel, New York, July 1951,
pp. 61-67.

$1.)

Trends in Pensions and Retirement with Their Implications
for [Community] Welfare Planning. Cleveland, Ohio,
Welfare Federation of Cleveland, [1951?].
processed.

Long-Range Cost Estimates for Old-Age Insurance.

By
Charles C. Killingsworth and Gertrude Schroeder.
(In Quarterly Journal of Economics, Cambridge,
Mass., May 1951, pp. 199-213. $1.25.)
Appraisal of estimating techniques developed by the
Social Security Administration.

Prices and Cost of Living
Consumers’ Price Index. Report of a Special Subcommittee
of the Committee on Education and Labor, House of
Representatives, Pursuant to H. Res. 73 . . . Wash­
ington, 1951. 39 pp. (Subcommittee Report No.
2, 82d Cong., 1st sess.)
The subcommittee’s conclusions and recommendations
are abstracted in this issue of the Monthly Labor Review
(p. 581).

Typical Electric Bills, Cities of 50,000 Population and More:
Typical Net Monthly Bills as of January 1, 1951, for
Residential, Commercial, and Industrial Services.
Washington, Federal Power Commission, 1951. 40
pp., charts; processed. (F.P.C., R.42.) 25 cents.

Mode de Vie des Ouvriers, 1988—1949: I, Revenus et Dé­
penses d’un Ménage “Moyen.” By G. Jacquemyns.
Brussels, Institut Universitaire d’information Sociale
et Économique, 1951. 63 pp.
Summary data from this report on incomes and expendi­
tures of wage-earning families in Belgium are given in an
article in Notes on Labor Abroad, July-August 1951 (p. 2),
published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U. S.
Department of Labor.

Household Expenditure in France and in England, [1948].
By T. Schulz. (In Bulletin of the Oxford University
Institute of Statistics, Oxford, England, August 1951,
pp. 229-242.)

L’Alimentation Humaine et le Coût des Denrées.

Pensions

19 pp.;

599

(In

Études et Conjoncture, Économie Française, Institut
National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques,
Paris, March-April 1951, pp. 12-36, charts.)
Reviews the principal results of recent French nutrition
studies, and attempts to evaluate the physiological use­
fulness of various foodstuffs and to calculate the cost of
a well-balanced nutrition program.

Social Security (General)

Commonwealth [Pennsylvania] Retirement Systems: Struc­
ture and Costs. Harrisburg, 1951. 37 pp., charts.

Financial Policy in Old-Age and Survivors Insurance,
1935-50. By James S. Parker. (In Social Security

Report of the Joint State Government Commission to
the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Covers public-school,
State-employee, and State-police retirement systems.

Bulletin, Federal Security Agency, Social Security
Administration, Washington, June 1951, pp. 3-10.
20 cents, Superintendent of Documents, Washington.)

Amounts of [Railroad] Retirement Annuities [as of December
81, 1950]. (In Monthly Review, U. S. Railroad Re­
tirement Board, Chicago, July 1951, pp. 118-122,
128-133, chart.)


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Relief Rolls in Prosperity.

By Roma K. McNickle.
Washington (1205 19th Street NW.), Editorial Re­
search Reports, 1951. 18 pp. (Vol. II, 1951, No.
7.) $1.

P U B L IC A T IO N S OF L A B O R IN T E R E S T

600

Bibliographie Internationale de Droit Social: [Volume I],
Droit du Travail; [Volume II], Assurances Sociales,
Securité Sociale, Droit International du Travail. By
R. Geysen. Brussels, Aux Éditions “Erasme” S.A.,
1950. 139 and 76 pp.

Les Charges Sociales dans les Pays de l’O.E.C.E.

(In

Études et Conjoncture, Économie Mondiale, Institut
National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques,
Paris, March-April 1951, pp. 66-100, charts.)
Comparative analysis of social-security charges upon
employers, workers, and governments in European coun­
tries receiving Marshall-plan aid.

MONTHLY LABOR

Vacations and Other L eave
Paid Vacation Practices. By Harold Stieglitz. New York,
National Industrial Conference Board, Inc., 1951.
20 pp., charts. (Studies in Personnel Policy, No. 116.)
Summary of vacation practices of 303 manufacturing
and nonmanufacturing companies in the United States.

Long-Service Leave—A Study of Practice in Relation to
Australian Conditions, with Special Reference to the
Development of Industrial Pension Funds and Cumu­
lative Sick Leave. Melbourne, Raymond Baxter &
Co. and James Baird & Sons, 1951.

25 pp.; processed.

Annual Vacations with Pay in the Canadian Manufacturing
Industries, October 1950. (In Labor Gazette, Depart­

Unemployment insurance
Number of Claimants Who Exhausted Benefit Rights Slightly
Less in 1950 than in 1949. (In Labor Market and

ment of Labor, Ottawa, September 1951, pp. 12161227. 10 cents.)

Employment Security, U. S. Department of Labor,
Bureau of Employment Security, Washington, July
1951, pp. 46-51, charts. 30 cents, Superintendent
of Documents, Washington.)

Statutory Holidays in Canadian Manufacturing Industries,
October 1950. (In Labor Gazette, Department of

Review of Experience Rating, 1950. (In Labor Market and
Employment Security, U. S. Department of Labor,
Bureau of Employment Security, Washington, June
1951, pp. 28-30, 39-49, charts. 30 cents, Superin­
tendent of Documents, Washington.)
Covers changes in provisions of State unemploymentinsurance laws affecting experience rating and in program
operation.

Unemployment Benefit Allowances for Dependents. By
Olga S. Halsey. (In State Government, Chicago,
August 1951, pp. 214-217, 220.

50 cents.)

Unemployment Benefits and Labor Disputes. By John B.
Moore. (In CCH Labor Law Journal, Chicago, June
1951, pp. 414-424.

50 cents.)

New York State Unemployment Insurance Law: Article 18 of
the New York State Labor Law as Amended by the
Legislature in the Regular 1951 Session. Albany
and New York, Department of Labor, 1951. 36 pp.
An analysis of this law as amended in 1951 is given in
this issue of the Monthly Labor Review (p. 541).

The Role of Unemployment Compensation in Maintaining
Family Income and Expenditure in an Area of Critical
Unemployment. Chicago, National Opinion Research
Center, 1951. 37 pp. (Survey No. 274, Report No.
43.)
Survey, made early in 1950, of the financial status of 545
families among unemployment-compensation claimants
in an Illinois county.

A Study of People Who Have Exhausted Unemployment
Benefits in an Active Labor Market, [Detroit, Mich.].
By Ronald S. Johnson. Ann Arbor, University of
Michigan, Bureau of Business Research, 1951. 61 pp.,
charts. (Michigan Business Report No. 19.)


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Labor, Ottawa, August 1951, pp. 1078-1087, charts.
10 cents.)

Wage Stabilization
A Report on Wage Stabilization.

By George W. Taylor.
Washington, U. S. Wage Stabilization Board, 1951.
12 pp.; processed.
Report submitted to the Economic Stabilization Admin­
istrator by Dr. Taylor upon his resignation as chairman
of the Wage Stabilization Board, effective August 29, 1951.
A summary of the report is published in this issue of the
Monthly Labor Review (p. 556).

Collective Bargaining in a Defense Economy. By George
W. Taylor. (In General Management Series, No. 153,
American Management Assn., New York, 1951, pp.
13-22. $1.25.)
In this paper, presented at a meeting of the American
Management Association in New York in June 1951,
Dr. Taylor discusses the wage stabilization problem and
describes the Government’s wage stabilization program
as carried out by the Wage Stabilization Board.

Cost of Living Wage Adjustments in Collective Bargaining.
Washington, U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of
Labor Statistics, September 1951. 21 pp.; processed.

Wages, Salaries, and H ours of Labor
Wages: An Introduction.

By H. M. Douty. Los An­
geles, University of California, Institute of Industrial
Relations, 1951. 61 pp., bibliography, charts. 25
cents.
This pamphlet deals briefly with certain wage concepts,
including rates of pay, premium pay, supplementary bene­
fits, and money and real wages. It then illustrates some
of the more important types of wage statistics.

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

P U B L IC A T IO N S OF L A B O R IN T E R E S T

The author points out that no specific attention is given
to the theory of wages, and that many current wage prob­
lems are either referred to obliquely or not at all. For
example, the growth of union power has raised numerous
important issues. Again, economic intervention by gov­
ernment to maintain high-level employment raises basic
questions on wages and their determination, but no at­
tempt was made to analyze the reasons for governmental
control over wage changes in World War II or in the
emergency which started in 1950.

Occupational Wage Survey: New York, N. Y., April 1951.
Washington, U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of
Labor Statistics, 1951. 61 pp. (Bull. No. 1037.)
45 cents, Superintendent of Documents, Washington.
Reports in this occupational wage series for 1951 are
also available for San Francisco-Oakland, Denver, Atlanta,
Boston, and Chicago (BLS Bulletins Nos. 1028, 1029, 1031,
1033, and 1034, respectively). Summary data for all
these areas except Denver are given in this issue of the
Monthly Labor Review (p. 536).

Wage Chronology No. 17: North Atlantic Longshoring,
1984-51. By Albert A. Belman. Washington, U. S.
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics,
1951. 7 pp. (Serial No. R. 2048; reprinted from
Monthly Labor Review, August 1951.) Free.

Salary Rates of Officials and Employees in 66 Oregon Cities
Over 1,000 Population. Eugene, University of Oregon,
Bureau of Municipal Research and Service, 1951.
pp.; processed. (Information Bull. No. 83.)

19

Wages, Hours and Working Conditions in the Nonferrous
Metal Products Industry, [Canada], October 1950.
{In Labor Gazette, Department of Labor, Ottawa,
August 1951, pp. 1143-1148.

10 cents.)

Women in Industry
About 60,000 More Women Needed to Fill Ranks in Armed
Services. {In Career News, B’nai B’rith Vocational
Service Bureau, Washington, June 1951, pp. 1-4.
Reprints of article are available at 20 cents each.)
General discussion of employment opportunities for
women in the major branches of the armed services, with
a list of specific occupations.

Employment of Women in Defense Production.

Princeton,
N. J., Princeton University, Industrial Relations
Section, September 1951. 4 pp. (Selected Refer­
ences, No. 41.)

The Outlook for Women in Social Group Work.

Washing­
ton, U. S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau,
1951. 41 pp., bibliography, illus. (Bull. No. 235-7.)
20 cents, Superintendent of Documents, Washington.


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601

Final number in a series of bulletins on the need for
women in the social services.

Digest of State Equal Pay Laws, July 1, 1951.

Washington,
U. S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, 1951.
14 pp.; processed. Free.

Employment of Married Women and Mothers of Families
[in Various Countries]. {In International Labor Re­
view, Geneva, June 1951, pp. 677-697. 50 cents. Dis­
tributed in United States by Washington Branch of
ILO.)

Miscellaneous
The Human Resources of the United States.

{In Scientific
American, New York, September 1951, pp. 27-46,
65-68, et seq., charts, map. 50 cents.)
Special issue containing articles, by noted contributors,
on population, labor force, intellectual resources, engineers,
scientists, doctors, mobilization, and youth.
Labor-Personnel Index, 1951.

Detroit, Information Ser­
vice, Inc., 1951. Variously paged; loose-leaf. Yearly
subscription, $24.75.
Selected bibliography of material on labor and personnel
relations, brought up to date semimonthly.

Review of Economic Conditions in Africa—Supplement
to World Economic Report, 1949-50. New York,
United Nations, Department of Economic Affairs,
1951. 119 pp., map. (1951, II, C.2.)
One chapter deals with the labor force and wages.

Annuario di Statistiche del Lavoro, Supplemento 1950.
Rome, Rassegna di Statistiche del Lavoro, 1951.
280 pp., charts.
This supplement contains data for Italy on the same
topics as the earlier (1949) edition—employment and
unemployment, wages and hours, labor disputes, social
security, vocational education, prices, and cost of living.
In addition, it has a section on labor organizations, not
carried in the 1949 volume.

Soviet Labor.

By G. R. Barker. Birmingham, England,
University of Birmingham, Department of Eco­
nomics and Institutions of the U. S. S. R., 1951.
28 pp. (Bulletins on Soviet Economic Development,
Series 2, No. 6.)
Uncritical description of Soviet controls over the labor
force, ways and means of increasing production, wages
and earnings, and welfare and living standards.

Vinster, Utdelningar, Shatter, Loner m. m. inom Industrien
1946-1950. Stockholm, Industriens UtrSdningsinstitut, 1950. 42 pp., charts.
Report on profits, dividends, taxes, wages, and salaries
in Swedish manufacturing industries.

Current Labor Statistics
A.—Employment and Payrolls
Estimated total labor force classified by employment status, hours
worked, and sex
605 Table A-2: Employees in nonagricultural establishments, by industry division
and group
609 Table A-3: Production workers in mining and manufacturing industries
611 Table A-4: Indexes of production-worker employment and weekly payrolls in
manufacturing industries
612 Table A-5: Federal civilian employment and payrolls, by branch and agency group
Table A-6: Federal civilian payrolls by branch and agency group 1
613 Table A-7: Civilian Government employment and payrolls in Washington, D. C.,
by branch and agency group
Table A-8: Personnel and pay of the military branch of the Federal Government3
Table A-9: Employees in nonagricultural establishments for selected States 3
Table A-10: Employees in manufacturing industries, by States 3
614 Table A -ll: Insured unemployment under State unemployment insurance pro­
grams, by geographic division and State
604 Table A -l:

B.—Labor Turn-Over
615 Table B -l:
616 Table B-2:

Monthly labor turn-over rates (per 100 employees) in manufacturing
industries, by class of turn-over
Monthly labor turn-over rates (per 100 employees) in selected groups
and industries

C.—Earnings and Hours
618 Table C -l
633 Table C-2
634 Table C-3
634 Table C-4
Table C-5

Hours and gross earnings of production workers or nonsupervisory
employees
Gross average weekly earnings of production workers in selected
industries, in current and 1939 dollars
Gross and net spendable average weekly earnings of production
workers in manufacturing industries, in current and 1939 dollars
Average hourly earnings, gross and exclusive of overtime, of produc­
tion workers in manufacturing industries
Hours and gross earnings of production workers in manufacturing
industries for selected States 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.
* This table is included quarterly in the March, June, September, and December issues of the Review.
602


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CURRENT LABOR STATISTICS

603

D.—Prices and Cost of Living
635 Table D -l
636
637
638
639
640
641
642

Consumers’ price index for moderate-income families in large cities, by
group of commodities
Table D-2 Consumers’ price index for moderate-income families, by city, for
selected periods
Table D-3 Consumers’ price index for moderate-income families, by city and
group of commodities
Table D-4 Indexes of retail prices of foods, by group, for selected periods
Table D-5: Indexes of retail prices of foods, by city
Table D -6 : Average retail prices and indexes of selected foods
Table D -7: Indexes of wholesale prices, by group of commodities, for selected
periods
Table D-8: Indexes of wholesale prices, by group and subgroup of commodities

E.—Work Stoppages
643 Table E -l:

Work stoppages resulting from labor-management disputes

F.—Building and Construction
644 Table F - l : Expenditures for new construction
645 Table F-2: Value of contracts awarded and force-account work started on federally
financed new construction, by type of construction
646 Table F-3: Urban building authorized, by principal class of construction and by
type of building
647 Table F-4: New nonresidential building authorized in all urban places, by general
type and by geographic division
648 Table F-5: Number and construction cost of new permanent nonfarm dwelling
units started, by urban or rural location, and by source of funds


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

604

A: EM PLOYM ENT

AND

MONTHLY LABOR

PAYROLLS

A : Employment and Payrolls
T able

A - l: Estimated Total Labor Force Classified by Employment Status, Hours Worked, and Sex
E stim ated num ber of persons 14 years of age and o v e r 1 (in thousands)
1950

1951

Labor force
S ep t.2

A ug.

June

Ju ly

M ay

Apr.

M ar.

F eb.

Jan.

D ec.

N o v .2

Oct.

S ep t.2

T otal, b oth sexes
T otal labor fo rce8......................................................

(4)

C ivilian labor force.......... ......... ............... ............... 63,186
1,606
U nem p lo y m en t.......................... ................... ..
1,004
U nem ployed 4 w eeks or less_________
280
U nem ployed 5-10 w eek s-------------------128
U nem ployed 11-14 w eek s........... ...........
78
U nem ployed 15-26 w eek s-----------------116
U nem ployed over 26 w eek s__________
61,
580
E m p lo y m en t................ ........................... ...........
54,054
N onagri cultural_____________ ____ _
W orked 35 hours or m ore________ 29, 204
W orked 15-34 h ours-------------------- 20,070
1,818
W orked 1-14 hours
----- -------2, 962
W ith a job b ut not at work 9____
7,526
A gricultural_________________________
5, 724
W orked 35 hours or m ore________
W orked 15-34 hours-------------------1, 436
224
W orked 1-14 hours *______ _____
142
W ith a job b ut n ot at work *____

«
64,208
1,578
870
390
102
104
112
62,630
54, 942
43, 656
5,080
1,558
4,648
7, 688
5, 658
1,592
238
200

«

(<)
64„382
1,856
1,122
408
92
100
134
62, 526
54, 618
42,312
4,898
1,570
5,838
7,908
6,110
1,468
206
124

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

(<)

(4)

«

«

«

64, 674

65,453

65, 438

65,020

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
63, 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

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

63, 512
2,240
1, 240
476
147
175
204
61, 271
53, 721
43, 546
6,417
2,331
1,427
7, 551
5,487
1, 594
306
163

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

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

M ales

Total labor force 8_________________________

( 4)

(*>

(*)

( 4)

W

(4)

m

(4)

(4)

45, 644

45,934

45,978

46,155

Civilian labor force________________________
Unemployment_____________ __________
Employment________________ _________
Nonagricultural____________ ______ _
Worked 35 hours or more...............
Worked 15-34 hours........ ..............
Worked 1-14 hours 1________ . . .
With a job but not at work 8____
Agricultural..... ........................................
Worked 35 hours or more...............
Worked 15-34 hours........................
Worked 1-14 hours 8_____ ______
W ith a job but not at work 9____

43, 672
842
42,830
37,050
22,174
12,240
760
1,876
5, 780
4,810
690
154
126

44,720
956
43,764
37,604
31, 554
2, 726
656
2,668
6,160
5,128
724
132
176

44, 602
1,098
43, 504
37, 234
30, 492
2,614
608
3, 520
6,270
5,346
680
122
122

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

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
42,164
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

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

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

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

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

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

Females
Total labor force 8...... ............................... ............

(4)

Civilian labor force..................................... ........... 19, 514
764
Unemployment_______________________
E m ploym ent.______ __________________ 18, 750
N onagricul tural........ .............................. 17,004
Worked 35 hours or more_______
7. 030
Worked 15-34 hours____________
7,830
1, 058
Worked 1-14 hours 9____________
1,086
W i t h a job but not at work 8____
Agricultural_________ ________ _____
1, 746
914
Worked 35 hours or more_______
746
Worked 15-34 hours____________
Worked 1-14 hours 9____ _____
70
16
With a job but not at work 8____

(4)

( 4)

19,488
622
18,866
17,338
12,102
2,354
902
1,980
1,528
530
868
106
24

19, 780
758
19,022
17,384
11,820
2,284
962
2,318
1,638
764
788
84

m

2

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

1 E stim ates are subject to sam pling variation w hich m ay be large in cases
w here the quantities show n are relatively sm all. Therefore, th e sm aller
estim ates should be used w ith caution. A ll data exclude persons in in stitu ­
tions. Because of rounding, th e in d ivid u al figures do not necessarily add
to group totals.
2 C ensus survey w eek contains legal holiday.
8 T otal labor force consists of th e civilian labor force and the Arm ed Forces.
4 B eginning w ith January 1951, data on n et strength of the A rm ed Forces
and total labor force are not available.


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

(4)

(4)

(*)

(4)

(4)

19,030

19, 519

19,460

18,865

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

55

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

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

11

55

99
6

« E xcludes persons engaged on ly in in cidental unpaid fam ily work (less th an
15 hours); these persons are classified as not in the labor force.
9 Includes persons w ho had a job or business, b ut w ho did not work during
the census w eek because of illness, bad w eather, vacation, labor dispute or
because of tem porary lay-off w ith definite instructions to return to work
w ith in 30 days of lay-off. D oes not include unpaid fam ily workers.
Souree: U . S. D ep artm en t of C om m erce, B ureau of th e Census,

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951
T able

A: EM PLOYMENT AND

605

PAYROLLS

A-2: Employees in Nonagricultural Establishments, by Industry Division and Group 1
[In thousands!

1951

A nnual
average

1950

Ind u stry group and Industry
Sept.
T otal em p loyees........................................ ...........
M ining____________________________________
M e ta l..................... ............. ..................... ..........
Iron . . _ ___________________________
_______________________
Copper
L ead and zinc ________________________
A nthracite

Contract construction______________________

Sept.

Oct.

1950

1949

909
105. 2
38.3
28.9
20.4

927
105.0
38.5
28.8
20.3

915
103.3
37.6
28.5
19.9

67.7

70.2

70.3

67.6

72.2

72.8

72.7

73.0

74.3

74.4

75.0

75.1

77.3

378.4

377.2

381.9

396.3

402.3

402.8

404.8

404.3

405.8

407.0

375.6

399.0

911
103.8
36.9
28.9
20.2

930
105.8
36.5
29.3
21.6

259.0

924
105.3
36.4
29.2
21.6

932
105.2
36.2
29.3
21.4

938
102.5
36.1
28.4
20.3

937
104.4
35.9
29.0
21.0

989
101.5
36.6
28.1
19.9

946
103.0
37.2
28.1
20.5

904
101.0
35.5
28.1
19.7

932
100.1
33.7
27.3
20.6

270.3

268.5

264.8

258.4

254.6

250.2

251.5

253.3

256.7

254.8

255.5

258.6

255.3

109.0

109.9

108.0

108.3

105.9

103.1

99.6

97.1

98.0

98.3

101.9

102.1

102.7

97.4

96.4

2, 703

2,791

2,747

2,686

2, 598

2,471

2, 326

2,228

2,281

2, 403

2,571

2,631

2,626

2,818

2,156

561
245.5
315.8

554
242.1
312.0

540
232.6
307.7

508
213.5
294.2

460
181.3
278.6

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

447
183.0
264.1

428
178.1
250.3

2,230

2,193

2,146

2,090

2,011

1,932

1,857

1,898

1,975

2,066

2,097

2,086

1,871

958

944

925

892

848

807

763

798

839

892

905

906

797

1,272 1,249 1,221 1,198 1,163 1,125
1,094 1,100 1,136 1,174 1,192 1,180 1,074
'311.2 303.1 ' 297.3 291.3 289.3 284.7 282.6 287.4 290.4 294.0 296.6 293.7 270.6
157.2 132.5
186.8 180.4 175.0 167.6 155.9 146.7 130.2 123.0 132.8 147.4 158.1
156.0 150.8 145.6 142.1
139.1 138.3 139.0 138.7 140.0 138.7 137.6 135.8 128.6
618.4 615.1 602.7 596.6 578.4 555.5 541.7 550.4 572.4 593.9 600.1 593.0 541.7

48.5

Food and kindred products_____________ 1,704
M eat products
__ ________________
D airy products____ __________________
C anning and preserving_______________
G r a i n - m i l l products _ _________ _____
Bakpry products
___________________
Sugar
___________ _____________
Beverages _____ _____________ _______
M iscellaneous food products__________ —
95

T extile-m ill p r o d u c ts ----------------------------- 1,225
Y arn and thread m ills------------------------B road-w oven fabric m ills_____________
K n ittin g m ills _______________________
D y ein g and finishing t e x t i l e s . . . ______
Carpets, rugs, other floor coverings____
Other textile-m ill products____________
Apparel and other finished textile produ cts--------- --------------------------------- ------- 1,150
M e n ’s and b oys’ suits and coats______
M e n ’s and b oys’ furnishings and work
clothing ______ _____________________
W om en ’s outerw ear___________________
W om en ’s, children’s undergarm ents___
M illin ery ____ _________________ ______
C hildren’s o u te r w e a r ___________ _ __
Fur goods and m iscellaneous apparel
Other fabricated textile products______
805

8, 885
7,125

8,859
6, 978

47.0

8,998
6,958

44.2

42.3

1,699 1,623 1,532
294.0 301.1 296.7
157.5 159.8 157.5
333.2 258.2 179.6
133.1 132.6 128.7
288.8 288.1 286.6
29.7
30.0
30.1
89. 8
95. 4
87. 3
231.2 230.7 224.1
135.7 134.8 139.0
91
25.9
40.3
11.6
13.0

81
26. C
39.4
11.5
4.4

83
25.7
40.6
11.9
4.4

8,975
6,878
40.1

9,003
6,952
37.7

8,969
7,053

8,877
7,101

35.5

33.3

8, 742
7,042

1,727
753
974
245.8
124.4
125.1
479.0

16, 789 15,765 15, 827 15,685 14, 884 14,146

16,026 16,010 15, 837 15,956 15, 853 15,955 16,022 15,978 16,784

Ordnance and accessories------------------------


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

N ot .

D ec.

359.8

D urable goods 1 ________ ____ ____ 8,940
N ondurable goods *---------------------- 7,086

See footnotes at end of table.

Jan.

70.6

Ppeoial-trade c o n tra cto r s_____________
Plum b in g and h eatin g ________________
P ainting and d ecorating........................... .
Electrical work
__ _______________
Other special-trade contractors.
_ _

Lum ber and wood products (except furn itu re)_____ ___ _ . _____________
Logging cam ps and contractors_______
Saw m ills and planing m ills____ ______
M illw ork, p lyw ood, and prefabricated
structural wood products................. .
W ooden containers.......................................
M iscellaneous wood products_________

F eb .

371.1

___________________

T obacco m anufactures-.................................
Cigarettes
___ - ____________________
_________________________
Cigars
T obacco and sn u ff____________________
T obacco stem m in g and redryin g______

M ar.

371.0

B u ild ing construction ______ _________

M anuf acturing_______________ ____ _______

Apr.

928
105.7
39.1
28.8
20.1

N”on building con stru ction___ _______ __ _
H ig h w ay and street
Other nonbuilding construction_______

General contractors

M ay

925
104.0

Crude petroleum and natural gas product io n .
___________________________
N onm etallic m in in g and quarrying......... .

June

Ju ly

46,870 46, 689 46,437 46, 567 46, 226 45,998 45,850 45,390 45, 248 46, 595 45,873 45,898 45,684 44,124 43,006

________________

B itu m in ou s-coal.................................................

A ug.

8, 717
7,072

30.8

8,664
7,101

29.7

29.0

8, 618
7, 209
27.7

8,423
7,262

8,008
6, 876

26.6

24.7

7,465
6,681
24.8

1,478 1,466 1,476 1,478 1,499 1,534 1,576 1,643 1,739 1,542
1,523
291.2 291.6 295.3 299.4 312.8 315.2 305.7 300.8 295.7 295.6 288.6
150.4 143.7 139.1
139.6 142.8 149.6 144.5 146.2
135.2 134.4 137.1
162.7 153.3 150.0 152.5 157.0 168.5 197.4 253.2 353.1 202.9 207.1
123.1 126.1 126.4 127.4 127. 5 124.6 125. 2 128. 4 129.4 123.9 120.6
284.6 286.2 287.5 285.7 286.3 288.1 290.9 292.2 290.4 285.9 281.7
50.7
34.5
29.6
51.8
34.5
28.8
29.1
32.7
28.6
44.8
31.8
110.2 114.2 110. 5
90. 5
92.1
99. 5
97. 2
99 4 100 fi 106.1
96. 9
211.8 210.0 213.4 211.7 212.2 212.1 215.4 217.7 230.0 216.3 211.4
134.5 134.5 138.1 137.6 136.1 137.7 139.8 142.7 145.4 138.5 137.6
81
25.4
39.4
12.1
4.4

83
25.6
40.8
12.1
4.8

85
25.7
42.0
12.2
4.9

87
25.8
42.3
12.1
6.7

88

25. E
41.2
12.0
8.5

90
26.1
42.3
12.0
9.4

91
26.3
43.3
12.1
9.3

96
26.2
43.0
12.4
14.0

96
27.1
41.7
12.5
15.2

88

25. S
41.2
12.3
8 .8

94
26.6
44.5
13.0
10.1

1,224
1,246 1,261 1,301 1,302 1,809 1,319 1,365 1,352 1,352 1,355 1,357 1,347 1,297
165.0 164.2 168.6 171.0 171.2 172.5 174.3 172. C 170.7 171.5 171.3 169.5 162. C 149.3
581.9
591.8 604. 4
619.9
605.8 599. 1 5%. 6 636.1 633.0 633. E 637.5 638.7 637.4 616.1
256.1
231.4 230.1 235.5 241.4 250.1
256.2 252.0 254.0 253.9 256.0 253.0 242.8 231.4
92.6
93.3
93.6
86.4
89.4
94.0
89.7
84.1
85.0
88.1
94.6
93.3
87.6
93. 5
62.4
61.7
61.;
62.2
62. 4
50.2
55.6
62.4
60.6
68.9
48. 5
58.6
61.0
62.2
125.4 126.9 133.1
135.8 140.3 137.8 141.7 138.9 137.3 136.7 135.5 133.2 125.7 116.0
1,175 1,221 1,218 1,159 1,136
1,161 1,107 1,120 1,118 1,168 1,229 1,237 1,190 1,184
151.4
141.5
155.4
148.;
152.0 155.3
151. £ 151.2 152.4
151.1 140.6 149.5 148.9
152. '
254.3
331.6
96.9
21.4
64.8
99.0
141.9

250. (
308.2
93. 7
19.0
64.7
92. 5
137.9

263.4
289.5
97.0
16.8
64.9
98.1
140.3

271.6
283.4
99.3
17.1
61.8
94.4
141.2

280.2
301.5
105.7
20.0
65.4
94.9
148.1

281. E
339.8
107.8
25.4
68.1
95.9
154.3

277.7
352.7
107.4
26.3
70.0
94.4
152.9

269.6
338.1
103.6
24.3
67.3
88.7
146.0

269.5
329.9
106.6
21.4
65.6
92.2
146. £

271.8
308.4
110.9
18.4
65.2
97.4
151.7

273.;
331.9
113.2
22.8
68. £
101.2
157.2

272.!
340. (
111.1
23.4
68.6
99. (
152.6

263.2
320.3
105.4
22.0
66.5
89.6
143.6

257.8
328.6
98.9
22.3
63.4
88.2
135.8

817
77.7
479.9

814
78.
475.3

838
80.
488.7

828
78.0
482.0

815
70.3
473.7

785
56.1
457.1

800
69.8
459.0

804
69. £
460.

817
72.4
471.1

838
77. £
484.3

849
78.'
492. £

853
78.:
498.7

792
67.
461.6

736
61.4
431.7

118.6
77. <
63.5

117.;
80.2
62.

122.
82.'
63.

123.'
122.5
82.0
82.
63. 51 64.8

123.0
83.5
65.0

122.8
83.
64.8

126.
82.1
64.

128.
81.
6 3 .9|

129.
82.
63.

131.
82.'
64.

130.4
81.8
63.9|

124.3
77.
60.

110.5
73.3
59.0

606

A: EM PLOYMENT

T able

AND

MONTHLY LABOR

PAYROLLS

A-2: Employees in Nonagricultural Establishments, by Industry Division and Group 1—Con.
[In thousands]

j

1951

Industry group and industry
Sept.
Manufacturing—Continued
Furniture and fixtures............. .
Household furniture_______
Other furniture and fixtures.

July

Aug.

June

May

Apr.

Mar.

Annual
average

1950

Feb.

Jan.

Dec.

N ov.

Oct,

Sept.

1950

1949

337

333
223. S
109. (

331
224.3
107.0

334
226.0
108.1

349
240.5
108.6

366
256.0
109.5

374
265. (
109.1

373
265.1
107.6

370
262.
106.8

374
266.5
107.0

376
270. 5
105.8

378
270.9
107.1

376
269.0
107.1

357
255. 5
101.5

315
220.0
94.6

Paper and allied products...................
Pulp, paper, and paperboard mills,
Paperboard containers and boxes...
Other paper and allied products___

489

494
248. (
132.4
113.]

493
247.8
132.2
112.9

500
248.8
136. 5
114.7

497
246.0
137.4
114.0

500
245.5
139.1
115.7

498
242.2
139.3
116.0

496
242.2
139.4
114.7

496
242.4
139. 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

472
235.8
128. 5
107.7

447
226.9
117.1
103.1

Printing, publishing, and allied industries
Newspapers...............................................
Periodicals................................................
Books.................. ........................................
Commercial printing........................... .
Lithographing............ ......................... .
Other printing and publishing_______

761

761
298. (
53.4
50.0
203.1
41.2
115.2

758
297.3
52.3
48.9
204.6
40.6
114.4

762
299.7
52.4
49.1
206.3
41.1
113.6

759
299.7
52.6
48.9
204.8
41.1
112.1

757
297.1
52.8
49.1
204.8
41.3
112.2

760
297.1
52.8
49.3
206. 9
41. 1
112.8

758
296.7
52.8
48.8
206.2
40. S
112.8

758
295.5
53.0
48.1
207.3
40.8
113.2

765
298.9
53.1
48.6
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

743
293.3
52. 1
46.7
200.8
40 7
108.9

727
282.5
53.4
44.6
197.1
41.1
108.0

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.

763

752
83.9
234.0
107.3
76.8
30.5
49.4
169.6

745
83.6
231.3
107.4
77.1
30.0
47.3
168.4

742
82.6
229.0
106.0
76.5
31.4
47.9
168.6

742
81.4
225.6
105.5
76.5
36.4
49.1
167.7

749
81.0
224.2
105.3
76.3
40.1
51.7
170.6

748
80.1
221. 7
104.8
76.0
42.4
53.4
169.3

738
79.4
216.9
103.7
75. 5
39.9
55.1
167.5

729
78. 5
214. 5
101. 1
73. 1
37. 5
57.6
166.3

724
77. 6
213. 9
101. 3
73.8
32.9
59.2
164.8

720
77.1
211.3
100. 2
73. 7
32.1
60.9
164.6

720
76.6
208. 8
99 5
74 0
32.9
61.9
166.4

701
69.3
206.4
98.4
74.2
32.7
54.3
165.4

686
71 5
200 1
95. 8
71. 4
34.0
54. 5
158.3

664
68.4
192.1
92.3
67.3
34.3
.56.1
153.0

266
213.2
22. 4
30.2

265
212.8
22.3
30.3

263
210.4
22.0
30.9

260
207.7
21.6
30.4

258
205.7
21.5
30.7

257
204.7
21. 4
30.5

256
204.1
21.3
30.1

254
202.3
21.3
30.1

254
201.6
21.2
31.2

254
201. 5
21.2
30.8

252
199.3
21.4
31.3

251
198.1
21. 5
31.2

245
194.6
20.8
29.5

245
198.7
19.5
27.1

Products of petroleum and coal________
Petroleum refining................. ................
Coke and byproducts_______________
Other petroleum and coal products___
Rubber products_______
Tires and inner tu b es..
Rubber footwear_____
Other rubber products.

268

273
116.4
30. 9
126.0

271
115.2
30.4
125.4

273
114.3
31.2
127.7

272
112.8
30.8
128.3

270
111.7
30.3
128.4

271
112. 5
30.6
128.3

273
114.6
30.8
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
28.0
125.3

265
115.2
26.9
122.5

252
110.9
25. 6
114.9

234
106.6
26.4
100.5

Leather and leather products.
Leather.______ __________
Footwear (except rubber)...
Other leather products____

366

382
45.1
244.1
92.7

374
46.0
237.7
90.5

382
47.3
244.6
90.5

369
47.6
232.7
88.9

392
49.1
247.4
95.9

410
50.6
259.6
99.3

413
51.8
261.7
99.2

403
51.8
256.8
94.5

398
F51.9
251.7
94.0

399
'■61.8
248.4
98.6

406
51.4
253.4
101.5

411
51.9
259.5
99.6

394
50.5
252.3
91.1

388
49.7
251. 0
87.2

Stone, clay, and glass products________
Olass and glass products___ ____ ____
Cement, hydraulic._________________
Structural clay products____ ________
Pottery and related products................
Concrete, gypsum, and plaster products
Other stone, clay, and glass products...

651

556
141.7
43.8
93.7
57.7
103.7
115.7

553
138.7
43.6
93.2
57.6
103.7
116.3

562
147.2
43.4
92. 9
59. 2
102.5
116.7

560
148.3
42.7
91.1
60.4
101.0
116.4

559
148.8
42.4
89.7
61.0
100.5
116.1

554
146.9
42.3
88. 5
61.1
99.3
116.0

547
143.9
41.9
87.5
60.9
97.4
115.6

548
143.8
42.0
88. 2
60. 4
97.8
115.3

548
144.6
42.4
87.2
60.8
98.2
114.3

550
145.6
42.7
88.6
60.9
98.3
113.7

544
144. 1
43.1
87.9
58.1
98.5
112.5

532
133. 8
42.4
88.0
58.8
98.1
110.5

512
133.5
42.1
82.4
57.9
92.2
103.5

484
122.6
41.8
79.8
57. 5
84.6
97.1

Primary metal industries.............. .............. 1,349
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 ord­
nance, machinery, and transporta­
tion equipment)......................... ............
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______

987

Machinery (except electrical)__________ 1,586
Engines and turbines...............................
Agricultural machinery and tractors.. .
Construction and mining m achinery...
Metalworking machinery____________
Special-industry machinery (except
metalworking machinery)__________
General industrial machinery............
Office and store machines and devices..
Service-industry and household ma­
c h in es................ .....................................
Miscellaneous machinery parts_______
See fo o tn o te s a t en d o f tab le.


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

1,352
660.7
280.1

1,341
656.1
277.2

1,357
655.0
285.3

1,347
648.7
284.1

1,344
644.8
282.6

1,341
643.4
279.9

1,331
640.1
274.8

1, 327
640.3
270.8

1,318
6.38.1
267.5

1,301
635.6
262.5

1,289
633.7
255.4

1,276
632.5
250.2

1,220
614.1
231.8

1,101
550.4
217.0

57.1

57.0

56.8

55.4

56.4

56.6

56.8

56.9

56.6

54.8

55.5

54.8

54.6

52.3

97.3
109.1
147.2

97.7
106.8
146.2

101.2
109.9
148.8

100.0
111.1
147.5

103.1
110.9
146. 5

104.0
110.7
146.0

104.3
110.7
144.4

104.3

104.1
109.6
141.8

102.9
106.6
138.9

102.3
104.8
137.6

101.9
100.7
136.2

96.9
93.0
129.8

87.0
75.8
118.4

996
50. 7
159.2

994 1,019 1,026 1,033 1,031 1,022 1,016 1,018 1.017 1,013
49.2
49. /
49.0
48.2
49.4
50. 7
50.2
48.9
51.9
51.4
157.4 161.6 163.4 165.0 167.1 168.3 168.4 168.8 168.0 166.1

996
55.5
163.1

933
48. 4
156.9

859
45.8
142.3

150.8
232.3
169.1
234.1

152.0
229.3
1/4.8
230.8

164.1
209.9
182.9
220.6

150.6
201.4
169.8
206.1

132.0
198.5
147.9
192.4

157.9
227.3
185. 7
236.6

159.1
229.8
188.2
236.0

161.6
228.1
192.6
236.4

162.7
225. 9
192.3
234.5

160.4
222. 7
190.8
232.0

110. 1

144.1

158.6
220. 4
187. 4
230. 0

161.2
219.8
186.6
230.3

163.4
219.3
185.6
230. 7

164.4
216.7
184.8
229.1

1,568 1,595 1,611 1,598 1,592 1, 579 1,557 1, 528 1,492 1,459 1, 426 1,368 1,352 1,311
92.1
94.5
91.4
90.2
83.8
83.2
88.8
85.7
81.3
78.8
72.9
70.2
72.6
72.5
167.6 194. 5 195.8 193.1
193.1 192.1 189.7 186.8 175.4 164. 4 163. 5 140. 5 172.4 181.3
121.3 120.5 120.7 118.2 117.0 117.0 115.5 114.0 112.4
110.9 108.9 105.6 100. 7 101.3
290.4 295.5 294.3 289.6 287.0 282.6 277.2 268. 1 259.4 251.5 242.9 233 5 220.2 208.7
198.8
231.3
104.4

197.4
229.5
101.8

197.9
228.7
105.0

197.7
227.6
104.4

197.1
226.8
103.3

194.8
224.1
102.3

192.8
219.0
101.4

188.5
216.4
100.0

183.4
212.2
99.2

180.6
207.1
97.9

178.2
203.0
95.9

174.6
197.6
94.4

167.6
188.5
90.9

171.8
186.4
90.6

158.0
202.1

163.3
201.2

173.2
203.0

176.9
200.3

179.7
199.2

184.1
195.9

184.8
193.0

181.7
188.9

182.6
186.1

185.5
182.4

182.0
178. 2!

180.1
171.4

176.2
162.7

145. 4
153.2

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951
T a ble A -2 :

A: EM PLOYM ENT

AND

607

PAYROLLS

Employees in Nonagricultural Establishments, by Industry Division and Group 1—Con.
[In thousands]
Annual
average

1950

1951
Industry group and industry

Manufacturing—C ontinued
Electrical machinery__________ _______
Electrical generating, transmission,
distribution, and industrial apparatns
_
_________________
Plectrical equipment for vehicles_____
Communication equipment--------------Electrical appliances, lamps, and miscellaneous products________________

Sept.

Aug.

July

June

May

Apr.

Mar.

Feb.

Jan.

Dec.

Nov.

Oct.

Sept.

1950

1949

951

933

920

932

930

941

944

931

924

936

929

915

872

836

759

376.9
81.8
326.3

373.6
81.4
318.8

376.3
81.5
324.6

369.9
81.7
327.5

365.0
80.8
343.6

359.0
79.4
353.4

352 8
78.7
347.3

349.0
77.9
345.1

349.5
77.4
355.9

344.7
75.9
354.6

341.5
75.0
345.5

323.5
73.3
326.5

317.3
70.1
309.2

2Ô5. 2
64.5
271.1

147.8

145.9

150.0

150.9

151.9

152.3

152.6

151.8

153.3

154.1

152.8

149.0

139.8

128.3

Transportation equipment_____________ 1,549
Automobiles
_ _ _____________
Aircraft and parts
________________
Aircraft
_____________________
Aircraft, engines and parts
______
Aircraft, propellers and parts._______
Other aircraft parts and equipm ent..
Ship and boat building and repairing._
Ship building and repairing *
___
■Roat building and repairing
_____
Railroad equipment
__________
Other transportation equipm ent-..........
Instruments and related products______
_______________
Ophthalmic goods
Photographic apparatus
__________
Watches and clocks
____________
Professional and scientific instruments.

306

Miscellaneous manufacturing industries.
Jewelry, silverware, and plated w are...
Toys and sporting goods
Costume jewelry, buttons, n o tio n s___
Other miscellaneous manufacturing
industries
_ _ __________

470

1, Slö^ 1, 508 1, 525 1,513 1,520 1,527 1,493 1,425 1,404 1,380 1,394 1,365 1,273 1, 212
833.9 840.5 875.6 891.4 913.9 935.6 925.8 897.6 895.7 887.7 922.7 913.3 839.4 769.0
484.4 470.2 451.7 428.5 415.9 400.0 382.7 354.2 339.1 323.4 305.1 286.0 275.4 255.6
329.1 319.3 304.9 289.1 281.7 271.4 258.2 236.7 228.2 217.5 205.0 195.8 184.2 169.7
52.5
63.4
60.1
54.5
51.8
77.2
74.6
70.4
66.6
91.9
89.6
84.5
81.1
94.3
8.2
7.9
8.5
8.1
8.9
9.4
9.1
10.2
9.5
9.3
10.4
10.5
10.5
10.5
26.2
31.6
29.5
33.6
28.7
40.5
41.9
35.2
37.8
42,9
48.6
46.7
44.4
50.5
89.1
84.4
100.3
88.9
88.6
108.9
91.9
109.5
96.5
108.6
112.7 114.5 112.4 109.1
88.2
75.8
71.4
75.5
75.3
94 4
82.4
77.8
95.0
99.9
93.8
97.7
99.3
94.3
12.1
13.4
13.3
13.3
13.0
14.5
14.1
14.5
14.1
14.6
14.7
14.8
13.4
14.8
76.1
63.0
62.2
65.9
64.3
62.2
68.6
66.1
66.3
74.4
70.1
72.1
72.6
73.2
13.4
11.4
10.9
13.7
13.2
13.6
13.2
13.1
12.3
10.8
11.9
10.7
11.2
11.1

33.9
164.0

277
26.7
55.1
33.7
161.1

272
26.2
54.5
32.8
158.1

265
25. 6
53.9
31.5
153.5

250
25. 4
51.3
30.1
143.4

238
26.8
52.6
31.4
127.1

500
57.5
75.8
61.5

508
58.2
82.0
64.3

510
58.2
84. 5
65.7

493
57.2
81. 3
63.7

459
54.8
73.3
58.2

426
55. 4
68.7
57.7

301 -27.5
62.3
33.7
177.5

299V
27.8
59.4
33.0
178.5

299
27.8
60.6
34.1
176.5

297
27.9
59.1
34.0
175. 5

295
28.0
58.6
34.5
173.4

290
27.8
57.8
34.2
170.0

286
27.5
57.0
34.0
167.4

280
27.2
55.6
33.3
164.1

280
26.9

467
48.4
73.0
53.9
r
291.4

460V
48.7
70.6
52.4

479
50.5
75.1
54.3

487
52.8
77.2
56.1

500
54.9
78.9
60.8

508
56.8
78.0
64.5

504
58.2
76.1
65.1

489
57.3
71.5
62.0

55 .5

287.9 298.9 300.4 305.6 308.6 304.5 298.3 305.2 303.1 301.7 290.8 272.3 243.8
f\
4,180 4,189 4,177 4,161 4,137 4,132 4,112 4,082 4. 072 4,125 4,123 4,132 4,139 4.010 3,979
Transportation and public utilities________
Transportation . . ___________________ 2,926 2,928 2, 919 2, 921 2, 911 2.909 2,893 2, 866 2, 858 2, 908 2,911 2,912 2, 913 2, 801 2, 756
1,467 1,466 1,468 1,463 1,463 1,451 1,429 1,428 1,460 1,465 1, 462 1, 458 1,390 1, 367
Interstate railroads ________________
1,296 1,295 1,296 1,290 1,287 1, 274 1,253 1,253 1,277 1,292 1. 291 1,283 1,220 1,191
Class I railroads
_ ______________
146
148
158
144
145
145
144
145
145
142
143
142
144
144
Local railways and bus lines
621
584
548
621
624
622
617
626
616
619
616
621
620
624
Trucking and warehousing ___ _____
684
684
688
679
669
684
681
672
669
698
695
691
684
678
Other transportation and services.
76.7
74.4
74.4
74.7
76.1
74.2
76.9
81.5
75.1
81.4
74.6
84.0
79.4
78.5
Air transportation (common carrier^.
671
663
686
671
664
670
698
675
670
687
668
700
680
678
698
Communication
_ __ _________
614.8
632.2
621.6
620.9
614.8
625.9
622.6
618.4
620.3
651.6 648.3 637.3 630.4 629.0
Telephone - _____________________
47.2
52.5
47.9
48.0
47.9
48.0
47.8
48.3
48.5
48.3
48.4
48.6
48.8
47.7
Telegraph
. __ _ _______
537
546
545
555
550
544
548
546
547
561
560
553
545
546
556
Other public utilities
______________
534.8 533.7 527.2 521.0 519.8 519.1 519.9 521. C 522.2 523.5 525.1 529.5 520.6 512.0
Cas and electric utilities.
__ ___
236.8 237.4 234.9 232.4 231.9 231.5 232.3 232.0 232.5 233.2 234.0 236.6 234.0 233.5
Electric light and power utilities . .
120.4 119. S 118. £ 116.1 115.6 115.6 115.8 116.4 117.2 117.6 118.1 118.6 114. 9
Electric light and gas utilities com177.6 176.4 174.0 172.5 172.3 172.0 171.8 172.6 172.5 172.7 173.0 174.3 171.6
bined
24.6
25.4
25.2
26.0
24.6
24.7
24.7
24.8
26.4
25.5
24.8
24.6
25.4
24.9
Local utilities
_________________
Wholesale trade
___________
Retail trade
- _____________
General merchandise stores__________
Pood aud liquor stores_______________
Automotive and accessories dealers___
Apparel and accessories stores________
Other retail tra d e....................................See footnotes at end of table.


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

9, 777
2, 598
7,179
1,481
1, 265
I 756
534
¡3,143

9, 623 9, 653
2,596 2, 592
7,027 7,061
1,397 1,405
1,256 1,266
755
757
509
495
3,122 3,126

9, 732
2, 581
7,151
1,458
1,270
750
548
3,125

9, 683
2, 568
7,115
1,475
1,271
742
550
3,077

9,627
2, 579
7, 048
1, 453
1,264
739
542
3,050

9,713
2, 590
7,123
1,512
1,264
736
574
3,037

9,554
2, 593
6,961
1,431
1,257
735
515
3,023

9, 592
2. 587
7, 005
1,459
1,244
743
523
3,036

10, 443 9, 896
2.616 2, 618
7,827 7, 278
2,052 1,654
1,264 1,242
746
753
565
642
3,116 3,071

9,752
2,625
7,127
1,539
1,219
741
555
3,073

9, 641
2,605
7,036
1,474
1,210
743
540
3,069

9, 524 9,438
2, 544 2, 522
6, 980 6,916
1,493 1,480
1,209 1,198
676
728
5b4
Ö&Ö
3,014 3,008

608

A: EM PLOYM ENT

T able A -2 :

AND

PAYROLLS

MONTHLY LABOR

Employees in Nonagricultural Establishments, by Industry Division and Group x—Con.
[In thousands]
1951

Annual
average

1950

Industry group and Industry
Sept.
Finance______________________________
Banks and trust companies__________
Security dealers and exchanges_______
Insurance carriers and a g e n ts ...............
Other finance agencies and real estate.
Service..................................................... ........
Hotels and lodging places____________
Laundries_______ _________________
Cleaning and dyeing plants____ ____
Motion pictures_____________________
Government__________________________
Federal *___________________________
State and local *_____ ____ __________

1, 892
—

1,911
469
64.2

July

June

M ay

Mar.

Feb.

Jan.

Dec.

N ov.

Oct.

Sept.

1950

1949

690

1, 893
460
63.8
671
698

1,874
452
63.8
663
695

1,865
451
63.9
662

688

1, 854
449
63.9
662
679

1,839
446
63.4
657
673

1.831
441
62.0
653
675

1, 828
439
61.3
655
673

1,820
436
61.1
651
672

1,821
433
60.8
651
676

1, 827
433
60.9
654
679

1,812
427
59.6
646
680

1,763
416
55.5
619
672

4, 837
506
363.4
153.2
245

4,851
509
368.0
157.4
245

4, 835
478
364.8
161.3
248

4, 789
452
359.5
158.7
249

4,745
445
354.4
153.0
249

4, 682
435
351.3
150.4
243

4,657
432
350.9
145.1
240

4, 666
429
353.6
145.8
242

4, 694
430
353.3
146.8
242

4.723
433
353.1
149.2
243

4,757
441
355.5
151.1
244

4,816
475
357.5
150.0
246

4, 761
456
353.5
147.5
241

4,782
464
352.2
146.9
237

6, 545 6,400 6,356 6, 377 6, 377 6,292 6,217 6, 122 6, 088 6, 376 6,037 6,039 6,004 6,910 5,811
2,337 2,329 2,313 2,271 2,244
2,146 2,085 2,027 2,333 1,980 1,948 1,916 1, 910 1,900
4,208 4, 071 4,043 4,106 4,133 4, 091 4,071 4,037 4,061 4,043 4,057 4,091 4,088 4,000 3,911

1
The 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 M onthly Report on the Labor Foroe
(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 M R LF 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 fo u r columns will be
identified by asterisks the first month they are published.
* Includes: ordnance and accessories; lumber and wood products (except
furniture); furniture and fixtures; stone, clay, and glass products; primary


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

Apr.

1,907
469
64.3
683
691

688
4, 822

—

Aug.

2,201

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.
3
Includes: 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.
‘ Bata by region, from January 1940, are available upon request to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics.
3
Fourth class postmasters (who are considered to be nominal employees)
are excluded here but are included in table A-5.
' Excludes 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.

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951
T able

A: EMPLOYMENT AND PAYROLLS

609

A-3: Production Workers in Mining and Manufacturing Industries 1
[In thousands]

1951
Ind u stry group and in d u stry

A nn u al
average

1950

______
Sept.

A ug.

Ju ly

June

M ay

Apr.

Mar.

Feb.

Jan.

Dec.

Nov.

Oct,

Sept.

1950

1949

Mining :
M e ta l______ _____ ______________________________
Iron _____________________________ ______ _____
C opper....... ......................................................................
L ead and zinc________________________________
A nthracite_____________________________ ________
B itu m in ou s-coal_______________________ ______

93.2
35.2
25.1
17.4

92.6
34.4
25.1
17.7

92.6
34.6
25.1
17.6

91.3
33.8
24.9
17.4

91.7
33.1
25.3
17.6

93.2
32.6
25.6
19.0

93.6
32.7
25.7
19.0

93.2
32.6
25.7
18.7

92.7
32.4
25.5
18.4

90.9
32.6
24.9
17.7

89.7
32.8
24.6
17.4

91.1
33.4
24.8
17.9

89.4
31.9
24.8
17.2

89.0
30.4
24.3
18.1

66.3

63.6

66.0

66.1

63.6

67.9

68.4

68.4

68.5

69.8

69.9

70.5

70.6

72.8

346.3

334.6

353.4

353.1

357.4

372.2

377.0

377.4

380.6

379.6

381.6

381.8

351.0

373.4

133.5
96. 5

132.0
94.6

129.9
94.8

126.0
93.0

124.9
90.2

124.0
86.8

123.2
84.7

122.7
85.2

124.7
86.0

124.1
89.4

126.0
89.6

128.3
90.2

125.7
85.2

127.1
83.7

Crude petroleum and natural gas pro­
duction:
Petroleum and natural gas production
(except contract se r v ic e s)................................... .
N on m etallic m ining and quarrying........... ...............

Manufacturing.
D urable goods *____
N ond u rab le goods *.
Ordnance and accessories________ ____
Food and kindred products_________
M ea t products____________________
D a iry products___________________
C anning and p r e s e r v in g ...................
Grain-m ill products..............................
B akery products________ __________
S u g a r .......................................................
C onfectionery and related products.
B everages_________________________
M iscellaneous food products............. .

13, 076 13,080 12,910 13,064 12,993 13,108 13,189 13,186 13,018 13, 056 13,044 13,133 13,016 12, 264 11,597
7,306
5, 770
38.7
1,309

1,134

Apparel and other finished textile prod­
ucts ........ ........... ................................... ....... 1,031
M e n ’s and b oys’ suits and coats_______
M e n ’s and b oys’ furnishings and work
clothing..................................... ......... .........
W om en ’s outerw ear__________________
W o m en ’s, children’s u ndergarm ents__
M illin ery _____________________________
C hild ren ’s outerw ear....................................
Fur goods and m iscellaneous a p p a r el...
Other fabricated textile products______
Lum ber and w ood products (except fur­
742
n itu re)........ ............. .......................... .........
L ogging cam ps and contractors_______________
S aw m ills and planing m ills_____________ _____
M illw ork, p lyw ood, and prefabricated
structural wood p r o d u c ts................................... .
W ooden containers___________________________
M i s c e l l a n e o u s w o o d p r o d u c t s ____________________

F urniture and fixtures.....................................

288

H o u s e h o l d f u r n i t u r e _______________________________
O t h e r f u r n it u r e a n d f i x t u r e s . . ............................ ...........

See footnotes at end of table.


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

7,243
5,667

7, 409
5, 655

7,406
5,587

7,445
5,663

7,428
5,761

7,371
5,815

7, 256
5,762

7, 254
5,802

7, 210
5,834

7,186
5,957

7,013
6, 003

6,622
5, 642

6,096
5,501

37.4
35.3
33.9
32.2
28.7
30.3
27.0
23.3
22.3
21.6
20.2
25.0
23.6
19.8
1,309 1,232 1,146 1,099 1,085 1,096 1,099 1,120 1,155 1,196 1,260 1,350 1,168 1,172
232.3 235.2 233.2 229.2 229.2 233.3 237.7 250.8 253.7 244.3 240.0 235.7 235.9 231.3
114.0 116.5 115.6 109.5 103.1
99.0
95. 2
94.6
96.9 100.4 101.9 107.4 104.4 107.9
306.6 232.1 153.9 136.9 128.0 124.6 127.2 131.6 142.7 171.4 226.3 324.2 176.9 180.8
99.2
98.8
96.9
91.1
95.2
93.8
95.4
95.4
93.2
96.8
98.1
93.1
95.3
94.2
192.4 192.2 192.0 189.5 189.7 190.0 188.3 187.8 190.4 193.4 196.3 194.3 191.5 191.2
24.6
24.9
24.8
24.4
23.8
23.5
24.3
46.5
39.9
45.8
29.5
27.0
28.5
29.9
78.5
71.1
73.1
80.3
73.6
75.3
82.6
93.5
97.2
93.2
83.8
89.4
83.0
83.1
161.6 161.5 155.1 145.3 143.4 146.6 145.4 146.8 146.1 148.8 149.4 159.4 149.1 150.6
100.2
99.3 101.7
99.1
99.2 102.8 102.4 101.7 102.6 104.4 106.6 108.5 102.6 103.8
83
23.4
38.2
10.0
11.7

T obacco m anufactures____________
C igarettes................................. ...........
C igars.....................................................
Tobacco and sn u fl______________
T obacco stem m in g and redrying.
T extile-m ill p rod ucts_______________
Yarn and thread m ills____________
B road-w oven fabric m ills_________
K n ittin g m ills____________________
D y ein g and finishing textiles______
Carpets, rugs, other floor coverings.
Other textile-m ili products............ ..

7, 271
5,809

74
23.5
37.2
10.0
3.6

76
23.3
38.4
10.3
3.6

74
22.9
37.2
10.4
3.6

76
23.1
38.6
10.5
4.0

78
23.3
39.9
10.7
4.2

80
23.3
40.1
10.5
5.9

80
23.3
39.0
10.6
7.4

83
23.5
40.2
10.5
8.3

84
23.7
41.2
10.5
8.3

89
23.7
41.0
11.0
13.0

89
24.5
39.5
11.1
14.2

81
23.3
39.1
10.8
7.8

87
24.1
42.4
11.5
9.0

1,153 1,167 1,205 1,206 1, 214 1,223 1,269 1,257 1,258 1,262 1,264 1,255 1,206 1,136
154.0 153.4 157.8 160.1 160.2 161.8 163.6 161.5 159.9 160.9 160.7 159.2 151.8 140 3
561.6 573.6 587.7 574.3 567.3 564.4 604.3 602.0 603.5 606.3 607.4 606.2 585.6 551.4
212.0 210.5 215.7 221.6 230.3 236.4 235.9 232.1 233.9 233.9 236.3 233.3 223.6 213.4
74.1
83.9
74.9
78.1
79.2
77.6
84.4
83.4
83.7
83.3
83.3
82.8
76.9
80.1
40.6
42.4
47.7
54.3
50.7
53.2
54.6
54.5
54.9
55.0
54.5
54.1
53.3
51 2
110.3 111.9 117.9 120.4 125.0 122.6 126.6 123.7 122.7 122.3 121.3 119.3 111.9 102.8
1, 044
137.9

989 1,000
127.2 135.4

998 1,047 1,106 1,115 1,070 1,064 1,056 1,100 1,099 1,042 1,022
135.0 138.2 141.0 141.1 138.4 137.4 137.0 138.2 137.4 134.3 128.1

237.7
296.5
86.6
18.8
59.4
87.3
119.8

233.5
273.4
83.4
16.4
59.2
80.3
115.7

245.2
255.4
86.6
14.3
59.2
85.8
117.6

252.9
249.1
88.9
14.6
56.3
82.7
118.6

261.1
267.4
94.9
17.5
59.5
83.1
125.4

262.7
305.1
97.2
22.8
62.1
84.2
131.3

258.8
317.4
97.0
23.7
64.2
82.6
130.4

251.0
303.3
93.1
21.7
61.8
76.9
124.0

251.2
296.2
96.1
18.9
59.9
80.3
124.4

253.3
274.8
100.5
15.9
59.6
85.3
130.0

254.2
297.0
102.5
20.1
63.1
89.0
135.5

253.8
305.3
100.4
20.7
62.5
87.5
131.1

245.3
286.8
95.2
19.4
60.7
78.4
121.7

239-8
294.3
89.4
19. 5
58.0
76 5
115.8

753
73.7
447.3

750
74.5
442.0

773
76.7
455.9

764
74.2
449.2

752
66.5
442.5

722
52.1
426.0

736
65.4
427.8

739
64.9
429.4

754
67.9
440.0

773
73.0
452.3

785
73.8
461.5

790
73.6
467.8

730
63.5
431.1

676
57.6
401.3

103.0
71.9
57.3

102.2
74.3
56.5

107.3
76.6
56.8

107.2
76.2
57.3

107.7
' 76.3
58.5

107.4
77.4
58.7

107.1
77.3
58.4

110.3
76.9
57.9

112.4
75.8
57.4

113.8
76.5
57.4

114.8
77.1
57.7

114.4
76.1
57.6

108.5
72.2
54.8

95.7
67 9
53.1

285
195.3
89.3

284
196.2
87.8

286
197.3
89.0

301
211.4
89.7

317
226.8
90.5

326
236.1
90.0

324
235.4
88.5'

321
233.7
87.6

326
238.4
87.1

327
241.5
85.7

329
241.9
86.9

327
240.2
86.9

311
227.9
82.6

272
194.8

77 6

A: EM PLOYM ENT

610
T a ble

AND

MONTHLY LABOR

PAYROLLS

A-3: Production Workers in Mining and Manufacturing Industries ^C ontinued
[Id thousands]
Annual
average

1950

1951
Industry group and industry
Aug.

Sept.
Manufacturing—Continued
Paper and allied products__________
Pulp, paper, and paperboard mills.
Paperboard containers and boxes..
Other paper and allied products__
Printing, publishing, and allied industries.
N ewspapers....... ........................................
Periodicals_____ ____ ___ ____ _______
Books...................... ................................... .
Commercial printing.................. ..............
Lithographing______________________
Other printing and pu b lish in g............

July

June

M ay

Apr.

Mar.

Feb.

Jan.

Dec.

N ov.

Oct.

Sept.

1950

1949

414

418
213.8
112.1
92.3

418
213.6
112.1
92.5

426
214.9
116.4
94.3

424
213.0
117.0
94.3

427
212.4
118.7
95.4

424
209.1
119.0
95.6

423
209.3
119.1
94.5

423
209.2
119.6
94. 5

428
212.3
121.3
94.5

427
210.7
122.0
94.3

421
210.3
120. 4
90.5

418
209.9
118.2
90.2

404
205.1
109.8
88.8

382
197.6
99.6
85.2

513

511
150.5
35.3
36.2
166.7
32.0
90.4

508
151.0
34.0
35.2
167.3
31.5
89.4

512
152.2
33.7
35.9
168.8
31.9
89.4

510
151.9
34.6
35.7
167.8
32.1
87.7

510
150.6
35.4
36.0
167.9
32.2
87.5

512
150.0
35.6
36.3
169.7
32.2
87.7

510
149.6
35.2
36.1
169. 5
31.8
88.0

510
148.9
34.6
35.8
170.0
31.7
88.6

518
152.4
35.0
36.7
171.1
32.9
89.9

515
150.3
35.0
36.6
170. 2
33.3
89.6

514
149.7
35.1
36.6
170.2
33.0
89.2

510
151. 1
35.2
37 2
166.5
32. 5
87.0

503
148.6
34.7
35.7
166.6
31.7
85.8

495
141.2
36.0
36.4
164.4
31.9
85.3

532
61.2
174.6
70.5
49.8
23.6
37.8
114.7

527
60.9
172.6
70.7
50.3
23.0
35.6
114.0

528
60.4
171.5
70.1
50.0
24.7
36.3
115.2

531
59.4
169.5
70.1
49.8
29.6
37.6
115.1

538
59.2
168.4
69.7
49.8
33.4
40.3
117.0

539
58.6
166.7
69.3
49.6
35.6
42.1
116.8

532
58.1
163.3
68.6
49.5
33.2
43.9
115.4

526
57.3
162.8
66.9
47.5
30.9
45. 5
115.1

524
57.1
161.9
67.4
48.3
26.5
47.6
114.7

521
56.5
160.2
66.4
48.2
25.7
49.6
114.6

523
55. 9
159. 1
65.8
48.7
26.6
50.8
115.8

506
49 7
157.7
64.9
48.7
26.4
43.5
115.0

496
52.9
151.8
62.7
46.8
27.8
43.8
110.3

485
52.3
145.8
60.8
43.3
28.6
46.1
108.4

Chemicals and allied products...................
Industrial inorganic chemicals________
Industrial organic ch em ica ls.................
Drugs and medicines......... .................... .
Paints, pigments, and fillers__________
Fertilizers________________ __________
Vegetable and animal oil and fats____
Other chemicals and allied products__
Products of petroleum and coal_____
Petroleum refining......................... .
Coke and byproducts____________
Other petroleum and coal products.

197

198
154.1
19.4
24.1

198
154.3
19.3
24.3

198
153.8
19.1
24.8

194
150.8
18.7
24.4

194
150.2
18.6
24.8

192
149.0
18.5
24.5

191
148.2
18.4
24.3

190
147.1
18.5
24.3

191
147.3
18.4
25.0

191
147.5
18.4
24.6

190
146.5
18.6
25.1

189
144.6
18.7
25.3

185
142.8
18.1
23.9

188
148.8
16.9
22.0

Rubber products.......................... ...........
Tires and inner tubes.....................
Rubber footwear___________ _____
Other rubber products.____ ______

214

219
91.6
25.2
102.4

218
90 4
24.8
102.3

220
89.9
25.7
104.7

220
88.3
25.4
106.0

219
87.4
24.8
106.3

220
88.3
25.0
106.3

222
90.6
25.3
106.3

222
91.3
24.9
105.8

222
92.1
23.9
105.7

222
93.4
23. 2
105.0

219
92.0
22.8
104.1

215
91.7
21.8
101.0

203
87.8
20.6
94.3

186
83.6
21.6
80.9

Leather and leather p ro d u cts.......... .
Leather............... ................ ..................
Footwear (except rubber)......... .......
Other leather p rod u cts....................

327

342
40.2
221.1
81.1

336
41.5
215.3
79.0

344
42.7
221.8
79.3

331
42.8
210.4
77.4

353
44.4
224.9
84.1

371
45.9
237.0
87.6

374
47.0
238.9
87.6

364
47.3
234.2
82.8

359
47.3
229.1
82.9

360
47. 2
225.8
86.9

367
46.7
230.3
89.7

372
47.2
236.7
87.9

355
45.9
229.4
79.7

347
45.1
226.2
75.8

Stone, clay, and glass products_________
Glass and glass p r o d u cts....................
Cement, hydraulic......................................
Structural clay products...........................
Pottery and related products....... ..........
Concrete, gypsum, and plaster products.
Other stone, clay, and glass products___

474

479
124.4
37.7
85.5
51.9
88.2
91.4

476
121.5
37.6
85.0
51.7
88.2
91.8

485
129.8
37.3
84.8
53.3
87.0
92.8

484
131.1
36.5
83.0
54.6
85.8
92.8

483
132.0
36.3
81.7
55.2
85.4
92.8

479
130.1
36.2
80.3
55.3
84.3
92.9

473
127.5
35.9
79.5
55.1
82.8
92.2

474
473
127. 5 127.7
35. £
36.3
79.4
79.8
54. 7
55.1
83. C 83.5
91.8
91.6

477
128.9
36.7
80.5
55.1
84.4
91.1

471
127.0
37.0
79.8
52.2
84.5
90.0

458
117.0
36.5
79.8
53.0
84. 1
88.0

441
117.3
36.0
74.8
52.3
78.7
81.8

416
106.8
36.0
72.5
52.2
72.4
75.6

Primary metal industries........................... 1,161 1,164 1,155 1,172 1,162 1,161 1,159 1,153 1,149 1,142 1,126 1,117 1,105 1,053
Blast furnaces, steel works, and rolling
_ 575.5 571.3 571.8 565.0 561.6 561.1 558.8 559.0 556.4 553. 6 552.6 552.2 535.6
mills............... .................................. ........
_ 249.3 246.4 253.7 252.5 251.5 249.4 244.9 240.7 238.0 232.8 226.8 221.9 204.0
Iron and steel foundries______________
Primary smelting and refining of non45.4
46.3
45.8
47.2
45.4
46.4
47.4
47.3
47.0
48.0
47.7
47.8
47.2
ferrous metals_____________________
Rolling, drawing, and alloying of non85.9
85.8
85.3
80.7
81.9
87. 1
87.2
85.9
86.8
83.1
78.6
79.7
84.9
ferrous metals......................... ...............
91.3
89.7
85.7
94. 5
93.2
94.2
78.8
88.4
93. £
91.5
93.4
91.0
93.3
Nonferrous foundries........... ....................
. 122.3 121.1 124.1 123.2 122. 5 122.0 120.8 120.5 119.3 116.9 115.7 114.4 108.4
Other primary metal industries______
Fabricated metal products (except ord­
nance, machinery, and transporta­
tion equipm ent)....................................... 809
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)______ ____ 1,224
Engines and turbines.......... .................... .............
Agricultural machinery and tractors...............
Construction and mining machinery________
Metalworking machinery_______ ____ _____
Special-industry machinery (except
metalworking machinery)_____ __________
General industrial machinery...... ......................
Office and store machines and devices_______
Service-industry and household ma­
chines__________________ _________ ______
Miscellaneous machinery parts..........................
See footnotes at end of table.


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

940
476.7
188.9
43.3
70.6
63.3
97.1

818
44.6
133.0

814
43.0
131.5

843
43.5
136.6

850
42. £
138.1

859
43.1
140.3

858
42.7
141.7

852
42.1
143.7

847
44.2
144.0

852
45.4
143.7

850
44.2
142.9

850
45.9
141.4

837
49.8
138.3

776
42.8
132.7

701
39.9
118.4

121.0
181.2
142.2
195.7

122.1
178.0
147.6
191.8

128.4
176.9
158.8
198.3

130.1
178.5
161.9
198.0

132.8
177.7
166.4
198.3

133.9
176.4
166.1
197.0

132.0
174.6
164.5
195.4

129.9
173.2
161. 5
193. 7

133.2
173.2
161.6
194.6

135.3
171.7
160.9
195.2

137.1
170.9
160.7
194.3

137.1
165.6
159.1
187.5

123.9
156.5
146. {
173.0

106.0
152.3
125.8
159.0

1,208 1,232 1,252 1,242 1,239 1, 231 1.215 1,192 1,163 1,133 1,104 1,050 1,040 1,001
53.9
60.3
55.0
52.1
54.5
63.7
61. £
67.9
64. (
69.3
68.1
65.7
70.7
67.0
_ 129.9 151.3 153.1 151.6 151.8 151. ( 149.7 146. 5 135.4 124.8 124.3 102.3 133.5 142.4
72.4
82.3
80.6
77.8
73. (
84. 7
83.8
90.4
88.9
87.3
86.Î
90.7
91.1
87.8
. 227.1 232.6 232.8 227.9 226.7 222.9 218.4 211.3 204.4 197.2 189.7 180.6 169.0 157.9
135.8
146.7
80.3

150.5 149.6
167.2 166.2
88.0 j 86.0

150.2
166.8
88.5

149.8
165.7
88.0

150.0
164.7
86.9

149. 0
162.7
86.0

147.3
158.8
85.4

143.«
157.
84.2

.
.

122.0
161.7

137.3
163.2

141.5
161.1

144.1
160.1

148.4
157.7|

148.
156.

146.8 147.9 151.2 147.6
153.01 151.1 ! 148. C 144.1

127.2
160.7

140.5
154. 5
83.2

137.6
150.1
81.9

_
-

132.2 126.6
141.
134.f
79. C 75.6

131.1
132.3
76.4

146.
137. £

115.4
120.4

143.2
130.0

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

A: EM PLOYM ENT

AND

611

PAYROLLS

Table A-3: Production Workers in Mining and Manufacturing Industries 1—Continued
[In thousands]
1951

Anoual
average

1950

Industry group and industry
Sept.
Manufacturing—Continued
Electrical machinery__________________
Electrical generating, transmission, dis­
tribution, and industrial apparatus...
Electrical equipment for vehicles.........
Communication equipment.....................
Electrical appliances, lamps, and mis-

715

—

Transportation equipment.............
1,237
Automobiles__________ _____ _
Aircraft and parts............................
Aircraft..........................................
Aircraft engines and parts.........
Aircraft propellers and p a r ts...
Other aircraft parts and equipm ent.. —
Ship and boat building and repairing
Shipbuilding and rep airing............
Boat building and repairing.............
Railroad equipment.............. ....... .........
Other transportation equipm ent........

Aug.

July

June

M ay

Apr.

Mar,

Feb.

Jan.

Dec.

Nov.

Oct.

Sept.

1950

1949

701

690

704

707

718

724

716

711

724

721

710

673

636

552

273.2
66.9
242.1

271.2
66.5
235.3

275.0
67.0
241.2

270.0
67.1
247.2

266.4
66.1
261.5

262.1
64.6
273.2

258.3
63.9
269.5

255.8
63.4
267.8

257. 2
63.0
278.3

254.4
61.8
278.4

251.7
60.9
272.2

237.1
59.5
254.6

229.7
56.0
237.0

210.7
49.0
191.8

118.9

117.3

121.2

122.2

123.6

123.9

124.4

124.0

125.4

126.2

125.0

121.6

113.3

100. 8

1,214 1,204 1,237 1,233 1,243 1, 253 1,233 1,175 1,160 1,139 1,157 1,134 1.004
696.3 703.5 738.1 752.4 774.1 793.4 790.6 767. 3 767.3 760.4 794.8 787.8 713.5
354.0 344.6 332.7 317.9 309.3 298.9 287.6 264.2 251.9 239.3 224.5 209.4 201.8
241.2 235.0 225.6 216.2 211.3 204.1 195.4 177.3 170.0 161.4 151.5 144.5 135.7
65. 3
63. 9
62.8
59.4
57.1
55. 1
53.9
51.3
48.5
46.3
43.6
39. 1
37.3
7.4
7.3
7.5
7.5
7.4
6.7
6.2
6.5
6.1
5.9
5.7
5.4
5.5
40.1
38.4
36.8
34.8
33.5
33.0
31.8
29.4
27.3
25.7
23.7
21.5
22.1
97.6
99.8
97.9
94.7
95.6
94.3
94.9
82.7
76.1
71.4
78.7
75.8
76.3
85.8
86.7
84.7
81.5
82. 7
81.1
82.1
64 3
64 8
60 2
70. 3
66 3
64. 4
11.8
13.1
13.2
13.2
12.9
12.4
13.2
12.8
12.4
11.7
11.5
11.2
ÎÎ.5
56.8
59.2
46.7
58.3
54.1
52. 1
55.5
48.5
51.9
51.7
50.4
47.9
49.3
9.3
8.9
9.0
9.3
11.3
11.4
10.4
10.0
11.2
11.8
11.9
9.7
11.6

987
643.5
188.5
126.6
37.4
5.3
19.2
85.0
76 O
10.0
61.0
9.2

Instruments and related products.............
Ophthalmic good s_________ _______ _
Photographic apparatus...........................
Watches and clocks_____________ ____
Professional and scientific instruments.

225

223
22.2
44.9
28.5
127.4

221
22.6
42.2
27.9
128.6

223
22.6
44.0
28.9
127.6

222
22.8
43.0
28.6
127.6

221
23.1
42.8
29.2
125.7

218
22.9
42. 5
28.9
123.4

215
22.5
42.0
28.8
121.9

211
22.2
40.9
28.3
119.6

211
22.0
40.9
28.9
119.2

209
21.8
40.7
28.8
117.8

205
21.3
40.2
28.0
115.3

199
20.8
39.5
27.0
111.6

186
20 6
37.3
25.5
103.0

177
21.9
38.4
26.6
90.1

Miscellaneous manufacturing industries..
Jewelry, silverware, and plated w are...
Toys and sporting goods.......... ...............
Costume jewelry, buttons, notions____
Other miscellaneous manufacturing
industries_______ ___ _________

392

389
39.3
63.1
44.8

382
39.5
61.0
43.8

400
41.1
65.5
45.7

409
43.3
67.6
47.5

422
45.3
69.4
51.9

429
47.2
68.9
55.1

427
48.2
67.0
55.9

413
46.9
62.3
52.8

424
47.2
66.7
52.1

432
47.8
73.0
54.9

436
48.1
75.3
56.2

418
47.2
72.2
54.4

385
44.5
64.2
49.2

354
45.0
59.8
48.3

241.7

237.3

247.8

251.0

255.7

258.0

255.5

250.6

257.6

256.4

256.1

244.3

227.2

200.5

1 See footnote 1, table A-2. Production workers refer to all full-and parttime employees engaged in production and related processes, such as fabri­
cating, processing, assembling, inspecting, storing, packing, shipping, main­
tenance and repair, and other activities closely associated with production
operations.

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

T able A-4: Indexes of Production-Worker Employment and Weekly Payrolls in Manufacturing
Industries1
[1939 average=100]
P e r io d

1939:
1940:
1941:
1942:
1943:
1944.
1945:
1946:

E m p lo y ­
m en t

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 v e r a g e _____ ___________
A v e r a g e _________________
A v e r a g e ...................................

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 e k ly
p a y r o ll

100.0
113.6
164.9
241.5
331.1
343.7
293.5
271.7

P e r io d

E m p lo y ­
m en t

W e e k ly
p a y r o ll

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 _______ __ ______

156.2
155.2
141.6
149.7

326.9
351.4
325.3
371.7

1950:

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 ............................ ..

158.9
160.3
159.2
159.4

403.2
415.8
414.6
426.0

P e r io d

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 _____________________
J u n e ................. .......................
J u l y ......................................... ..
A u g u s t __________________
S e p t e m b e r _____________

E m p lo y ­
m en t

158.9
161.0
161.0
160.0
158.6
159.5
157.6
159. 7
159.6

W e e k ly
p a y r o ll

424.0
430.0
435.0
433.2
428.4
434.3
424.1
431.3

A: EM PLOYMENT

612

AND

MONTHLY LABOR

PAYROLLS

Table A-5: Federal Civilian Employment and Payrolls, by Branch and Agency Group
[In th o u sa n d s]

E x e c u t iv e 1
Y e a r a n d m o n th

J u d i c ia l

L e g is la tiv e

A ll b r a n c h e s
T o ta l

D e fe n se
a g e n c ie s 1

P o s t O ffic e
D ep a rtm en t *

A ll o th e r
a g e n c ie s

E m p lo y m e n t — T o t a l (in c lu d in g a re a s o u t s id e c o n t in e n t a l U n it e d S ta te s )

1

3 .6
3 .8

1949: A v e r a g e .
1950: A v e r a g e .

2 ,1 0 0 .5
2 ,0 8 0 .5

2, 0 8 9 .2
2 ,0 6 8 .6

8 9 9 .2
8 3 7 .5

5 1 1 .1
5 2 1 .4

6 7 8 .9
7 0 9 .7

l8 .1ì

1950: 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 .,

2 ,0 8 3 .2
2 ,1 1 7 .4
2 ,1 5 2 .0
2 ,5 0 8 . 9

2 ,0 7 1 .4
2 ,1 0 5 .3
2 ,1 3 9 .9
2 ,4 9 6 .9

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

4 8 5 .0
4 8 3 .8
4 8 2 .2
8 1 1 .8

6 9 9 .1
6 8 9 .2
6 8 7 .7
6 8 9 .2

8 .0
8 .2
8 .2
8 .1

3 .8
3 .9
3 .9
3 .9

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 . . ..........
J u n e ________
J u l y ...............
A u g u s t ____
S ep tem b er.

2 ,2 0 4 .3
2 ,2 6 5 .5
2, 332. 3
2, 385. 5
2 ,4 3 2 .6
2 ,4 6 2 .3
2, 5 0 3 .4
2, 5 2 1 .3
2, 529. 9

2 ,1 9 2 .3
2 ,2 5 3 . 5
2, 320. 2
2 ,3 7 3 . 5
2 ,4 2 0 .5
2 ,4 5 0 .1
2 ,4 9 1 . 0
2, 509. 3
2, 517. 9

1 ,0 1 7 .3
1 ,0 7 6 .8
1 ,1 3 3 . 4
1 ,1 8 0 .0
1 ,2 1 2 .1
1 ,2 3 7 .5
1 ,2 6 5 .3
1, 267. 7
1, 2 7 8 .4

4 8 6 .5
487 .1
4 8 9 .0
4 8 8 .4
4 9 2 .1
4 9 1 .2
4 8 9 .4
4 9 5 .5
4 9 6 .0

6 8 8 .5
6 8 8 .6
6 9 7 .8
705. 1
7 1 6 .3
7 2 1 .4
7 3 6 .3
7 4 6 .1
7 4 3 .5

8 .1
8 .1
8 .2
8 .1
8 .2
8 .3
8 .5
8 .1
8 .1

3 .9
3 .9
3 .9
3 .9
3 .9
3 .9
3 .9
3 .9
3 .9

P a y r o l ls - - T o t a l ( i n c l u d i n g a r e a s o u t s i d e c o n t i n e n t a l U n i t e d S t a t e s )

$ 5 5 8 ,2 7 3
5 8 5 ,5 7 6

$ 5 5 3 ,9 7 3
5 8 0 ,7 9 2

$ 2 3 1 ,8 5 6
2 3 5 ,1 5 7

$ 1 2 9 ,8 9 5
1 3 5 ,3 0 0

$ 1 9 2 ,2 2 2
2 1 0 ,3 3 5

$ 2 ,8 7 0
3 ,2 1 5

$ 1 ,4 3 0
1 ,5 6 9

1950: S e p t e m b e r .
O c t o b e r ____
N ovem ber.
D e c e m b e r ..

6 0 1 ,4 5 4
6 1 3 ,3 5 9
6 2 1 ,4 9 1
6 7 2 ,7 2 4

5 9 6 ,5 3 7
608, 511
6 1 6 ,6 0 9
6 6 7 ,9 8 8

2 6 1 ,5 2 7
2 6 7 ,6 2 2
273, 633
2 7 5 ,6 8 1

1 2 8 ,7 6 4
1 2 9 ,6 6 5
1 2 9 ,8 6 9
1 8 5 ,7 3 2

2 0 6 ,2 4 6
2 1 1 ,2 2 4
2 1 3 ,1 0 7
2 0 6 ,5 7 5

3 ,2 0 0
3 ,2 5 0
3 ,2 9 2
3 ,2 0 7

1 ,7 1 7
1 ,5 9 8
1 ,5 9 0
1 ,6 2 9

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 ............. .
J u n e ............
J u l y ...............
A u g u s t ____
S ep tem b er.

6 8 0 ,9 2 6
6 3 8 ,1 9 3
7 0 6 ,1 8 4
687, 876
7 4 2 ,5 2 9
721, 693
7 3 5 ,9 9 1
7 6 9 ,1 7 3
6 8 3 ,1 3 4

6 7 6 ,0 0 7
6 3 3 ,5 1 4
701, 569
6 8 3 ,2 7 3
7 3 7 ,4 2 8
7 1 6 ,6 8 1
7 3 1 ,1 6 8
7 6 4 ,1 6 7
6 7 8 ,2 0 2

3 1 9 ,7 3 8
3 0 3 ,0 4 2
3 4 5 ,6 8 5
3 3 7 ,8 7 6
370, 700
3 6 0 ,6 8 6
3 6 4 ,2 5 6
3 8 5 ,8 5 2
3 3 6 ,1 1 0

1 3 2 ,0 3 7
129, 603
133, 342
129, 796
1 3 1 ,3 5 3
1 3 1 ,1 5 6
1 3 3 ,0 4 4
1 3 0 ,8 6 0
1 3 0 ,7 8 7

2 2 4 ,2 3 2
200, 869
222, 542
215, 601
2 3 5 ,3 7 5
2 2 4 ,8 3 9
2 3 3 ,8 6 8
2 4 7 ,4 5 5
2 1 1 ,3 0 5

3 ,2 4 9
3 ,1 8 2
3 ,2 6 1
3 ,1 9 7
3 ,3 3 8
3 ,3 7 9
3 ,1 9 5
3 ,2 5 7
3 ,2 1 3

1 ,6 7 0
1 ,4 9 7
1 ,3 5 4
1 ,4 0 6
1 ,7 6 3
1 ,6 3 3
1 ,6 2 8
1, 749
1 ,7 1 9

1949: A v e r a g e .
1950: A v e r a g e .

E m p lo y m e n t — C o n tin e n ta l U n it e d S ta te s

1949: A v e r a g e ___
1950: A v e r a g e ___

1 ,9 2 1 .9
1 ,9 3 0 . 5

1 ,9 1 0 .7
1 ,9 1 8 .7

7 6 1 .4
7 3 2 .3

5 0 9 .1
5 1 9 .4

6 4 0 .2
6 6 7 .0

7 .7
8 .1

3 .5
3 .7

1 950: S e p t e m b e r .
O cto b e r —
N ovem ber.
D ecem b er.

1 ,9 3 5 .9
1 ,9 6 8 .3
2 ,0 0 0 .3
2, 3 5 2 .8

1, 9 2 4 .1
1 ,9 5 6 .3
1, 9 8 8 .3
2 ,3 4 0 .9

7 8 5 .3
8 2 8 .3
8 6 2 .9
8 8 5 .6

4 8 3 .1
4 8 2 .0
4 8 0 .4
8 0 8 .9

6 5 5 .7
6 4 6 .0
6 4 5 .0
6 4 6 .4

8 .0
8 .2
8 .2
8 .1

3 .8
3 .8
3 .8
3 .8

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 _______
J u n e ...............
J u l y ...............
A u g u s t ____
S e p tem b er.

2 ,0 4 7 .4
2 ,1 0 5 .0
2 ,1 6 9 . 3
2, 219. 9
2 ,2 6 3 . 9
2 ,2 9 0 . 5
2 ,3 2 9 . 8
2, 349. 0
2 ,3 5 6 .6

2 ,0 3 5 . 5
2 ,0 9 3 .1
2 ,1 5 7 . 3
2, 2 0 8 .0
2 ,2 5 1 . 9
2 ,2 7 8 . 4
2 ,3 1 7 .5
2 ,3 3 7 .1
2 ,3 4 4 . 7

9 0 6 .1
9 6 1 .0
1, 015. 5
1, 059 7
1 ,0 8 9 . 8
1 ,1 1 3 .3
1 ,1 4 1 .2
1 ,1 5 6 .1
1 ,1 6 5 . 7

4 8 4 .7
4 8 5 .3
4 8 7 .1
4 8 6 .6
4 9 0 .3
4 8 9 .3
4 8 7 .5
4 9 3 .4
4 9 4 .0

6 4 5 .7
6 4 6 .8
6 5 4 .7
6 6 1 .7
6 7 1 .8
6 7 5 .8
6 8 8 .8
6 8 7 .6
6 8 5 .0

8 .1
8 .1
8 .2
8 .1
8 .2
8 .3
8 .5
8 .1
8 .1

3 .8
3 .8
3 .8
3 .8
3 .8
3 .8
3 .8
3 .8
3 .8

P a y r o lls — C o n tin e n ta l U n it e d S ta te s

1949: A v e r a g e . . .
1 950: A v e r a g e ___

$ 5 1 9 ,5 2 9
5 4 9 ,3 2 8

$ 5 1 5 ,2 6 9
6 4 4 ,5 8 7

$203, 548
2 1 1 ,5 0 8

$ 1 2 9 ,4 1 6
1 3 4 ,7 9 2

$ 1 8 2 ,3 0 5
1 9 8 ,2 8 7

$ 2 ,8 7 0
3 ,2 1 5

$ 1 ,3 9 0
1 ,5 2 0

1950: S e p t e m b e r .
O c t o b e r ___
N ovem ber.
D ecem b er.

6 6 3 ,9 0 0
5 7 6 ,1 5 5
5 8 3 ,9 7 8
6 3 4 ,6 7 8

6 5 9 ,0 2 9
5 7 1 ,3 5 7
5 7 9 ,1 4 0
6 2 9 ,8 8 6

2 3 7 ,3 3 2
2 4 3 ,2 3 3
2 4 8 ,6 6 7
2 5 0 ,3 2 4

1 2 8 ,2 7 8
1 2 9 ,1 7 8
1 2 9 ,4 1 3
1 8 5 ,0 4 4

1 9 3 ,4 1 9
188, 946
2 0 1 ,0 6 0
1 8 4 ,5 1 8

3 ,2 0 0
3 ,2 5 0
3 ,2 9 2
3 ,2 0 7

1 ,6 7 1
1 ,5 4 8
1 ,5 4 6
1 ,4 8 5

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 .............
J u n e ...............
J u l y ...............
A u g u s t ____
S e p te m b e r .

6 4 1 ,3 3 0
6 0 1 ,3 7 4
6 6 4 ,3 8 9
6 4 8 ,0 1 7
6 9 8 ,6 9 4
6 7 7 ,4 9 3
6 9 3 ,4 0 5
7 2 4 ,1 6 4
643, 930

6 3 6 ,4 5 5
5 9 6 ,7 3 6
6 5 9 ,8 1 2
643, 454
693, 638
6 7 2 ,5 2 5
6 8 8 ,6 2 6
7 1 9 ,2 0 2
6 3 9 ,0 4 1

2 9 2 ,8 7 5
277, 870
3 1 7 ,1 4 0
3 1 0 ,6 0 5
3 4 0 ,4 6 5
3 3 0 ,3 3 2
337, 591
3 5 7 ,4 5 9
3 1 1 ,2 5 1

1 3 1 ,5 4 9
1 2 9 ,1 2 3
1 3 2 ,8 4 7
129, 310
130, 850
1 3 0 ,6 1 3
132, 500
130, 329
1 3 0 ,2 4 3

2 1 2 ,0 3 1
189, 743
209, 825
203, 539
222, 323
2 1 1 ,5 8 0
2 1 8 ,5 3 5
2 3 1 ,4 1 4
1 9 7 ,5 4 7

3 ,2 4 9
3 ,1 8 2
3 ,2 6 1
3 ,1 9 7
3. 338
3 ,3 7 9
3 ,1 9 5
3, 257
3 ,2 1 3

1 ,6 2 6
1 ,4 5 6
1 ,3 1 6
1 ,3 6 6
1 ,7 1 8
1 ,5 8 9
1 ,5 8 4
1 ,7 0 5
1 ,6 7 6

1 S e e f o o tn o te 2, t a b le A -7 ,


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

J S e e f o o tn o te 3, ta b le A -7 .

8I n c l u d e s f o u r t h

c la s s p o s t m a s t e r s ,

excluded f r o m table A-2.

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951
T a ble A -7 :

A: EM PLOYMENT

AND

613

PAYROLLS

Government Civilian Employment and Payrolls in Washington,
Agency Group

D.

C.,1 by Branch and

[In th o u sa n d s]

Federal

Y e a r a n d m o n th

T o ta l
governm ent

D is tr ic t of
C o lu m b ia
governm ent

E x e c u t iv e 1
L e g is la t iv e

T o ta l
A l l a g e n c ie s

D efen se
a g e n c ie s 8

P o s t O ffic e
D e p a r tm en t

J u d i c ia l

A ll o th e r
a g e n c ie s

E m p lo y m e n t

1949: A v e r a g e . ...................... .........................
1950: A v e r a g e .................................... .............

2 4 1 .8
2 4 2 .3

1 9 .5
2 0 .1

2 2 2 .3
2 2 2 .2

2 1 4 .0
2 1 3 .4

7 0 .4
6 7 .5

8 .2
8 .1

1 3 5 .4
1 3 7 .8

7 .7
8 .1

0 .6
.7

1950: 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 ................. ....................... ..

2 4 3 .7
2 4 4 .8
2 4 7 .9
2 5 6 .2

2 0 .0
2 0 .1
2 0 .4
2 0 .3

2 2 3 .7
2 2 4 .7
2 2 7 .5
2 3 5 .9

2 1 5 .0
2 1 5 .8
2 1 8 .7
2 2 7 .1

6 9 .3
7 0 .8
7 2 .4
7 4 .1

7 .6
7 .5
7 .6
1 2 .7

1 3 8 .1
1 3 7 .5
1 3 8 .7
1 4 0 .3

8 .0
8 .2
8 .1
8 .1

.7
.7
.7
.7

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 . ----------------------------------------J u n e _____ ______________ _________
J u l y . . . ........................... .......................
A u g u s t _____ ________ _____________
S e p t e m b e r ______________________

2 5 3 .8
2 5 8 .8
2 6 4 .6
2 6 8 .5
2 7 1 .4
2 7 2 .9
2 8 0 .3
2 8 1 .1
2 8 7 .4

2 0 .6
2 0 .4
2 0 .3
2 0 .3
2 0 .1
2 0 .5
1 9 .9
1 9 .8
2 0 .1

2 3 3 .2
2 3 8 .4
2 4 4 .3
2 4 8 .2
2 5 1 .3
2 5 2 .4
2 6 0 .4
2 6 1 .3
2 5 8 .3

2 2 4 .4
2 2 9 .6
2 3 5 .4
2 3 9 .4
2 4 2 .4
2 4 3 .4
2 5 1 .2
2 5 2 .5
2 4 9 .5

7 4 .8
7 7 .4
8 0 .2
8 2 .2
8 3 .6
8 3 .9
8 7 .7
8 8 .7
8 7 .8

7 .8
7 .7
7 .7
7 .8
7 .8
7 .7
7 .9
7 .9
7 .8

1 4 1 .8
1 4 4 .5
1 4 7 .5
1 4 9 .4
1 5 1 .0
1 5 1 .8
1 5 5 .6
1 5 5 .9
1 5 3 .9

8 .1
8 .1
8 .2
8 .1
8 .2
8 .3
8 .5
8 .1
8 .1

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

$2, 791
2 ,9 3 7

$43, 500
4 6 ,9 5 5

$2, 870
3 ,2 1 5

$240
286

951
495
545
786

2, 856
2 ,8 9 2
2 ,8 8 8
3 ,8 3 5

4 5 ,6 0 8
48, 037
48, 558
4 7 ,6 0 7

3 ,2 0 0
3 ,2 5 0
3 ,2 9 2
3, 207

318
303
301
202

26, 543
2 5 ,7 2 5
2 9 ,4 0 3
2 8 ,7 3 9
31, 082
29, 480
3 0 ,8 9 3
35, 357
3 0 ,4 7 4

2 ,9 4 4
2 ,8 2 8
2 ,9 4 9
2 ,8 5 5
2 ,9 4 6
2 ,8 3 9
2 ,9 3 7
2 ,9 7 5
2 ,8 5 4

5 2 ,0 7 7
4 6 ,5 6 7
5 2 ,3 5 7
5 1 ,1 8 7
6 0 ,8 3 5
52, 479
5 4 ,5 4 4
5 6 ,4 3 4
4 7 ,9 9 8

3 ,2 4 9
3 ,1 8 2
3, 261
3 ,1 9 7
3 ,3 3 8
3 ,3 7 9
3 ,1 9 5
3 ,2 5 7
3 ,2 1 3

316
285
289
291
316
302
301
329
315

P a y r o lls

1949: A v e r a g e . . ..............................................
1950: A v e r a g e ..................................................

$75, 570
8 1 ,6 0 2

1950: 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 . .....................................—

8 2 ,2 8 0
84, 657
85, 380
8 5 ,2 8 5

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 ____________________ ________
J u n e ........... .......................................... —
J u l y _____________________________
A u g u s t . _____ ____________________
S e p t e m b e r ........... .................................

9 1 ,0 5 2
8 4 ,0 1 8
9 3 ,8 3 7
91 , 887
1 0 4 ,4 0 0
9 4 ,1 0 2
9 6 ,3 4 4
1 0 2 ,9 4 3
9 0 ,1 5 9

$5, 050
5 ,3 2 1
5,
5,
5,
5,

347
680
796
558

5 ,9 2 3
5 ,4 3 1
5 ,5 7 8
5 ,6 1 8
5 ,8 8 3
5 ,6 2 3
4 ,4 7 4
4 ,5 9 1
5 ,3 0 4

$70, 520
76, 281
76,
78,
79,
79,

933
977
584
727

8 5 ,1 2 9
78, 587
88, 259
86, 269
9 8 ,5 1 7
8 8 ,4 7 9
9 1 ,8 7 0
9 8 ,3 5 2
8 4 ,8 5 4

1 D a t a for t h e e x e c u t i v e b r a n c h o f t h e F e d e r a l G o v e r n m e n t a ls o i n c lu d e
a r e a s i n M a r y l a n d a n d V i r g in ia w h i c h a r e w i t h i n t h e m e t r o p o l i t a n a r e a , a s
d e f in e d b y t h e B u r e a u o f t h e C e n s u s .
s I n c lu d e s G o v e r n m e n t c o r p o r a t io n s ( i n c l u d i n g F e d e r a l R e s e r v e B a n k s
a n d m ix e d - o w n e r s h i p b a n k s o f t h e F a r m C r e d i t A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ) a n d o t h e r
a c t i v i t i e s p e r fo r m e d b y G o v e r n m e n t a l p e r s o n n e l in e s t a b l i s h m e n t s s u c h a s
n a v y y a r d s , a r s e n a ls , h o s p i t a l s , a n d f o r c e - a c c o u n t c o n s t r u c t io n . D a t a w h ic h
a r e b a s e d m a i n l y o n r e p o r t s t o t h e C i v i l S e r v ic e C o m m is s io n a r c a d j u s t e d to
m a in t a in c o n t in u it y o f c o v e r a g e a n d d e fin itio n .


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

$67, 410
72, 780
73,
75,
75,
76,

415
424
991
228

8 1 ,5 6 4
7 5 ,1 2 0
84, 709
82, 781
9 4 ,8 6 3
8 4 ,7 9 8
8 8 ,3 7 4
94, 766
8 1 ,3 2 6

$ 2 1 ,1 1 9
2 2 ,8 8 8
24,
24,
24,
24,

* C o v e r s c iv ilia n e m p lo y e e s o f t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f D e fe n s e (S e c r e ta r y o f
D e f e n s e , A r m y , A ir F o r c e , a n d N a v y ) , N a t i o n a l A d v i s o r y C o m m i t t e e for
A e r o n a u t i c s , C a n a l Z o n e G o v e r n m e n t , S e l e c t i v e S e r v ic e S y s t e m , N a t i o n a l
S e c u r it y R e s o u r c e s B o a r d , N a t io n a l S e c u r it y C o u n c il, W a r C la im s C o m ­
m is s io n .

A: EM PLOYM ENT

614

AND

MONTHLY LABOR

PAYROLLS

Table A -ll: Insured Unemployment Under State Unemployment Insurance Programs,1 by Geographic
Division and State
f in thousands]
1950

1951

1949

G e o g r a p h ic d i v i s i o n a n d
S ta te
A ug.

J u ly

June

M ayr

A p r il

M ar.

Feb.

Jan.

D ec.

N ov.

O ct.

S e p t.

A ug.

A ug.

C o n t i n e n t a l U n i t e d S t a t e s ______ _____

9 3 9 .2

1 ,0 0 1 .6

9 3 4 .7

9 4 9 .9

9 3 2 .1

9 0 4 .2

1 ,0 2 5 .1

1 ,1 4 4 . 6

1, 0 4 5 .0

8 9 5 .3

7 8 2 .8

8 4 5 .7

1 ,0 6 3 .2

2 ,1 4 0 .4

N e w E n g l a n d ......................................................
M a i n e _______________________________
N e w H a m p s h i r e ______ ____________
V e r m o n t ........... .............................. ..............
M a s s a c h u s e t t s _____________________
R h o d e I s l a n d . _______ ______________
C o n n e c t i c u t ________________________

1 1 0 .5
7 .4
7 .3
1 .5
5 4 .1
2 2 .5
1 7 .7

1 1 1 .7
8 .5
7 .0
1 .5
5 6 .2
2 2 .2
1 6 .3

1 1 2 .6
9 .2
7 .6
1 .4
5 9 .4
2 2 .1
1 2 .9

1 2 2 .2
1 2 .5
9 .9
1. 5
65. 5
1 9 .9
1 2 .9

9 9 .8
1 1 .2
7 .6
1 .2
5 5 .1
1 3 .1
1 1 .6

6 4 .0
6 .2
4 .2
1 .0
3 3 .5
9 .6
9 .5

7 5 .8
7 .9
4 .6
1 .3
4 1 .1
9 .2
1 1 .7

9 1 .6
1 0 .2
5 .8
1 .7
4 9 .8
1 0 .5
1 3 .6

8 9 .0
1 1 .4
6 .3
1 .7
4 9 .0
9 .3
1 1 .3

7 7 .4
1 0 .3
6 .8
1 .3
4 1 .9
6 .9
1 0 .2

6 5 .9
6 .8
5 .8
1 .1
3 5 .6
6 .3
1 0 .3

7 4 .5
5 .2
6 .5
1 .4
4 2 .1
8 .4
1 0 .9

1 0 5 .0
7 .4
8 .8
2 .1
5 5 .8
1 3 .7
1 7 .2

2 6 9 .9
1 6 .7
1 5 .4
5. 6
1 3 7 .3
3 3 .2
6 1 .7

M i d d l e A t l a n t i c ________________________
N e w Y o r k _____ _____________________
N e w J e r s e y _________________________
P e n n s y l v a n i a ______________________

3 1 5 .1
1 8 9 .0
4 2 .9
8 3 .2

3 4 4 .8
2 1 5 .5
4 6 .5
8 2 .8

3 2 7 .2
2 0 4 .7
4 6 .7
7 5 .8

3 1 1 .7
1 9 0 .4
4 8 .8
7 2 .5

2 9 9 .7
183. 9
4 3 .1
7 2 .7

2 6 8 .1
1 6 3 .2
3 6 .1
6 8 .8

2 8 1 .1
1 7 1 .8
4 0 .0
6 9 .3

3 5 1 .4
2 1 7 .5
5 1 .3
8 2 .6

3 5 5 .1
2 3 8 .4
4 1 .1
7 5 .6

3 5 4 .1
2 5 7 .8
3 8 .7
5 7 .6

3 1 9 .0
2 2 6 .2
3 5 .4
5 7 .4

3 1 8 .4
2 2 1 .6
3 4 .3
6 2 .5

3 6 9 .1
2 4 2 .2
4 4 .6
8 2 .3

6 9 2 .9
3 8 6 .4
9 4 .5
2 1 2 .0

E a s t N o r t h C e n t r a l .......................... ..............
O h i o —................. ........... ........... .....................
I n d i a n a ______________________________
I l l i n o i s . —-----------------------------------------M i c h i g a n _____ ______________________
W i s c o n s i n . . . _______________________

1 8 4 .3
3 1 .8
2 0 .1
7 0 .6
5 5 .1
6 .7

1 9 1 .0
3 3 .4
2 2 .9
7 6 .8
5 1 .1
6 .8

1 5 8 .6
2 8 .4
1 7 .6
7 4 .3
3 2 .5
5 .8

1 5 8 .8
2 7 .0
1 7 .0
7 8 .3
3 0 .6
5 .9

1 5 0 .9
2 7 .7
1 4 .9
7 2 .9
2 7 .8
7 .6

1 3 3 .7
3 0 .0
1 1 .4
5 2 .6
2 9 .8
9 .9

1 7 6 .4
3 9 .9
1 4 .4
6 8 .1
3 9 .9
1 4 .1

2 0 0 .7
4 0 .9
1 4 .7
7 6 .5
5 4 .8
1 3 .8

1 7 8 .0
3 6 .4
1 3 .3
6 8 .2
4 9 .8
1 0 .3

1 2 9 .0
3 0 .2
8 .6
5 8 .6
2 3 .3
8 .3

1 1 3 .1
2 8 .5
9 .4
5 7 .5
1 2 .8
4 .9

1 3 3 .6
3 2 .3
7 .9
7 1 .3
1 6 .1
6 .0

1 7 8 .4
4 1 .0
8 .9
1 0 3 .6
1 8 .2
6 .7

4 0 9 .1
1 1 3 .5
3 7 .3
1 6 6 .2
6 7 .4
2 4 .7

W e s t N o r t h C e n t r a l ___________________
M i n n e s o t a __________________________
I o w a _________________________________
M i s s o u r i ____________________________
N o r t h D a k o t a ______________________
S o u t h D a k o t a ....................................... ..
N e b r a s k a ___________________________
K a n s a s ......... .................................................-

3 1 .5
6 .7
2 .8
1 6 .7
.2
.2
.6
4 .3

3 5 .2
7 .2
3 .2
1 8 .2
.2
.2
.7
5 .5

3 1 .9
7 .0
3 .1
1 8 .2
.2
.3
.7
2 .4

3 9 .0
1 1 .2
3 .5
1 9 .9
.5
.4
1 .1
2 .4

5 2 .2
1 8 .4
4 .8
2 0 .3
1 .9
1 .1
2 .1
3 .6

6 1 .0
2 0 .6
6 .2
2 0 .2
3 .2
2 .1
3 .8
4 .9

7 0 .3
2 1 .4
7 .4
2 4 .2
3 .1
2 .4
4 .8
7 .0

6 5 .6
1 9 .3
7 .0
2 4 .3
2 .4
2 .1
4 .1
6 .4

4 8 .5
1 2 .0
4 .3
2 2 .9
1 .3
1 .1
2 .1
4 .8

3 4 .7
6 .8
2 .9
2 0 .0
.3
.5
1 .0
3 .2

2 8 .4
5 .5
2 .6
1 6 .2
.2
.3
.8
2 .8

2 9 .2
6 .3
3 .5
1 5 .2
.2
.3
.9
2 .8

3 8 .8
8 .3
4 .5
2 0 .0
.3
.4
1 .3
4 .0

6 4 .6
1 7 .3
7 .3
3 1 .9
.3
.5
1 .9
5 .4

S o u t h A t l a n t i c __________________________
D e l a w a r e __________________________
M a r y l a n d ___________________________
D i s t r i c t o f C o l u m b i a ____ _________
V i r g i n i a ____________ _______________
W e s t V i r g i n i a ______________________
N o r t h C a r o l in a ____________________
S o u t h C a r o l in a ......... ............... ................
G e o r g ia ___ __________________ ______
F l o r i d a ______________________________

1 0 7 .0
1 .2
8 .5
1 .5
1 0 .5
1 0 .4
3 1 .0
1 0 .5
1 5 .4
1 8 .0

1 1 2 .7
1 .2
1 0 .7
1 .5
1 2 .7
1 1 .7
3 0 .6
1 1 .0
1 6 .1
1 7 .2

9 8 .0
1 .2
1 1 .0
1 .5
1 2 .5
1 0 .3
2 5 .5
9 .1
1 5 .5
1 1 .4

9 0 .9
1 .1
1 2 .1
1 .7
9 .1
1 0 .6
2 4 .8
8 .0
1 4 .2
9 .3

7 8 .0
1 .0
1 1 .6
2 .1
5 .4
1 1 .0
2 0 .1
7 .1
1 2 .2
7 .5

7 2 .6
1 .1
8 .3
2 .7
6 .6
1 1 .2
1 7 .5
7 .2
1 0 .5
7 ,5

8 3 .5
1 .6
1 1 .2
3 .8
8 .0
1 3 .7
1 7 .7
8 .2
1 1 .5
7 .8

9 4 .3
1 .9
1 3 .2
3 .3
8 .7
1 4 .2
1 8 .0
9 .4
14. 1
1 1 .5

8 5 .5
1 .4
1 1 .2
2 .8
7 .7
1 3 .0
1 6 .8
8 .7
1 2 .9
1 1 .0

7 0 .4
.8
8 .5
2 .7
5 .6
9 .4
1 4 .5
8 .3
9 .7
1 0 .9

6 9 .8
1 .0
7 .7
2 .6
5 .3
1 0 .4
1 2 .6
8 .8
7 .6
1 3 .8

8 5 .3
.9
1 0 .3
3 .0
7 .2
1 3 .4
1 5 .1
9 .6
8 .9
1 6 .9

1 1 3 .0
1 .2
1 6 .1
3 .4
1 3 .7
1 6 .7
1 9 .0
1 1 .4
1 2 .4
1 9 .1

2 2 0 .0
3 .4
3 6 .3
4 .4
2 6 .5
3 0 .9
3 8 .2
2 0 .8
2 8 .1
3 1 .4

E a s t S o u t h C e n t r a l ........................................
K e n t u c k y .................. ...................................
T e n n e s s e e . _________ ________________
A l a b a m a ________ ________________ _
M i s s i s s i p p i _________________________

5 8 .3
1 4 .9
2 2 .7
1 3 .2
7 .5

6 3 .5
1 6 .4
2 5 .5
1 3 .9
7 .7

5 8 .5
1 6 .4
2 2 .0
1 3 .4
6 .7

6 0 .0
1 7 .9
2 2 .6
1 2 .9
6 .6

6 0 .7
1 7 .7
2 2 .4
1 3 .4
7 .2

5 9 .7
1 5 .8
2 1 .8
1 3 .9
8 .2

6 6 .0
1 5 .9
2 5 .0
1 4 .3
1 0 .8

6 5 .0
1 4 .3
2 5 .8
1 5 .1
9 .8

5 7 .5
1 3 .6
2 2 .2
1 3 .8
7 .9

4 6 .6
1 2 .0
1 6 .9
1 2 .3
5 .4

4 2 .9
1 1 .5
1 4 .5
1 2 .1
4 .8

4 8 .9
1 2 .4
1 6 .5
1 4 .2
5 .8

6 2 .1
1 5 .3
2 2 .2
1 6 .9
7 .7

1 1 4 .1
2 7 .6
3 9 .4
3 4 .5
1 2 .6

W e s t S o u t h C e n t r a l . . ...................................
A r k a n s a s . ......................... ............................
L o u i s i a n a _________ __________ _______
O k la h o m a ---------------------------------------T e x a s _________ _________ _____________

3 5 .8
5 .3
1 4 .4
6 .5
9 .6

3 7 .8
5 .4
1 5 .9
6 .8
9 .7

3 8 .0
5 .5
1 5 .6
7 .2
9 .7

4 2 .7
7 .1
1 7 .6
7 .5
1 0 .5

4 7 .1
8 .6
1 8 .4
8 .9
1 1 .2

5 2 .3
9 .5
1 9 .6
1 0 .7
1 2 .5

6 1 .7
1 2 .7
2 2 .4
1 2 .7
1 3 .9

5 4 .0
1 1 .1
1 8 .1
1 1 .1
1 3 .7

4 3 .8
8 .4
1 3 .9
9 .2
1 2 .3

3 6 .0
6 .2
1 1 .7
7 .6
1 0 .5

3 4 .8
5 .2
1 2 .4
7 .0
1 0 .2

4 1 .5
6 .9
1 4 .3
8 .0
1 2 .3

5 2 .1
7 .7
1 8 .1
9 .8
1 6 .5

7 3 .8
1 1 .0
2 4 .3
1 4 .5
2 4 .0

M o u n t a i n . . ...........................................................
M o n t a n a ____________________________
I d a h o ________________________________
W y o m i n g ____ _ ___________________
C o l o r a d o .................. .....................................
N e w M e x i c o ________________
. ..
A r i z o n a ________ _____________________
U t a h . . . ______ _______________________
N e v a d a _____ _______________________

8 .0
.7
.9
.2
1 .1
1 .0
2 .0
1 .5
.6

9 .1
.8
1 .0
.3
1 .4
1 .1
2 .0
1 .8
.7

8 .9
1 .1
.8
.3
1. 5
1 .1
1 .8
1 .6
.7

1 1 .3
2 .0
.9
.4
1 .8
1 .2
2 .1
1 .9
1 .0

1 6 .6
3 .9
1 .9
.8
2 .1
1 .6
2 .3
2 .8
1 .2

2 5 .3
6 .9
4 .4
1 .5
2 .3
2 .1
2 .6
3 .8
1 .7

3 0 .3
7 .3
5 .9
1 .9
3 .1
2 .3
3 .1
4 .7
2 .0

2 8 .6
6 .2
6 .2
1 .6
3 .1
2 .0
3 .2
4 .4
1 .9

1 9 .8
3 .7
4 .3
.9
2 .5
1 .7
2 .8
2 .4
1 .5

1 3 .4
1 .9
2 .0
.4
2 .1
1 .2
2 .6
1 .9
1 .3

1 0 .2
1 .2
.9
.3
1 .7
1 .0
2 .6
1 .5

1 1 .2

1.0

.3
2. 1
1 .2
2 .9
1 .7
1 .0

1 4 .6
1 .4
1 .4
.4
3 .2
1 .6
3 .4
2 .1
1 .1

2 5 .2
2 .1
1 .9
.6
4 .9
2 .7
6 .7
4 .4
1 .9

P a c i f i c ____________________________ _____
W a s h i n g t o n . ....................... .......................
O r e g o n _______________________ _______
C a l i f o r n i a _____________ ____________

8 8 .7
1 0 .3
6 .4
7 2 .0

9 6 .0
9 .3
5 .9
8 0 .8

1 0 1 .1
6 .7
3 .9
9 0 .5

1 1 3 .5
8 .7
5 .0
9 9 .8

1 2 7 .2
1 4 .2
8 .2
1 0 4 .8

1 6 7 .3
2 5 .4
1 8 .3
1 2 3 .6

1 7 9 .6
2 8 .8
1 9 .9
1 3 0 .9

1 9 3 .2
3 1 .2
2 2 .4
1 3 9 .6

1 6 7 .9
2 6 .2
1 7 .9
1 2 3 .8

1 3 3 .8
1 9 .0
1 3 .7
1 0 1 .1

9 8 .8
1 1 .7
7 .6
7 9 .5

1 0 3 .2
1 1 .1
6 .4
8 5 .7

1 2 9 .9
1 3 .2
7 .5
1 0 9 .2

2 7 0 .9
3 1 .4
1 8 .1
2 2 1 .4

1 Prior to A ugust 1950, m on th ly data represent averages of w eeks ended in
specified m onths; for sub seq u en t m on ths, the averages are based on w eekly

data adjusted for sp lit w eeks in the m onth and are not strictly com parable
w ith earlier data. For a technical description of th is series, see th e April
1950 M o n th ly Labor R eview (p. 382).
' Revised.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

a

1.0
1.0

Figures may not add to exact column totals because of rounding.
S ource: U . S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Employment Security.

615

B : LABOR TURN-OVER

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

B : Labor Turn-Over
T able B - l:

Monthly Labor Turn-Over Rates (Per 1 0 0 Employees) in Manufacturing Industries,
Class of Turn-Over 1

C la ss o f t u r n -o v e r a n d y e a r

Jan.

F eb.

M ar.

A p r.

M ay

June

J u ly

A ug.

S ep t.

O ct.

N ov.

by

D ec.

T o t a l se p a r a tio n :
1951
.......................................................
1 9 5 0 ...................................... .................................
1 949____________________________________
1 9 4 8 .______ ___________ ________ - ..............
1 947........................................................................
1 9 4 6 . . . . __________ _______________ _____
1 9 3 9 ................ .....................................................

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

4 .8
3 .1
5 .2
4 .3
5 .4
6 .3
3 .5

4 .3
3 .0
4 .3
4 .5
4 .7
5 .7
3 .3

4 .4
2 .9
3 .8
4 .4
4 .6
5 .8
3 .3

2 5. 2
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
______________________
1 950.................................................. .................. 1 949____________________________________
1 9 4 8 ____________________________________
194 7 ______ __________ __________________
1 9 4 6 ___________________________________
1 9 3 9 3....................................................— ...........

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 .8
1 .6
1 .6
2 .8
3 .5
4 .2
.7

2 .5
1 .7
1 .5
2 .9
3 .1
4 .0
.7

2 .4
1 .8
1 .4
2 .9
3 .1
4 .6
.7

2 3 .1
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
.2
.2

,4

.4
.3
.2

.3
.3
.2

2 .4

.4

.4

.3

.2

.2

.3
.2

.4
.4

.4
.4

.4
.4
.4

.4
.4
.4

.4
.4
.4

.4
.4
.4

.4
.4

.1

.1

.1

.3
.1

.4
.4
.4

.3
.2
.3

.5
.1

.4
.4
.4

.4
.4

.5
.1

.4
.4
.4

.1

.1

.1

.2

.2

.1

L a y - o f f:
1951
.............................................. ..
1 9 5 0 . . . . ______ ___________ ___________ 1 949 .......... ..............— - .....................................
1 948___________________________________
1 9 4 7 ........... .......................- .............................. 1 9 4 6 ................................. .....................................
1 939........................................................................

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 .8
2 .2

1 .0
1 .2
2 .8
1 .2
1 .0
1 .4
2 .6

1 .2
1 .1
3 .3
1 .1
1 .4
1 .5
2 .7

1 .0
.9
2 .5
1 .1
1 .1
1 .2
2 .5

1 .3
.6
2 .1
1 .0
1 .0
.6
2 .5

1 .3
.6
1 .8
1 .2
.8
.7
2 .1

.7
1 .8
1 .0
.9
1 .0
1 .6

.8
2 .3
1 .2
.9
1 .0
1 .8

1 .1
2 .5
1 .4
.8
.7
2 .0

1 .3
2 .0
2 .2
.9
1 .0
2 .7

M is c e l l a n e o u s , i n c l u d i n g m il it a r y :
1951
.............................................. ..
1 950......................................................................
1 949 ____________________ _______________
1 9 4 8 ..................................................................... 1 9 4 7 _____________ _______— .......................
1 946______________ ________ _____________

.7
.1
.1
.1
.1
.2

.6
.1
.1
.1
.1
.2

.5
.1
.1
.1
.1
.2

.5
.1
.1
.1
.1

.4

.4

.1
.1
.1
.1
.2

.1
.1
.1
.1
.2

.4
.2
.1
.1
.1
.2

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

.4

.4

.1
.1
.1
.2

.1
.1
.1
.2

5 .2
3 .6
3 .2
4 .6
6 .0
8 .5
4 .1

4. 5

4 .6
3 .6
3 .0
4 .0
5 .1
7 .1

4 .5
3 .5
2 .9
4 .0
5 .1

4. 5

3.3

6.7
2 .9

6.1
3.3

4 .9
4 .8
4 .4
5 .7
5 .5
6 .7
3 .9

4 .2
4 .7
3 .5
4 .7
4 .9
7 .4
4 .2

2 4. 4
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
5 .5
6 .8
5 .9

D is c h a r g e :
1951
................................................
1 9 5 0 .......................................................................
1 9 4 9 ____________________________________
1 948----------------------- ------------- ---------------1 947................................................................ —
1 9 4 6 ............................................— ................ 1 9 3 9 .......................................................................

T o ta l

accession:
1951
.................................. ............................
1 950......................................................................1 9 4 9 ............................................................. ..
1 948— .................................... ..........................
1 947— ............. .......................................... —

1946.......................................................
1939......................................... ..............................

3 .2
2 .9
3 .9
5 .0
6 .8
3 .1

i M onth-to-m onth changes in total em p loym en t in m anufacturing indus­
tries as indicated b y labor turn-over rates are not com parable w ith the
changes show n by th e B u reau ’s em p loym ent and payroll reports, for the
following reasons:
(1) A ccessions and separations are com puted for th e entire calendar m onth;
the em p loym ent and payroll reports, for the m ost part, refer to a 1-week pay
period ending nearest the 15th of the m onth.
(2) T h e turn-over sam ple is not so large as that of the em ploym ent
and payroll sam ple and includes proportionately fewer sm all plants; certain
industries are not covered. T h e major industries excluded are: printing,
publishing, and allied industries; canning and preserving fruits, vegetables,
and sea foods; w om en ’s, m isses’, and children’s outerwear; and fertilizers.


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

.2

.3
.2
.3

.4
.4

4 .4
3 .5
4 .1
4 .8

.4

.3 ,
.1
.1
.1
.1

4 .0
3 .3
3 .9
4 .8
5 .7
4 .1

•3
.1
.1
.1

.1
3 .0
3 .2
2 .7
3 .6
4 .3

2.8

(3)
P lants are n ot included in the turn-over com p u tation s in m onths when
work stoppages are in progress; the influence of such stoppage is reflected,
how ever, in the em p loym ent and payroll figures. Prior to 1943, rates relate
to production workers only.
3 Prelim inary figures.
s Prior to 1940, m iscellaneous separations were included w ith q uits.
N ote: Inform ation on concepts, m ethodology, and special stud ies, etc., is
given in a “ T echnical N o te on Labor T urn-O ver,” October 1949, w hich is
available upon request to the B ureau of Labor Statistics.

616

B:

LABOR

T U R N -OVER

MONTHLY LABOR

T able B-2: Monthly Labor Turn-Over Rates (Per 100 Employees) in Selected Groups and Industries1
1

S e p a r a t io n
I n d u s tr y g ro u p a n d in d u s tr y

T o ta l
A u g u st
1951

Q u it
J u ly
1951

A u g u st
1951

D is c h a r g e
J u ly
1951

A u gu st
1951

L a y -o ff

J u ly
1951

A u g u st
1951

T o t a l a c c e ssio n

M is e ., in c h
m ilit a r y

J u ly
1951

A u g u st
1951

J u ly
1951

A u gu st
1951

J u ly
1951

Manufacturing
D u r a b l e g o o d s 3_______________________________
N o n d u r a b l e g o o d s 3___________________________

5 .1
5 .5

4 .7
4 .1

O r d n a n c e a n d a c c e s s o r ie s ____________________

3 .0

2 .4

1 .8

1 .5

F o o d a n d k i n d r e d p r o d u c t s .................... ..............
M e a t p r o d u c t s _____ ____________________
G r a i n - m i l l p r o d u c t s . ............... .........................
B a k e r y p r o d u c t s _________________________
B ev era g es:
M a l t l i q u o r s _________________________

6 .4
6 .3
6 .0
5 .6

5 .3
5 .7
5 .0
4 .8

4 .0
2 .9
4 .2
4 .1

8 .0

4 .1

4 .2
4 .1

3 .8
3 .2

3 .2
3 .0

2 .4
2 .2

0 .4

0 .4
.3
.3

2 .8
2 .5
3 .8
3 .1

.6
.5
1 .1

.6
.6
.8
.6

4 .7

1 .9

.9

.6

2 .0

2 .3
1 .4

2 .0
1 .2

.4
.2
.5
.4

.3
.3

.7

T o b a c c o m a n u f a c t u r e s . ____________________
C i g a r e t t e s _________________________________
C ig a r s
____________________ .
T o b a c c o a n d s n u f f ______ _____ __________

3 .5

3 .9

2 .0

1 .6

T e x t i l e - m i l ! p r o d u c t s ___
__________________
Y a r n a n d t h r e a d m i l l s . ________________
B r o a d - w o v e n f a b r ic m i l l s _______________
C o t t o n , s il k , s y n t h e t i c f ib e r _______
W o o l e n a n d w o r s t e d ______________ _
K n i t t i n g m i l l s ____ ______________________
F u l l- f a s h io n e d h o s i e r y ........... ................
S e a m le s s h o s i e r y ____ I . ..................... . .
________________
K n it u n d e r w e a r ..
D y e i n g a n d f in i s h in g t e x t i l e s ___________
C a r p e t s , r u g s , o t h e r flo o r c o v e r i n g s ___

6 .4
7 .8
6 .3
5 .9
1 0 .4
4 .3
4 .4
4 .4
4 .4
5 .6
6 .5

4 .4
4 .6
4 .2
4 .1
4 .2

2 .4
1 .9
2 .6
2 .7
1 .6

3 .8
3 .7
4 .6
3 .1
9 .2

2 .4
2 .8
1 .9
2 .4

1 .9
1 .8
2 .1
2 .2
1 .0
2 .2
2 .0
1 .9
3 .0
1 .0
1 .5

A p p a r e l a n d o th e r fin is h e d te x t ile p r o d u c t s ...
................. ................ ..
..........
M e n ’s a n d b o y s ’ s u i t s a n d c o a t s _______
M e n ’s a n d b o y s ’ f u r n is h i n g s a n d w o r k
c l o t h i n g _____ __________ _________ ____

6 .6
4 .3

2 .8

3 .8
3 .0

3 .4
2 .1

8 .1

1 .1
1 .8

1 .4
1 .2

0 .4
.4

.3

.3

.o

.3

4 .8

3 .1

1 .5
2 .4
.4
.9

1 .6
2 .3

.3
.5
.3
.2

.3
.3
.1
.2

6 .2
6 .3
7 .7
5 .3

7 .1
7 .1
9 .7
5 .8

1 .4

.4

.2

4 .8

6 .9

.8

.5
1 .1

.8
1 .6
.4
1 .0

.9
1 .2
.9
.8

5 .9
4. 9
7 .3
3 .4

5 .7
7. 55. 5
2. 3

3 .2
5 .0
2 .6
2 .2
7 .2
1 .6
1 .7
1 .9
1 .4
3 .0
3 .5

1 .8
2 .0

.5
.7
.7
.7
.8
.1
.1
.2
.5
.4

.5
.6
.7
.6
.7
.1
.1
.2
.2
.5
.4

3 .6
3 9
2
4 .0
6 .1
2. 4
1 .8
2. 2
3. 2
2. 2
2 .5

3 .5
3. 9
3. 6
3 .3
6. 3
3. 9
3. 7
4. 6
3. 6
1 .0
4 .4

2 .3

1 .5
.4

.2
.3

.2
.2

4 .2
3 .0

3 .8
3. 0

.4

.3
.2
.4
.3
.8

.2

1 .1
2 .3
1 .9
1. 6
1 .5
1 .2
1 .5
7 .2

0 .5
.4

4 .6
4 .0

i.

4 .3
4 .0

.2
.1

. 1
,i

.2
.2

.1
.1

.1

.3
.1

3 .4

1 .9

.1

,i

5 .2

3 .7

.3
.2
.4

1 .0
.5
.7

2 .0
.6
1 .5

.3
.2
.3

.4
.9
.2

5. 7
7 .3
6 .1

5 .2
8 .4
5 .7

( 4)

6 .6

4 .3

4 .2

L u m b e r a n d w o o d p r o d u c t s ( e x c e p t fu r n i t u r e ) ____________ ______________________
L o g g i n g c a m p s a n d c o n t r a c t o r s ................
S a w m i l l s a n d p l a n in g m i l l s __________
M illw o r k , p ly w o o d , a n d p r e fa b r ic a te d
str u c tu r a l w o o d p r o d u c ts _

7 .3
9 .1
7 .4

7 .0
7 .5
6 .6

5 .6
7 .8
6 .0

4 .3
5 .8
4 .5

.4
.6
.4

6 .3

5 .9

3 .7

2 .9

.3

.2

1 .8

2 .4

.5

.4

3 .7

2 .3

F u r n i t u r e a n d f i x t u r e s . . . ........................... .........
H o u s e h o l d f u r n i t u r e ____________________
O t h e r f u r n it u r e a n d f ix t u r e s ____

6 .1
6 .4
5 .7

7 .4
8 .5
5 .2

3 .9
4 .0
3 .7

3 .2
3 .2
3 .2

.5
.6
.5

.4
.5
.4

1 .4
1. 6
1 .1

3. 5
4. 5
1 .2

.3
.2
.4

.3
.3
.4

5. 6
5. 7
5. 3

4 .8
4 .6
5 .0

P a p e r a n d a l li e d p r o d u c t s . . .................... .............
P u l p , p a p e r , a n d p a p e r b o a r d m i l l s ____
P a p e r b o a r d c o n t a in e r s a n d b o x e s

4 .2
3 .2
5 .0

3 .5
2 .8
4 .2

2 .7
2 .2
3 .7

2 .1
1 .7
2 .9

.3
.3
.4

.3
.3
.3

.8
.3
.6

.8
.4
.7

.4
.4
.3

.3
.4
.3

3. 4
3 .2
3 .1

3 .1
3 .0
3 .2

C h e m i c a l s a n d a l li e d p r o d u c t s . .
...
I n d u s t r i a l in o r g a n ic c h e m i c a l s ..............
I n d u s t r i a l o r g a n ic c h e m i c a l s _________
S y n t h e t i c f i b e r s . . ..............................
D r u g s a n d m e d i c i n e s _______________ _
P a i n t s , p i g m e n t s , a n d f il le r s ___________

3 .6
3 .4
2 .2
2 .0
2 .3
3 .8

1 .9
3 .1
1 .6
1 .4
1 .6
2 .1

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

1 .2
2 .0
1 .0
.7
1 .2
1 .3

.3
.5
.3
.1
.1
.3

.2
.6
.2
.]
.1
.3

.8
.3
.3
.6
.2
.7

.3
.3
.2
3
.3

.2
.2
.3
5
.1
.3

.2
.2
.2
3
3
.2

2. 7
2. 9
2 .1
2 .1
1 9
1. 7

2. 5
3 .7
2 .2
1 .7
2 .5
2 .5

P r o d u c t s o f p e t r o l e u m a n d c o a l __________
P e t r o l e u m r e f i n i n g _____ _____________

1 .7
.9

1 .3
.8

1 .2
.6

.8
.4

.1

.1

.1
.1

.1
.1

.3
2

3
JS

1 .3
9

1 .4
1 .2

R u b b e r p r o d u c t s ......................................................
T i r e s a n d i n n e r t u b e s ______ ________
R u b b e r f o o t w e a r __________________
O t h e r r u b b e r p r o d u c t s _____________

4 .7
2 .5
6 .2
6 .5

3 .3
2 .0
3 .7
4 .1

3 .3
1 .7
5 .3
4 .4

2. 3
1 .3
2. 7
3 .0

.3
.2
.2
.4

.3
.2
.1
.4

8
.2
3
1 .5

4
.1
6
!5

3
4
4

J2

3
4
_3

3 .9
3 .2
6 .0
4 .1

3 .5
3 .0
3 .7
3 .8

L e a th e r a n d le a th e r p r o d u c ts .
L e a t h e r . ........................... ............................
F o o t w e a r ( e x c e n t r u b b e r l ........

6 .1
8 .2
6 .2

4 .3
5 .7
4 .0

3 .4
1. 9
3 .8

2 .7
2 1
2. 7

.3
.1
.3

2
.2

1 .9
5 .9
1 .4

1 .0
3 .1
7

5
3
7

4
3
4

3 .3
2 .5
3 .7

3 .7
3 .1
4 .1

S t o n e , c l a y , a n d g l a s s p r o d u c t s ....................
G la s s a n d g la s s p r o d u c t s _________
C e m e n t , h y d r a u l i c .......... .........................
S t r u c t u r a l c la y p r o d u c t s ______
P o t t e r y a n d r e la t e d p r o d u c t s ............

4 .5
5 .5
3 .5
5 .0
3 .8

3 .6
4 .3
2. 9
4 .3
4 .1

2. 7
2. 4
2 .8
3. 5
2. 4

2 .1
1 .8
2 .1
S 1
2 .0

.3
.3
4
.5
.3

3
3
4
.4
4

1 .2
2 .4
(4)

9
1 .8
.1
5
2

3
4
3
2
2

3
4
3
3
5

3 .4
3 .8
3 .4
4 .3
2 .8

3 .6
4 .0
3 .5
4 .9
2 .5

P r i m a r y m e t a l i n d u s t r i e s .........................
B l a s t f u r n a c e s , s t e e l w o r k s , a n d r o ll i n g
m i l l s ________ __________ .
I r o n a n d s t e e l f o u n d r i e s ........ ...........
G r a y - i r o n f o u n d r i e s . . .........................
M a ll e a b l e - i r o n f o u n d r i e s
S t e e l f o u n d r i e s ____________
P r im a r y s m e ltin g a n d r e fin in g o f n o n ferro u s m e ta ls:
P r im a r y s m e ltin g a n d r e fin in g o f
c o p p e r , l e a d , a n d z in c . . . . . .
R o llin g , d r a w in g , a n d a llo y in g o f n o n ferro u s m e ta ls:
R o l l in g , d r a w i n g , a n d a l l o y i n g o f
c o p p e r ____________________________
N o n f e r r o u s f o u n d r i e s ______
O th e r p r im a r y m e ta l in d u s tr ie s :
I r o n a n d s t e e l f o r g i n g s ................ ...........

4 .3

3 .3

3 .0

2 .2

,4

3 .7

3 .5

3 .5
6 .6
6 .3
7 .3
6 .5

2.

2
5. 2
6 .3
5 .0

2 .7
4
3 .8
5. 8
5 .1

1 .9
3 .6
3 .1
4 .5
3 .8

_2
.8
6
.8
1 .0

6
J5
6
.8

1 .5

6 .0
5 .1
6 .3

5 .5
4 .3
7 .0
6 .2

3 .4

2 .7

2 .4

1 .6

.2

J2,

.6

2 .1
6 .9

1. 9
5 .3

1 .1
3 .6

1 .2
2 .6

7

4 .5

3 .8

3 .1

2 .6

.6

See footnote at end of table.

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

5.

5

5

0

«

9

(4)

1.

3
.1

.4

9
1. 3
7

4
4
5

.3
.3

.2

.5

2 .2

2 .7

.1
1 .2

.3
.4

.5
.9

1 .6

2 .2

1 .6
3 .6

.5

.4

.3

.4

4 .7

3 .4

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

B: LABOR

T U R N -O V E R

617

T able B-2: Monthly Labor Turn-Over Rates (Per 100 Employees) in Selected Groups and Indus­
tries 1—Continued
S e p a r a t io n
T o t a l i c c e s s io n
T o ta l

I n d u s tr y g r o u p a n d in d u s tr y
A ug.
1951

Q u it

J u ly
1951

A ug.
1951

D is c h a r g e

J u ly
1951

A ug.
1951

M is e ., in c h
m ilit a r y

L a y -o ff

J u ly
1951

A ug.
1951

J u ly
1951

A ug.
1951

J u ly
1951

A ug.
1951

J u ly
195Ì

Manufacturing—C ontinued
Fabricated m etal products (except ord­
nance, m achinery, an d transportation
eq u ip m en t)_____ __________ ____________
C utlery, hand tools, and hardw are-” !
C utlery and edge tools............._.......
H and tools.............................................
H ardw are________________________
H eating apparatus (except electric)
and plum bers’ s u p p lie s ......................
Sanitary w are and plum bers’
su p p lies................................................
Oil burners, n onelectric heating
and cooking apparatus, not
elsewhere classified................... ..
Fabricated structural m etal p rod u cts..
M etal stam ping, coating, and en­
graving____________________________
M achinery (except electrical).........................
E ngines and turbines.................................
A gricultural m achinery and tr a c to r s..
C onstruction and m ining m a ch in er y ..
M etalw orking m achinery......... ...............
M achine tools.......................................
M etalw orking m achinery (except
m achine t o o l s ) ..._____ ________
M achine-tool accessories....... ......... ..
Special-industry m achinery m etal­
working m achinery_________________
General industrial m ach in ery________
Office and store m achines and d e v ic e s ..
Service-industry and household m a­
ch in es_________________ ____ ______
M iscellaneous m achinery p arts_______
Electrical m achinery_____________________
E lectrical generating, transm ission,
d istribution, and industrial appa­
ratu s................................... .........................
C om m unication eq u ip m en t-...............II
R adios, phonographs, television
sets, and e q u ip m e n t......................
T elephone and telegraph eq u ip ­
m en t_______ __________ _____ _
E lectrical appliances, lam ps, and
m iscellaneous products_____________
Transportation eq u ip m en t_______________
A utom ob iles_________________ ______ _
Aircraft and p arts____________________
Aircraft_______ ____ _____________
Aircraft engines and parts________
Aircraft propellers and parts_____
Other aircraft parts and eq u ip ­
m e n t . . ................................................
Ship and boat building and rep airin g..
Railroad eq u ip m en t......... ................. ........
L ocom otives and p arts___________
R ailroad and street cars__________
Other transportation eq u ip m en t_____
Instrum ents and related products________
Photographic apparatus______________
W atches and clocks______ ____________
Professional and scientific instru­
m en ts______________________________

6 .4
5 .7
3 .8
4 .0
7 .0

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

3 .4
3 .5
2 .0
2 .6
4 .3

2 .8
2 .5
1 .9
1 .9
3 .0

0 .6
.5
.1
.4
.6

0 .4
.4
.2
.3
.4

2 .1
1 .4
1 .6
.6
1 .7

1 .9
.7
.4
.7
.8

0 .3
.3
.1
.4
.4

0 .5
.4
.3
.4
.3

5 .1
4 .1
2 .9
3 .4
4 .7

4 .5
3 .5
2 .4
1 .9
4 .2

6 .1

4 .8

3 .7

2 .8

.5

.5

1 .7

1 .2

.2

.3

4 .5

4 .6

6 .6

4 .1

3 .2

2 .7

.5

.5

2 .7

.7

.2

.2

2 .9

4 .1

6 .5
6 .9

5 .8
5 .4

4 .2
4 .2

2 .9
3 .6

.5
.9

.5
.5

1 .6
1 .6

1 .9
.8

.2
.2

.5
.5

5 .9
7 .0

5 .2
5 .7

9 .0

.9 5

2 .7

2 .8

.4

.4

5 .5

5 .7

.4

.6

4 .7

4 .3

4 .3
4 .4

2 .8
3 .0

.3
.2
.3

.4
.6
.5
.2
.3
.3

3 .8
4 .2

.1
.3
.1

.6
.3
.5
.1
.4
.1

.4
.4

.7
.5
.4

.5
.4
.4
.6
.5
.6

.7
.5

3 .4
3 .3
3 .3

2 .1
2 .2
2 .2
2 .6
2 .3
2 .4

.4
.5

4 .5
4 .3
4 .1

3 .6
3 .5
3 .6
3 .5
3 .5
3 .4

4 .9
4 .6
4 .7

3 .6
4 .3
3 .0
4 .4
4 .0
4 .5

3 .5
5 .8

2 .9
4 .0

2 .8
3 .8

1 .9
2 .6

.5
.7

.4
.6

0
1.1

.4
.6

.2
.2

.2
.2

3 .7
5 .4

2 .7
4 .1

4 .2
4 .1
2 .7

3 .9
3 .2
2 .5

2 .7
2 .9
1 .9

2 .2
2 .0
1 .7

.4
.6
.2

.4
.5
.2

.8
.3
.2

1 .0
.4
.1

.3
.3
.4

.3
.3
.5

3 .3
3 .9
2 .7

3 .5
4 .0
2 .4

0

0

0

0

0

0

4 .7
4 .4

4 .0
4 .0

1 .8
2 .9

1 .2
2 .3

.2
.6

.3
.6

1 .8
.3

2 .1
.6

.9
.6

.4
.5

2 .9
4 .3

2 .5
4 .3

4 .4

3 .4

2 .7

1 .7

.3

.3

1 .0

.9

.4

.5

4 .0

3 .6

3 .7
4 .8

2 .5
4 .6

2 .4
3 .1

1 .4
2 .2

.3
.2

.2
.3

.6
1 .0

.4
1 .4

.4
.5

.5
.7

3 .3
4 .6

3 .6
3 .8

5 .4

6 .3

2 .6

2 .3

.2

.5

.5

1 .0

4 .6

4 .3

2 .9

1 .5

2 .3

1 .1

.1

.1

.5

.3

3 .9

2 .8

2 .1
0

2 .5
0

5 .0

3 .6

2 .4

1 .9

.2

.2

2 .0

1 .1

.4

.4

3 .2

2 .9

5 .8
5 .5
4 .7
5 .0
2 .7
2 .6

6 .6
7 .7
4 .0
4 .1
3 .4
2 .8

3 .2
2 .3
3 .9
4 .2
2 .1
1 .7

2 .5
2 .0
3 .0
3 .1
2 .5
1 .7

.5
.4
.4
.4
.5
.4

.4
.3
.4
.4
.5
.4

1 .2
1 .5

2 .9
4 .4

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

.8
1 .0
.6
.6
.3
.6

6 .3
4 .5
6 .8
6 .7
4 .5
4 .5

6 .2
3 .8
7 .8
7 .8
7 .6
5 .6

( 5)
( 5)
4 .2
3 .1
5 .1
3 .0

3 .9
9 .9
3 .7
2 .1
6 .9
1 .6

2 .8
2 .9
2 .7
1 .7

2 .5
4 .7
1 .7
1 .3
2 .4
.9

.8
.1
1 .4
.3

.7
.2
.9
.6
1 .5
.5

8 .8
6 .3
1 1 .2
4 .9

9 .5
1 7 .6
6 .3
4 .5
9 .7
1 .9

2 .5
1 .1
3 .3

2 .4
1 .2
2 .2

1 .6
.8
1 .9

1 .4
.9
1 .6

.4
.2
.3

.2
.2
.2

3 .1
1 .3
3 .0

3 .4
3 .4
2 .4

M iscellaneous m anufacturing industries__
Jew elry, silverw are, and plated w a r e ..

0
0

0

.5
.7
.2
.1
.4

( 6)

.2
.1
.1
.1
0
.2

0
0
0

2 .9

3 .1

1 .8

1 .6

2

5 .9
4 .3

4 .3
2 .5

3 .4
2 .5

2 .1
1 .4

.4
.2

5 .2
2 .9
5 .8
5 .6

5 .5
2 .4
5 .1
5 .1

4 .4
2 .3
5 .3
4 .1

4 .3
1 .7
4 .7
4 .2

.2
.2
.2
.3

.6
.2
.2
.3

1 .9

2 .2

1 .4

1 .6

2 .5

2 .8

1 .7

1 .9

.8
.9

.2
4 .3
.9
.1
2 .6
.2

.4
. 1
.9

.6
.1
.3

0
0

0

J2

.1
.4
.3
.1

.1
.1

.1

0

0

0
0

.4

0
0

0
0

.4

.9

.5

.2

4 .1

3 .9

1 .7
1 .2

1 .3
.6

.4
.4

.6
.4

4 .7
2 .5

3 .4
2 .3

.3
.1
.1
1 .0

.2
.1

.3
.3
.2
.2

.4
.4
.2
.3

4 .8
2 .7
4 .1
6 .0

5 .1
2 .6
4 .2
4 .8

Nonmanufacturing
M e ta l m in in g____________________________
Iro n _________________________________
C o p p e r ............................................................
L ead and zin c________________________
A nth racite m in in g_______________________
B itum inous-coal m in in g ......................... .........
C om m unication:
T elep h o n e............. ............................. ...........
T elegraph............................................... .......

0
0

2 .3
1 .8

«
0

1 S e e f o o t n o t e 1, t a b l e B - l . D a t a fo r t h e c u r r e n t m o n t h a r e s u b j e c t
t o r e v is i o n w i t h o u t n o t a t i o n ; r e v i s e d fig u r e s for e a r lie r m o n t h s w i l l b e
in d ic a t e d b y fo o tn o te s.


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

1 .9
1 .3

2

0

.1

0
.1

0
«

.1
0

0
0

0
.3

.3

.4

.2

.2

2 .2

1 .6

.5

.6

.2

.2

2 .4

2 .2

.1
.3

0
0

S e e f o o tn o t e 2, t a b le A - 2 .
a S e e f o o tn o t e 3, t a b le A - 2 . P r in t in g , p u b lis h in g ,
a n d a l li e d i n d u s t r i e s a r e e x c l u d e d .

.2
.2

4

0
0

L e s s t h a n 0 05
* N o t a v a ila b le !

3 .6
2 .8

MONTHLY LABOR

C: E A R N IN G S A N D H O U R S

618

C : Earnings and Hours
T able C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees 1
M ining
Coal

M etal

A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

40.9 $1. 505 $58.91
42.2 1.554 61.96

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
h rly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

39.7 $1.484 $63.96
40.9 1.515 72.05

45.0

1.601

66.64

41.4 $1. 565 $56. 78
41.6 1.602 63. 24

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
h rly.
earn­
ings

42.3 $1. 512 $64. 79

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

B itu m in ou s

A nthracite

L ead and zinc

Copper

Iron

T otal: M etal

Y ear and m onth

A vg.
h rly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

30.2 $1.880 $63. 28
1.970 70. 35
32.1

32.6
35.0

$1,941
2.010

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

1949: A verage----1950: A verage-----

$61.55
65.58

1950: A ugu st-----Septem ber.
O ctober___
N o v em b er.
D e cem b er ..

64.48
66.38
69.84
69.92
73. 53

41.9
42.2
43.9
43.0
43.9

1.539
1.573
1.591
1.626
1.675

60.97
62.80
66. 53
63.77
70. 51

40.7
41.1
43.4
41.6
42.3

1.498
1.528
1.533
1.533
1.667

71.53
72.46
75.68
78.78
79. 82

44.9
45.2
46.4
46.1
47.2

1.593
1.603
1.631
1.709
1.691

64.73
68. 06
71.95
73. 01
75.34

41.1
41.2
42.8
42.3
43.2

1.575
1.652
1.681
1. 726
1.744

65. 77
68. 45
75.59
60. 85
65.14

33.2
34.5
37.2
31.0
32.8

1.981
1.984
2.032
1.963
1.986

71.04
71.92
72.99
73. 27
77. 77

35.5
35.5
36.1
36.4
38.5

2.001
2.026
2.022
2.013
2.020

1951: January-----F e b r u a r y ...

74.33
73. 46
72.83
74.62
74.96
70. 89
72. 06
76.37

43.7
43.7
43.3
44.0
44.2
41.8
41.8
45.0

1.701
1.681
1.682
1.696
1.696
1.696
1.724
1.697

70.31
70. 98
69. 22
73.31
75. 48
65.19
67.93
78.66

41.8
42.5
41.3
43.2
44.4
38.3
39.4
46.0

1.682
1.670
1.676
1.697
1.700
1.702
1.724
1.710

82. 21
78. 49
77.89
76.82
76.00
75.36
74.53
75.56

47.3
46.5

1.738
1.688
1.675
1.670
1.663
1.660
1.690
1.657

75.34
74.17
74. 30
77.96
76.23
76.20
76.89
76.56

43.1
42.8
43.0
43.7
42.9
43.2
43.1
43.6

1.748
1.733
1.728
1.784
1.777
1.764
1.784
1.756

71.33
66. 65
50.68
47.20
66.67
68.94
79.51
58.36

35.9
30.2
23.1
21.6
30.1
31.0
35.4
26.3

1.987
2. 207
2.194
2.185
2. 215
2. 224
2.246
2. 219

76. 63
75. 67
74. 66
75. 63
73.86
77.67
72.39
75. 60

37.6
34.1
33.6
33.9
33.3
34.8
32.1
34.1

2.038
2.219
2.222
2.231
2.218
2.232
2. 255
2. 217

M a r c h _____

A pril---------M a y ______
J u n e.............
J u l y . ...........
A u g u st____

46.5
46.0
45.7
45.4
44.1
45.6

Contract construction

M ining— C ontinued
Crude petroleum and
natural gas production
Petroleum and
natural gas production
(except contract
services)

N onb u ild in g construction
N onm etallic m ining
and quarrying

T otal:
T otal: N o n b u ilding
construction

40.2 $1. 778 $56.38
40.6 1.815 59.88

43.3 $1.302 $70.81
44.0 1.361 73. 73

37.8 $1.874 $70. 44
37.2 1.982 73.46

H ig h w a y and street

40.9 $1,723 $65.65
40.9 1.796 69.17

41.5 $1,583 $73. 66
41.1 1.683 76. 31

40.5
40.7

$1.820
1.875

1.679
1.707
1.713
1.721
1.746

78. 33
79. 72
80.92
78. 59
79. 46

41.6
41.5
42.3
40.7
40.5

1.883
1.921
1.913
1.931
1.962

1.735
1. 765
1.769
1.768
1.785
1.812
1.833
1.864

79.80
75. 80
78. 25
82. 65
85.16
85.98
89.55
90.01

40.2
37.9
38.7
40. 2
41.3
41.0
42.3
42.1

1949: A verage----1950: A verage-----

$71.48
73.69

1950: A u gu st........
Septem ber.
O ctober___
N ovem b er .
D e c e m b e r ..

71.01
73.47
77.67
76.21
75.58

40.3
40.5
41.4
40.6
40.2

1.762
1.814
1.876
1.877
1.880

61.74
62. 51
64.03
63. 31
62.12

45.2
45.1
45.8
44.9
43.5

1.366
1.386
1.398
1.410
1.428

75.96
75.89
77.92
77. 52
77. 36

38.6
37.7
38.5
38.0
37.3

1.968
2.013
2.024
2.040
2.074

76. 48
75. 86
77.65
75. 42
75.58

42.7
41.5
42.5
40.9
40.2

1.791
1.828
1.827
1.844
1.880

73.88
70.84
73.32
70.91
69. 49

44.0
41.5
42.8
41.2
39.8

1951: January----F e b r u a r y ...
M arch ____
A pril______
M a y ............
J u n e______
J u l y . . .........
A u g u st------

76. 90
77.15
76.69
80.30
78.30
78.74
83.30
78.07

40.6
40.5
40.6
41.2
40.4
40.4
42.2
40.2

1.894
1.905
1.889
1.949
1.938
1.949
1.974
1.942

61.96
60. 77
63.74
65. 88
67. 22
67.82
68. 55
69.94

43.3
42.0
43.6
45.0
45.7
45.7
45.7
46.5

1.431
1.447
1.462
1.464
1.471
1.484
1.500
1.504

77.61
75.47
76. 99
79.36
81.62
82.41
83.85
85. 08

37.1
35.7
36.3
37.4
38.3
38.4
39.0
39.1

2.092
2.114
2.121

74.70
72. 20
74.19
78. 26
81.26
81.48
85.61
86.28

39.4
37.7
38.5
40.3
41.8
41.3
43.0
42.8

1.896
1.915
1.927
1.942
1.944
1.973
1.991
2. 016

66.10
65. 83
67. 40
71.43
75.68
75.56
80.29
81.46

38.1
37.3
38.1
40.4
42.4
41.7
43.8
43.7

2 .122

2.131
2.146
2.150
2.176

Other nonbuilding
construction

1.985

2.000

2.022

2.056
2.062
2.097
2.117
2.138

Contract construction—C ontinued
B u ild ing construction
Special-trade contractors
Total: B u ild ing con­
struction

General contractors
T otal: Special-trade
contractors

36.7 $1,935 $67.16
36.3 2.031 68. 56

36.2 $1.855 $75.70
35.8 1.915 77. 77

P lum b in g and heating

37.2 $2.034 $78.60
36.7 2.119 81.72

P a in tin g and
decorating

38.6 $2.037 $70. 75
38.4 2.128 71.26

35.7 $1.982 $86. 57
35.4 2.013 89.16

39.2
38. 4

$2.211
2. 322

2.020
2.036
2.082
2.070
2.078

89.16
92.38
94.04
95.01
96. 44

38.7
38. 7
39.2
39.1
39.9

2.304
2.387
2. 399
2. 430
2. 417

2.114
2.131
2.128
2.144
2.165
2.171
2.170
2. 213

98. 77
97. 42
98. 74
98.72
102.12
103. 70
103. 28
105.04

39.7
39.0
39.4
39.6
40.3
40. 7
40. 5
41.0

2.488
2. 498
2. 506
2.493
2. 534
2.548
2. 550
2. 562

1949: A verage___
1950: A verage—

$70.95
73. 73

1950: A ugu st-----S ep tem b er.
O ctober___
N o v em b er.
D e c e m b e r ..

75.99
75. 86
77.87
78.07
77. 80

37.6
36.7
37.4
37.3
36.7

2.021
2.067
2.082
2.093
2.120

70.87
70.73
72. 71
72.94
71.69

37.2
36.2
37.0
36.8
35.7

1.905
1.954
1.965
1.982
2.008

79.72
79.62
81.95
82. 00
82. 24

37.8
37.0
37.8
37.7
37.4

2.109
2.152
2.168
2.175
2.199

81.56
83.67
84. 65
85.08
86. 53

38.6
38.4
38.9
39.1
39.1

2.113
2.179
2.176
2.176
2. 213

73.33
72.89
76.62
74.93
74.60

36.3
35.8
36.8
36.2
35.9

1951: January----F e b r u a r y ...
M arch ____
A pril---------M a y ______
J u n e______
J u ly ---------A u g u st........

78. 35
76.14
77.44
79.75
81.83
82. 71
83.41
84.62

36.7
35.3
35.8
36.8
37.5
37.7
38.0
38.1

2.135
2.157
2.163
2.167
2.182
2.194
2.195
2. 221

72.56
68. 75
69.93
72.97
75.24
75.28
75. 87
77.73

36.1
34.0
34.5
36.0
36.9
36.9
37.1
37.3

2.010
2.022
2.027
2.027
2.039
2.040
2.045
2.084

82.51
81.49
82. 95
84.48
86.60
88.32
88. 93
90.05

37.1
36.3
36.8
37.3
37.9
38.3
38.6
38.8

2.224
2. 245
2.254
2. 265
2.285
2.306
2.304
2.321

86.60
85. 99
88.93
89.05
91.80
92.11
92.47
93.26

38.8
38.1
38.9
38.8
39.4
39.5
39.6
39.4

2.232
2. 257
2.286
2. 295
2.330
2.332
2.335
2.367

74. 41
75.44
74. 91
77. 40
79.24
79.68
79.42
80.55

35.2
35.4
35.2
36.1
36.6
36.7
36.6
36.4

See footnotes a t end of table.


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

Electrical work

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

T a ble

G: E A R N IN G S A N D H O U R S

619

C 1: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees 1—Con.
Contract construction—Continued
Building construction—Continued
Special-trade contractors—Continued

Y ear and m onth
Other special-trade
contractors
A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings
1949: A v e r a g e ...
1950: A verage__

$71.39
74.71

1950: A u g u st___
Septem ber.
O ctober___
N o v em b er.
D ecem ber..
1951: Jan uary___
F eb ru a ry ..
M a rch ____
A pril______
M a y . . ____
J u n e.............
J u ly .............
A u g u st____

A vg.
w k ly.
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Plastering and lath ­
ing

M asonry

A vg.
w k ly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly.
hours

A vg.
h rly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w kly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Carpentry
A vg.
w k ly .

earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .

hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

R oofing and sheetm etal work
A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

E xcavation and foun­
dation work
A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

36.1 $1. 979 $68.72
35.8 2.087 70.85

33.8 $2. 033 $80. 39
33.9 2.090 86.70

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

78. 57
76. 59
79.06
79.07
78.23

37.7
36.3
37.1
37.0
36.2

2.084
2.110
2.131
2.137
2.161

76. 50
71.88
77. 36
80.53
72.06

36.0
33.2
35.6
37.3
33.3

2.125
2.165
2.173
2.159
2.164

93.11
92. 89
93.07
87.49
93.14

36.4
36.6
36.2
34.9
35.7

2. 558
2. 538
2.571
2.507
2.609

70. 50
71.17
71.17
72.80
70.92

38.4
38.2
37.4
37.8
35.8

1.836
1.863
1. 903
1.926
1.981

68. 50
65. 99
68.19
67.64
66.36

37.7
36.2
36.8
36.6
35.6

1.817
1.823
1.853
1.848
1.864

77. 26
75. 01
78. 40
79. 97
80.39

40.6
38.0
38.6
38.3
38.5

1.903
1.974
2.031
2.088
2.088

77.87
76.32
78.10
80. 84
82. 29
85.28
86. 63
87.35

35.9
34.8
35.5
36.4
36.9
37.6
38.3
38.6

2.169
2. 193
2.200
2.221
2.230
2. 268
2. 262
2. 263

75.19
66. 22
73.01
77.50
78.83
77.23
85.16
83.93

34.3
30.5
33.4
35.1
35.7
34.4
37.8
37.3

2.192
2.171
2.186
2.208
2.208
2.245
2. 253
2. 250

87.89
90. 88
89.44
92.87
93.31
92.10
91.48
92.07

34.4
34.9
34.4
35.8
36.0
35.6
36.0
36.8

2.555
2. 604
2.600
2.594
2.592
2.587
2. 541
2.502

71. 71
64.98
64.52
70.85
72.16
73.70
73.51
72.59

36.2
32.8
32.9
35.8
36.5
37.0
36.5
36.7

1.981
1.981
1.961
1.979
1.977
1.992
2.014
1.978

66. 65
64. 58
65. 25
68.95
71.14
71.11
73. 60
73.33

35.3
33.9
34.0
35.8
36.9
36.6
37.9
37.7

1.888
1. 905
1.919
1.926
1.928
1.943
1.942
1.945

81.37
81.28
77.88
78.19
82.23
80. 80
83.44
88.20

38.6
37.2
36.6
37.9
39.9
39.3
40.7
41.9

2.108
2.185
2.128
2.063
2.061
2. 056
2.050
2.105

M anufacturing
Food and kindred products
Total: M anufa cturing

1949: Average_____ $54. 92

D urable goods *

N ondurable goods *

T otal: Ordnance and
accessories

T otal: Food and k in ­
dred products

M eat products

1950: A verage_____

59.33

39.2 $1.401 $58.03
40.5 1.465 63.32

39.5 $1. 469 $51.41
41.2 1.537 54.71

38.8 $1. 325 $58. 76
39.7 1.378 64. 79

40.0 $1. 469 $53. 58
41.8 1.550 56.07

41.5 $1. 291 $57. 44
41.5 1.351 60.07

41.5
41.6

$1.384
1.444

1950: A u g u st______

60.32
60. 64
61. 99
62. 23
63.88

41.2
41. 0
41.3
41.1
41.4

1.464
1.479
1. 501
1. 614
1.543

64. 33
65.14
66. 39
66.34
68.32

41.8
41.7
42.1
41.8
42.2

1. 539
1.562
1.577
1.587
1.619

55.65
55.30
56.58
57.19
58.44

40.5
40.1
40.3
40.3
40.5

1.374
1.379
1.404
1.419
1.443

66.12
67.41
68. 64
70.53
68.34

42.6
43.1
43. 2
43.4
42.5

1.552
1. 564
1. 589
1.625
1.608

56.19
56. 36
56.83
58.07
59.85

41.6

41.9
42.0

63.76
63. 84
64. 57
64. 70
64. 55
65. 08
64.32
64.56

41.0
40.9
41.1
41.0
40.7
40.7
40. 2
40.4

1.555
1. 561
1.571
1.578
1.586
1.599
1.600
1.598

67. 65
68. 18
69.30
69. 68
69.60
70. 27
69.04
69. 76

41.5
41.6
41.9
42.0
41.8
41.8
41.0
41.4

1.630
1.639
1.654
1.659
1.665
1.681
1.684
1.685

58.53
58.32
58.40
58.16
57.93
58. 47
58.56
57. 99

40.2
40.0
40.0
39.7
39.3
39.4
39.3
39.1

1.456 69.55
1.458 70. 92
1.460 72. 71
1.465 70.97
1.474 72. 45
1.484 71.02
1.490 73.36
1.483 72.66

42.0
42. 7
43.1
42.7
43.2
42.4
43.1
43.2

1.656
1. 661
1. 687
1.662
1.677
1. 675
1.702
1.682

60.11
59.04
59.12
59. 66
60.40
61.80
61.36
61.13

S e p t e m b e r ___

O ctober______
D ecem b er___
1951: Jan uary_____
F eb ru ary____
M a rch _______
A p r i l __________

M a y ....... ......... .
J u n e_________
J u ly ............. ..
A u g u st_______

41.9
42.3

1.341
1.342
1.366
1.386
1.415

57. 92
62.59
61. 24
65. 49
69.92

40.7
41.7
40.8
43.4
45.2

1.423
1.501
1.501
1.509
1.547

41.8
41.0
41.0
41.2
41.6
41.9
42.0
41.9

1.438
1.440
1.442
1.448
1.452
1.475
1.461
1.459

65.83
60. 25
61.92
62.91
63.90
67. 88
68. 47
67.86

42.8
39.9
40.6
41.2
41.6
41.8
41.8
41.3

1.538
1. 510
1.525
1.527
1.536
1.624
1.638
1.643

Manufacturing—Continued
Food and kindred products—C ontinued
M eat packing

Sausages and casings

D airy products

Condensed and ev a p ­
orated m ilk

Ice cream and ices

C anning and preserv­
ing

1949: A verage______ $58. 02
1950: A verage______ 60.94

41.5 $1.398 $57.44
41.6 1.465 60.80

41.9 $1.371 $54.61
42.4 1.434 56.11

44.8 $1.219 $56.13
44.5 1.261 57.36

45.3 $1. 239 $55. 00
45.6 1.258 57. 29

44.9 $1. 225 $43. 77
44.1
1.299 46.81

38. 8
39.3

1960: A u g u st_______
Sep tem b er___
O ctober______
N o v em b er___
D ecem b er____

58.48
63. 77
62. 23
66. 55
71.48

40.5
41. 6
40. 7
43. 3
45.5

1.444
1. 533
1. 529
1. 537
1.571

60.69
62.45
60.78
65. 58
67.23

42.8
42.8
41.4
43.2
43.8

1.418
1.459
1.468
1. 518
1.535

56.57
56.81
56. 74
56. 62
57.68

45.0
44.7
44.5
44.1
44.3

1.257
1.271
1.275
1.284
1.302

58.16
58. 59
57.58
57. 91
58.90

46.6
46.1
45.7
45.1
45.2

1.248
1.271
1.260
1.284
1.303

57.50
58. 43
58. 74
58. 76
60.79

44. 2
44. 2
44.1
43. 4
44.5

1. 301
1.322
1.332
1.354
1.366

47. 91
47.18
49. 05
48 06
46.82

40 0
41 1

40 5
38. 6
37.4

1951: January______ 66. 95
F ebruary_____ 61.21
M a rch _______ 63. 01
A p ril_________ 63. 91
M a y ............... .. 65.03
J u n e .................. 69. 47
J u ly .............. .. 69. 93
A u g u s t............. 69.76

43.0
39.9
40. 6
41.1
41.5
41. 7
41. 7
41. 5

1.557
1. 534
1. 552
1. 555
1.567
1. 666
1.677
1. 681

65.84
61.04
64. 37
64.17
64.17
66. 51
67.35
67.36

42.7
40.0
42.1
41.4
41.4
42. 2
42.9
42.5

1.542
1.526
1.529
1.550
1.550
1.576
1.570
1.585

59.09
59.45
59.98
59.67
60. 52
61.11
62.24
60. 89

44.1
44.1
44.4
44.3
45.1
45.4
45.6
45.0

1.340
1.348
1.351
1.347
1.342
1.346
1.365
1.353

60. 89
61.56
63. 75
62.56
64.34
64. 26
65. 75
63. 84

45.0
45.1
46.5
45.9
47.0
46.8
46.8
46.7

1.353
1.365
1.371
1.363
1.369
1.373
1.405
1.367

61.82
62.01
61.66
61.66
61.27
61.46
63.57
62. 51

44.8
44. 2
44.2
44.2
44.4
44.6
45.8
45.1

1.380
1. 403
1.395
1.395
1.380
1.378
1.388
1.386

49. 41
48. 84
48. 64
50.39
48. 88
49. 25
48. 64
52.90

38. 3
37 8
37 5
38. 7
38 1
38. 6
40 0
41.2

See footnotes at end of table.


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

$1 128

1.191
1
1
1
1

180
148
211
24

1.252
1 290
1 999
1 297
1.302
1 283

270

1
1 210
1.284

MONTHLY LABOR

C: EARNINGS AND HOURS

620

T a ble C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees

Con.

Manufacturing—Continued
Food and kindred products—Continued
Year and month

Grain-mill products
Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
earn­ hours
ings

Flour and other
grain-mill products

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ hours
ings
ings

43.8 $1,300 $58.91
43.3 1.363 60.95

Prepared feeds

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ hours
ings
ings

44.7 $1,318 $54.98
44.1 1.382 57.21

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. w kly.
earn­ earn­ hours
ings
ings

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ hours
ings
ings

41.7 $1.239 $56.01
41.5 1.290 59.94

46.2 $1,190 $51.67
45.3 1.263 53.54

Cane-sugar refining

Sugar

Bakery products

1949: Average____
1950: Average........

$56. 94
59.02

1950: August..........
Septem ber..
October........
N ovem ber..
D ecem ber...

63. 65
61.34
59.97
59. 78
63.60

45.4
44.0
43.3
42.7
44.2

1.402
1.394
1.385
1.400
1.439

67.35
64.66
60.85
61.42
66.55

46.8
45.5
43.4
43.5
45.8

1.439
1.421
1.402
1.412
1.453

57.62
59.14
59.89
59.00
61.10

45.3
45.7
46.0
44.7
45.6

1.272
1.294
1.302
1.320
1.340

64.34
53.85
54.19
54.47
55.04

41.8
41.2
41.4
41.3
41.6

1.300
1.307
1.309
1.319
1.323

64.64
63.54
56.90
61.10
63.43

1951: January____
February__
M arch_____
A pril.............
M a y _______
June_______
July_______
August____

64.92
63. 58
62. 71
63.16
64. 75
65.13
67.96
67.62

44.8
43.7
43.1
43.5
44.5
44.4
45.7
45.2

1.449
1.455
1.455
1.452
1.455
1.467
1.487
1.496

68.02
65.03
62.88
62. 57
63.36
64.00
68.40
69. 39

46.4
45.0
44.0
44.0
44.4
44.6
46.5
46.6

1.466
1.445
1.429
1.422
1.427
1.435
1.471
1.489

61.42
59. 98
59.83
62.10
64.36
66.31
67.73
66.32

45.6
44.2
43.8
45.0
46.4
47.3
48.0
47.1

1.347
1.357
1.366
1.380
1.387
1.402
1.411
1.408

54.68
55.49
55.32
56. 37
57. 24
57.93
57. 89
57.68

41.3
41. 5
41.5
41.6
41.9
42.1
42.1
41.8

1.324
1.337
1.333
1.355
1.366
1.376
1.375
1.380

60. 36
61.93
58.82
59. 72
65.66
63.76
62.97
58. 53

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Avg.
wkly. wAvg.
kly.
earn­ hours
ings

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

42.4 $1.321 $56.62
43.0 1.394 61.83

42.1
43.0

$1,345
1.438

45.3
43.7
41.9
45.7
45.7

1.427
1.454
1.358
1.337
1.388

71.43
69.01
56.83
57.29
67.67

48.2
45.7
39.6
40.4
45.6

1.482
1.510
1.435
1.418
1.484

40.4
40.8
39.4
40.0
42.8
41.0
41.1
39.1

1.494
1.518
1.493
1.493
1.534
1.555
1.532
1.497

63.87
63.08
61.06
59.60
73.60
66.41
63.48
60.17

42.1
40.8
40.2
39.6
47 0
41.9
41.6
39.9

1.517
1. 546
1.519
1. 505
1.566
1.585
1.526
1.508

Manufacturing—Continued
Food and kindred products—Continued
Confectionery and
related products

Beet sugar

42.3 $1,326 $45.12
42.5 1.381 46.72

40.0 $1.128 $42.63
39.9 1.171 44.81

Bottled soft drinks

Beverages

Confectionery

41.0 $1.566 $48. 40
41.0 1.646 49.12

39.8 $1,071 $64.21
39.9 1.123 67.49

1949: Average-----1950: Average........

$56.09
58.69

1950: August------Septem ber..
October____
N ovem ber..
D ecem ber...

56.01
58.04
57.35
64.07
62.06

40.5
40.9
42.8
47.6
45.1

1.383
1.419
1.340
1.346
1.376

47.99
49.35
49.00
48.15
47.71

40.5
41.3
41.0
40.5
40.4

1.185
1.195
1.195
1.189
1.181

45 82
47.13
47.19
47 10
47.30

40.3
41.2
41.0
41.1
41.6

1.137
1.144
1.151
1.146
1.137

68.39
67.86
68.14
67.81
68.78

41.3
41.2
41.0
40.9
40.6

1.656
1.647
1.662
1.658
1.694

49. 78
49.53
49.92
50.30
50.36

1951: January.......
February....
M arch_____
April.............
M a y______
June______
July_______
August------

57.24
61.51
55.71
61.95
51.14
60.76
64.52
58.75

38.6
40.6
36.7
40.7
33.8
39.3
40.2
38.3

1.483
1.515
1.518
1. 522
1.513
1.546
1.605
1.534

49.49
49.31
48.82
49. 00
49.93
51.64
50.24
50.89

40.4
39.7
39.5
39.2
39.5
40.5
39.5
40.2

1.225
1.242
1.236
1. 250
1.264
1.275
1.272
1.266

48. 33
47 44
47.00
46 84
47 83
49.04
47.87
48.32

41.1
39. 9
39. 7
39.1
39.3
40.2
39. 5
39.9

1.176
1.189
1.184
1.198
1.217
1.220
1.212
1.211

71.61
71.13
72.35
71.97
73. 75
75. 21
75. 59
74.91

41.2
40.3
40.9
40.5
41.2
41.9
41.9
41.8

1.738
1.765
1. 769
1.777
1.790
1.795
1.804
1.792

50.25
50. 53
50.74
51.72
53. 45
54.62
56.15
55.09

.
.
.
.
.

M alt liquors

43.8 $1.105 $69.46
42.9 1.145 72.66

41.1
40.8

$1,690
1.781

43.1
42.7
43.0
43.1
42.9

1.155
1.160
1.161
1.167
1.174

73.25
72. 71
72.48
73.02
74.01

40.9
40.8
40.2
40. 6
39.9

1.791
1.782
1.803
1.803
1.855

42.8
42.5
42.6
42.6
43.7
44.3
45.5
44.9

1.174
1.189
1.191
1.214
1.223
1.233
1.234
1.227

75.93
76.45
78.27
76.99
79.30
80.57
81.70
80.90

40.3
39.9
41.0
40. 5
41.3
41.9
42.2
42.2

1.884
1.916
1.909
1.901
1.920
1.923
1.936
1.917

Manufacturing—Continued
Tobacco manufactures

Food and kindred products—Continued
D istilled, rectified,
and blended liquors

Miscellaneous food
products

39.2 $1.454 $52.17
40.3 1.537 54.99

Total: Tobacco
manufactures

41.9 $1. 245 $37.25
42.2 1.303 41.08

37.1 $1,004 $46.33
37.9 1.084 50.19

37.7 $1,229 $32. 41
39.0 1.287 35.76

36.7 $0.884 $39.10
.969 42.79
36.9

37.2
37.7

$1,051
1.135

.963
.986
1.009
1.026
1.008

45.77
44.23
44. 24
42.97
44.77

39.7
39.0
38.5
36.6
38.1

1.153
1.134
1.149
1.174
1.175

1.013
1.016
1.019
1.025
1.025
1.033
1.036
1.035

45.68
45. 25
44.62
44.27
43. 56
46.85
46. 50
48.29

38.1
37.8
37.0
36.5
36.0
38.4
37.9
39.2

1.199
1.197
1.206
1.213
1.210
1.220
1.227
1.232

1949: Average___
1950: Average-----

$57.00
61.94

1950: August........
September..
October___
Novem ber.
D ecem ber..

66.00
65.18
64. 95
65.31
66.46

41.8
42.0
40.8
41.6
41.8

1.579
1. 552
1.592
1.570
1.590

56.50
56.16
56.06
56.44
56.85

43.0
43.0
42.6
42.5
42.3

1.314
1.306
1.316
1.328
1.344

43.37
42.02
41.21
42. 45
43.72

39.5
39.2
38.3
37.8
38.9

1.098
1.072
1.076
1.123
1.124

57.94
50.36
45.10
50.07
54.11

43.6
39.5
35.4
37.9
40.2

1.329
1.275
1.274
1.321
1.346

36.11
37.57
39.35
39.50
38.40

37.5
38.1
39.0
38.5
38.1

1951: January___
February...
March.........
A p ril..........
M ay..........
June______
July______
August____

73.85
69.83
67.23
68.10
67.78
69.79
68.92
68.59

43.8
41.2
39.9
39.5
39.5
40.6
40.0
39.9

1.686
1.695
1.685
1. 724
1.716
1.719
1.723
1.719

58. 54
59.08
58.14
57.78
57. 20
58. 22
58.49
58.41

42.3
42.2
42.1
41.3
41.3
41.5
41.6
41.6

1.384
1.400
1.381
1.399
1.385
1.403
1.406
1.404

44.12
43.17
42.03
42.58
42.49
44.49
45. 55
45.39

38.7
37.9
36.8
36.8
36.6
37.9
38.5
39.3

1.140
1.139
1.142
1.157
1.161
1.174
1.183
1.155

55.20
52. 76
48. 57
50.59
51.41
55.37
56.31
58.62

40.5
39.4
36.3
37.2
37.8
40.3
40.6
41.9

1.363
1.339
1.338
1.360
1.360
1.374
1.387
1.399

38.09
38.10
37.91
37. 72
36.70
37.50
38.54
38. 81

37.6
37.5
37.2
36.8
35.8
36.3
37.2
37.5

See

footnotes a t end of table.


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

Tobacco and snufl

Cigars

Cigarettes

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

G: E A R N I N G S A N D

621

HOURS

T a ble C 1: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees 1— Con.
Manufacturing—Continued
Tobacco manufac­
tures—Con.
Tobacco stemming
and redrying

Year and month

Textile-mill products
Total: Textile-mill
products

Yarn and thread
mills

Y am mills

Broad-woven fabric
mills

Cotton, silk, syn­
thetic fiber
United States

Avg.
wkly. Avg.
earn­ wkly.
ings hours
1949: Average___
1950: Average___

$34. 20
37. 59

1950: August.......
September,
October___
November.
D ecem ber1951: January___
February...
M arch____
April______
M ay ____ _
June.............
J u ly ...........
A ugust........

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Avg.
wkly.
earn­
ings

Avg.
wkly.
hours

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Avg.
wkly. Avg.
earn­ wkly.
ings hours

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
earn­ hours
ings

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Avg.
wkly. Avg.
earn­ wkly.
ings hours

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Avg.
Avg.
wkly. wkly.
earn­
hours
ings

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

38.3 $0.893 $44.83
39.4
.954 48. 95

37.7 $1.189 $40. 51
39.6 1.236 45. 01

36.4 $1.113 $40. 55
38.9 1.157 45.09

36.3 $1.117 $44.48
38.8 1.162 49. 28

37.5 $1.186 $42.89
40.1 1.229 48.00

37.2
40.1

$1.153
1.197

35. 24
39. 26
37.37
34. 53
38. 52

38.1
43.1
41.2
35.6
40.0

.925
.911
.907
.970
.963

49.33
49.98
52. 58
53.19
53. 57

40.5
40.7
40.6
40.7
40.8

1.218
1.228
1.295
1.307
1.313

44. 96
46.40
49. 33
49. 57
49. 90

39.4
40.1
40.2
40.3
40.6

1.141
1.157
1. 227
1.230
1.229

45.34
46. 56
49.16
49. 61
49. 90

39.6
40.0
40.0
40.2
40.5

1.145
1.164
1.229
1.234
1.232

49. 29
49. 90
53.17
53.68
54. 36

40.8
41.1
40.9
41.1
41.4

1.208
1. 214
1.300
1.306
1.313

47.86
48. 62
52.29
52. 62
53. 33

40.7
41.1
41.3
41.4
41.7

1.176
1.183
1.266
1.271
1. 279

38.79
35. 85
37. 81
38.84
41.72
43.07
43. 91
37.53

39.7
34.7
35.3
35.8
38.0
38.8
39.1
39.8

.977
1.033
1.071
1.085
1.098

53. 59
53. 94
53.34
52.87
51.37
51.07
49. 71
48.15

40.6
40.8
40. 5
39.9
38.8
38.6
37.8
36.9

1.320
1.322
1.317
1.325
1.324
1.323
1.315
1.305

49. 61
50.02
49. 94
49. 64
48. 05
47. 78
46.83
45.05

40.5
40.6
40.5
40.1
39.0
38.5
37.8
36.3

1.225
1. 232
1.233
1.238
1.232
1.241
1.239
1.241

49.73
49.98
50. 02
49.93
48.39
47. 81
47.02
45.11

40.4
40.5
40.5
40.2
38.9
38.4
37.8
36.2

1.231
1.234
1.235
1.242
1.244
1.245
1.244
1.246

54.39
54. 22
53. 72
53.95
52. 67
52.10
50.46
48.28

41.3
41.2
41.2
40.9
39.9
39.5
38.4
37.4

1.317
1.316
1.304
1.319
1.320
1.319
1.314
1.291

53. 37
53. 54
53. 29
52. 64
51.57
50.63
48. 71
46.65

41.6
41.7
41.5
41.0
40.1
39.4
38.2
37.2

1.283
1. 284
1.284
1.284
1.286
1.285
1.275
1.254

1.110

1.123
.943

Manufacturing—Continued
Textile-mill products—Continued
Cotton, silk, synthetic fiber—Continued
Woolen and worsted
North
1949: Average___
1950: Average___

$46.36
51. 23

1950: August___
September.
October___
November.
D ecember..
1951: January___
February...
March____
April............
M ay............
June______
J u ly ............
A ugust____

Full-fashioned hosiery

Knitting mills

South

United States

North

38.0 $1.220 $41.92
40. 5 1.265 47.08

37.0 $1.133 $51.19
40.0 1.177 54.01

38.9 $1.316 $41. 47
39.8 1.357 44.13

36.8 $1.127 $52.09
47.4 1.180 53.63

37.5 $1.389 $53.98
37.9 1.415 54.25

36.9
37.7

$1.46S
1.439

50.80
51. 58
55.94
56.16
56.37

41.0
41.1
41. 5
41. 6
41.6

1.239
1.255
1.348
1.350
1. 355

46.97
47.83
51.25
51.50
52.46

40.6
41.2
41.3
41.3
41.8

1.157
1.161
1.241
1.247
1.255

54. 21
54. 81
66. 30
58.08
58.39

40.7
40.9
39.1
40.0
40.1

1.332
1.340
1.440
1.452
1.456

45.67
45.63
47.67
47.91
47. 24

39.2
38.9
39.2
38.7
38.1

1.165
1.173
1. 216
1.238
1.240

54. 94
54. 35
57. 87
58.73
57.41

39.7
39.1
39. 5
39.1
38.4

1.384
1.390
1.465
1.502
1.495

55.06
54.12
58. 52
60.29
57. 87

39.7
39.3
39.3
39.1
37.8

1.387
1.377
1.489
1.542
1.531

56.61
57.08
56. 02
54. 96
54.13
54. 25
51.79

41.5
41. 6
40.8
40.0
39. 6
39.6
38.0

1.364
1.372
1.373
1.374
1.367
1.370
1.363

52. 25
52. 46
52.33
52. 04
50.90
49.72
47.99

41.6
41.7
41.6
41.4
40.3
39.4
38.3

1.256
1. 258
1. 258
1.257
1.263
1.262
1.253

58.88
57. 10
57. 28
58. 69
57.35
58.16
57. 51
55. 76

40.3
39.3
40.0
40.2
39.2
39.7
39.2
38.3

1.461
1. 453
1.432
1.460
1.463
1.465
1.467
1.456

47.94
49. 24
48. 54
46.76
45.04
45.18
44. 69
44.55

37.9
38.8
38.1
36.7
35.3
35. 6
35.5
35.3

1. 265
1.269
1. 274
1.274
1. 276
1. 269
1.259
1.262

59.25
61.11
60. 45
57.16
55.14
54.01
54.40
53.75

38.3
39.2
38.6
36.5
35.1
34.8
35.6
35.2

1.547
1.559
1.566
1.566
1.571
1.552
1.528
1.527

61.01
63.05
63.17
59.19
56.70
55.18
53. 22

37.5
38.4
38.1
35.7
34.2
34.0
33.6

1.627
1.642
1.658
1.658
1.668

1.623
1.584

Manufacturing—Continued
Textile-mill products—Continued
Full-fashioned ho­
siery—Continued

Seamless hosiery
Knit outerwear

South
a 49: Average___
1 50: Average___

$50. 31
53. 33

1 50: August___
September.
October___
November.
D ecember..
951: January___
February...
M arch____
A pril...........
M ay............
Ju n e............
July..............
A ugust____

United States

North

Knit underwear

South

38.2 $1.317 $31.45
38.2 1.396 34.94

35.5 $0.886 $35.06
35.8
.976 38.12

37.7 $0. 930 $30.78
38.2
.998 34. 37

35.1 $0.877 $40.96
35.4
.971 43. 73

38.1 $1.075 $36.34
38.6 1.133 39.60

36.2
37.5

$1.004
1.056

54.83
54. 68
57.18
57. 47
57.28

39.7
39.0
39.6
39. 2
39.1

1. 381
1.402
1. 444
1. 466
1.465

37.11
36.98
38.08
38. 31
37. 65

38.1
37.5
37.7
37.6
36.8

.974
.986
1.010
1.019
1.023

39.42
39. 62
40. 35
41.59
41.25

39.5
39.0
39.1
39.5
39.1

.998
1.016
1.032
1.053
1.055

36.63
36.46
37. 59
37.65
36.98

37.8
37.2
37.4
37.2
36.4

.969
.980
1.005
1.012
1.016

43.90
42. 75
46. 43
46.10
45. 42

39.3
38.0
40. 2
39.4
38.2

1 117
1.125
1.155
1.170
1.189

41.17
42.63
43.43
43.06
43.11

39.4
40.1
39.7
39.0
38.8

1.045
1.063
1.094
1.104
1.111

57.65
59. 3&
58.12
55. 65
53. 84
63.39
54.39

38.9
39.8
38. 9
37.2
35. 7
35.5
36. 5

1.482
1.492
1. 494
1.496
1. 508
1. 504
1.490

37. 73
38. 79
38. 17
35.46
34.31
35. 80
35.36
35.18

36.6
37.3
36.6
34.1
32.8
34.0
34. 0
33.5

1.031
1.040
1.043
1.040
1.046
1.053
1.040
1,. 050

40.93
41.90
41.70
41.37
40.51
40. 26
37.88

38.4
38.8
38.5
38.2
37.3
36.8
35.5

1.066
1.080
1. 083
1.083
1.086
1.094
1.067

37. 21
38.15
37.47
34.30
32.94
34.87
34.88

36.3
37.0
36.2
33.3
31.8
33.4
33.7

1.025
1.031
1.035
1.030
1.036
1.044
1.035

47. 46
48. 30
47.93
48.03
46.37
46.41
45.50
46.67

38.9
39.4
39.0
38.8
38. 2
38.2
37.6
38.1

1.220
1. 226
1. 229
1. 238
I; 214
1. 215
1.210
1.225

43.13
44.29
44.12
43.55
41.27
41.99
40. 66
41.03

38.3
39.4
38.8
38.3
36.3
36.8
35.6
35.8

1.126
1.124
1.137
1.137
1.137
1.141
1.142
1.146

971543— 51-


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

G: E A R N I N G S A N D

622
T a ble

M ONTHLY LABOR

HOURS

C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees x—Con.
M anufacturing—C on tinned
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.

wkly.
earn­
ings

1949: Average___
1950: Average----

$51.50
53.87

Avg.
wkly.
hours

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Carpets, rugs, other
floor coverings
Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
earn­ hours
ings

40.3 $1.278 $56. 80
40.9 1.317 62.33

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ hours
ings
ings

39.5 $1.438 $56.23
41.5 1.502 62.72

1950: August____
September .
October___
N ovem ber.
D ecem ber..

56.03
55. 76
56.26
58.19
58.88

42.9
42.6
41.4
41.8
42.0

1.306
1.309
1.359
1.392
1.402

61.44
62. 94
. 46
66.82
67.28

66

41.4
41.6
42.6
42.4
42.1

1951: January___
February—
M arch____
April_____
M a y ..........
June______
July_______
A ugust____

59.13
60.12
58.19
56.18
54. 40
55.97
52.08
50.98

41.7
42.4
41.3
39.7
38.5
39.5
37.2
36.0

1.418
1.418
1.409
1.415
1.413
1.417
1.400
1.416

65.91
67. 25
. 49
64. 76
61.38
59.48
58.95
59.30

41.4
41.9
41.4
40.4
38.7
37.6
37.5
37.7

66

Wool carpets, rugs,
and carpet yam

Other textile-mill
products

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ hours
ings
ings

38.7 $1.453 $47.89
41.1 1.526 52.37

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Fur-felt hats and hat
bodies
Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
earn­
ings hours

38.9 $1.231 $49.21
40.6 1.290 51.05

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Total: Apparel and
other finished tex­
tile products
Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
earn­ hours
ings

35,3 $1.394 $41. 89
35.9 1.422 43.68

35.8
36.4

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings
$1.170

1.200
1.225
1.207

1.484
1.513
1.560
1.576
1.598

61.46
62.19
66.36
66.63
66.90

40.7
40.7
42.0
41.8
41.4

1.510
1.528
1.580
1.594
1.616

53.16
53.37
54. 77
55. 88
56.59

41.4
40.9
40.9
41.3
41.7

1.284
1.305
1.339
1.353
1.357

54.44
50.87
50. 48
51.98
5a 83

38.1
35.8
35.5
36.1
38.4

1.429
1.421
1.422
1.440
1.480

46.06
43.09
45. 51
44. 50
45.88

37.6
35.7
37 3
36.9
36.5

1.220

1.592
1.605
. 606
1.603
1.586
1.582
1.572
1.573

65.65
. 30
65. 08
62.83
58.51
56.43
55.02
54. 57

40.7
41.0
40.3
39.0
36.8
35.6
35.2
35.0

1.613
1. 617
1. 615
. 611
1.590
1. 585
1.563
1.559

56.83
56.11
56. 62
55. 70
54. 51
54. 55
53.84
52.33

41.6
40.9

1.366
1.372
1.371
1.372
1.373
1.374
1.370
1.370

58.08
59.45
55.43
50.69
49. 42
51.73
50.13
47.14

38.8
39.4
37.1
33.5
33.8
35.0
34.1
33.2

1.497
1. 509
1. 494
1.513
1.462
1.478
1.470
1.420

47.42
48.38
47. 27
44.97
43.56
44.05
45.24
46. 07

36.9
37.5
37.4
36.5
35.3
35.3
35.4
35.6

1.285
1.290
1.264
1.232
1.234
1.248
1.278
1.294

1

66

1

41.3

40.6
39.7
39.7
39.3

gß8.2

1.206
1.257

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

36.0
36.7

0.927 $34. 91
39.43

35.7
37.8

50. 978 $27.44
1.043 31.34

35.5
35.9

.773 $49.69
.873 49.41

34.7
34.7

$1.432
1.424

37.5
37.5
38.4
38.2
37.4

.979
.992
.990
1.030
1.054

40.08
38.45
40.91
40 32
40.41

38.5
36.9
38.7
38.0
36.8

1.041
1.042
1.057
1.061
1.098

33.00
33.03
32. 95
32.18
33.10

37.8
37.2
36.9
35.6
35.9

.873

1.043

36. 71
37.20
38.02
39.35
39.42

.893
.904
.922

54.01
46.43
50.94
48.37
51.84

36.2
32.2
34.7
34.6
35.1

1.492
1.442
1.468
1.398
1.477

1.057
1.061
1.060
1.053
1.050
1.052
1.053
1.054

39.09
39.87
40. 05
39.15
36.96
35.97
35. 76
36. 75

36.6
37.3
37.5
37.0
34.9
34.0
33.9
34.8

1.068
1.069
1.068
1.058
1.059
1.058
1.055
1.056

41.78
43.08
43. 69
42.37
38.86
39.28
38. 82
39. 53

37.4
38.6
38.8
37.9
35.1
35.1
35.1
35.2

1.117
1.116
1.126
1.118
1.107
1.119
1.106
1.123

33.38
33. 05
34.91
33.51
33.56
32. 88
32.84
32.62

36.2
36.2
37.7
36.5
36.4
35.9
35.5
35.3

.922
913
.926
.918
.922
.916
.925
.924

55.01
56.08
52.49
48.37
47.30
47.52
52. 76
53. 56

36.0
36.7
35.9
35.1
34.3
33.8
34.8
35.1

1.528
1.528
1.462
1.378
1.379
1.406
1.516
1.526

36.2
36.8

1.355
1.349
1.366
1.387
1.474

37.43
37.18
38 38
38.53
38. 59

38.0
37.4
38.3
37.7
37.0

1.002
1.022

1.469
1.482
1.480
1.464
1.468
1.468
1.452
1.470

39.11
39. 68
40.17
38. 96
37. 28
36.82
36.33
37.00

37.0
37.4
37.9
37.0
35.5
35.0
34.5
35.1

$46.67
50.22

1950: August-----September.
October___
Novem ber.
December.

51.08
47. 75
51.77
52. 57
55.57

37.7
35.4
37.9
37.9
37.7

1951: January---February...
M arch........
April_____
M a y______
June______
J u ly .,_____
A ugust____

55.23
56. 32
57.13
54.90
53.29
52. 85
52.13
51.60

37.6
38.0
38.6
37.5
36.3
36.0
35.9
35.1

Women’s outerwear

Work shirts

Separate trousers

». 920 $33.37
.990 36.26

34.7 $1.345 $33.30
36.9 1.361 36.43

1949: A v e r a g e 1950: A verage...

Shirts, collars, and
nightwear

.985
.994

.888

M anufacturing—C ontinued

Apparel and other finished textile products—Continued

W om en ’s dresses

Women’s suits, coats,
and skirts

». 883 $66.38
.960 63. 77

Women’s and chil­
dren’s undergar­
ments

33.8 $1.964 $35. 79
33.6 1.898 38.38

>0. 944 $53.55
1.004 54.21

35.3
35.2

$1.517
1.540

1.040
1.057
1.068
1.076
1.082

3a 24
38.35
40.16
39.25
37.10

38.2
37.6
38.8
37.6
35.5

1.001
1.035
1.044
1.045

62.08
53.56
53. 27
47.53
51.82

38.8
33.9
35.0
31.6
33.8

1.600
1.580
1.522
1.504
1.533

1.107

38.34
40.84
40. 25
39. 77
37.38
38.52
38.45
38. 56

36.1
38.2
37.9
37.1
35.0
35.8
35.7
35.9

1.062
1.069
1.062
1.072
1.068
1.076
1.077
1.074

61.60
68.84
62.07
52.94
45.91
49.42
57.40
61.18

38.0
41.1
38.6
34.2
31.0
32.9
35.9
37.1

1.621
1.675
. 608
1.548
1.481
1.502
1.599
1.649

1.407
1.391
1.410
1.385
1.415

34.64
35.28
36.43
36.64
35.58

36.2
36.6
37.4
37.5
35.9

.957
.964
.974
.977
.991

73.26
57.91
66.25
60.12
67.07

37.0
30.1
33.8
32.1
34.2

1.980
1.924
1.960
1.873
1. 961

40.04
39.95
41.76
40. 96
39.28

38.5
37.8
39.1
38.1
36.3

1.446
1.448
1.438
1.443
1.442
1.418
1.395
1.466

36.60
39.74
39.89
39.13
38.00
37.22
34.54
37.24

36.2
38.7
38.8
38.1
37.0
36.1
33.4
36.4

1.011

72.20
73.39
62. 86
53. 79
55.15
55. 71
68.48
67.37

35.6
35.8
32.4
30.6
32.1
31.0
34.0
33.3

2.028
2.050
1.940
1.758
1.718
1.797
2.014
2.023

40.85
42.81
42.21
40. 88
38.27
38. 99
38. 33
39.29

36.9
38.5
38.2
36.8
34.6
35.0
34.5
35.3

1950: August........
September..
October___
N ovember..
Decem ber..

50.23
44.37
47.66
47.37
49.81

35.7
31.9
33.8
34.2
35.2

1951: January___
February...
M arch____
April_____
M ay______
June______
July______
August____

51.91
52.56
52.20
50. 65
49.46
48.92
49. 52
52.63

35.9
36.3
36.3
35.1
34.3
34.5
35.5
35.9

See footnotes at end of table.

1.027
1.028
1.027
1.027
1.031
1.034
1.023

M illinery

36.1
36.4

36.5
36.1

$47.20
48.09

U n d erw ea r and
nightwear, except
corsets

36.6 $0. 978 $34.08
36.9 1.040 36. 55

34.4 $1.372 $32.23
34.8 1.382 34.66

1949: Average---1950: Average___


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

Household apparel

1.112

1.105

1.111

1.106
1.114

1. I ll

1,113

1.020

1

R E V I E W , N O V E M B E R 1951

C: E A R N I N G S A N D

623

HOURS

Table C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees 1—Con.
M anufacturing—C ontinued
L um ber and w ood
products (except
furniture)

A pparel and other finished textile products—C ontinued

Year and m onth
C hildren’s outerwear

A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings
1949: A verage..........
1950: A verage..........

$37.06
38. 98

1950: A u g u st.......... .
S ep te m b e r ...
O ctober........ .
N o v e m b e r ...
D ecem b er___
1951: January..........
F ebruary___
M a rch ______
A pril___ ____
M a y ________
J u n e________
J u ly ------------A u g u st______

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

F u r goods and m is­
cellaneous apparel

A vg.
w k ly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly.
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Other fabricated
textile products

A vg.
w kly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Curtains and
draperies

A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

T extile bags

A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

T otal: L um ber and
wood products (ex­
cept furniture)
A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

$51. 72
55.31

40.6
41.0

$1. 274
1.349

36.3 $1.021 $42.05
36.5
1.068 43.45

36.0 $1.168 $39.74
36.7 1.184 42.06

38.1 $1. 043
38.2 1.101

40.92
38.12
40. 48
39.29
40.26

37.2
35.3
37.0
37.0
36.3

1.100
1.080
1.094
1.062
1.109

45.84
44.59
47.91
46.05
45.09

38.2
37.1
38.7
37.5
36.9

1. 200
1. 202
1. 238
1.228
1. 222

43.43
43. 88
43. 45
42. 86
43.55

39.3
38.8
39.0
38.1
38.3

1.105
1.131 $37. 33
1.114 39. 82
1.125 38.31
1.137 39. 29

36.6 $1. 020 $43.93
38.4 1.037 44.19
36.8 1.041 43. 30
37.6
1.045 43. 90

39.4 $1.115
39.6
1.116
38.9 1.113
39.2 1.120

58. 30
57.84
58. 83
57. 03
57.59

42 0
41.2
41.9
41.0
41.4

1.388
1. 404
1.404
1.391
1.391

42.18
42. 70
40. 77
40.74
40.35
40.90
41.87
41.30

36.9
37.1
36.5
36.8
35.9
36.1
36.7
36.2

1.143
1.151
1.117
1.107
1.124
1.133
1.141
1.141

44. 58
44. 98
45.60
44. 88
44.82
46.14
43.77
45.92

36.1
36.9
37.1
36.7
36.0
36.5
36.2
36.3

1.235
1.219
1. 229
1.223
1.245
1.264
1.209
1.265

44. 23
44.12
44. 05
43.15
42.81
44.59
43.44
44.03

38.7
38.6
38.3
37.1
36.5
37.5
37.1
37.6

1.143
1.143
1.150
1.163
1.173
1.189
1.171
1.171

37.9
37.6
36.4
36.0
35.2
35.7
35.4
35.9

39.4
39.2
39.0
37.4
36.8
37.6
37.8
39.5

55.73
56.13
55. 58
58. 95
59. 72
61.51
57.43
60.18

40. 5
40. 5
40.6
41. 4
41.5
41.9
39.8
40.8

1.376
1.386
1.369
1 424
1.439
1.468
1.443
1.475

39.83
39. 93
38. 44
38.12
37. 21
38. 27
38. 27
37.91

1.048
1.062
1. 056
1.059
1.057
1.072
1.081
1.056

44.64
44. 73
45.16
43.12
42.65
44.03
43.92
46.49

1.133
1.141
1.158
1.153
1.159
1.171
1.162
1.177

M anufacturing—C ontinued
L um ber and w ood products (except furniture)— C ontinued

Logging cam ps and
contractors

Saw m ills and planing m ills, general

Saw m ills and plan ­
ing m ills

—
U n ited States

1949: A verage____
1950: A verage____

$61.31
66. 25

1950: A u g u st..........
S ep tem b er..
October____
N o v e m b e r ..
D ecem b er...
1951: January____
F e b r u a r y ...
M a rch _____
A pril______
M a y ......... .
J u n e__ ____
J u ly _______
A u g u st_____

South

W est

M iliw ork, p lyw ood,
and p r efa b rica ted
s t r u c t u r a l wood
products

39.1 $1.568 $52.37
38.9 1.703 54.95

40.6 $1. 290 $53.06
40.7 1.350 55.53

40.6 $1.307 $35. 66
40.5 1.371 38.90

42.1 $0.847 $67.12
42.1
.924 70.43

38.8 $1. 730 $55.06
38.7 1.820 60.52

41.9
43.2

$1,314
1.401

73.98
70.07
70.31
65. 40
66.87

41.1
38.8
38.8
37.2
38.9

1.800
1.806
1.812
1.758
1.719

57.95
57. 69
58. 56
56. 53
56.83

41.9
41. 0
41.8
40.7
41.0

1.383
1.407
1.401
1.389
1.386

58.49
58.49
59. 34
57.15
57.49

41.6
40.9
41.7
40.5
40.8

1.406
1.430
1.423
1.411
1.409

40.13
39.63
41.25
40.34
40.79

43.2
42.2
43.6
42.6
42.8

.929
.939
.946
.947
.953

74.28
74.33
74. 82
72.96
73.68

40.0
39.1
39.4
38.5
38.7

1.857
1.901
1.899
1.895
1.904

61.55
62. 06
63. 71
63.12
64.84

43.5
43. 4
44.0
43.5
43.9

1. 415
1.430
1.448
1.451
1.477

61.99
64.10
57.93
71.10
71.64
77.10
66.18
80.58

37.3
38.2
36.3
39.0
39.0
41.7
37.2
42.5

1.662
1. 678
1. 596
1.823
1.837
1.849
1.779
1.896

54.84
55. 30
55.06
58.49
59. 22
60.92
56.81
58.79

40.0
39.9
40.1
41.1
41.3
41.5
39.4
40.1

1.371
1.386
1.373
1.423
1.434
1.468
1.442
1.466

55.54
56.00
55. 58
59.16
59.95
61.79
57.30
59.32

39.9
39.8
39.9
41.0
41.2
41.5
39.3
40.0

1.392
1.407
1. 393
1.443
1.455
1.489
1.458
1.483

40.11
40. 05
40. 34
41.82
41.81
41.12
40.57

42.0
41.5
41.8
42.8
43.1
42.0
41.7

.955
.965
.965
.977
.970
.979
.973

70. 73
71.71
69.94
75. 61
75. 62
79.31
70.52

37.5
37.9
37.3
39.4
39.1
40.4
36.2

1.886
1.892
1.875
1.919
1.934
1.963
1.948

63.47
63. 88
64.71
65.04
65.32
65.48
63.27
64.51

42.8
42.9
43.2
43.3
43.2
42.8
41.3
42.0

1.483
1.489
1.498
1.502
1.512
1.530
1.532
1.536

M anufacturing—C ontinued
L um ber and w ood products (except furniture)— C ontinued
M iliw ork

W ooden containers

1949: A v e r a g e ...
1950: A v e r a g e ...

$54.23
59.05

1950: A u g u st___
Septem ber.
O c to b e r ...
N ovem ber.
D ecem ber..

59.39
60.63
61.81
61.52
61.89

43.1
43.4
43.9
43.6
43.4

1.378
1.397
1. 408
1.411
1.426

1951: Jan uary__
F eb ru a ry ..
M a rch ___
A pril..........
M a y ......... .
J u n e ..........
J u ly ______
A u g u st___

60.09
60.15
61.19
62.13
62.32
62.08
60. 20
61.51

42.2
41.8
42.2
42.7
42.6
42.2
40.9
41.7

1.424
1.439
1.450
1.455
1.463
1.471
1.472
1.475

42.2 $1.285 $41.90
43.2 1.367 46.03

See footnotes at end of table.


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

W ooden boxes, other
than cigar

Furniture and fixtures

M iscellaneous wood
products

T otal: Fu rn itu re
and fixtures

H ousehold furniture

40.6 $1.032 $42. 48
40.7 1.311 46. 56

41.0 $1.036 $44.16
41.5
1.122 47.07

40.7 $1.085 $49.48
41.4 1.137 53.67

40.1 $1.234 $47. 04
41.9 1.281 51.91

39.8
41.9

$1.182
1.239

48.10
47.50
48. 74
48. 50
48.43

41.5
40.7
41.8
41.7
41.5

1.159
1.167
1.166
1.163
1.167

48. 57
47.64
49.31
49.16
49.43

42.2
41.5
42.8
42.6
42.8

1.151
1.148
1.152
1.154
1.155

48. 35
49.10
49.80
50. 07
50.16

42.3
42.4
42.6
42.5
42.4

1.143
1.158
1.169
1.178
1.183

54.87
55. 42
56. 27
56.87
56.77

42.8
42.6
42.6
42.6
42.3

1.282
1.301
1.321
1.335
1.342

52. 91
53.84
54. 57
55. 30
54.78

42.7
42.7
42.7
42.7
42.2

1.239
1.261
1.278
1.295
1.298

48.31
47. 72
48.51
48. 70
49.27
50.46
48. 71
48.91

41.4
41.1
41.5
41.8
41.9
42.3
41.0
41.1

1.167
1.161
1.169
1.165
1.176
1.193
1.188
1.190

49.37
49. 26
49. 62
49.64
49.82
50.35
49.19
48.55

42.6
42.8
42.7
42.9
42.8
42.6
41.3
40.9

1.159
1.151
1.162
1.157
1.164
1.182
1.191
1.187

50. 51
50.23
50. 54
51.49
51.72
52.26
51.25
51.70

42.2
42.1
42.4
42.8
42.5
42.8
41.8
41.9

1.197
1.193
1.192
1.203
1.217
1.221
1.226
1.234

56.93
58.15
58. 67
56. 96
56.28
56.03
55.37
57.61

41.8
42.2
42.3
41.1
40.4
40.4
39.3
40.8

1.362
1.378
1.387
1.386
1.393
1.387
1.409
1.412

54.75
55.78
56.37
54.04
52.96
52.64
52.42
53.76

41.7
42.0
42.1
40.6
39.7
39.7
39.0
40.0

1.313
1.328
1.339
1.331
1.334
1.326
1.344
1.344

624
T a ble

G: E A R N I N G S

AND

HOURS

M ONTHLY LABOR

C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees x-—Con.
M anufacturing—C ontinued
Furniture and fixtures—C ontinued

Y ear and m onth

W ood household
furniture, except
upholstered
A vg.
w kly,
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

W ood household fur
niture, upholstered

A vg.
w kly.
earn­
ings

40.0 $1.092 $50.18
42.3 1.144 56.35

A vg.
w k ly.
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

M attresses and
bedsprings

A vg.
w kly.
earn­
ings

38.9 $1. 290 $51.69
41.4 1.361 57.27

1949: A verage_____
1950: A verage..........

$43.68
48.39

1950: A u gu st_____
S ep tem b er...
O ctober_____
N o v e m b e r ...
D ecem b er___

49.19
49.97
51.39
51.58
50.87

43.0
43.0
43.4
43.2
42.5

1.144
1.162
1.184
1.194
1.197

56.66
58.61
60.49
60.65
60. 43

42.0
42.5
42.9
42.5
42.2

1.349
1.379
1.410
1.427
1.432

1951: January_____
F eb ru ary___
M arch ______
A pril_______
M a y . ..............
J u n e________
J u ly ------------A u g u st_____

51.06
52.31
52.11
50. 84
49. 73
49. 45
47.65
49.98

42.2
42.7
42.4
41.4
40.5
40.2
38.9
40.6

1.210
1.225
1.229
1.228
1.228
1.230
1.225
1.231

57.06
58. 92
59. 68
55.88
53.91
55.11
54.65
55.91

39.9
41.0
41.3
38.7
37.1
37.8
37.9
38.8

1.430
1.437
1. 445
1.444
1.453
1.458
1.442
1.441

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

Paper and allied products

Other furniture
and fixtures

A vg.
A vg.
hrly. w k ly .
earn ­ earn­
ings
ings

A vg.
w kly.
hours

T otal: Paper and
allied products

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w kly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w kly.
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

P u lp , paper, and
paperboard m ills

A vg.
w kly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w kly.
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

39.7 $1.302 $55.47
41.2 1.390 58.53

40.7 $1.363 $55. 96
41.9 1.367 61.14

41.7 $1.342 $59.83
43.3 1.412 65.06

42.4
43.9

$1.411
1.482

58. 42
59. 59
57.69
61.70
60.74

42.3
42.2
40.8
42.0
41.8

1.381
1.412
1.414
1.469
1.453

60. 24
59.71
61.24
61.25
62.34

43.0
42.2
42 5
42.3
42.7

1.401
1.415
1.441
1.448
1.460

62. 74
63.10
63.27
64.92
66.44

44.0
44.0
44.0
44.1
44.5

1.426
1.434
1.438
1.472
1.493

66.99
66.89
67.20
69.00
70.63

44.6
44.3
44.5
44.4
44.9

1.502
1.510
1.510
1.554
1.573

61.02
59. 70
64. 24
58.00
57. 29
56.47
58.84
58.48

41.4
40.5
42.6
39.7
39.0
39.6
39.2
39.7

1.474
1.474
1.508
1.461
1.469
1.426
1.501
1.473

63.00
64. 33
64.63
64.52
64. 20
63.82
64.41
66.12

42.2
42.6
42.8
42.5
42.1
42.1
41.8
42.6

1.493
1.510
1.510
1.518
1.525
1.516
1.541
1.552

65.96
65. 36
66.16
66.38
65. 92
65.56
65.72
65.06

43.8
43.4
43.7
43.7
43.4
43.1
42.7
42.8

1.506
1.506
1.514
1.519
1.519
1.521
1.539
1.520

70.89
70.49
70. 80
71.37
70. 96
70.84
72.32
70.92

44.7
44.5
44.7
44.8
44.6
44.3
44.3
44.3

1.586
1.584
1.584
1.593
1. 591
1.599
1.618
1.601

M anufacturing—C ontinued
Paper and allied products—C ontinued

Paperboard con­
tainers and boxes

Other paper and
allied products

Prin tin g, pub lishing, and allied industries
T otal: Prin tin g,
publishing, and
allied industries

N ew spapers

40.6 $1.258 $70.28
72.98
42.0 1.321

38.7 $1.816 $78.37
38.8 1.881 80.00

56.79
57.06
57.11
59.07
60. 26

42.7
42.9
42.4
42.9
43.2

1.330
1.330
1.347
1.377
1.395

73.17
74.48
74. 22
74. 52
76. 42

38.9
39.2
39.0
39.2
39.8

1.881
1.900
1.903
1.901
1.920

60.07
58. 83
59. 91
59. 82
59. 99
60.15
59. 28
59.75

42.6
41.9
42.1
42.1
42.1
42.3
41.6
41.9

1.410
1.404
1.423
1.421
1.425
1.422
1.425
1.426

74. 22
74. 23
75. 74
75.78
75. 66
75.82
75.39
75.70

38.9
38.4
38.9
38.9
38.7
38.8
38.6
38.8

1.908
1.933
1.947
1.948
1.955
1.954
1.953
1.951

1949: A verage______ $52. 45
1950: A verage............ 57. 96

41.2 $1. 273 $51.07
43.0 1.348 55.48

1950: A u gu st_______
Sep tem b er___
O ctober______
N o v em b er___
D ecem b er........

59. 75
60.96
61.18
62.16
63.70

44.0
44.3
44.4
44.4
44.7

1.358
1.376
1.378
1.400
1.425

1951: January______
F ebruary_____
M arch _______
A p r il...............
M a y _________
J u n e_________
J u ly --------------A u gu st_______

61.89
61.80
63.17
62.74
61.38
60.05
58.42
58.10

43.1
42.8
43.3
43.0
42.1
41.5
40.6
40.6

1.436
1.444
1. 459
1.459
1.458
1.447
1.439
1.431

Periodicals

Books

37.3 $2.101 $70. 21
36.9 2.168 74.18

38.9 $1.805 $61.07
39.5 1.878 64.08

38.6
39.1

$1.582
1.639

78.84
81.11
81.07
82.29
85.42

36.5
36.9
36.8
37.2
38.1

2.160
2.198
2.203
2. 212
2.242

75.08
79.98
77.33
76.07
76.81

39.6
41.1
40.4
39.7
39.8

1.896
1.946
1.914
1.916
1.930

67.31
64. 70
64.16
64. 52
66.33

40. 5
39.5
39.1
39.1
39.6

1.662
1.638
1.641
1.650
1.675

79.12
79. 96
82.13
82.98
83. 49
83.16
81.99
82.00

35.8
36.0
36.6
36.8
36.7
36.7
36.2
36.3

2.210
2. 221
2.244
2. 255
2. 275
2.266
2. 265
2. 259

77.95
79. 23
78. 56
77.34
75. 93
77.70
79.40
81.12

40.1
40.2
39.9
39.4
38.9
39.3
39.6
40.3

1.944
1.971
1. 969
1.963
1.952
1.977
2.005
2.013

66.60
66. 21
67. 43
68.05
67. 99
68.99
66.95
69.46

39.5
38.9
39.5
39.7
39.9
40.3
39.2
40.5

1.686
1.702
1.707
1.714
1.704
1.712
1. 70S
1.715

M anufacturing—C ontinued
Prin tin g, publishing, and allied industries—C ontinued

C om m ercial printing

1949: A verage........... $69.44
1960: A verage______ 72.34

Lithographing

39.7 $1.749 $69. 17
39.9 1.813
73. 04

C hem icals and allied products

Other printing and
publishing

T otal: C hem icals
and allied products

Industrial inorganic
chem icals

Industrial organic
chem icals

39.3 $1. 760 $62. 66
40.0 1.820 65.18

38.7 $1.619 $58.63
39.1
1.667 62. 67

41.0 $1.430 $63. 90
41.5 1. 510 67.89

40.6 $1.574 $60.83
40.9 1.660 65.69

39.5
40.6

$1. 540
1.618

II A ugu st........ ..
Septem ber___
October______
N o v em b er___
D ecem b er........

72. 38
73. 61
73.78
73.42
75.60

40.1
40.6
39.9
40.1
41.0

1.805
1.813
1.849
1.831
1.844

76. 22
75. 67
76. 09
74. 89
74. 95

41.2
40.9
41.4
40.9
41.0

1. 850
1.850
1.838
1. 831
1.828

65. 82
65.90
65.69
66.59
67. 33

39.2
38.9
39.5
39.9
40.1

1.679
1.694
1.663
1.669
1.679

63. 48
64.16
64. 55
65. 52
66.43

41.6
41.8
42.0
42.0
42.1

1.526
1.535
1. 537
1. 560
1.578

68.97
68.24
71.13
71.91
72. 59

41.6
40.4
41.4
41.4
41.6

1.658
1.689
1.718
1.737
1.745

65.85
67. 52
67.98
69.34
69. 75

40.7
40.8
40.9
41.2
41.2

1.618
1.655
1. 662
1.683
1.693

H J a n u a r y ...........
F ebruary_____
M arch _______
A pril_________
M a y . ............
J u n e_________
J u ly --------------A u gu st_______

74. 58
73. 24
75. 52
74. 76
74.60
74.86
74. 66
74.48

40.6
39.4
40.3
40.0
39.7
39.8
39.8
39.7

1.837
1.859
1. 874
1.869
1.879
1.881
1.876
1.876

73. 79
75. 33
74. 85
76. 52
74. 79
75. 95
76. 16
78. 15

39.8
40.2
40.2
40.4
39.7
40.1
40.0
41.0

1.854
1.874
1.862
1.894
1.884
1.894
1.904
1.906

67.31
66.81
68.17
67.60
67.69
67.11
66.99
66.59

39.9
38.8
39.2
39.3
39.4
39.2
39.2
39.1

1.687
1.722
1.739
1.720
1.718
1.712
1.709
1.703

66.99
67.17
67. 54
67.84
68.14
68. 72
69.26
68.35

42.0
41.8
41.9
41.8
41.7
41.7
41.6
41.4

1. 595
1.607
1.612
1.623
1.634
1.648
1.665
1.651

73.13
73. 79
73. 65
73.69
74.53
75.50
76.33
75.56

41.2
41.5
41.4
41.4
41.8
41.9
42.1
42.0

1.775
1.778
1. 779
1.780
1.783
1.802
1.813
1.799

70.11
70.26
71. 15
71.82
72. 07
72. 48
72.88
72.01

41.0
40.8
41.2
41.3
41.3
41.3
41.2
41.1

1.710
1.722
1. 727
1.730
1.745
1.755
1.769
1.752

See footnotes at en d of table.


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

R E V IE W , N O V E M B E R 1951

T able

C: E A R N I N G S

AND

HOURS

625

C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees 1—Con.
M a n u fa c tu r in g — C o n tin u e d

C hem icals and allied products— C ontinued
Year and m onth

P lastics, except s y n ­
th etic rubber
A vg.
w kly.
earn­
ings

1949: A verage..........
1950: A verage_____

$60.36
65. 54

1950; A ugu st_____
S e p te m b e r ...
O ctober_____
N o v e m b e r ...
D ecem b er___
1951: Jan uary..........
F ebruary___
M a r c h ............
A pril................
M a y ________
J u n e .................
J u ly ..................
A u g u st............

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
b rly.
earn­
ings

S yn th etic rubber

A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

S yn th etic fibers

A vg.
w k ly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
h rly.
earn­
ings

D rugs and m edicines

A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
h rly.
earn­
ings

P a in ts, p igm en ts,
and fillers
A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Fertilizers

A vg.
w kly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
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

65. 07
67.48
67. 83
69. 20
70.43

41.5
42. 6
42.0
42. 4
42.3

1.568
1. 584
1. 615
1.632
1. 665

71.52
72.58
72.16
76.63
76.03

41.2
40.3
41.0
41.2
41.3

1.736
1.801
1.760
1. 860
1.841

58. 99
59. 94
60.45
61.10
61.26

39.3
39.2
39.2
39.6
39.7

1.501
1.529
1.542
1. 543
1.543

40.6
41.2
41.3
41.5
41.6

72.08
70. 72
71. 61
72. 21
72.20
72.15
73. 95
72.49

42.7
41. 5
42. 0
42. 3
42.1
41.9
42. 6
41. 9

1.688
1. 704
1.705
1.707
1. 715
1. 722
1.736
1.730

75.19
76. 97
77.12
78.00
78. 87
78.40
78.88
80. 58

40.6
40.9
41.0
41.4
41.6
41.2
40.7
40.8

1.852
1.882
1.881
1.884
1.896
1.903
1.938
1.975

61.61
61.39
62.29
62. 81
63. 08
62. 69
63.24
62.45

39.7
39.3
39.5
39.7
39.8
39.6
39.4
39.3

1. 552 f61. 60
1.562 61. 96
1. 577 62.28
1.582 63.08
1.585 62.17
1.583 62.36
1.605 61.86
1.589 62.13

59. 68
60.19
61.12
62.00
62. 75

1.470
1.461
1.480
1.494
1.512

66. 99
67.35
67.45
66. 79
66.90

43.5
43.2
42.8
42.3
42.1

1.540
1. 559
1. 576
1. 579
1.589

47.83
48.18
46. 80
47.31
48.72

41.2
41. 5
40. 8
41.0
41.5

1.161
1. Ifil
1.147
1 154
1.174

f4 1 .4 f l. 488
41.5 1.493
41.6 1.497
41.8 1.509
41.2 1.509
41.3 1.510
40.3 1.535
40.5 1.534

68.61
69.05
69.07
68.79
68.83
68.54
68. 85
67. 90

42.8
42.6
42.4
42.1
42.1
42.0
41.7
41.4

1.603
1.621
1. 629
1.634
1.635
1.632
1.651
1.640

49.96
48. 42
50.56
50. 98
53. 29
52.96
54.32
52.96

42.3
41.0
42. 7
42.2
42.8
42.0
42.6
41.8

1.181
1.181
1.184
1.208
1. 245
1.261
1.275
1.267

M a n u fa c tu r in g — C o n tin u e d
C h e m ic a ls a n d a llie d p r o d u c ts — C o n tin u e d

V egetable and an i­
m al oils and fats
1949: A v e r a g e ...
1950: A v e r a g e ...

$51.12
53. 46

1950: A u g u st___
Septem ber.
O c to b e r ...
N ovem b er.
D ecem b er.
1951: January___
F eb ru a ry ..
M a rch ____
A pril...........
M a y ............
J u n e______
J u ly ............ .
A u g u st____

Other chem icals and
alii ed products

P rodu cts of petroleum and coal

Soap and glycerin

T otal: P rodu cts of
petroleum and coal

Petroleum refining

C oke and b yprodu cts

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

55.11
56.
54. 41
55. 58
66.72

44.3
45. 9
47.6
46.9
46.8

1.244
1.199
1.143
1.185
1.212

64.62
66.13
66.24
66. 89
68.75

41.8
42.2
41.9
41. 7
42.1

1.546
1.567
1.581
1.604
1.633

74.08
74.99
74.59
75. 85
77.82

42.7
43.0
42.5
42.4
42.9

1.735
1.744
1.755
1. 789
1.814

73. 73
76. 77
77. 71
78.32
78.32

40.6
41.7
41.6
41.2
41.2

1.816
1.841
1.868
1.901
1.901

75.29
79. 72
80.93
81.64
81.03

39.4
41.2
41.1
40.7
40.7

1.911
1.935
1.969
2.006
1.991

63.12
63.91
63.68
63.60
67.64

39.8
39. 6
40. 2
40.0
40.2

1. 586
1. 614
1. 684
1. 690
1.680

56.90
56. 36
56. 28
58. 39
59. 22
60.43
61. 58
59. 98

46.0
44. 8
43.9
44.4
43.9
44.3
44.4
44.3

1.237
1. 258
1. 282
1.315
1.349
1.364
1.387
1.354

69.13
70. 05
69. 96
68.68
68. 02
68.14
68. 77
67.82

42.0
42.3
42.3
41.8
41.5
41.4
41.5
41.2

1.646
1. 656
1.654
1.643
1.639
1.646
1.657
1.646

76.83
79. 36
79.64
75.87
74.05
75.48
76.32
75.11

42.4
43.2
43.0
41.3
40.6
40.8
41.1
40.8

1.812
1.837
1.852
1.837
1.824
1.850
1.857
1.841

79. 58
78. 44
78.93
81.33
81.31
81.20
83.93
80. 99

41.0
40.6
40.6
41.2
40.9
40.7
41.8
40.8

1.941
1.932
1.944
1.974
1.988
1.995
2.008
1.985

82.95
81.28
81.89
84.87
84. 77
84. 76
87.78
83.94

40.7
40.2
40.2
40.9
40.5
40.4
41.6
40.3

2.038
2.022
2.037
2.075
2. 093
2.098
2.110
2.083

68.82
69. 63
68. 08
68. 96
69.12
70.42
70.92
70.36

40.2
40.2
39. 4
40.0
40.0
40.1
40.5
40.3

1.712
1. 732
1. 728
1. 724
1. 728
1. 756
1.75
1 .7 "

M a n u fa c tu r in g — C o n tin u e d

Products of petro­
leum and coal— C on.
Other petroleum and
coal products
1949: A verage___
1950: A verage___

$61.18
66.78

1950: A u g u st___
S ep tem b er.
O ctober___
N o v em b er.
D ecem b er..
1951: January___
February...
M arch ____
A pril...........
M a y ...........
J u n e........... .
J u ly ............ .
A u g u st____

L eather and leather
products

R ubber products
T otal: R ubber
products

Tires and inner
tubes

R ub b er footw ear

Other rubber
products

T otal: L eather and
leather products

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

71.82
69. 76
69. 94
69.15
69. 67

47.5
46.2
45.8
44.9
44.6

1.512
1.510
1.527
1. 540
1.562

66.25
66. 58
66.29
66. 52
68.76

41.8
41.9
41.9
41.5
41.6

1.585
1.589
1. 582
1.603
1.653

76.01
75. 46
73.12
73.70
76.21

40.8
40.9
40.2
40.1
39.9

1.863
1.845
1.819
1.838
1.910

53.93
53.95
56.00
54. 52
59.34

41.9
41.5
42.2
42.0
42.6

1.287
1.300
1.327
1.298
1.393

60.13
61.30
62.48
62.71
64.29

42.8
42.9
43.3
42.6
42.8

1.405
1.429
1.443
1.472
1.502

46. 49
45. 72
46.04
45.94
47.26

39.2
38.1
37.8
37. 5
38.3

1.186
1.200
1. 218
1. 225
1.234

68. 08
67.68
68. 97
69.10
69. 73
67.69
69.13
70.73

43.7
43.3
43.9
43.9
44.3
43.2
43.7
44.4

1.558
1.563
1.571
1.574
1.574
1.567
1.582
1.593

66.78
63. 37
65.88
65.96
68. 56
71.27
70.90
69. 95

40.4
38.9
40.0
40.0
41.3
41.9
41.1
41.1

1.653
1.629
1.647
1.649
1. 660
1.701
1.725
1.702

73. 69
66.95
71. 40
70.15
75. 92
82.44
84. 43
83.01

38.4
35.5
37.6
37.0
39.4
41.7
41.9
41.8

1.919
1.886
1.899
1.896
1.927
1.977
2.015
1.986

57.53
55.87
58.17
59. 82
61.48
59. 98
54. 85
57.24

41.6
40.6
41.4
42.1
42.9
42.3
38.9
40.8

1.383
1.376
1.405
1.421
1.433
1.418
1.410
1.403

63.06
61.95
63.13
63. 81
64.09
64.47
62.94
61.32

41.9
41.3
41.7
41.9
42.5
42.0
41.0
40.5

1.505
1.500
1.514
1.523
1.508
1.535
1.535
1.514

48.30
49.43
48.73
46.65
45.38
46.90
47.12
46.43

38.7
39.2
38.4
36.5
35.4
36.7
37.1
36.5

1.248
1.261
1.269
1.278
1.282
1.278
1.27
1.27

See footnotes at end of table.


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

C: E A R N I N G S

626
T a ble

AND

M ONTHLY LABO R

HOURS

C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees

Con.

M anufacturing— C ontinued
Stone, clay, and glass products

Leather and leather products—C ontinued
Footw ear (except
rubber)

Leather

Year and m onth

A vg.
w kly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly.
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly.
earn­
ings

38.9 $1,391 $39.35
41.99
39.7 1.441

A vg.
w kly.
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

35.9 $1,096 $41.10
36.9 1.138 44. 85

A vg.
w kly.
hours

Glass and glass
products

T otal: Stone, clay,
and glass products

Other leather
products
A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w kly.
earn­
ings

37.5 $1.096 $54. 45
38.5 1.165 59.20

Glass containers
A vg.
h rly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

39.8 $1.368 $56. 71
41.2 1.437 61.58

39.0 $1,454 $53.80
40.3 1.528 56.36

39.3
39.8

$1,369
1.416

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

1949: A verage____
1950: A verage___

$54.11
57.21

1950: A u gu st........
S ep tem b er.,
O ctober___
N o v em b er..
D ecem b er..

58. 40
58. 64
59.44
59. 79
61.17

40.5
40.3
40.3
40.4
40.7

1.442
1.455
1.475
1.480
1.503

44.39
43.32
42. 76
42.23
44.02

38.8
37.6
36.7
36.0
37.4

1.144
1.152
1.165
1.173
1.177

45.70
45.00
47. 64
47. 96
48.06

39.5
38.1
39.5
39.7
39.3

1.157
1.181
1.206
1.208
1.223

59. 40
60.88
63.11
63. 66
63.60

41.6
41.5
42. 5
42.3
42.2

1.428
1.467
1.485
1.505
1.507

59.10
61.31
65. 66
67.03
65.89

39.8
39.0
41.4
41.3
41.0

1.485
1.572
1.586
1.623
1.607

53.31
54.69
61.19
59. 94
60.29

38.8
37.1
40.9
40. 5
40.9

1.374
1.474
1. 496
1.480
1.474

1951: Jan uary___

61. 58
02. 52
60. 71
60. 49
59. 71
60.30
59. 71
58.86

40.7
40.6
39.6
39.1
38.6
38.8
38.7
38.0

1. 513
1.540
1.533
1. 547
1. 547
1.554
1.543
1. 549

45. 88
46. 99
46. 43
43. 65
41.70
43.79
44.32
43.49

38.3
38.8
37.9
35.4
33.9
35.6
36.3
35.5

1.198
1.211
1. 225
1. 233
1.230
1.230

47.89
48.82
48. 52
47. 27
47.43
48.24
48. 25
48.48

38.9
39.4
39.0
38.0
37.7
38.5
38.6
38.6

1. 231
1.239
1.244
1.244
1. 258
1.253
1.250
1.256

63. 48
63.15
64. 53
65. 09
65.11
65.25
64.88
64. 23

41.6
41.3
41.9
42.1
41.9
41.8
41.3
41.2

1. 526
1.529
1. 540
1.546
1.554
1.561
1.571
1.559

66.10
65.04
66.17
66. 91
65. 81
65.97
67.14
62.05

40.6
40.-3
41.0
41.3
40.4
40.4
40.3
38.4

1.628
1.614
1. 614
1.620
1.629
1.633
1.666
1.616

60.95
58. 82
59. 84
61.32
60. 53
59.89
61.46
56.14

40.5
39.5
40. 0
41.1
40.3
39.9
40.3
37.4

1.505
1.489
1.496
1. 492
1. 502
1.501
1.525
1.501

F e b r u a r y ...

M arch ____
A p r il...........
M a y ______
Ju n e______
J u ly ______
A u g u st___

1 .2 2 1

1.225

M anufacturin g—C ontinued
Stone, clay, and glass products—C ontinued
Pressed and blow n
glass
1949: A verage______ $50.30
1950: A verage............. 53. 71

C em ent, hydraulic

38.6 $1,303 $57. 49
39.7 1.353 60.13

Structural clay
products

41.6 $1,382 $49. 73
41.7 1.442 54.19

B rick and hollow
tile

P o ttery and related
products

Sewer pipe

39.0 $1,275 $49. 57
40.5 1.338 5.375

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

1950: A ugu st..............
Sep tem b er___
O ctober______
N o v em b er___
D ecem b er____

51.61
56.70
58.24
61.15
58.84

39.7
40.5
41.1
41.4
41.0

1.300
1.400
1.417
1.477
1.435

61.13
61.66
61.59
62.10
62.43

42.1
41.8
41.9
42.1
41.9

1.452
1.475
1.470
1.475
1.490

55.27
56.00
57. 73
57. 86
58.25

41.4
41.3
41.8
41.3
41.4

1.335
1.356
1.381
1.401
1.407

55. 71
55.73
57. 77
57. 51
57.16

43.9
43.2
44.2
43.7
43.5

1.269
1.290
1.307
1.316
1.314

53. 85
54. 88
55.05
54.14
53.98

40.4
40.5
40.3
39.2
39.2

1.333
1.355
1.366
1.381
1.377

52.59
53. 70
55.91
57.47
56.84

38.0
38.3
39.4
39.8
38.8

1.384
1. 402
1.419
1.444
1.465

1951: January______
F ebruary_____
M arch ,.’ _____
A pril_________
M a y . . ...............
J u n e ________
J u ly _________
A u g u st______

57.10
57.14
58. 55
57.96
56. 25
56.34
58.63
53.34

39.9
39.9
41.0
40. 9
39.5
39.4
40.6
38.4

1. 431
1.432
1.428
1.417
1.424
1.430
1.444
1.389

62. 45
62. 93
64. 08
64.08
65.35
65.71
65.58
65.92

41.3
41.7
42.1
41.8
42.0
41.8
41.3
41.8

1.512
1.509
1. 522
1.533
1.556
1.572
1.588
1.577

59. 00
57. 65
59. 93
60.78
61.68
61.51
60.92
60. 78

41.2
40.4
41.3
41.6
42.1
41.9
41.5
41.4

1. 432
1.427
1. 451
1. 461
1.465
1. 468
1. 468
1.468

55.88
54.24
57. 34
58. 94
60.02
59.25
58. 26
58. 75

42.3
41.5
42.6
43.4
44.0
43.6
42.9
43.1

1.321
1.307
1.346
1.358
1.364
1.359
1.358
1.363

56.50
54.86
56. 00
57.31
58.90
57.47
56.04
59.04

40.3
39.3
39.8
40.3
41.1
40.3
39.0
41.0

1. 402
1.396
1.407
1.422
1.433
1.426
1.437
1.440

57. 05
57. 69
58. 64
58. 65
57.26
57.04
55.60
57.34

38.6
38.9
39.3
39.1
38.1
37.8
36.6
37.6

1.478
1.483
1.492
1.500
1.503
1.509
1.519
1.525

m

M anufacturing—C ontinued
Prim ary m etal industries

Stone, clay, and glass products—C ontinued

C oncrete, gyp su m ,
and plaster products

C oncrete products

43.8 $1,319 $59.31
1.392 61.15
45.0

1950: A u gu st_______
S ep tem b er___
O ctober.............
N o v em b er___
D ecem b er____

64.44
65.35
66.38
65. 57
66.23

45.7
45.7
46.0
45.6
45.8

1.410
1.430
1.443
1.438
1.466

62.62
63. 59
64.09
63.64
65.19

44.6
44.5
44.6
44.1
44.9

1.404
1.429
1.437
1.443
1.452

1951: Jan uary______
February..........
M a r c h ............
A pril........ .........
M a y _________
Ju n e_________
J u lv _________
A u g u s t ____

64.68
65.37
66. 74
67.80
68. 26
69.13
69.05
70.21

44.3
44.2
45.0
45.5
45.6
45.9
45.4
46.1

1. 460
1.479
1.483
1.490
1.497
1.506
1.521
1.523

63. 32
63.19
65. 61
66.14
67.51
67.80
69.46
69.42

43.4
42.9
44.3
44.6
45.4
45.5
46.4
45.7

1. 459
1.473
1.481
1.483
1.487
1.490
1.497
1.519


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

T otal : Prim ary
m etal industries

B la st furnaces, steel
w orks, and rolling
m ills

Iron and steel
foundries

38.3 $1,646 $55.09
39.9 1. 691 65.32

37.2
41.9

$1.481
1.559

1.680
1.724
1.688
1.692
1.830

66.07
67. 57
70.04
69.23
72.37

42.6
42.9
43.8
43.0
44.1

1.551
1.575
1.599
1.610
1.641

1.882
1.854
1.873
1.873
1.871
1.901
1.903
1.877

71.66
71.48
73.31
72.93
72.46
72.08
70.14
70.94

43.3
42.8
43.3
43.1
42.8
42.5
41.6
41.9

1.655
1.670
1.693
1.692
1.693
1.696
1.686
1.693

39.2 $1,396 $60. 78
41.4 1.472 67.24

38.3 $1. 587 $63.04
40.8 1.648 67.47

62.20
64.52
65. 79
66.55
67.03

42.4
42.9
43.2
43.1
43.3

1.467
1.504
1.523
1.544
1.648

67.36
69.10
69. 81
70.14
74.36

41.1
41.4
41.9
41.8
42.3

1.639
1.669
1.666
1.678
1.758

67.37
69.30
68. 87
69.03
75.21

40.1
40.2
40.8
40.8
41.1

67. 25
66. 96
67. 76
67.85
68. 72
68.29
66.99
67.88

43.0
42.3
42.3
42.3
42.5
42.0
41.4
41.9

1. 564
1. 583
1.602
1.604
1.617
1.626
1.618
1.620

74. 42
73. 12
75.11
75.70
75.02
76.03
75.12
74. 59

41.6
41.1
41.8
42.1
41.7
41.8
41.3
41.3

1.789
1.779
1.797
1.798
1.799
1.819
1.819
1.806

76. 41
74.16
77.35
77. 92
76. 90
78.70
78. 40
76. 77

40.6
40.0
41.3
41.6
41.1
41.4
41.2
40.9

43.8 $1,354 $54. 72
43.9 1.393 60. 94

1949: A verage______ $57. 77
1950: Average______ 62.64

See footnotes at end of table.

Other stone, clay,
and glass products

R E V I E W , N O V E M B E R 1951

T a ble

G: E A R N I N G S

AND

627

HOURS

C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees

Con.

M a n u fa c tu r in g — C o n tin u e d

P r im a r y m e t a l in d u s tr ie s — C o n tin u e d

Y ear and m onth

Gray-iron foundries

A vg.
w k ly.
earn­
ings
1949: A v e r a g e _____
1950: A v e r a g e .......... .

$54.38
65.06

1950: 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 ___

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 _________
J u n e __________
J u l y __________
A u g u s t _______

A vg.
w k ly.
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

M alleable-iron
foundries

A vg.
w k ly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly.
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Steel foundries

A vg.
w k ly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w kly.
hours

A vg.
h rly.
earn­
ings

P r im a r y s m e lt in g
and refining of
nonferrous m etals

P r im a r y s m e lt in g
and refining of
copper, lead, and
zinc

A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
w kly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
w kly.
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

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

A vg.
w kly.
hours

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

P rim ary refining of
alum inum

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

66. 36
67.97
70. 26
69.18
71.97

43.2
43.6
44.3
43.4
44.4

1.536
1.559
1.586
1.594
1.621

66. 32
67. 69
69.18
69. 28
72.03

42.0
42.2
42.6
42.5
43.6

1.579
1.604
1.624
1. 630
1.652

65.73
66.08
69. 38
69.17
72.31

41.6
41.3
42.8
42.2
43.3

1.580
1.600
1.621
1.639
1. 670

63.15
64. 44
66. 40
67.73
69. 47

40.9
41.2
41.5
41.0
41.7

1.544
1. 564
1.600
1. 652
1.666

61.89
63.18
65. 01
66. 30
67. 97

40.8
41.0
41.7
40.9
41.6

1.517
1.541
1.559
1.621
1.634

62.87
63.47
67. 23
68. 84
70.01

40.8
41.0
40.4
41.0
41.7

1.541
1.548
1.664
1. 679
1.679

70.63
69.90
72.17
70. 88
70.75
70.47
68.48
68.31

43.6
42.7
43.4
42.8
42.7
42.5
41.4
41.2

1.620
1.637
1.663
1.656
1.657
1.658
1.654
1.658

71. 52
70.89
73.40
74.73
73.23
71.20
69.44
71.43

42.7
42.5
43.1
43.4
42.5
41.3
40.8
41.7

1. 675
1.668
1.703
1.722
1.723
1.724
1.702
1.713

73.19
74. 48
74.61
75. 65
74.90
76.29
74. 68
76.25

42.8
43.2
43.1
43.4
42.8
43.3
42.6
43.3

1. 710
1.724
1.731
1.743
1.750
1.762
1. 753
1.761

70. 67
69.18
69.14
70.18
70.18
70. 73
70.41
71.14

41.5
41.3
41.3
41.9
41.8
41.9
41.2
41.8

1.703
1.675
1.674
1.675
1.679
1.688
1.709
1.702

69. 93
68.06
68. 72
70.01
69.35
69. 72
69.20
70. 77

41.5
41.2
41.5
42.2
41.8
41.7
40.8
42.0

1.685
1.652
1.656
1.659
1.659
1.672
1.696
1.685

69. 41
69.21
69.66
71.19
71.06
72.63
72.93
71.39

41.0
41.0
41.1
41.8
41.7
42.4
42.4
41.6

1.693
1.688
1.695
1.703
1.704
1.713
1.720
1.716

M a n u fa c tu r in g — C o n tin u e d
P r im a r y m e t a l in d u s tr ie s — C o n tin u e d

R o llin g , d r a w in g ,
and alloying of
nonferrous m etals

R o llin g , d r a w in g ,
and alloying of
copper

1949: A v e r a g e ______
1950: A v e r a g e ______

$58.05
66. 75

1950: A u g u s t ............ .

68. 48
65. 21
68.05
69.18
72. 46

42.8
41.4
41.8
41.7
43.0

1.600
1.575
1.628
1.659
1.685

73. 67
68.09
70. 22
71.48
76. 08

44.3
41.8
42.1
41.8
43.9

1.663
1.629
1.668
1.710
1.733

67.98
68.30
68.21
68. 09
67.91
69.37
69.01
67.40

40.9
40.8
40.7
40.6
40.4
40.9
40.5
40.0

1.662
1.674
1.676
1.677
1.681
1.696
1.704
1.685

68.87
69. 52
70.05
70.14
69.15
72.22
72.09
69. 78

40.8
40.7
40.8
40.9
40.3
41.6
41.5
40.5

1. 688
1.708
1.717
1.715
1.716
1.736
1.737
1.723

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 ___

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............
M a y _________

J u n e________
J u ly ------------A u g u s t _______

38.7 $1. 500 $59. 29
41.9 1. 593 70.24

R o llin g , d r a w in g .
and alloying of
alum inum

38.5 $1. 540 $56. 21
42.7 1.645 59. 99

Nonferrous foundries

sexier prim ary m etai
industries

iorgmgs

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

58. 51
57. 56
63. 59
64.43
66. 01

39.8
39.4
40.4
40.6
40.9

1. 470
1. 461
1.574
1.587
1.614

66.36
70. 61
72.29
72. 80
75. 47

41.4
42.9
42.8
42.8
43.6

1.603
1.646
1.689
1. 701
1.731

71.95
74.13
75.17
76. 65
77. 60

42.2
42.8
43.3
43.8
43.4

1.705
1. 732
1.736
1. 750
1.788

74.63
77.83
80. 29
82. 86
81.11

41.6
42.6
43.4
44.1
43.4

1.794
1.827
1.850
1.879
1.869

64.68
64.96
64.08
62.83
63.99
63.29
62.33
62.53

40.1
40.1
39.7
39.0
39.4
38.9
37.8
38.6

1. 613
1.620
1.614
1. 611
1. 624
1.627
1.649
1.620

72. 33
72. 70
73.12
73. 52
73.85
73. 57
71.94
73.29

42.1
42.0
42.0
42.3
42.2
41.8
40.9
41.5

1. 718
1.731
1.741
1.738
1.750
1.760
1.759
1.766

77. 94
76.83
78.17
79. 22
78. 90
80.31
78.45
78.37

42.8
42.1
42.3
42.8
42.6
42.9
42.2
42.2

1.821
1.825
1.848
1.851
1.852
1.872
1.859
1.857

82. 34
81.49
83.87
85.78
84.41
85. 91
82.10
83.07

43.2
42.6
43.5
43.9
43.4
43.7
42.3
42.8

1.906
1.913
1.928
1.954
1.945
1.966
1.941
1.941

M anufacturing—C ontinued
Prim ary m etal in ­
dustries—Con.

Wire drawing

949: A verage_____
1950: A verage_____

$63. 66
73. 79

1950: A u g u st.......... .
S ep tem b er...
O ctober.........
N o v e m b e r ...
D ecem b er___
1961: January..........
February___
M a rch ______
A p r il............. .
M a y ............. .
J u n e............. .
J u ly ------------A u g u s t ...............

Fabricated m etal products (except ordnance, m achinery, and transportation equ ip m en t)
T o ta l F a b r ic a te d
m e ta l p r o d u c ts
(except ordnance,
m a c h in e r y , an d
tr a n s p o r ta tio n
eq u ip m en t)

T in cans and other
tinw are

C utlery, hand tools,
and hardware

C utlery and edge
tools

H and tools

39.2 $1.624 $57.82
42.9 1. 720 63.42

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

74. 25
77.86
77. 00
78. 80
80.36

43.5
44.8
44.2
45.0
44.4

1.707
1.738
1.742
1. 751
1.810

64.79
65. 72
66. 66
66. 20
68.26

42.1
42.1
42.3
41.9
42.4

1.539
1.561
1.576
1.580
1. 610

67. 46
63.90
60.56
58.85
63. 07

44. 5
43.0
41.0
40.2
42.1

1.516
1.486
1.477
1.464
1. 498

61.03
62.96
64.99
64. 09
67.12

41.6
42.0
42.9
42.0
43.0

1.467
1.499
1.515
1. 526
1. 561

56.08
57.14
60. 71
60. 56
62. 57

42.2
42.2
43.9
43.1
43.6

1.329
1.354
1.383
1.405
1.435

63.11
64. 63
66.13
67.31
68.59

42.1
42.3
42.8
42.9
43.3

1.490
1.528
1.545
1.569
1.584

81. 95
79. 42
79.15
80. 46
79.35
80.44
81.14
79.24

44.2
43.0
42.6
43.4
42.8
42.9
43.6
42.9

1.854
1.847
1.858
1.854
1. 854
1.875
1.861
1.847

67.80
68.18
69. 55
69. 51
69.18
69.43
67.98
68.35

41.8
41.7
42.1
42.0
41.8
41.8
41.0
41.3

1. 622
1.635
1.652
1. 655
1.655
1.661
1.658
1.655

63. 26
63.36
64.07
63.95
64.83
64.95
66.69
69. 24

41.0
40.2
40.4
40.4
40.8
40.8
41.5
42.4

1. 543
1.576
1.586
1.583
1.589
1.592
1.607
1.633

65. 44
66. 25
66.49
66.40
66.33
67.13
65. 84
66.04

42.0
42.2
42.0
42.0
41.9
41.8
41.2
41.2

1. 558
1.570
1.583
1.581
1. 583
1.606
1.598
1.603

60. 99
61.72
60.40
61.21
60.11
60. 55
58.91
59.37

42. 5
42.8
42.0
42.3
41.8
41.5
40.6
40.5

1.435
1.442
1.438
1.447
1.438
1.459
1.451
1.466

68. 51
69. 74
70.58
70. 42
70.31
70.39
69.02
69.48

42.9
43.1
43.3
43.2
42.9
43.0
42.5
42.6

1. 597
1.618
1.630
1.630
1.639
1.637
1.624
1.631

See footnotes at end of table,


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

628

C: E A R N IN O8

T a ble

AND

HOURS

M ONTHLY LABOR

C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees 1—Con.
M anufacturing—C ontinued
Fabricated m etal products (except ordnance, m achinery, and transportation eq u ip m en t)—C ontinued

Year and m onth

H eatin g apparatus
(except electric) and
plum bers’ supplies

Hardware

A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly.
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

$56.28
62.65

1950: A u gu st_____
S ep tem b er..
O ctober_____
N o v e m b e r ...
D e c e m b e r ...

61. 91
64.23
65.82
63. 97
68.09

41.3
41.9
42.6
41.3
42.8

1.499
1.533
1.545
1. 549
1.591

1951: Jan uary.........

65. 41
66.14
66.41
66.41
66.24
67.56
66.38
66.46

41.4
41.6
41.4
41.4
41.4
41.4
40.8
40.8

1.580
1. 590
1.604
1.604
1.600
1.632
1.627
1.629

F e b r u a r y ____

A vg.
w k ly.
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Oil burners, n on ­
electric heating and
cooking apparatus,
not elsewhere
classified

Fabricated struc­
tural m etal products

Structural steel and
ornam ental
m etalwork

A vg.
w kly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
earn­
ings

A vg.
w kly.
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

40.5 $1.479 $60. 91
41.1
1.540 63.23

41.1
41.3

$1. 482
1.531

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

38.8 $1.429 $59.90
40.8 1.500 63.29

A vg.
w kly.
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

38.7 $1.474 $59. 79
41.1
1.555 67.64

38.5 $1.553 $55. 45
41.6 1.626 61.20

65.53
66. 83
68.09
67.27
68.88

41.9
42.3
42.4
41.6
42.1

1.564
1.580
1.606
1.617
1.636

67. 51
71.18
72. 41
72.85
74.13

41.8
42.8
43.1
42.6
43.1

1.615
1.663
1.680
1.710
1.720

64.20
64.13
65.20
63.67
65.49

42.1
42.0
41.9
41.0
41.5

1.525
1.527
1.556
1.553
1.578

64.22
65.02
65. 93
66.25
67.87

41.7
41.6
42.1
42.2
42.0

1.540
1.563
1.566
1. 570
1.616

63.63
63. 44
64. 85
65.80
67.55

41.7
41.3
42.0
42.1
41.7

1.526
1.536
1.544
1.563
1.620

68.85
69. 60
70.89
70.22
69. 67
69. 50
66.47
65.19

41.4
41. 5
41.9
41.5
41.2
41.2
39.9
39.7

1.663
1.677
1.692
1.692
1.691
1.687
1.666
1.642

74.07
75. 40
76. 75
76.35
75.45
76.01
71.84
67.74

42.4
42.6
42.9
42.7
42.2
42.8
41.6
40.2

1.747
1.770
1.789
1.788
1.788
1.776
1.727
1.685

65.28
66.13
67.52
66.67
65.73
64.80
62. 59
63. 56

40.7
41.0
41.5
41.0
40.6
40.1
38.9
39.6

1.604
1.613
1.627
1.626
1.619
1.616
1.609
1.605

69.17
69. 43
70.51
71.86
71.57
71.44
69. 85
71.61

42.2
42.0
42. 4
42.7
42.7
42.6
41.7
42.6

1. 639
1.653
1.663
1.683
1.676
1.677
1.675
1.681

68.64
68. 64
69. 47
71.02
71. 53
72.20
69. 88
71.66

41.7
41.4
41.7
42.0
42.5
42.8
41.3
42.2

1. 646
1. 658
1.666
1.691
1.683
1.687
1.692
1.698

39.3 $1.432 $57.04
41.6 1.506 63.91

1949: A verage____
1950: A verage____

M arch______
A pril_______
M a y ........... ..
J u n e ...............
J u ly _________
A u g u st______

A vg.
w kly.
earn­
ings

Sanitary ware and
p lu m b ers’ supplies

M anufacturing—C ontinued

F ab ricated m etal products (except ordnance, m achinery, and transportation eq u ip m en t)—C ontinued

M achinery (except
electrical)

M etal stam ping,
coating, and
engraving

T otal: M achinery
(except electrical)

Boiler-shop products

S heet-m etal work

39.7 $1.451 $58.54
41.1 1.512 64.22

39.5 $1. 482 $60.30
41.3 1.555 66.15

1949: A verage____
1950: A verage____

$69. 78
62.16

1950: A u gu st...........
S ep te m b e r ..
O ctober.........
N o v e m b e r ..
D e c e m b e r ...

62.35
64.38
65.00
65.92
68.15

41.1
41.4
41.4
42.2
42.2

1.617
1. 655
1.670
1.562
1.615

63.52
63.90
65.77
64. 96
66.81

41.9
41.6
42.6
41.8
42.1

1.516
1.536
1.544
1.554
1.587

65.69
66.34
67.05
66. 77
68. 71

42.0
41.7
41.8
41.5
42.1

1.564
1.591
1.604
1.609
1.632

1951: Jan uary.........
F ebruary___
M arch ______
A pril_______
M a y ...............
Ju ne________
J u ly ________
A u g u st...........

68.02
69.14
70.18
71.48
70.89
70.72
70.30
72.03

41.6
41.8
42.3
42.7
42.5
42.4
42.4
43.0

1.635
1.654
1.659
1.674
1.668
1.668
1.658
1.675

66.70
68.83
69.01
71.30
70. 52
69. 76
67. 51
68. 75

41.3
42. 1
41.9
42.8
42.2
41.7
40.4
40.9

1.615
1.635
1.647
1.666
1.671
1.673
1.671
1.681

67.93
67. 86
69. 56
68.14
67. 43
68. 67
67. 63
67.91

41.6
41.2
41.6
40.8
40.4
40.8
39.9
40.3

1.633
1.647
1.672
1.670
1.669
1. 683
1.695
1.685

40.2 $1.487 $57.60
40.6 1.531 62.14

Stam ped and pressed
m etal products

Other fabricated
m etal products

39.7 $1.519 $58.38
41.5 1.594 64.76

39.5 $1.478 $60.44
41.7 1.553 67.21

39.5
41.8

$1. 530
1.608

67. 86
68.46
68.60
68.64
70.64

42.2
41.9
41.7
41.6
42.2

1.608
1.634
1.645
1.650
1.674

66.17
67. 32
68. 66
67. 85
70.01

42.6
42.5
42.7
42.3
42.9

1.657
1.584
1.608
1.604
1.632

67.98
68. 94
71.00
72.03
74.20

42.3
42.4
42. 9
43.0
43.7

1.607
1.626
1.655
1.675
1.698

69. 51
69. 76
71.47
70.23
68.92
71.07
68. 81
69.01

41. 5
41.3
41.6
41.0
40.4
41.2
39.5
39.8

1.675
1.689
1.718
1.713
1.706
1.725
1.742
1.734

68. 75
68.84
71.05
71.47
70. 76
70. 89
69.22
69.18

42.0
41.9
42.8
43.0
42.5
42.6
41.6
41.7

1.637
1.643
1.660
1.662
1.665
1.664
1.664
1.659

74.47
75. 08
76.43
76.78
76.30
76. 65
75.29
76. 07

43.4
43.5
43.8
43.9
43.6
43.5
42.9
43.1

1. 716
1.726
1.745
1.749
1.750
1.762
1.755
1.765

M anufacturing—C ontinued
M achinery (except electrical)—C ontinued

Engines and
turbines

1949: A verage____
1950: A verage____

$63.13
69.43

1950: A u gu st_____
S ep tem b er..
O ctober____
N o v e m b e r ..
D e c e m b e r ...

70. 83
70. 81
69.48
74. 57
78.29

41.3
41.0
40.0
42.2
43.4

1.715
1.727
1.737
1.767
1.804

1961: January.........
February___
M arch ............
A pril_______
M a y _______
Ju n e.............. .
J u ly ................
A u g u st...........

77.81
77.81
80.56
80.44
79.38
79.91
77. 77
79.42

42.8
42.8
43.5
43.6
43.0
43.1
42.2
42.7

1.818
1.818
1.852
1.845
1.846
1.854
1.843
1.860

A gricultural
m achinery
(except tractors)

Tractors

C onstruction and
m ining
m achinery

39.3 $1.555 $61. 86
40.1
1.611 66.09

39.2 $1. 578 $59. 93
40.3 1.640 62.57

39.3 $1. 525 $58.74
39.8 1.572 65.97

65.29
64.35
64.82
67. 51
70.79

40.3
40.6
39.5
40.4
41.4

1.620
1.589
1.641
1.671
1.710

67.39
65.97
65.27
69.50
73.68

40.5
40.6
38.9
41.1
42.1

1.664
1.629
1.678
1.691
1.750

62.36
62.37
64.00
64.69
66. 78

40.0
40.6
40.2
39.4
40.5

1.559
1.540
1.592
1.642
1.649

71.84
71.28
73.06
73.69
73.29
74.21
73.02
71.34

41.1
40.8
41.0
41.1
40.9
41.0
40.7
39.9

1. 748
1. 747
1.782
1.793
1.792
1.810
1.794
1.788

74.70
73.50
74. 52
75.74
75.73
75.73
73. 87
71.84

41.8
41.2
40.9
41.3
41.2
41.0
40.3
39.0

1.787
1.784
1.822
1.834
1.838
1.847
1.833
1.842

68.06
68. 47
71.23
71.25
70.39
72.54
71.40
70.19

40.2
40.3
41.1
40.9
40.5
41.1
40.8
40.5

1.693
1.699
1.733
1.742
1.738
1.765
1.750
1.733

38.9 $1.623 $61.11
40.7 1.706 64.60

See footnotes at end of table.


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

A gricultural
m achinery
and tractors

M etalw orking
m achinery

39.8 $1.476 $61.11
42.4
1.556 71.54

39.5
43.2

$1.547
1.656

66.60
67.62
69. 96
70. 31
71.70

42.8
42.8
43.7
43.4
43.8

1.556
1.580
1.601
1.620
1.637

73.42
73.24
77. 83
78.23
80.58

44.2
43.7
45.2
45.3
46.1

1.661
1.676
1.722
1.727
1.748

73.06
74.18
74.13
75.62
75.63
74. 61
74.45
75. 97

43.8
44.1
44.1
44.8
44.7
44.2
44.0
44.9

1. 668
1.682
1.681
1.688
1.692
1.688
1.692
1.692

81.31
82.99
83.69
84.87
85.07
85.08
83.17
85.24

46.2
46.7
46.7
47.1
47.0
46.8
45.9
46.4

1. 760
1.777
1.792
1.802
1.810
1.818
1.812
1.837

R E V IE W , N O V E M B E R 1951

T able

G: E A R N I N G S A N D

629

HOURS

C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees

Con.

M a n u fa c tu r in g — C o n tin u e d

M a c h in e r y (e x c e p t e le c tr ic a l)— C o n tin u e d

Y ear an d m onth

M achine tools

A vg.
w kly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w kly.
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

M etalw orking m a­
chinery
(except
m achine tools)
A vg.
w k ly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w kly.
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

M achine-tool acces­
sories

A vg.
w kly.
earn­
ings

1949: A verage______ $59.15
1950: A verage______ 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

1950: A u g u s t ______
S ep tem b er___
O ctober______
N o v em b er___
D ecem b er____

71.16
72. 24
76.78
77. 51
80.86

44.2
44.1
45.7
45.7
46.9

1.610
1.638
1.680
1.696
1.724

73. 01
71. 64
73.12
73.69
76. 51

44.3
42.9
43.6
43.4
44.2

1.648
1.670
1.677
1.698
1.731

1951: J a n u a r y ............
F ebruary..........
M a rch ............. .
A pril_________
M a y _________
J u n e_________
J u ly __________
A u g u st..............

81.78
82. 65
82.90
84. 13
84.38
83.99
81.70
85.35

47.3
47.5
47.4
47.8
47.7
47.4
46.5
47.0

1.729
1.740
1.749
1. 760
1.769
1.772
1.757
1.816

76. 91
79.83
80. 28
82. 58
82.17
82.08
82.40
82.08

43.5
44.6
44.7
45.7
45.6
45.4
45.1
45.5

1.768
1.790
1.796
1.807
1.802
1.808
1.827
1.804

A vg.
w kly.
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Special-industry ma­
c h in e r y ( e x c e p t
m etalw orking m a­
chinery)
A vg.
w kly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

General industrial
m achinery

A vg.
w kly.
earn­
ings

Office and store m a­
chines and devices

A vg.
w kly.
earn­
ings

A vg.
w kly.
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

39.5 $1. 507 $62. 53
41.9 1.583 66.95

39.5
41.1

$1. 583
1.629

A vg.
w k ly .
hours

A vg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

39.7 $1.616 $60. 57
43.5 1.717 65.74

40.3 $1. 503 $59. 53
41.9 1.569 66.33

76.16
75.64
82. 72
81.26
82.30

44.0
43.9
45.6
45.6
45.9

1.731
1.723
1.814
1.782
1.793

65.75
67.44
69. 49
70. 86
73. 25

42.2
42.6
43.0
43.1
44.1

1. 558
1.583
1.616
1.644
1.661

66.65
68. 91
71.39
72.23
74.49

42.4
42.8
43.8
43.8
44.5

1.572
1.610
1.630
1.649
1.674

67.63
69. 55
70.89
71.11
73.27

41.8
42.0
42.3
42.2
42.9

1.618
1.656
1.676
1.685
1.708

82.62
.84.17
85. 69
86.76
87.05
88. 27
85.55
86.67

45.8
46.4
46.8
47.1
46.8
47.0
45.7
46.1

1.804
1.814
1.831
1.842
1.860
1.878
1.872
1.880

73. 80
74.59
75.15
76. 01
74.55
75.37
73.49
72. 72

43.9
43.9
44.1
44.5
43.8
44.0
43.1
42.7

1.681
1.699
1.704
1.708
1.702
1.713
1.705
1.703

74.32
75.19
75. 71
77.15
77. 59
78.00
75.30
76.43

44.0
44.1
44.2
44.7
44.8
44.8
43.6
44.0

1.689
1.705
1.713
1. 726
1.732
1.741
1.727
1.737

71.82
72. 46
72.97
73.01
73.08
73.46
72.62
74.01

42.1
42.4
42.3
42.2
42.0
42.0
41.4
41.3

1.706
1.709
1.725
1.730
1.740
1.749
1.754
1.792

M anufacturing—C ontinued
M achinery (except electrical)—C ontinued
C om pu tin g m achines
and cash registers

T ypew riters

Service-industry and
household m achines

Refrigerators and airconditioning units

M iscellaneous m a­
chinery parts

1949: A verage______ $67.87
1950: A verage............. 71.70

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

1950: A u g u st..............
S ep tem b er___
O ctober______
N o v em b er____
D ecem b er.........

72.19
74. 56
76.00
73. 89
77. 42

41.3
41.7
42.2
41.3
42.4

1.748
1.788
1.801
1. 789
1.826

63.90
66.60
67.14
69. 61
69.07

42.8
43.5
43.4
44.0
43.8

1.493
1.531
1.547
1.582
1.577

66.93
67. 90
70. 60
70. 26
69. 76

41.6
41.4
42.3
41.6
41.4

1.609
1.640
1.669
1.689
1.685

66.22
64.95
67. 73
68.45
66. 29

40.8
39.7
40.8
40.5
39.6

1.623
1.636
1.660
1.690
1.674

1951: Jan uary______ 75.90
February.......... 76.90
M a r ch ............... 77.75
A pril_________ 77. 48
M a y ......... .......... 77.81
J u n e_________ 78.19
J u ly ................... 77. 72
A u g u st.............. 81.29

41.5
42.0
41.8
41.7
41.5
41.5
40.8
41.9

1.829
1.831
1.860
1.858
1.875
1.884
1.905
1.940

67.47
68.23
68.44
68. 03
68. 54
68.35
66.80
66.69

42.7
43.1
43.1
43.0
43.0
42.8
41.8
41.5

1.580
1.583
1.588
1.582
1.594
1.597
1.598
1.607

68.45
70.88
73.98
71.36
69.28
69.67
70.65
69.59

40.5
41.4
42.2
41.2
40.3
39.9
40.3
39.7

1.690
1.712
1.753
1.732
1. 719
1.746
1.753
1.753

65. 69
68. 59
73.82
68.87
67. 23
67.24
69.05
67.92

39.1
40.3
41.8
39.9
39. 2
38.6
39.3
38.7

1.680
1.702
1.766
1. 726
1. 715
1.742
1.757
1.755

B all and roller bear­
ings

38.6 $1.492 $57. 53
42.0 1.575 68. 55

38.1
42.5

$1.510
1.613

67.54
68. 68
70. 46
71.30
73. 78

42.8
42.9
43.6
43.5
44.1

1.578
1.601
1.616
1.639
1.673

70.63
71.36
72.44
74.90
77. 29

43.6
43.3
43.9
44.4
44.7

1.620
1.648
1.650
1.687
1. 729

47. 58
73.26
74.60
75.07
74.64
74. 22
72.97
73.87

44.0
43.4
43.7
43.9
43. 7
43.0
42.6
42.9

1.695
1.688
1.707
1. 710
1. 708
1.726
1.713
1.722

78. 00
73.23
77.92
77.31
76. 78
78.17
78.36
79.70

44.7
42.7
44.3
44.1
43 8
43.6
44.0
44.7

1.745
1.716
1.759
1.753
1.753
1.793
1.781
1.783

M anufacturing—C ontinued
M achinery (except
electrical)—Con.

M achine shops (job
and repair)

E lectrical m achinery

Total: E lectrical m a­
chinery

Electrical generat­
ing transm ission,
distribution, and
industrial
ap pa­
ratus

1949: A verage___
$58. 70
1950: A verage______ 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

1950: A u g u st..............
S ep tem b er___
O ctober______
N o v em b er___
D ecem b er.........

66.06
65. 79
68. 79
69. 54
72.63

42.4
41.8
43.1
42.9
44.1

1.558
1.574
1.596
1.621
1.647

60.15
61.48
64.12
64.33
65.15

41.0
41.4
42.1
41.8
41.9

1.467
1.485
1.523
1. 539
1. 555

1951: Jan uary............
F ebruary_____
M a rch _______
A pril............ ..
M a y _________
J u n e_________
J u ly ....................
A u g u s t..............

73. 59
74.69
72.83
73.69
74.13
72.80
72. 04
72.38

43.7
44.3
43.3
43.4
43.4
42.6
42.4
42.5

1.684
1.686
1.682
1.698
1.708
1.709
1.699
1.703

64.42
64. 80
65.34
65.58
66.57
67.15
65.85
66.18

41.4
41.3
41.3
41.3
41.5
41.5
40.3
40.7

1.556
1.569
1.582
1.588
1.604
1.618
1.634
1.626

See footnotes at end of table.

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

M otors, generators,
transformers, and
industrial controls

E lectrical equ ip m en t
for vehicles

39.5 $1. 509 $61.30
41.1 1.551 64. 90

39.7 $1. 544 $59.16
41.1 1. 579 66. 22

64. 25
64.85
67.35
68.48
69.03

41.4
41.6
42.2
42.3
42.3

1.552
1. 559
1.596
1.619
1.632

65.30
65.45
68.36
69.13
69.68

41.3
41.4
42.2
42.1
42.1

1.581
1. 581
1.620
1.642
1.655

68. 38
68. 72
70.18
70.06
71.57
71.91
70.64
71.63

41.9
41.7
42.1
42.0
42.4
42.4
41.0
41.5

1.632
1.648
1.667
1.668
1.688
1.696
1.723
1.726

69.60
69.60
71.40
71.23
73.10
73.53
72. 20
73.08

41.8
41.6
42.1
42.0
42.6
42.6
41.0
41.5

1.665
1.673
1.696
1.696
1.716
1.726
1.761
1.761

C om m unication
eq u ip m en t

39.1 $1,513 $53. 56
41.7 1.588 56.20

39.5
40.9

$1.356
1.374

66.41
67.33
70.44
67. 89
69.85

41.9
41.9
42.9
41.5
41.9

1. 585
1.607
1.642
1.636
1.667

55.11
56.69
59. 02
58.83
59. 76

40.7
41.2
41.8
41.2
41.5

1.354
1.376
1.412
1.428
1.440

66.22
65.36
66.97
67.97
68.00
67.58
67. 26
66.28

40.5
39.9
40.2
40.7
40.5
39.8
39.4
38.6

1.635
1.638
1.666
1.670
1.679
1.698
1.707
1.717

60.22
60. 61
60. 58
60.60
61.05
62.05
60.85
61.32

41.3
41.2
41.1
41.0
41.0
41.2
40.3
41.1

1.458
1.471
1.474
1.478
1.489
1.506
1.510
1.492

T able C -l:

MONTHLY LABOR

G: EARNINGS AND HOURS

630

Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees1—Con.
Manufacturing—Continued
Transportation equipment

Electrical machinery —Continued

Year and month

R a d io s , p h o n o ­
graphs, television
sets, and equip­
ment
Avg.
wkly. wAvg.
kly.
earn­ hours
ings

1949: Average............ $50. 68
1950: Average______ 53.85

Telephone and tele­
graph equipment

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ hours
ings
ings

39.5 $1.283 $61. 43
40.7 1.323 65. 84

Electrical appliances,
lamps, and miscel­
laneous products

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ hours
ings
ings

39.3 $1. 563 $56. 52
40.1 1.642 61.58

Total: Transporta­
tion equipment

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ hours
ings
ings

39.5 $1.431 $64. 95
41.0 1.502 71.18

Aircraft and parts

Automobiles

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ hours
ings
ings

39.2 $1. 657 $65. 97
41.0 1.736 73. 25

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ hours
ings
ings

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

38.9 $1. 696 $63. 62
41.2 1.778 68.39

40.6
41.6

$1.56 7
1.644

1950: August______
September___
October. __ _
November___
December____

52.89
54. 44
57.03
56.32
56.96

40.5
40.9
41.6
40.9
41.1

1.306
1.331
1.371
1.377
1. 386

65. 44
67.11
67. 61
70.39
71.93

40.0
40.7
40.8
40.9
41.6

1.636
1.649
1.657
1.721
1.729

59.74
62. 43
65. 71
66.18
67.14

40.5
41.4
42.2
42.1
42.2

1.475
1.508
1. 557
1. 572
1. 591

72. 87
72. 39
73. 02
71.78
75.18

42.0
40.9
41.0
40.1
41. 4

1.735
1. 770
1. 781
1.790
1. 816

75. 21
73.81
75. 21
72. 76
76.28

42.3
40.6
41.1
39.5
40.9

1.778
1.818
1.830
1.842
1.865

68.94
71.18
70.18
71.78
75.08

42.4
42.7
41.9
42.4
43.3

1. 6261. 667
1. 6751.693
1.734

1961: January_____
February____
M arch_______
April........... .
M ay________
June______ .
July_________
A ugust.......... .

57.32
57.31
57.13
56. 74
57.41
58.42
57.26
57.18

40.8
40.5
40.4
40.1
40.2
40.4
39.3
39.9

1.405
1.415
1.414
1.415
1.428
1.446
1.457
1.433

71.31
72.97
75.79
77.33
76. 85
76.28
75.73
76. 65

41.1
41. 6
42.6
43.3
43.2
43.0
43.1
43.7

1.735
1. 754
1.779
1.786
1.779
1.774
1.757
1. 754

64. 80
65. 38
65. 07
65. 52
65.44
66.62
64.05
63.83

41.3
41.3
40.9
41.0
40.8
41.2
39.2
39.5

1. 569
1. 583
1.591
1.598
1.604
1.617
1.634
1.616

72. 06
74.05
75.73
74.81
74.97
75.14
74. 76
76.54

39.9
40.8
41.2
40.9
40.9
40.4
40.0
40.8

1.806
1.815
1.838
1.829
1.833
1.860
1.869
1.876

71.48
74.29
76.13
74. 52
74.90
74. 88
73.76
76.98

38.7
39.9
40.3
39.7
39.8
38.9
38.0
39.6

1.847
1.862
1.889
1.877
1.882
1.925
1.941
1.944

76.78
75.86
77. 35
77.13
77. 22
77.31
77. 57
77.47

43.7
43.3
43.9
44.0
43.9
43.8
43.7
43.5

1.757
1. 752
1.762
1. 753
1.759
1.765
1. 7751.781

M anufacturing—C ont inued
Transportation equipment—Continued
Aircraft engines and
parts

Aircraft
1949: Average_____ $62. 69
1950: Average_____ 67.15

40.5 $1. 548 $65.24
41.4 1.622 71.40

Aircraft propellers
and parts

Other aircraft parts
and equipment

Ship and boat building and repairing

40.7 $1. 603 $66. 83
42.1 1.696 73.90

41.0 $1. 630 $65. 08
42.4 1.743 70. 81

40.4 $1.611 $61. 67
41.7 1.698 63. 28

Shipbuilding and
repairing

38.0 $1. 623 $61. 88
38.4 1.648 63.83

37.8
38.2

$1.637
1.671

1950: August.............
September-. .
October______
November___
December____

68.29
70. 50
69.17
68.72
72.08

42.6
42.7
42.1
41.5
42.6

1.603
1.651
1.643
1.656
1.692

70.94
74.59
69. 48
80. 82
83.01

42.1
43.8
39.7
45.0
44.8

1.685
1. 703
1.750
1. 796
1.853

78. 68
77. 62
81.17
80.67
88.54

44.4
43.9
44.6
43.3
45.9

1.772
1.768
1.820
1.863
1.929

68. 22
67. 53
77. 08
75. 91
79. 57

40.8
39.7
43.6
43.6
44.6

1.672
1.701
1. 768
1.741
1.784

64. 84
62.89
62.89
64. 47
66. 67

39.2
38.3
38.3
38.7
39.9

1. 654
1.642
1.642
1.666
1. 671

65. 62
63.36
63.23
65.08
67.34

39.2
38.1
38.0
38.6
39.8

1.674
1.663
1.664
1. 686
1.692

1951: January______
February____
March_______
April____ . .
M ay_________
June__
July_____
August______

74. 52
73. 49
75.04
74.43
74.69
75.00
76.13
76. 56

43.2
42.7
43.5
43.5
43.3
43.3
43.5
43.6

1.725
1.721
1.725
1.711
1.725
1.732
1.750
1.756

82. 94
83. 49
86.19
86.80
86.67
88.06
86.56
85.01

45.1
45.3
45.7
46.0
46.2
46.3
45.7
45.0

1.839
1.843
1.886
1.887
1.876
1.902
1.894
1.889

87.11
90.01
90. 42
90.38
87.68
90. 77
92.11
90.49

45.3
46.3
46.3
46.9
46.0
47.3
48.1
47.5

1.923
1.944
1. 953
1.927
1.906
1.919
1.915
1.905

80. 06
78.10
79. 34
79. 25
78.45
77.43
75. 86
76.08

44.8
44.1
44.2
44.1
43.9
43.5
42.5
42.6

1.787
1.771
1. 795
1. 797
1.787
1.780
1.785
1. 786

64.24
68.80
68. 78
68.31
68.46
70.42
71.59
71.72

38.7
40.4
40.2
39.9
39.8
40.1
40.4
40.0

1.660
1.703
1.711
1.712
1. 720
1.756
1.772
1.793

64. 73
69.41
69. 33
68. 92
68.96
71.04
72. 04
72.52

38.6
40.4
40.1
39.7
39.7
40.0
40.2
40.0

1.677
1. 718
1.729
1.736
1.737
1.776
1.792
1.813

Manufacturing—Continued
Instruments and re­
lated products

Transportation equipment—Continued
Locomotives and
parts

Boat building and
repairing
1949: Average_____ $54. 84
1950: Average______ 55. 99

40.5 $1.354 $63. 54
40.6 1.379 66.33

39.2 $1.621 $65. 47
39.6 1. 675 70. 00

Railroad and streetcars

Other transportation
equipment

39.3 $1. 666 $61. 70
40.3 1.737 62.47

38.9 $1. 586 $57. 60
38.9 1.606 64. 44

Total: Instruments
and related products

39.7 $1.451 $55. 28
41.9 1. 538 60.81

39.6
41.2

$1.396
1.476

1950: August_____
September___
O ctober_____
November___
December____

55.70
55. 50
57.12
56. 54
58.06

39.9
40.1
41.3
40.1
40.8

1.396
1.384
1.383
1. 410
1.423

65. 29
68. 72
69.04
69.51
72. 52

39.5
40.4
40.0
40.2
40.9

1.653
1.701
1. 726
1. 729
1.773

68. 68
73. 05
74. 74
73.53
76. 39

40.0
40.9
41.0
40.4
40.7

1.717
1.786
1.823
1.820
1.877

61. 85
64.12
62.86
65. 36
67.98

39.0
39.8
38.9
40. 1
41.0

1.586
1.611
1.616
1. 630
1. 658

60. 30
73.88
69. 86
70. 73
71. 96

39.8
46.0
43. 5
44.4
44.5

1. 515
1. 606
1.606
1. 593
1.617

61.13
63. 58
64. 77
65. 47
60. 75

41.7
42.5
42.5
42.4
42.6

1.466
1.496
1. 524
1.544
1.567

1951: January_____
February.........
March_______
April________
M a y _________
June____
July_________
August______

58.90
57. 72
59. 49
59.80
59.64
58. 56
61.20
60.34

40.4
39.0
39.9
40.6
40.0
39.3
40.8
40.2

1.458
1.480
1.491
1. 473
1.491
1.490
1.500
1.501

72. 41
71.16
75.13
77.36
76. 55
75.64
75.22
75.52

41.0
40.8
41.1
41.5
41.2
40.3
40.4
40.0

1. 766
1.744
1.828
1.864
1.858
1.877
1.862
1.888

75. 96
75.35
82.40
83. 27
80.36
79. 75
82.79
81.18

40.6
41.7
42.3
42.1
41.4
40.3
41.9
41.8

1.871
1.807
1.948
1.978
1.941
1.979
1.976
1.942

67. 90
66.97
68.06
70. 74
72.90
71.69
69. 68
68.54

41.1
39.7
40. 2
40.7
41.0
40.3
39.3
38.4

1.652
1.687
1.693
1. 738
1.778
1.779
1.773
1.785

66.14
67. 48
69.08
64. 70
65.81
68.43
65. 99
66. 71

41.7
42.2
43.2
41.0
41.0
42.4
41.5
41.8

1.586
1.599
1.599
1.578
1.605
1.614
1.590
1.596

65.79
67. 06
67.64
68. 55
68.78
69.44
68. 75
69. 41

41.8
42.2
42.3
42.5
42.3
42.6
42.1
42.4

1.574
1.589
1.599
1.613
1.626
1.630
1.633
1.637

See footnotes at end of table.


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

T a ble

631

C: EARNINGS AND HOURS

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees 1—Con.
Manufacturing—Continued
Miscellaneous manu­
facturing industries

Instruments and related products—Continued
Year and month

Ophthalmic goods
Avg. Avg.
wkly. wkly.
earn­ hours
ings

1949: Average_________________________ $47.04
1950: Average_____ ___________________ 50.88

Watches and
clocks

Photographic
apparatus

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ hours
ings
ings

39.6 $1,188 $59.91
40.7 1.250 65. 59

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ hours
ings
ings

39.7 $1. 509 $49.53
41.2 1.592 53.25

Professional and
scientific instruments

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ hours
ings
ings

39.0 $1. 270 $57.01
39.8 1.338 63.01

Total: Miscellane­
ous manufacturing
industries

Avg. Avg. Avg.
hrly. wkly.
earn­ earn­ wkly.
ings
ings hours

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

39.7 $1. 436 $50. 23
41.7 1.511 54.04

39.9
41.0

$1.259
1.318

1950: August__________________________
September_______________________
October_____ _______________ ____
November_______________________
December......... ........ ............................

52.17
52.17
54.13
54.50
55.70

41.6
41.6
41.7
41.6
42.1

1.254
1.254
1.298
1.310
1.323

65. 72
69.15
69. 22
69. 60
70.85

41.7
42.4
42.0
41.8
42.2

1.576
1.631
1. 648
1.665
1.679

51.98
55.15
58.06
59. 47
59.40

39.8
40.7
41.8
42.0
41.6

1.306
1.355
1.389
1.416
1.428

63.11
65. 73
66. 78
67. 57
69.18

42.1
43.1
43.0
42.9
43.1

1.499
1.525
1. 553
1.575
1.605

54. 87
56.04
56.98
57.01
57. 50

41.6
42.1
42.3
42.2
41.7

1.319
1.331
1.347
1.351
1.379

1951: January_________________________
February________________________
March__________________________
April
M a y ___ ______________ ________
June______ _ -- ___ ___________
July__ _________
...
August____________________ ___

55. 47
55. 66
55. 61
56. 23
55. 60
56.07
55. 55
55.28

41.8
41.6
41.5
41. 5
40.7
40.9
40.4
40.2

1,327
1.338
1.340
1.355
1.366
1.371
1.375
1.375

70.56
72. 76
71.99
73.24
73. 77
72.82
73.00
71.88

41.8
42.3
42.1
41.9
42.2
41.8
41.5
41.6

1.688
1.720
1.710
1. 748
1.748
1.742
1.759
1. 728

55. 61
58. 77
60. 40
60.49
61.07
59.78
57.16
59.10

38.7
41.1
41.8
41.6
41.8
41.0
40.0
41.1

1.437
1.430
1.445
1. 454
1. 461
1.458
1.429
1.438

68. 43
69.11
70.03
71.12
71.10
72.73
72.28
73.18

42.5
42.5
42.6
43.1
42.7
43.5
43.1
43.3

1.610
1.626
1.644
1. 650
1.665
1. 672
1.677
1.690

57.37
58. 41
58.18
58.03
57. 39
57.85
56.28
56.64

41.3
41.6
41.5
41.3
40.7
40.8
39.8
40.0

1.389
1.404
1.402
1.405
1.410
1.418
1.414
1.416

Manufacturing—Continued
Miscellaneous manufacturing industries—Continued
Jewelry, silverware,
and plated ware
1949 Average_____________________ ___ $55.06
1950' Average_________________________ 59. 45

Jewelry and
findings

41.4 $1,330 $51.33
42.8 1.389 54. 25

Silverware and
plated ware

Toys and sporting
goods

40.8 $1.258 $58.30
41.6 1.304 64.08

42.0 $1.388 $47.00
43.8 1.463 50. 98

Costume jewelry,
buttons, notions

39.1 $1.202 $46.06
40.4 1.262 49. 52

39.3
40.0

$1.172
1.238

1950: August_______________
_______
September..___ ______
October _____ _ . . . . _________
November_____ _______ __________
December................

59.98
63. 48
65.06
65.19
63.52

43.4
44.8
44.9
44.9
43.9

1.382
1.417
1.449
1. 452
1.447

53.68
57.06
59.03
58.37
58.14

42.0
43.0
43.5
43.4
43.0

1.278
1.327
1.357
1.345
1.352

65.42
69. 56
70. 93
71.56
68. 48

44.5
46.5
46.3
46.2
44.7

1.470
1.496
1.532
1.549
1.532

51.90
52.11
53.42
53.90
53. 49

40.9
41.1
41.7
41.4
40.4

1.269
1.268
1.281
1.302
1.324

50. 55
51.42
51.40
52.66
53. 41

40.7
41.2
40.6
41.3
41.4

1.242
1.248
1.266
1.275
1.290

1951: January.......................... .......................
February_________
__ . ..
March
April..
May____________ _____________
.Tima
July________ _______ ___________
August......... ........................... .........

62. 29
64.08
62.93
62.46
61.45
61.23
58.63
59.52

43.2
43.5
42.9
42.4
41.3
40. 9
39.4
39.6

1.442
1.473
1.467
1.473
1.488
1.497
1.488
1.503

58.32
59. 79
58. 73
57. 93
56. 58
56. 61
54.41
55.86

43.2
43.2
42.9
42.1
41.0
40. 7
39.4
40.1

1.350
1.384
1.369
1.376
1.380
1.391
1.381
1.393

66. 27
68.20
66. 95
66. 40
65. 49
64. 90
62. 06
62.88

43.2
43.8
43.0
42.7
41.5
41.0
39.4
39.4

1.534
1.557
1. 557
1.555
1.578
1. 583
1.575
1. 596

53.20
54.10
54.06
53.48
52.10
52. 68
52. 09
53. 30

40.0
39.9
39.9
39.7
39.0
39.2
38. 7
39.6

1.330
1.356
1.355
1.347
1.336
1.344
1.346
1.346

53. 58
54.24
53. 44
53.13
53.45
54.40
53.37
52.10

40.9
41.5
40.7
40.1
39.8
40.0
39.3
38.2

1.310
1.307
1.313
1.325
1.343
1.360
1.358
1.364

Transportation and public utilities

Manufacturing—Con.

Communication

Miscellaneous
manufacturing
industries—Con.
Class I railroads *

Local railways and
bus lines 5

Other miscellaneous
manufacturing
industries

1950: Average_________________________

$51.20
54.91

40.0 $1.280 $61.73
41.1 1.336 63.20

43.5 $1.419 $64. 61
40.8 1.549 66.96

1950: August__________________________
September___ ___________________
October_________ ____ ___________
November_______________________
December_______________________

55.62
56.66
57.75
57.30
58.25

41.6
42.0
42.4
42.1
41.7

1.337
1.349
1.362
1.361
1.397

65.46
63.18
64. 54
64.63
63.00

42.7
40.5
41.8
41.4
40.0

1951: January_________________________
February
__ _____________
March__________________________
April____ ____________ __________
May
_________________________
June ..................
............
July____ _______________________
August

58.37
59.34
59. 54
59.34
58.83
59.22
57.59
57.87

41.4
41.7
41.9
41.7
41.2
41.3
40.3
40.5

1.410
1.423
1.421
1.423
1.428
1.434
1.429
1.429

67.86
69.50
71.48
70. 99
71.80
73.05
72.14

42.2
41.2
42.0
40.8
41.1
41.2
40.3

See footnotes at end of table.


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

Telephones 8

44.9 $1. 439 $51. 78
45.0 1.488 54.38

Switchboard operat­
ing employees 7

38.5 $1.345
38.9 1,398 $46. 65

37.5

$1,244

1.533
1.560
1.544
1.561
1.575

66.84
67. 42
67. 77
68.26
69. 96

44.8
45.1
45.3
45.6
46.3

1.492
1.495
1.496
1.497
1.511

54.71
55.80
56.18
54.04
56.30

39.3
39.6
39.4
38.0
39.1

1.392
1.409
1.426
1,422
1.440

47.90
48.00
49.00
44. 93
47.37

38.6
38.4
38.4
36.0
37.3

1.241
1.250
1.276
1.248
1.270

1.608
1.687
1. 702
1.740
1.747
1.773
1.790

70.23
70.66
70. 42
70. 92
72.17
72. 77
73. 02
72.32

45.9
46.0
45.7
45.9
46.5
46.8
46.1
45.6

1.530
1.536
1.541
1. 545
1.552
1. 555
1.584
1.586

56. 41
57.58
56. 52
56.12
56. 59
58.12
59.30
58.88

38.9
39.2
38.9
38.7
39.0
39.4
39.8
39.2

1.450
1.469
1.453
1. 450
1.451
1.475
1.490
1.502

47. 78
49.09
47. 80
47. 45
47 42
49. 26
50.59
49. 91

37.3
37.7
37.4
37.3
37.4
38.1
38.5
37.7

1.181
1.302
1.278
1.272
1. 268
1.293
1.314
1.324

632
T able

G: EARNINGS AND HOURS

MONTHLY LABOR

C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees1—ConTransportation and public utilities—Continued
Communication

Year and month

Line construction,
installation, and
maintenance em­
ployees *
Avg.
wkly.
earn­
ings

Telegraph *

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Avg.
wkly.
earn­
ings

3949: Average....................................................
1950: Average_______________ __________ $73.30

42.1 $1.741

$62.85
64.19

3950: August___________________ ________
September__________________ _____ _
O ctober........ .............. . . . .
November_________________ _____ _
D ecem ber..__________ ____ ________

72. 64
76. 02
75. 91
74. 37
77. 72

41.7
42.9
42. 5
41.5
42.8

1.742
1.772
1.786
1.792
1.816

1951: January__________________ ________ 77.13
February_____ . . . ___________ ____ 79. 74
March___________
_________ . . . 78. 47
April_____________________________ 77.69
M ay_______ _____ ___ _____________ 79. 49
June______________________________ 81.20
July______________________________ 82.82
August____ _____________ ____ ____ 82.63

42.4
43.1
42. 6
42.2
42.9
43.1
43.0
42.9

1.819
1. 850
1. 842
1.841
1.853
1.884
1.926
1.926

Avg.
w kly.
hours

Other public utilities

Avg.
Avg. hrly.
wkly. earn­
hours ings

Gas and electric
utilities

Avg.
wkly.
earn­
ings

Avg.
wkly.
hours

Electric light and
power utilities

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Avg.
wkly.
earn­
ings

Avg.
wkly.
hours

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

Gas utilities

Avg.
wkly.
earn­
ings

Avg.
wkly.
hours

Avg.
hrly.
earn­
ings

44.7 $1. 406 $63. 99
44.7 1.436 66.60

41.5 $1. 542 $64. 91
41.6 1.601 67.81

41.5 $1. 564
41.6 1.630 $63.37

41.5

$1. 527

63.99
64. 49
64. 74
64.25
65.05

45.0
44.6
44.8
44.4
44.8

1.422
1.446
1. 445
1.447
1.452

65. 65
67.35
67. 93
68.68
70.14

41.5
41.6
41.8
41.8
42.0

1.582
1.619
1. 625
1.643
1.670

66. 39
68.60
69.18
69.97
71.31

41.6
41.6
41. 8
41.6
41.7

1.603
1.649
1. 655
1.682
1.710

62. 61
63. 99
64. 86
66. 20
66.73

41.3
41.5
41.9
42.3
42.1

1.516
1.542
1.548
1. 565
1.585

64. 57
64.86
64.63
64.40
65. 97
65.44
71.23
70. 47

44.5
44.7
44.6
44.6
45.4
45.1
44.8
44.6

1.451
1.451
1.449
1.444
1.453
1.451
1.590
1.580

70. 27
71.36
70.14
70. 38
70. 72
71.06
71.57
71.73

41.8
42.0
41. 5
41.5
41. 5
41.7
41.9
41.9

1.681
1.699
1.690
1.696
1. 704
1.704
1.708
1.712

71.18
72. 50
71. 72
71.51
71.97
72.40
73. 21
73.30

41.7
42.1
41.7
41.6
41.6
41.8
42.1
42.1

1.707
1.722
1. 720
1.719
1.730
1.732
1.739
1.741

68.15
70. 04
67.19
66.71
66. 91
66.99
67.40
67.73

42.2
42.5
41. 5
41.1
41.1
41.1
41.3
41.4

1.615
1.648
1.619
1.623
1.628
1.630
1.632
1.636

Transportation and
public utilities—
Con.

Trade

Other public utili­
ties—Con.

Retail trade
Wholesale trade
Retail trade (except
eating and drink­
ing places)

Electric light and gas
utilities combined
1949: Average.
1950: Average.

$67.02

$57. 55
60.36

41.6 $1.611

40.7 $1.414 $45. 93
40.7 1.483 47.63

General merchandise
stores

D epartm ent stores
and general mail­
order houses

40.4 $1.137 $34.87
40.5 1.176 35.95

36.7 $0.950 $39.31
36.8
.977 41.56

37.8
38.2

$1.040
1.088

1950: August........
September.
October___
November.
December..

66.81
68.05
68. 47
68. 68
71.02

41.6
41.7
41.8
41.8
42.4

1.606
1.632
1.638
1.643
1.675

60.90
60.93
61.68
61.98
63.49

40.9
40.7
40.9
40.8
41.2

1.489
1.497
1.508
1.519
1.541

48.99
48. 48
48.32
47.92
48.31

41.1
40.4
40.3
40.0
40.7

1.192
1.200
1.199
1.198
1.187

37.06
36.11
36.01
35.24
37.02

37.4
36.4
36.3
36.0
38.2

.991
.992
.992
.979
.969

42.33
42.03
42. 03
41.24
45.05

38.2
37.8
37.9
37.8
40.7

1.108
1.112
1.109
1.091
1.107

1951: January...
February.
March.......
April..........
M ay_____
June..........
J u ly ..........
August__

70.64
70.80
69. 92
71.43
71.47
71.94
72. 24
72.41

41.8
41.6
41. 2
41.7
41.6
41.9
42.1
42.0

1.690
1.702
1.697
1.713
1.718
1.717
1.716
1.724

63.44
63.62
63.62
63.95
63.78
64.35
64.75
64.63

40.8
40.6
40.6
40.6
40.6
40.7
40.8
40.8

1.555
1.567
1.567
1.575
1.571
1.581
1.587
1.584

49. 85
49. 56
48. 95
49.84
49. 83
50. 74
51.53
51.45

40.3
40.1
39.7
39.9
39.8
40.4
40.9
40.8

1.237
1.236
1.233
1.249
1.252
1.256
1.260
1.261

38.02
37.43
36.44
36. 98
36. 71
37.70
38.30
37.83

36.7
36.3
35.8
35.9
35.5
36.5
37.0
36.8

1.036
1.031
1.018
1.030
1.034
1.033
1.035
1.028

44.58
43. 70
43. 05
43. 39
43.49
44.23
44.46
43.96

38.2
37.8
37.6
37.5
37.3
38.0
37.9
37.7

1.167
1.156
1.145
1.157
1.166
1.164
1.173
1.166

Trade—Continued
Retail trade—Continued
Food and liquor
stores
1949: Average.
1950: Average.

$49.93
51.79

Automotive and ac­
cessories dealers

Other retail trade
Apparel and acces­
sories stores

Furniture and appli­
ance stores

40.2 $1. 242 $58. 92
40.4 1.282 61.65

45.6 $1.292 $40.66
45.7 1.349 40.70

36.7 $1.108 $53.30
36.5 1.115 56.12

Lumber and hard­
ware-supply stores

43.4 $1. 228 $51.84
43.5 1.290 54.62

43.6
43.8

$1.189
1.247

1950: August.......
September.
October___
Novem ber.
December..

53.04
52.12
51.80
52. 40
52.91

41.5
40.4
40.0
40.0
40.3

1.278
1.290
1.295
1.310
1.313

63.66
63.52
63.94
63.07
63.53

45.6
45.6
45.9
45.8
46.0

1.396
1.393
1.393
1.377
1.381

40. 70
40.98
40. 95
40. 65
42.17

37.0
36.2
36.3
36.1
36.7

1.100
1.132
1.128
1.126
1.149

57.03
58.07
57.68
57.90
60.18

43.5
43.4
43.5
43.5
43.8

1.311
1.338
1.326
1.331
1.374

55.91
56.36
56.93
55.98
56.97

44.2
44.1
44.1
43.6
44.3

1.265
1.278
1.291
1.284
1.286

1951: January...
February.
M arch___
April........ .
M ay_____
June..........
July...........
August__

53.15
52. 69
52.62
53.18
53.44
54.72
55.44
55.49

39.9
39.5
39.3
39.6
39.7
40.5
41.1
41.1

1.332
1.334
1.339
1.343
1.346
1.351
1.349
1.350

64. 48
65.16
65. 29
66.34
66. 22
67.03
66.92
67.04

45.7
45.5
45.4
45.5
45.2
45.6
45.4
45.3

1.411
1.432
1.438
1.458
1.465
1.470
1.474
1.480

42.81
41.40
40. 75
41.09
41.44
42.25
42.82
42.90

36.5
36.0
35.4
35.7
35.6
36.2
36.6
36.7

1.173
1.150
1.151
1.151
1.164
1.167
1.170
1.169

58.99
58.31
58. 49
59.18
59.38
59.13
58.61
59.25

43.5
43.1
43.2
43.1
43.0
43.0
43.0
43.0

1.356
1.353
1.354
1.373
1.381
1.375
1.363
1.378

56.68
56. 76
56. 72
58.12
58. 60
58.91
59.45
59.40

43.5
43.2
43.1
43.6
43.8
43.8
44.1
43.9

1.303
1.314
1.316
1.333
1.338
1.345
1.348
1.353

See footnotes at end of table.


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

R E V I E W , N O V E M B E R 1951

T a ble

G: E A R N IN G S A N D

633

HOURS

C -l: Hours and Gross Earnings of Production Workers or Nonsupervisory Employees 1—Con.
Finance 10

Banks
and
trust
com­
panies

Year and month

Service

Security
dealers
Insur­
and
ance
ex­
carriers
changes

Hotels, year-round 11

Avg.
Avg.
Avg.
Avg.
wkly.
wkly.
wkly.
wkly.
earnings earnings earnings earnings

Avg.
wkly.
hours

Cleaning and dyeing
plants

Laundries

Avg.
Avg.
hrly.
wkly.
earnings earnings

Avg.
wkly.
hours

Avg.
Avg.
hrly.
wkly.
earnings earnings

Avg.
wkly.
hours

M otionpicture
produc­
tion
and
distri­
bution

Avg.
Avg.
hrly.
w kly.
earnings earnings

1949: Average_________________
1950: Average ________________

$43.64
46.44

$68.32
81.48

$56.47
58.49

$32. 84
33.85

44.2
43.9

$0. 743
.771

$34. 98
35.47

41.5
41.2

$0. 843
.861

$40. 71
41.69

41.2
41.2

$0. 988
1.012

$92.17
92. 79

1950: August_________ ________
September____ ____ _____
October_________________
November_______________
December_______________

46.36
46.75
47. 78
48.18
48.66

79.09
79.29
84.94
85.62
87.24

58.81
58. 20
58.91
59. 27
60.60

33.92
34.30
34.67
34. 74
35.16

44.0
43.8
44.0
43.7
43.9

.771
.783
.788
.795
.801

34.83
35.93
35.79
35.86
36.38

40.6
41.3
41.0
40.8
41.2

.858
.870
.873
.879
.883

40.16
42. 56
42.15
42.23
42.29

40.0
41.6
41.0
41.2
41.1

1.004
1.023
1.028
1.025
1.029

90. 70
93. 44
95.08
95.68
98.39

1951: January___________ _____
February________________
March__________________
A p r il...______________ . .
M ay........... .............. ...............
J u n e ..._________________
July------------------------------A ugust___________ ._

49. 28
49. 55
49.70
50.08
50.11
50. 06
50. 56
50. 53

89.87
90. 95
85. 96
84.12
81.78
80. 97
77.46
79.34

61.71
61.26
60.96
60.83
61.01
61. 71
62. 49
61.91

34.89
35. 04
34. 68
34.90
35.02
35.24
35.33
35.16

43.4
43.2
43.3
43.3
43.4
43.4
43.4
43.3

.804
.811
.801
.806
.807
.812
.814
.812

36.70
36. 25
36. 85
37.32
37. 96
38. 06
37. 84
37.30

41.0
40.5
40.9
41.1
41.4
41.5
41.4
40.9

.895
.895
.901
.908
.917
.917
.914
.912

43.35
41.78
44.14
44.90
45.90
45. 45
44.43
42. 90

41.4
40.1
42,0
42.4
43.1
42.6
41.8
40.7

1.047
1.042
1.051
1.059
1.065
1.067
1.063
1.054

t82. 94
80. 74
84. 56
84. 94
83. 63
83. 55
84.02
84.13

1 These figures are based on reports from cooperating establishments
covering both full- and part-time employees who worked during, or received
pay for, the pay period ending nearest 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.
3 Includes: 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.
3 Includes: 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.
4 Data 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 monthlv averages.
8 Data include privately and municipally operated local railways and bus
lines.

T a ble

8 Through M ay 1949 the averages relate mainly to the hours and earnings of
employees subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act. Beginning with June
1949 the 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.
7 Data 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.
8 Data 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.
3 Data 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.
10 Data on average weekly hours and average hourly earnings are not avail­
able.
11 Money payments only; additional value of board, room, uniforms, and
tips, not included.
t New series beginning with month and year shown below; not comparable
with data shown for earlier periods:
D r u g s a n d M e d i c i n e s —January 1951; comparable January data for old series
are $63.48,41.3 hours and $1.537.
M o t i o n p i c t u r e p r o d u c t i o n a n d d i s t r i b u t i o n —January 1951; comparable Jan­
uary data for old series are $97.01.

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

Current 1939 Current 1939 Current 1939
dollars dollars dollars dollars dollars dollars
1939:
1941:
1946:
1948:
1949:
1950:

Average__________ $23.86
Average................. .
29. 58
Average__________
43.82
54.14
Average__________
Average........... ......... 54. 92
Average.................... 59.33

1950: August......................
September________
October__________

Bituminouscoal mining

Laundries

Year and month

60. 32
60. 64
61.99

$23. 86
27. 95
31.22
31.31
32. 07
34.31

$23. 88
30. 86
58. 03
72.12
63.28
70.35

$23. 88
29.16
41.35
41.70
36. 96
40.68

$17. 69
19.00
30.30
34.23
34.98
35.47

$17. 69
17.95
21.59
19. 79
20. 43
20.51

34.58
34. 52
35.09

71.04
71.92
72. 99

40.72
40. 94
41.32

34.83
35. 93
35. 79

19.97
20.45
20. 26

1 These 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 1939 having 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
1950: November_______
December_______

$62. 23
63.88

$35. 07
35.51

$73. 27
77. 77

$41.29
43. 23

$35. 86
36.38

$20. 21
20.22

1951: January....................
February _..............
March____ _____
April____________
M ay___ _ ______
June_____ ________
J u lv 2..... ....................
A ugust3____ _____

63. 76
63. 84
64. 57
64. 70
64. 55
65.08
64.32
64. 56

34. 92
34. 52
34. 79
34. 84
34.61
34. 93
34. 47
34.59

76.63
75.67
74. 66
75. 63
73.86
77. 67
72.39
75. 60

41.97
40. 92
40. 22
40. 72
39.60
41.69
38. 79
40. 51

36. 70
36.25
36. 85
37. 32
37. 96
38. 06
37.84
37.30

20.10
19. 60
19. 85
20.10
20.35
20.43
20. 28
19.99

the Consumers’ Price Index were not included. See the M onthly Labor
Review, March 1947, p. 498. Data from January 1939 are available upon
request to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
3 Preliminary.

G: E A R N I N G S

634
T

AND

C-3: Gross and Net Spendable Average Weekly Earnings of Production Workers in Manufactur­
ing Industries, in Current and 1939 Dollars 1

able

N et spendable average weekly
earnings

N et spendable average weekly
earnings
Gross average
weekly earnings
Period
Index
Amount (1939=
100)

Worker with
3 dependents

Worker with
no dependents
Cur­
1939
rent
dollars dollars

Cur­
rent
dollars

1939
dollars

1941: January............ ....... $26. 64
47. 50
1945: January.................
July______________ 45.45
43.31
1946: June_____________

111.7
199.1
190.5
181.5

$25.41
39.40
37.80
37.30

$25.06
30.76
28.99
27.77

$26.37
45.17
43.57
42. 78

$26.00
dò. 27
33. 42
31.85

23.86
25. 20
29.58
36.65
43.14
46.08
44.39
43.82
49.97
54.14
54.92
59.33

100.0
105.6
124.0
153.6
180.8
193.1
186.0
183.7
209.4
226.9
230.2
248.7

23.58
24. 69
28. 05
31.77
36.01
38.29
36.97
37. 72
42. 76
47.43
48.09
51.09

23.58
24.49
26. 51
27.08
28.94
30. 28
28.58
26.88
26.63
27.43
28.09
29.54

23.62
24.95
29. 28
36. 28
41.39
44. 06
42. 74
43. 20
48.24
53.17
53.83
57. 21

23.62
24.75
27. 67
30.93
33. 26
34.84
33.04
30.78
30. 04
30. 75
31.44
33. 08

1939:
1940:
1941:
1942:
1943:
1944:
1945:
1946:
1947:
1948:
1949:
1950:

Average__________
Average. .............
Average________
Average________ _
Average...... ............ .
Average_________
A verage...............
Average...... ..............
Average__________
Average__________
Average__________
Average---------------

1 N et 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. N et 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 w ith 3 dependents are based upon the

T

able

Gross average
weekly earnings
Period

Worker with
3 dependents

Worker with
no dependents

Index
Amount (1939=
100)

Cur­
rent
dollars

Cur­
1939
1939
rent
dollars
dollars dollars

1950: August.............
September__
October_____
November___
December___

$60.32
60.64
61.99
62.23
63. 88

252.8
254.1
259. 8
260.8
267.7

$52. 24
52. 50
52.16
52.35
53.67

$29.95
29. 89
29.53
29. 50
29.84

$58.11
58.38
59 20
59. 40
60. 75

$33.31
33.24
33.51
33.47
33. 77

1951: January_____
February----M arch______
A pril_______
M ay _______
June-----------July 2----------A u gu st2_____

63.76
63. 84
64.57
64. 70
64. 55
65. 08
64. 32
64. 56

267.2
267.6
270.6
271.2
270.5
272.8
269.6
270.6

53. 49
53. 55
54.13
54. 23
54.11
54.53
53.93
54.12

29. 29
28. 96
29.16
29. 20
29.01
29. 27
28. 90
29.00

60. 56
60. 62
61. 21
61.31
61.19
61.62
61.01
61.20

33.17
32. 78
32.98
33.01
32.81
33. 07
32.69
32. 79

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 of measuring 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.
2 Preliminary.

C-4: Average Hourly Earnings, Gross and Exclusive of Overtime, of Production Workers
Manufacturing Industries 1
Durable
goods

Manufacturing
Excluding
overtime

Period
Gross
amount

1941:
1942:
1943:
1944:
1945:
1946:
1947:
1948:
1949:
1950:

M ONTHLY LABOR

HOURS

$0. 729
Average........
.853
Average____
Average____ * .961
1.019
Average____
1.023
Average____
1. 086
Average____
1. 237
Average____
1.350
Average____
1.401
Average.........
1.465
Average____

Gross

110.9 $0. 808 $0. 770 $0. 640
.723
.947
.881
127.2
.803
.976
141.2 1.059
.861
149.6 1.117 1.029
. 904
152.1 1.111 21.042
166.0 1.156 1.122 1.015
189.3 1.292 1. 250 1.171
207.0 1.410 1.366 1.278
216.0 1. 469 1.434 1.325
223.5 1.537 1.480 1.378

$0.625
.698
.763
.814
2. 858
.981
1.133
1.241
1. 292
1.337

1950: A ugust_____
Septem ber...
October____
N ovem ber...
December__

$1. 464
1.479
1.501
1. 514
1.543

$1. 408
1.424
1.442
1.456
1.479

1951: January-----February .
March....... .
April______
M ay _____
June_______
July 3. . . . .
August 3—

1.555
1.561
1.571
1.578
1.586
1.599
1.600
1.598

1.497
1.504
1.511
1.518
1.528
1. 540
1.548
1.543

Index
Amount (1939=
100)

i Overtime 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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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Exclu ding
overt ime

Period

Ex­
clud­
ing
over­
time

Durable
goods

Manufacturing

Ex­
clud­
ing
over­
time

Gross

$0. 702
.805
.894
.947
>.963
1.051
1.198
1.310
1.367
1.415

Nondurable
goods

Gross
amount

Gross
Index
Amount (1939=
100)

Ex­
clud­
ing
over­
time

in

Nondurable
goods

Gross

Ex­
clud­
ing
over­
time

222.4 $1. 539 $1.475 $1.374
225. 0 1.562 1.499 1. 379
227.8 1. 577 1.508 1.404
230.0 1.587 1. 521 1.419
233.6 1.619 1.545 1.443

$1.328
1.334
1.358
1.372
1.393

1.456
1.458
1.460
1.465
1.474
1.484
1.490
1.483

1.409
1.414
1.415
1.422
1.432
1.441
1.446
1.441

236.5
237.6
238.7
239.8
241.4
243.3
244.5
243.8

1.630
1.639
1. 654
1.659
1.665
1.681
1.684
1.685

1.565
1.573
1. 582
1.587
1.596
1.611
1.624
1.620

2 Eleven-month average. August 1945 excluded because of VJ-holiday
period.
2 Preliminary.

R E V I E W , N O V E M B E R 1951

D : P R IC E S AN D

635

COST OF L IV IN G

D : Prices and Cost of Living
T a ble

D -l: Consumers’ Price Index 1 for Moderate-Income Families in Large Cities, b y Group of
Commodities
[1935-39=100]
Fuel, electricity, and refrigeration 1

Year and month

All item s!

Food

Apparel

Total
1913:
1914:
1915:
1916:
1917:
1918:
1919:
1920:
1921:
1922:
1923:
1924:
1925:
1926:
1927:
1928:
1929:
1930:
1931:
1932:
1933:
1934:
1935:
1936:
1937:
1938:
1939:
1940:
1941:
1942:
1943:
1944:
1945:
1946:
1947:
1948:
1949:
1950:

Average________________
Average________________
Average___ __ . _ ______
Average________________
A verage,.____ __________
Average________________
Average. ______________
Average________________
Average________________
Average________ ______
Average________________
Average________________
Average________________
Average________________
A verage.______ _________
Average___________ ____
Average________________
Average________________
Average...............................
Average__________ ____ _
A v era g e...____ _________
Average________________
Average________________
Average................................
Average________________
Average________________
Average________________
Average________________
Average________________
Average________________
Average______________ _
A verage.......... ............. .
Average______ __________
Average___________ ____
Average____ ____ ______
A v era g e...____ _________
Average__________ _____
Average___ ____________
January 15______ _______
June 15________ ______
September 15___________
October 15______________
November 15__________
December 15____________
1951: January 15_____________
J a n u a r y 15 _____ . . . ___
February 15____ ________
F e b r u a r y 15 _____________
March 1 5 ............................
M a r c h 15 _______________
April 15 _______________
A p r i l 15 ________________
M ay 15________ ______ _
M a y 15 _ _ ............... .......
June 15____
. . .
J u n e 15 . .
______
July 1 5 - . ___ . . . ____
J u l y 15 . . .
. _________
August 15______________
A u q u s t 15 _______________
September 1 5 __________
S e p te m b e r 15 ____________

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
174.6
175.6
176.4
178.8
181.5

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
210.0
210.6
210.8
216.3
221.9

181.6

2 2 1 .6

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
189.8
193.0
194.3
195.5
198.5

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
131.8
132.0
132.5
132.9
133.2


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

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
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
141.2
142.0
142.5
142.8
143.3

Gas and
electricity

Other
fuels

Ice

(')
(')
(s)
(!)
(»)
(»)
(!)
(5)
(s)
(')
(s)
(')
(!)
(5)
(«)
(8)
(»)
(s)
(»)
(5)
(»)
(s)
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
96.8
96.8
97.2

(‘)
(5)
(5)
(!)
(»)
(«)
(*)
<!)
(•)
(!)
(«)
(*)
(s)
(s)
(s)
m
(s)
(s)
(»)
(»)
({)
(!)
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
196.1
199.2
200.8
201. 7
202.3

(»)
(!)
(3)
(5)
(8)
(«)
(»)
(»)
(»)
(s)
(»)
(s)
(5)
(')
(»)
(s)
(')
(!)
(»)
(»)
(»)
(s)
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
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
194.2
198.7
201.1
203.2
207.4

9 7 .2

Miscella­
neous 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
157.8
158.3
159.2
160.6
162.1

199.7

1 2 6.0

183.8

226.0

202.0

134.0

143.9

2 0 1.8

152.9

2 0 3.2

204.5

126.8

152.8

163.7

2 2 6 .0

97.2

2 0 8.9

184.2

209.7

145.7

9 7 .2

2 0 4.7

163.5

163.2

2 1 1.4

144-5

16 4

.8

184.5

226.2

203.1

134.7

144.2

97.2

205.0

184.5

154.4

2 0 4 .6

12 7 . 3

210.7

225.4

225.7

203.6

135.1

9 7 .2

164.3

146.3

205.7

96.9

2 1 2.7

154.4

2 2 4 .6

127.7

205.0

146.2

211.8

165.8

205.2

144.0

154-4

97.1

143.6

205.5

202.4

154.4

2 14 .1

97.3

144.9

9 7 .4
97. i
9 7 .2

2 0 1.6

202.8

156.0

212.5

145.1

2 0 2.3

1 5 6.0

164.8

144.0

97.2

203.7

157.6

2 1 4 .6

166.3

145.7

9 7 .2

184.6
184.5

185.4

227.4

185.4

2 2 6 .7

185.2

226.9

204.0

1 8 5.5

2 2 7 .0

2 0 5.5

185.5

227.7

203.3

185.8

2 2 7 .5

204.9

204.0
2 0 5.7

135.4
128.0

135.7
128.3

136.2
128.8

143.6

203.4

156.0

1 5 6.0

157.6

212.6
2 1 4.8

212.4
2 14 .8

185.5

227.0

203.6

1 8 5.6

205.2

144.2

129.3

97.3

204.2

2 2 6.4

157.8

209.0

9 7 .3

210. 8

227.3

146.0

2 0 4 .0

137.5

157.8

22 6 .3

210.7

144.4

21 2 .7

130.0

97.3

204.9

157.8

211.1

14 6 .3

9 7 .3

2 0 4 -8

1 5 7.8

2 1 2 .8

186.6
1 8 6 .5

136.8

i The “ 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 1950 have 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 of methods
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 o t e .— The old series of Indexes for 1951 are

for reference.

Housefurnishings

Rent*

164.6
166.1

165.0
1 6 6.4

165. 0
1 6 6.3

165.4
1 6 6.8

166.0
167.

5 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.
! The 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.”
* The 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.
• Data not available.

shown in italics in tables D - l, D -2, and D -5

D : P R IC E S AN D

636
T able D -2 :

M ONTHLY LABOR

CO ST OF L IV IN G

Consumers’ Price Index for Moderate-Income Families, by City,1 for Selected Periods
[1 9 3 5 -3 9 = 1 0 0 ]

City
Average— ..............- ..............
Atlanta, Ga- __ __________
Baltimore, M d
________
Birmingham, Ala_________
Boston, M ass_____________
Buffalo, N . Y _____________
Chicago, 111______________
Cincinnati, Ohio__________
Cleveland, Ohio__________
Denver, Colo_____________
Detroit, M ich____________
Houston, T ex-.........................
Indianapolis, Ind...................
Jacksonville, Fla........- ...........
Kansas City, Mo ________
Los Angeles, Calif___ _____
Manchester, N . H _________
Memphis, T e n n ............ .......
Milwaukee, W is. ________
Minneapolis, M in n .-............
Mobile, Ala . . . __________
New Orleans, La. _ ______
New York, N . Y __________
Norfolk, Va _ ____________
Philadelphia, P a__________
Pittsburgh, P a______ _____
Portland, M aine__________
Portland, Oreg........... - ...........
Richmond, Va____________
St. Louis, Mo___ _____
San Francisco, Calif..... .........
Savannah, Oa___________
Scranton, P a _____________
Seattle, W ash____________
Washington, D. C ________

1

Sept. 15 Aug. 15, July 15, June 15, M ay 15, Apr. 15, Mar. 15, Feb. 16, Jan. 15, Dec. 15, Nov. 15, Oct. 15, Sept. 15, June 15, S e p t. 15
1950
1950
1950
1950
1951
1951
1950
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
186.6

(2)

190. 5
191. 4
177. 8
(2)
191. 8
186. 8

(2)
(2)

185.5
193. 1

(2)

190. 5
177. 2

(2)

190. 9
185. 3
189. 1

185.5

0)
(2)

189.2
176.9
185.5
190.9
185.6

(2)

185.2

(2)

185.4
192.7

(2)

189.8
189.8
176.5

190.1
176.1

190.1
185.0

189.8
184.8
188.2

(2)

(2)
(2)

(2)

184.6

(2)
(*)


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

(2)

183.8
187.5

(2)

189.9
175.5
183.3
189.1
184.6

188.6
190.6
175.8

189.8
175.5

189.1
184.4

188.5
183.9
186.2

(2)

(2)

(2)
(2)

(2)

181.5
m

(2)

188.2
173.5
180.8
185.4
182.3

(2)

178.8

C
2)

183.1
183.9
171.2

W

183.4
178.4

(2)
(2)

176.4

175.6

3 180.7
(3)
180.8
169.7

(3)
(3)
179.3
169.5
174.1
180.3
176.1

(2)

180.6
176.1
179.6
(3)
179.8
183.0

(2)

(2)

188. 5
193. 0

187.6
188.6
192.6

188.3
192.3

187.4
3192.5

(2)

187.0
186.7
192.5

187.0
192.4

(2)

189. 0
194. 1

186.2
191.0

184.9
184.2
190.1

181.3
186.1

(2)
192. 0
(2)
187. 2
(2)
189. 9
(2)
183. 1
185. 6
(2)
182. 5

(2)
(2)
(2)
186. 6
(2)
(2)
192. 3
(2)
(2)
188. 9
180. 9

187.8
(2)
179.7
186.7
184.4
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
181.2

(2)
190.6
(2)
186.1
(2)
187.8
(2)
183.6
183.5
(2)
180.5

(2)
(2)
(2)
186.3
(2)
(2)
190.9
(2)
(2)
188.5
181.4

»187.5
t2)
178.5
185.6
182.9
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
180.6

(2)
190.4
(2)
185.6
(2)
186.5
(2)
183.2
181.9
(2)
180.4

(2)
(2)
(2)
184.1
(2)
f2)
187.5
(2)
(2)
187.9
180.8

184.4
(2)
175.6
181.3
180.6
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
177.8

")
185.6
(3)
178.5
(3)
182.7
(2)
177.7
177.1
f2)
175.4

(*)
(3)
(2)
176.2
(2)
C2)
180.3
(2)
180.1
173.2

178.9
(2)
169. 0
174.8
176.6
(3)
(3)
(3)
f2)
(■')
172.4

(2)

188. 6
185. 4
188. 8

185.4
189.3

(2)

188.3
186.4
187.8

185.9
186.7

(2)

187.1
185.4
185.6

181.0
183.4

(2)

(2)
178.1
180.2
171.3

179.3
174.1
178.7

173.8
178.8

186. 1
190 0
178 6

(2)
(2)

186 2
188 4

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)

(2)

195.7
181.3

(2)
(2)
196.5
182 5
(2)
190 9
(2)
180 8

(2)

185.6
187.8
176.4

(2)
(2)

185.0
188.4

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

182.4
191.4
180.0

(2)

(2)

194.1
181.2

(2)
(2)
195.5
(2)
(2)
(2)

T h e indexes are based on tim e-to-tim e changes in the cost of goods and
services purchased b y moderate-incom e fam ilies in large cities. T h ey do n ot
indicate w h eth er it costs more to liv e in one city than in another.
T hrough June 1947, consum ers’ price indexes were com p u ted m on th ly for

2

184.5

185.6
186.0
175.7
(2)
(2)
185.2
188.7

l2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
.2)
f2)
(»)
(2)
(4)

180.8
188.3
179.2

(2)

190.4
179.8

(2)
(»)
189.2
(2)
(2)
(2)

ft)

O

178.8
181.5

(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)

(3)

(2)
Ö
00
(3)
(2)
(3)

173.1
183.1
173.5

178.1
179.1
182.3

(3)

(3)

184.3
173.8

(3)
(3)
183.6
(3)
(2)
(»)

174 6

(2)

170.2

1 8 6 .5

(2)

(2)

(2)

(2)

180.6
179. 7
168.2

174.7
171.6
165. 5

179.5
175.9

175.1
170.5
(3)

177.5
182.2

173.5
175.8

(2)
181.7

176.3

173.2
(2)
179.2

169.3
(3)
172.7

172.8
173. 9

169.1
168.2
(2)
167.0

181 i
1 8 5.5

(3)

(2
)
185. 8

(3)

(2)
(2)

(2)

(2)
(2)

(3)

(3)

(3)

171.7

(»)

(2)

(3)
(3)

(3)

173.1
177.4
168.1
(2)

169.1
171.8
164. 4
C2)

174.0
175.3

168.8
172.4

(’)

(»)
(2)

(3)

(»)
(3)
(3)

(J)
(3)

1 8 8 .7
1 9 2 .8
1 7 8.6
1 9 2.8
1 8 6.9

(2)
(2)

1 8 6.7
1 9 8 .5

(2)

1 9 3.5

(2)

1 8 5.2

(2)

1 8 8 .7

(2) ¡el
(2)

1 8 2 .6

1 9 0 .2
179.1

1 8 8 .8
1 9 0 .3

Q

(2)
(2)

21 cities and in M arch, June, Septem ber, and D ecem ber f or 13 ad ditional
cities; beginning J u ly 1947 indexes were com puted m on thly for 10 cities and
once every 3 m onths for 24 additional cities according to a staggered schedule.
* Corrected.

R E V I E W , N O V E M B E R 1951

T a ble

D : P R IC E S AN D

CO ST OF L IV IN G

637

D-3: Consumers’ Price Index for Moderate-Income Families, by City and Group of
Commodities 1
[1935-39-100]
F u el, electricity, and refrigeration

Food

Apparel

Rent

H ou sefu m ishin gs
T otal

City

M iscellaneous

Gas and electricity

Sept. 15, Aug. 15, Sept. 15, Aug. 15, Sept. 15, Aug. 15’ Sept. 15, Aug. 15, Sept. 15, Aug. 15, Sept. 15, Aug. 15,
Sept. 15,
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
Average...........................

227.3

227.0

209.0

203.6

137.5

136.8

144.4

144.2

97.3

97.3

Atlanta, O a . . . ..............
Baltimore, M d ..............
Birmingham, Ala
Boston, M ass........... ..
Buffalo, N . Y ________
Chicago, 111__________
Cincinnati, Ohio_____
Cleveland, Ohio______
Denver, Colo...............
Detroit, M ich________
Houston, Tex......... .......
jg|
Indianapolis, Ind
Jacksonville, F la...........
Kansas C ity, M o_____
Los Angeles, Calif____
Manchester, N . H ........
Memphis, T enn............
Milwaukee, W is...........
Minneapolis, M inn___
Mobile, Ala_________
N ew Orleans, La_____
New York, N . Y ..........

232.1
238.3
220.1
213.9
221.5
232.3
229.0
235.3
232.4
228.4
239.4

231.4
238.0
217.3
215.5
219.2
233.4
228.3
235.7
231.6
228.9
237.2

(9

218.2

(9
139.0
(9
129.2
(9

148.3

168.6

160.1
148.5
136.5
161. 7
153.7
137.9
149.9
150.0
113.8
154.2
98.6

159.2
148.1
136.5
161.2
153.6
137.8
148.2
149.8
113.8
154.0
98.6

85.8
115.4
79.6
118.0
110.0
83.5
100.1
105.6
69.7
89.4
82.1

85.8
115.3
79.6
117.7
110.0
83.5
100.3
105.6
69.7
89.2
82.1

225.4
234.7
212.2
233.3
219.8
237.4
227.9
215.6
229.1
240.6
226.1

224.3
233.6
211.8
232.3
221.9
234.7
229.2
217.5
227.0
240.8
225.5

(9
(9
(9
162.7
(9
(9
165.6
(9
(9
138.0
(9

161.0
143.4
130.8
98.7
166.8
141.4
150.5
141.3
130.8
113.2
145.1

161.0
143.9
130.4
98.7
166.4
141.4
150.2
141.3
130.5
113.2
145.0

84.5
85.9
69.5
93.0
110.5
77.0
99.2
77.7
85.1
75.1
102.9

84.5
85.9
69.3
93.0
109.7
77.0
99.2
77.7
84.9
75.1
102.9

201.9

Norfolk, V a__________
Philadelphia, P a _____
Pittsburgh, P a_______
Portland, M a in e..........
Portland, Oreg............
Richmond, Va
St. Louis, M o________
San Francisco, C alif...
Savannah, Qa............ .
Scranton, P a ________
Seattle, Wash____

229.1
224.1
231.0
213.2
247.9
217.7
238.8
234.8
241.4
225.6
234.4
224.0

229.1
223.2
232.0
215.9
247.4
215. 9
237.2
234.4
240.0
225.9
232.7
222.6

151.2
127.3

159.2
149.7
150.5
157.2
134.5
148.4
142.3
92.1
164.5
158.4
132.1
149.2

159.4
149.7
150.5
157.0
134.3
147.2
142.1
92.1
164.5
157.7
132.1
148.9

100.1
104.2
114.4
107.8
93.9
102.2
88.4
81.0
116.0
98.3
92.6
105.3

100.3
104.2
114.4
107.9

217.8
214.7
204.2

W a s h in g to n , D . C

200.1
218.7
194.3

(9

212.9
206.1

(9
(9

(9

215.5
187.3

(9

205.1
203.0
205.1

(9

200.7
223.1

196.7
22171

(9

(9
(9
(9
200.9
(9
(9
204.1
(9
(9

203.2
(9
201.6

(9

222.2
(9
218.1
209.3

(9

213.8

(9

202.4
239.5
213.2

(9
(9

209.4
2 0 2 .7

(9
(9
(9
(9

211.3
202.9
192.8
199.9
235.0

(9
(9
(9
(9
(9
(9

210.5
203.7
225.0

151.7
126.4

(9
(9
(9
(9
(9

155.2
(9

(9

(9
156.8

(9

147.1
146.3

(9
(9
(9
(9
(9
1 2 0 .0
(9
(9

131.4
134.2

(9
(9
(9
(9

(9
(9
(9
(9
(9
144.9
(9
(9
197.4

(9
(9
(9
(9
(9
(9
(9

121.5
154.8
124.8

1 Prices of apparel, housefum ishings, and m iscellaneous goods and services
are obtained m on th ly in 10 cities and once every 3 m on ths in 24 additional
cities on a staggered schedule.


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

211.1

210.8

(>)

218.9

1 6 6 .0
_

9 3 .9

102.2
88.4
81.0
116.0
98.3
92.6
105.3

211.2
200.4
202. 5

201.8
201.4

(')

(>)

197.2
197.3
(>)
(')

(■)

195.7
198.0
189.4
(')

228.3
205.3

231.3
203.8

(0

0)
(')
0)

213.7
(■)

209.7
(')

181.8
0)

201.4
178.5
(>)

(■)

0)
0)

186.6
180.9
0)
(>)
0)
(>)

208.2
(')
0)

214.7

1 7 3 .6

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

0)
1 6 9 .6
1 6 7 .5

0)
(>)
1 7 8 .2
1 6 9 .7

(')
0)
1 6 0 .6
(>)
1 5 5 .6

1 7 0 .8

(9
1 6 5 .8
1 5 8 .1

203.0
201.7

1 6 7 .0

206.5
216.7
214.3
(')
0)
0)
(>)
(«)
(>)

189.1
214.7
217.8

1 6 5 .4

_

0)

0)

A u g . 15,
1951

(>)
(9

1 6 7 .8
1 6 5 .9
1 6 1 .6

(>)
(9

1 5 6 .9
1 7 5 .3

(9
(9
(9
(9

(9

1 6 0 .8
1 6 0 .6

(9

1 6 9 .2
1 6 5 .3
1 6 3 .4

(9

1 7 7 .4
1 6 9 .2

(9
(9
(9
1 6 0 .2
(9
(9
1 6 5 .1
(9
(9
1 5 1 .4
1 6 6 .8

1 6 5 .2
1 6 7 .7
1 6 3 .2

(9
(9
(9
(9
(9
(9

1 5 1 .9
1 7 1 .6
1 6 5 .5

1 R en ts are surveyed every 3 m o n th s in 34 large cities on a staggered
schedule.

MONTHLY LABOR

D : PRICES AND COST OF LIVING

638

T able D-4: Indexes of Retail Prices of Foods,1 by Group, for Selected Periods
[1 9 3 5 -3 9 = 1 0 0 ]

Year and month

Cere­ Meats,
als
poul­
All
and
try,
foods bakery and
prod­
Total
fish
ucts

Fruits and vegetables

Meats
Beef
and
veal

Chick­ Fish
ens
Pork

Lamb

1 0 1 .0
9 9 .6
1 1 0 .6

1 6 9 .5
2 1 0 .8
1 6 9 .0
1 0 3 .5
9 4 .5
9 2 .4
9 6 .5

1 7 3 .6
2 2 6 .2
1 7 3 .5
1 0 5 .9
9 5 .1
9 2 .8
9 7 .3

1 2 4 .8
1 2 2 .9
1 2 4 .3
9 1 .1
9 2 .3
9 1 .6
9 2 .4

1 7 5 .4
1 5 2 .4
1 7 1 .0
9 1 .2
9 3 .3
9 0 .3
1 0 0 .6

1 3 1 .5
1 7 0 .4
1 6 4 .8
1 1 2 .6
9 5 .5
9 4 .9
9 2 .5

1 2 6 .2
1 4 5 .0
1 2 7 .2
7 1 .1
8 7 .7
8 4 .5
8 2 .2

1 7 5 .4
1 2 0 .0
1 1 4 .3
8 9 .6
1 0 0 .6
9 5 .6
9 6 .8

102 .1
1 0 0 .5
1 2 2 .6
1 4 6 .1
1 5 1 .0
1 5 4 .4
1 5 7 .3

1 2 4 .5
1 3 8 .9
1 6 3 .0
2 0 6 .5
2 0 7 .6
2 1 7 .1
2 1 7 .8

1 1 2 .0
1 2 0 .6
1 2 5 .4
1 3 4 .6
1 3 3 .6
1 3 3 .9
1 3 3 .4

1 1 2 .2
13 8 .1
1 3 6 .5
1 6 1 .9
1,53.9
1 6 4 .4
1 7 1 .4

1 0 3 .2
1 1 0 .5
1 3 0 .8
1 6 8 .8
1 6 8 .2
1 7 7 .1
1 8 3 .5

1 0 4 .2
1 1 1 .0
1 3 2 .8
1 7 8 .0
1 7 7 .2
1 8 8 .2
1 9 6 .2

9 7 .9
1 0 6 .3
1 2 1 .6
1 3 0 .6
129. 5
1 3 0 .2
1 3 0 .3

1 0 6 .7
1 1 8 .3
1 3 6 .3
1 5 8 .9
1 6 4 .5
1 6 8 .2
1 6 8 .6

1 0 1 .5
1 1 4 .1
1 2 2 .1
1 2 4 .8
1 2 4 .3
1 2 4 .7
1 2 4 .7

9 4 .0
1 0 8 .5
1 1 9 .6
1 2 6 .1
1 2 3 .3
1 2 4 .0
1 2 4 .0

1 0 6 .4
1 1 4 .4
1 2 6 .6
1 2 7 .1
1 2 6 .5
1 2 6 .5
1 2 6 .6

1 6 3 .9
1 3 9 .0
2 0 5 .4

1 7 4 .0
1 6 2 .8
1 8 8 .9

2 3 6 .2
2 1 9 .7
2 6 5 .0

1 6 5 .1
1 4 7 .8
198. 5

168"! 8
1 4 7 .1
2 0 1 .6

1 8 2 .4
1 8 3 .5
184. 5

1 9 0 .7
1 9 6 .7
1 8 2 .3

1 4 0 .8
1 2 7 .5
1 6 7 .7

1 9 0 .4
1 7 2 .5
2 5 1 .6

1 3 9 .6
1 2 5 .4
1 6 7 .8

1 5 2 .1
1 2 6 .4
2 4 4 .4

1 4 3 .9
1 3 6 .2
1 7 0 .5

2 1 5 .9
2 2 2 .5
2 0 5 .9
2 0 3 .2
1 7 7 .3
2 0 9 .1
2 2 8 .3
2 0 9 .3
2 0 1 .8
2 0 1 .0

2 2 0 .1
2 4 6 .8
2 5 1 .7
2 5 7 .8
2 3 4 .3
2 6 8 .1
2 6 4 .2
2 5 9 .4
2 6 4 .1
2 6 9 .0

1 8 3 .2
2 0 3 .2
1 9 1 .5
1 8 3 .3
1 5 8 .9
185.1
1 9 9 .2
1 8 7 .2
1 8 0 .1
1 7 9 .3

2 7 1 .4
3 1 2 .8
3 1 4 .1
3 0 8 .5
3 0 1 .9
2 9 5 .9
3 1 1 .4
3 2 8 .8
3 3 6 .6
3 4 0 .3

1 8 6 .2
2 0 4 .8
1 8 6 .7
1 8 4 .7
1 8 4 .2
1 7 7 .8
1 8 6 .9
1 9 1 .9
1 9 2 .8
1 9 4 .0

2 0 0 .8
2 0 8 .7
2 0 1 .2
1 7 3 .6
1 5 2 .3
1 4 8 .4
1 9 2 .1
2 0 6 .2
2 0 5 .4
2 4 9 .4

1 9 9 .4
2 0 5 .2
2 0 8 .1
1 9 9 .2
2 0 4 .8
2 0 9 .3
1 8 6 .0
189. 8
1 9 5 .7
2 0 3 .9

ÜÔÔ.6

2 0 1 .5
2 1 2 .4
2 1 8 .8
2 0 6 .1
2 1 7 .2
2 2 4 .3
1 8 3 .9
1 8 7 .7
1 9 5 .9
2 0 7 .3

1 6 6 .2
1 5 8 .0
1 5 2 .9
1 4 6 .0
1 4 3 .3
1 4 2 .7
1 4 7 .6
1 5 1 .6
1 5 3 .2
1 5 5 .3

2 6 3 .5
2 4 6 .8
2 2 7 .4
228. 5
2 2 3 .9
2 2 2 .9
2 2 9 .8
2 3 6 .1
2 4 2 .2
2 4 8 .8

1 8 6 .8
2 0 5 .0
2 2 0 .7
3 1 2 .5
2 9 9 .5
2 9 6 .5
3 2 7 .3
3 3 3 .4
3 2 5 .5
3 2 7 .5

1 9 7 .5
1 9 5 .5
1 4 8 .4
1 4 4 .3
1 3 5 .2
1 4 0 .1
1 5 4 .8
152. 9
1 5 2 ,9
1 5 8 .5

1 8 0 .0
1 7 4 .0
1 7 6 .4
1 7 9 .9
1 7 8 .9
1 7 4 .3
1 8 5 .4
1 8 4 .8
1 8 4 .6
1 8 4 .9

2 1 0 .2
2 1 5 .2
2 1 5 .4
213. 7
2 1 3 .4
2 1 4 .4
2 1 5 .3
2 2 2 .6
2 2 4 .3

2 7 3 .6
2 7 9 .7
2 8 0 .5
2 8 4 .2
2 8 9 .1
2 9 2 .5
2 9 2 .2
2 9 2 .0
2 9 2 .2

1 8 4 .3
1 9 3 .2
1 9 8 .9
1 9 8 .5
1 9 8 .9
1 9 1 .3
195. 3
1 9 4 .4
1 9 5 .1

3 4 5 .3
3 4 7 .8
3 5 1 .2
351. 7
3 5 3 .1
3 5 6 .3
353. 3
3 5 6 .4
3 5 3 .2

2 0 2 .6
2 0 4 .4
2 0 4 .6
2 0 4 .1
2 0 3 .5
2 0 3 .9
2 0 5 .1
2 0 5 .9
2 0 6 .4

1 9 1 .5
1 7 9 .8
1 9 5 .2
1 9 1 .2
1 9 8 .4
2 0 1 .2
2 1 1 .5
2 2 5 .8
2 3 9 .3

2 1 4 .1
2 2 4 .3
2 1 7 .1
2 1 4 .8
2 2 1 .6
2 1 9 .9
2 1 8 .5
2 0 8 .9
2 0 5 .1

1 0 0 .2
1 0 0 .8
1 0 1 .2
1 0 0 .2
9 9 .6
9 8 .8
9 8 .8
9 8 .0
9 7 .5

2 2 0 .0
2 3 3 .4
2 2 0 .7
2 1 5 .9
2 2 6 .5
2 2 3 .5
2 2 1 .8
2 0 9 .1
2 0 4 .3

1 6 0 .6
1 6 5 .1
1 6 7 .0
1 6 8 .9
1 6 9 .6
1 7 0 .4
1 7 0 .0
1 6 5 .8
1 6 4 .2

2 5 3 .4
2 5 6 .7
2 5 7 .4
2 5 7 .8
256. 7
2 5 4 .4
250. 7
2 4 8 .5
2 4 5 .6

3 4 0 .6
3 4 2 .7
3 4 2 .6
3 4 3 .5
3 4 5 .3
3 4 5 .2
3 4 4 .8
3 4 5 .2
3 4 5 .0

1 7 1 .5
1 7 6 .5
1 7 7 .3
1 7 8 .3
1 7 6 .7
1 7 5 .2
1 6 8 .8
1 6 2 .7
1 6 1 .5

1 8 5 .0
1 8 6 .0
1 8 6 .0
1 8 5 .9
1 8 5 .4
1 8 6 .1
1 8 8 .0
1 8 8 .3
1 8 8 .2

105. 5
115. 7
107. 6
82. 6
94. 5
93. 4
9 6 .8

1 0 1 .2
1 1 7 .8
1 2 7 .1
7 9 .3
9 6 .6
9 5 .7
95. 8

9 6 .6
9 5 .4
9 4 .4

1 0 1 .1
9 9 .6
1 0 2 .8

8 8 .9
8 8 .0
8 1 .1

9 9 .5
9 8 .8
9 9 .7

9 3 .8
9 4 .6
9 4 .8

1941 ; A v e r a g e

105. 5
1 1 3 .1
123. 9
1 3 8 .0
1 3 6 .1
1 3 9 .1
1 4 0 .9

97. 9
1 0 2 .5
10 5 .1
107. 6
1 0 8 .4
1 0 9 .0
1 0 9 .1

1 0 7 .5
1 1 1 .1
1 2 6 .0
133. 8
1 2 9 .9
1 3 1 .2
1 3 1 .8

106. 6
1 0 9 .7
122. 5
1 2 4 .2
1 1 7 .9
1 1 8 .0
1 1 8 .1

1 1 0 .8
1 1 4 .4
123. 6
1 2 4 .7
1 1 8 .7
1 1 8 .4
1 1 8 .6

1 0 0 .1
1 0 3 .2
1 2 0 .4
1 1 9 .9
1 1 2 .2
112. 6
1 1 2 .6

1 0 6 .6
1 0 8 .1
12 4 .1
1 3 6 .9
1 3 4 .5
1 3 6 .0
1 3 6 .4

159. 6
1 4 5 .6
1 8 7 .7

1 2 5 .0
1 2 2 .1
1 4 0 .6

1 6 1 .3
1 3 4 .0
2 0 3 .6

1 5 0 .8
1 2 0 .4
1 9 7 .9

150. 5
1 2 1 .2
1 9 1 .0

1 4 8 .2
1 1 4 .3
2 0 7 .1

193. 8
2 1 0 .2
2 0 1 .9
204. 5
1 9 6 .0
2 0 3 .1
2 1 0 .0
210. 6
2 1 0 .8
2 1 6 .3

155. 4
170. 9
1 6 9 .7
172. 7
1 6 9 .0
1 6 9 .8
1 7 6 .9
1 7 7 .2
1 7 7 .6
1 7 7 .7

2 1 7 .1
246. 5
2 3 3 .4
2 4 3 .6
2 1 9 .4
246. 5
2 6 1 .0
2 5 3 .3
2 5 0 .3
2 5 3 .4

2 1 4 .7 2 1 3 .6
2 4 3 .9 258. 5
2 2 9 .3 2 4 1 .3
242 0 2 6 5 .7
2 1 7 .9 2 4 2 .3
246. 7 2 6 8 .6
2 6 0 .2 2 8 1 .7
2 5 2 .0 279. 6
2 4 9 .6 2 7 9 .2
2 5 3 .8 2 8 6 .3

2 2 1 .9
2 2 6 .0
2 2 6 .2
2 2 5 .7
2 2 7 .4
2 2 6 .9
2 2 7 .7
2 2 7 .0
2 2 7 .3

185. 4
1 8 7 .1
1 8 7 .5
1 8 8 .3
1 8 8 .2
1 8 8 .4
1 8 9 .0
1 8 8 .7
1 8 9 .4

2 6 3 .6
2 7 0 .1
2 7 2 .2
2 7 2 .6
2 7 2 .7
2 7 1 .6
2 7 3 .2
2 7 5 .0
2 7 5 .6

2 6 5 .5
2 7 1 .2
2 7 1 .9
2 7 2 .5
2 7 2 .4
2 7 3 .1
2 7 4 .2
2 7 6 .6
2 7 7 .6

3 0 0 .9
3 0 7 .0
3 0 8 .0
309. 5
3 0 8 .7
3 0 8 .8
3 1 0 .3
3 1 0 .1
3 1 0 .7

1944; A v e ra g e
1Q46* A vp.ragp.
A u gu st
194fl: A v p ra g ft

June________
November___
1947: A v p ra g ft
1948: A v p ra g ft _
1949: Average_____
19^0: A v p ra g ft

January __
June________
September___
October
November___
December___
1951:

January_____
February____
March ____
April________
M a y .. _____
June...... ..........
July------------A u g u s t_____
S e p t e m b e r ___

1 The Bureau of Labor Statistics retail food prices are obtained monthly
during the first three days of the week containing the fifteenth of the month,
through voluntary reports from chain and independent retail food dealers.
Articles included are selected to represent food sales to moderate-income
families.
The indexes, based on retail prices of 50 foods through 1949 and 59 foods
from January 1950 to date are computed by the fixed-base-weighted-aggregate
method, using weights representing (1) relative importance of chain and
independent store sales, in computing city average prices; (2) food purchases


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

Sugar
Bever­ Fats
and
and
ages
oils sweets

1 3 6 .1
1 4 1 .7
1 4 3 .8
8 2 .3
9 1 .0
9 0 .7
9 3 .8

1 2 4 .0
137. 4
132. 5
86 5
9 5 .2
93. 5
96. 6

December___

Total

Can­
Fro­
zen * Fresh ned Dried

1 2 9 .4
1 2 7 .4
1 3 1 .0
8 4 .9
9 5 .9
9 3 .1
1 0 1 .4

1Q23* Avp.ragp.
A v p ragft
1Q2Q* A v p ra g ft
1 932: A v p r a g p
1939; A va ra g ft
A u gu st
194Q* A v p.ragft

19^2: A v e r a g ft
1943* A v e r a g e

Dairy
prod­ Eggs
ucts

by families of wage earners and moderate-income workers, in computing
city indexes; and (3) population weights, in combining city aggregates in
order to derive average prices and indexes for all cities combined.
Indexes of retail food prices in 56 large cities combined, by commodity
groups, for the years 1923 through 1948 (1935-39=100), may be found in Bulle­
tin No. 965, “ Betail Prices of Food, 1948,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S.
Department of Labor, table 3, p. 7. Mimeographed tables of the same
data, by months, January 1935 to date, are available upon request.
1 December 1950=100.

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

639

D: PRICES AND COST OF LIVING

Table D-5: Indexes of Retail Prices of Foods, by City
[1935-39=100]
Sept.
1951

Aug.
1951

United States......................

227.3

Atlanta, G a.........................
Baltimore, M d____________
Birmingham, A l a ________
Boston, Mass ............... .........
Bridgeport, C o n n .............

232.1
238.3
220.1
213.9
224.3

Buffalo, N . Y ................. .........
Butte, M ont............................
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 1______
Charleston, 8. 0 ...... ..............
Chicago, 111............................ .

July
1951

June
1951

227.0

227.7

226.9

227.4

231.4
238.0
217.3
215.5
225.0

229.4
237.0
214.5
216.6
226.0

228.1
238.9
216.4
214.9
225.9

228.7
239.0
218.1
214.4
225.3

221.5
228.5
235. 1
220.6
232.3

219.2
229.0
236.0
221.0
233.4

222.1
227.4
238.5
218.9
235.3

224.3
225.5
237.2
211.6
233.4

221.9
226.6
236.5
211.6
233.0

Cincinnati, Ohio....................
Cleveland, Ohio......................
Columbus, Ohio__________
Dallas, T ex_______________
Denver, C olo.........................

229.0
235.3
207.8
233.5
232.4

228.3
235.7
207.3
230.9
231.6

229.2
236.7
207.6
227.0
230.6

226.9
236.3
208.5
227.9
232.6

Detroit. M ic h .................. .
Fall River, M ass___ ______
Houston, Tex_____________
Indianapolis, I n d . . . ...........
Jackson, M iss.1______ _____

228.4
219.7
239.4
225.4
227.2

228.9
221.0
237.2
224.3
224.8

229.1
222.2
235.2
223.3
222.6

Jacksonville, F la .................
Kansas City, M o.......... .........
Knoxville, Tenn.»________
Little Rock, A rk._________
Los Angeles, Calif_________

234.7
212.2
254. 9
223.0
233.3

233.6
211.8
253.1
222.9
232.3

Louisville, K y . __________
Manchester, N . H . ........ .......
Memphis, T en n ...................
Milwaukee, W is__________
Minneapolis, M inn_______

215.6
219.8
237.4
227.9
215.6

Mobile, Ala......... ...................
Newark, N . J................. .........
N ew Haven, Conn.................
New Orleans, La....................
N ew York, N . Y __________

Mar.
1951

Feb.
1951

Jan.
1951

Dec.
1950

225.7

226.2

228.5
236.2
218.3
212.8
226.0

224.1
236.8
220.5
213.3
226.9

226.0

221.9

224.0
237.1
220.8
213.8
224.1

223.4
231.8
219.8
209.1
220.9

218.0
222.9
234.8
212.2
231.1

219.6
223.9
234.9
214.3
231.6

217.9
222.5
230.6
213.2
232.9

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

229.4
221.3
235.2
222.4
221.9

229.1
219.2
237.1
223.3
223.2

227.3
219.8
238.3
221.6
222.1

233.8
213.7
251.7
223.6
232.7

231.9
212.8
249.8
225.2
230.9

230.5
213. 6
250.3
225.1
230.9

214.8
221.9
234.7
229.2
217.5

216.0
221.6
232.3
231.9
219.0

215.5
221.0
233.0
229.9
219.4

229.1
225.3
219.9
240.6
226.1

227.0
225.0
219.2
240.8
225.5

229.5
225.7
221.6
238.8
226.5

Norfolk, Va_____ _____ _
Omaha, Nebr______ ______
Peoria, 111________________
Philadelphia, P a ....................
Pittsburgh, P a ..._________

229.1
219.6
235. 6
224. 1
231.0

229.1
220.0
236.9
223.2
232.0

Portland, M aine__________
Portland, Oreg............ ...........
Providence, R. I __________
Richmond, Va____________
Rochester, N . Y . . . ................

213.2
247.9
228.3
217.7
220.2

St. Louis, M o .........................
St. Paul, M inn.............. .........
Salt Lake City, U tah.......... .
San Francisco, Calif..............
Savannah, Ga_______ ____ _
Scranton, P a ._____ _______
Seattle, W ash_____________
Springfield, 111____________
Washington, D , C ...... ..........
Wichita, Kans.»......................
Winston-Salem, N . 0.».........

City

»June 1940=100.


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

M ay
1951

Apr.
1951

N ov.
1950

Oct.
1950

Sept.
1950

June
1950

S e p t.
1951

216.3

210.8

217.0
226.4
212.3
204.1
214.6

208.3
220.5
203.0
201.5
209.1

210.6

210.0

203.1

m .s

208.6
221.2
202.7
201.9
210.8

210.2
221.8
206.4
200.1
206.8

195.4
215.6
192.2
196.1
204.0

2 2 4 .4

215.5
220.7
229.2
208.9
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
214.7

199.0
203.0
208.6
188.0
208.4

22S. 8
2 3 2 .3
2 3 9 .6
2 2 0.7
234.1

226.9
232.7
206.7
228.7
229.0

223.7
227.4
200.7
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

205.1
211.2
183.9
201.5
205.9

228.1
2 3 3 .7
20 9 .5
232.7
22 5 .9

228.8
219.2
238.5
222.1
226.3

228.3
220.8
235.6
220.6
226.4

223.7
216.0
236.0
218.6
223.1

217.2
211.4
227.5
214.9
216.0

213.5
206.2
222.1
208.8
211.6

212.5
207.6
222.3
208.6
213.9

209.7
205.6
223.3
210.3
213.9

202.9
200.7
208.1
198.1
201.0

220.4
220.1
241.1
2 2 6 .7
226.4

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
207.8

205.8
189.2
223.1
200.1
201.6

233.7
211.6
255.5
222.1
2 2 7.8

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
206.8

198.0
207.4
218.3
213.0
202.1

198.0
208.8
220.1
212.3
200.7

199.4
206.2
221.5
212.3
199.1

192.0
200.6
208.3
206.6
194.1

2 1 7 .6
2 2 1.5
2 3 9 .2
2 2 6 .6
2 1 7 .6

225.7
225.5
220.5
238.2
224.4

224.2
227.1
220.3
239.5
226.4

225.7
224.2
218.1
240.2
224.9

223.8
223.2
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

213.2
215.3
208.7
228.2
216.1

208.8
209.1
203.6
220.7
211.3

207.4
208.2
205.4
221.5
210.2

210.2
206.3
203.6
225.2
210.6

200.1
203.3
199.8
212.9
203.7

2 2 9 .4
2 2 1.6
2 1 8 .9
2 3 9 .4
2 2 4 .7

229.1
219.1
239.8
223.6
232.9

229.2
219.6
241.2
222.2
230.3

229.4
219.3
240.6
223.8
230.5

227.9
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
206.7
213.8

211.8
202.3
225.0
207.9
215.9

216.3
203.5
224.2
208.8
214.6

205.9
197.2
216.8
201.4
207.5

2 2 9 .2
2 2 0 .5
240.1
2 2 1 .0
2 2 8 .8

215.9
247.4
228.9
215.9
218.9

217.0
251.2
231.8
216.5
221.5

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
216.2

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

193.0
219.1
207.9
195.2
196.4

2 1 3.7
2 4 6 .4
2 3 2 .0
2 1 8.9
220.1

238.8
215.1
228.0
234.8
241.4

237.2
216.2
227.4
234.4
240.0

237.9
216.5
228.3
237.8
241.2

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
227.9
241.7
232.3

240.0
212.9
225. 6
235.3
231.5

234.0
210.5
222.2
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
215.9

220.4
195.3
210.9
214.3
217.9

210.2
192.5
202.2
211.1
206.3

2 4 0 .8
2 1 6 .7
2 2 8.5
2 3 9 .6
2 4 S. 2

225.5
234.4
238.1
224.0
241.4
219.3

225.9
232.7
237.9
222.6
237.8
220.7

225.5
233.8
238. 6
221. 9
238. 2
220.3

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
237.6
222.2
234.1
220.4

222.7
234.3
237.8
222.4
237.5
223.7

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
205.7

207.2
218.0
222.1
208.9
219.0
207.5

208.9
214.1
218.6
207.0
218.9
207.8

204.2
208.6
211.8
201.9
209.4
197.3

231.1
2 3 8 .9
2 2 3 .6
2 4 2 .0
2 1 9 .8

234-1
2 3 7 .9

m .9
. 1,

2 14

2 2 4 .0

640

D : P R IC E S A N D

T able

D-6: Average Retail Prices and Indexes of Selected Foods
Aver­
age
price
Sept.
1951

Commodity

Cereals and bakery products;
C en ts
Cereals;
Flour, wheat_________ .5 pounds.. 52.0
Com flakes 1_________ .13 ounces.. 22.0
9.6
Com meal___________ ...p o u n d ..
17.8
____do___
Rice 2......................... .
Rolled oats •............. . 20 ounces.. 17.9
Bakery products:
Bread, w h ite._______ ...p o u n d .. 15.7
Vanilla cookies4______ .7 ounces. . 22.9
Layer cake 8 A............... ...p o u n d .. 49.7
Meats, poultry, and fish:
Meats:
Beef:
Round steak_____ ......... do___ 109.2
Rib ro a st................ ........ d o ___ 83.9
74.0
Chuck roast______ ____do___
65.9
Frankfurters 8____ .........d o___
66.1
Hamburger 3. ........ ........_do___
Veal:
Cutlets__________ ____ do___ 128.3
Pork:
Chops___________ ____ do___ 85.2
67.9
Bacon, sliced_____ ........_do___
67.4
Ham, whole______ ____ do___
39.2
Salt pork________ ____ do___
Lamb:
Leg-------------------- ..........do___ 84.1
Poultry___ _________ . ____ do
Frying chickens:
49. 2
62. 9
Fish:
Fish (fresh, frozen) 8._ _..........d o ___
(9)
62.2
Salmon, pink______ 16-ounce can..
Dairy products:
80.0
Butter__________________ ___ pound..
58.7
Cheese, American process. _____ do___
23.3
Milk, fresh (delivered) ___ quart..
21.9
Milk, fresh (grocery) 10..........do___
31.2
Ice cream 8_________ _____p in t..
Milk, evaporated.. 14V4-ounce can_. 14.4
Eggs: Eggs, fresh------------------ ____dozen.. 83.5
Fruits and vegetables:
Frozen fruits:
Strawberries 8________ .16 ounces.. 56.0
Orange juice 8___ ____ ..6 ounces.. 23.5
Frozen vegetables:
24.5
Fresh fruits:
10.9
Apples............................. ___ pound..
Bananas....... ................. ........ .d o___
16.0
Oranges, size 200_____ ........dozen..
55.3
Fresh vegetables:
Beans, green................... ___ pound..
19.9
5.8
Cabbage.......................... _____do___
13.1
Carrots....................... . ___ bunch..
L ettu c e ......................... ------- head..
13.9
Onions._____________ ___pound..
7.0
Potatoes____________ 15 pounds.. 70.4
Sweetpotatoes............ ___pound..
13.8
Tomatoes 11__________ _____do___
15.4
Canned fruits:
Peaches........................No. 2ti can..
34.0
Pineapple.......... ............. ..........do___ 38.5
Canned vegetables:
Com 12_____________N o. 303 can..
18.0
T o m a to es..____ _____ No. 2 can .. 18.0
Peas............................ No. 303 can..
21.4
Baby foods 8_____ 414-454 ounces
9.9
Dried fruits, prunes............ ___ pound _ 27.8
Dried vegetables, navy beans____do___
16.0
Beverages:
Coffee___________ _______
86.9
28.6
Fats and oils:
Lard___________________ ___ pound..
24.2
Shortening, hydrogenated. ..........d o ___
37.0
Salad dressing................ ...........p in t..
37.8
Margarine. ...................... ___ pound
Uncolored 13
25 5
Colored 14___
do
32.2
Sugar and sweets:
Sugar......... ........................... -.5 pounds.. 51.4
Grape jelly 8______ _____
ounces 1 23.7

.12

1 Specification changed to 13 ounces
in December 1950.
2 July 1947=100.
3 February 1943 = 100.
4 Specification changed to 7 ounces
in September 1951.
3 December 1950=100.


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

MONTHLY LABOR

COST OF L IV IN G

Indexes 1935-39=100
Sept.
1951

Aug.
1951

July
1951

June
1951

M ay
1951

Apr.
1951

Mar.
1951

Feb.
1951

Jan.
1951

Dec.
1950

Nov.
1950

Oct.
1950

Sept.
1950

June
1950

201.3
205.8
203.6
99.7
162.2

201.1
203.9
201.8
101.3
162.0

201.7
199.5
200.8
101.5
161.5

202.3
197.8
200.4
101.3
161.3

202.4
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
98.6
152.5

192.4
187.4
204.0
97.5
150.3

192.9
182.7
205.4
96.8
146.8

190.5
176.5
181.9
93.1
145.8

183.7
220.0
107.9

183.5
215.8
107.1

183.4
214.9
108.6

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

163.9
191.7

323.3
290.6
327.7
108.6
216.1

323.2
289.5
327.1
108.6
215.1

323.1
290.0
327.0
108.4
215.9

322.2
289.5
327. 2
106.5
215.8

320.9
289.0
327.1
106.5
216.9

320.3
294.6
326.2
106.2
219.7

318.0
292.8
324.1
106.4
218.8

317.6
294.2
323.2
105.7
217.5

312.3
288.0
315.0
104.4
212.1

297.6
273.3
298.1
100.0
201.0

286.4
266.0
286.9

287.1
265.3
287.4

288.2
270.2
289.7

287.9
264.1
279.2

196.6

196.5

197.4

181.8

281.0

280.1

271.2

320.1

319.8

319.1

317.2

315.4

311.9

308.6

308.0

300.2

286.7

281.1

258.1
178.0
229.4
186.2

254.4
177.8
229.4
184.9

236. 9
177.8
229.0
183.6

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

243.5
161.9
215.8
160.5

296.9
195.1

296.7
194. 4

296.9
195.3

297.2
191.3

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

272.4
185.1

290.1
503.1

292.5
508.2

288.1
509.2

291. 4
511.0

287.1
511.7

286.4
508.1

287.6
502.4

283.7
501.1

283.0
493.7

279.5
484.5

278.5
473.1

277.1
446.9

276.2
381.1

268.4
344.1

219.7
259.4
189.7
191.2
104.8
203.0
239.3

220.5
259.3
188.3
190.5
105.2
203.7
225.8

221.8
260.0
187.2
188.5
105.1
203.3
211.5

223.8
261.3
185.1
186.4
104.9
203.3
201.2

223.3
260.3
184.9
185.9
104.7
202.8
198.4

219.7
265.7
185.6
186.9
105.2
203.2
191.2

224.0
265.7
185.4
187.3
104.9
202.4
195.2

226.1
264.3
184.8
186.7
105.4
201.0
179.8

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

205.0
230.3
178.3
181.1

204.1
228.5
177.4
180.3

198.9
229.0
170.6
174. 2

195.4
226.2
160.4
162.0

183.0
205.4

182. 8
206.2

181.1
192.1

174.2
148 4

95.6
100.2

95.8
101.5

97.4
103.2

97.0
104.8

98.7
105.0

100.5
105.1

101.3
104.2

101.3
102.4

100.8
102.0

100.0
100.0

97.8

98.3

98.2

98 0

98.3

98.3

100.1

99 9

99.1

100.0

203.0
265.6
194.4

214.3
264.5
188.0

240.2
268.9
161.5

232.9
271.7
167.5

213.6
274.2
163.7

205.1
273.9
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

301.1
271.9
172.8

185.4
153.7
241.1
168.1
168.6
193.3
265.8
101.5

166.8
151.6
235.0
180.6
176.0
203.7
308.2

149.1
151.0
229.2
192.6
205.7
236.1
251.8
170.2

187.3
172.9
202.6
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
225.6
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
425.2
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

151.0
174.3
181.7
167.3
187.1
219.3
209.4
208.3

158.3
175.0

140.1
172.0

112.6

177.0
177.4

175.3
177.5

174.8
177.6

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

165.7
200.7
116.9
101.7
274.9
216.8

165.4
209.0
117.8
101.7
275.1
220.9

164.9
228.0
119.2
101.7
274.5
224.4

164.2
230.4
118.8

102.1

163.6
223.6
119.3
101.5
273.3
235.5

162.8
215.9
119.6
101.4
272.1
235.4

161.8
209.1
119.7

159.5
191.2
119.5

154.3
176.3
117.8

150.5
172.0
117.2

147.8
169.1
117.3

141. 4
164.4
116.0

138.4
161.6
114.3

272.8
230.7

164.4
226.4
118.8
101. 9
273.1
233.8

271.4
234.9

268.0
231.8

264.6
228.7

261 4
218.8

253.4
214.0

242.0
210.7

237.8
202.7

345.3

346.3
108.4

346.2
108.0

346.7
108.0

346.5
108.2

344.1
108.5

342.9
108.3

343.5
107.9

340. 7
107.8

331.4

332.5

343.2

336.1

294.9

163.1
179.4
156.9
172.8

161.7
181.4
158.3
174.6

159.9
190.4
163.5
184.2

166.2
198. 4
166.1
194.3

201.1 201.1

167.8

173.7

164.8
197.8

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

116.0
155.6
142.1
161.1

191.6
99.3

191.7
99.4

100.0 101.0 101.0

190.8

187.4

186.4

186.7
101.5

100.8

187.4

187.6
100.5

187.3
100.3

100.0

186.5

186.8

187.3

188.5

175.3

6 Priced in 46 cities.
7 Priced in 28 cities.
81938-39=100.
9 Average price not computed.
10 Specification revised in November
1950.
“ October 1949=100.

100.8 100.2 100.0
100.0

12 No. 303 can of com introduced in M ay 1951 in place of No. 2 can.
13 Priced in 12 cities beginning September 1951, 13 cities August 1951, 16
cities April through July 1951, 18 cities January through March 1951, and
19 cities August through December 1950. Priced in 56 cities before that date.
14 Priced in 37 cities August through December 1950, 38 cities January
through March 1951, 40 cities April through July 1951, 43 cities August 1951,
and 44 cities beginning September 1951.

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951
T able

D : PR IC E S A N D

641

COST OF L IV IN G

D -7: Indexes of Wholesale Prices,1 by Group of Commodities, for Selected Periods
[1926=100]

All
com­
Semi- M anu­ modi­
Raw
manufac­
ex­
mate­
factured ties
cept
rials
tured
prod­
farm
articles ucts 3 prod­
ucts 3

All
com­
modi­
ties
ex­
cept
farm
prod­
ucts
and
foods 3

Foods

Hides
and
leather
prod­
ucts

Tex­
tile
prod­
ucts

Fuel
and
light­
ing
mate­
rials

Metals
and
metal
Prod­
ucts 3

Build­
ing
mate­
rials

71.5
71.4
150.3
169.8
104.9

64.2
62.9
128.6
147.3
99.9

68.1
69.7
131.6
193.2
109.1

67.3
55.3
142.6
188.3
90.4

61.3
55.7
114.3
159.8
83.0

90.8
79.1
143.5
155.5
100.5

56.7
52.9
101.8
164.4
95.4

80.2
77.9
178.0
173.7
94.0

56.1
56.7
99.2
143.3
94.3

93.1
88.1
142.3
176.5
82.6

68.8
67.3
138.8
163.4
97.5

74.9
67.8
162.7
253.0
93.9

69.4
66.9
130.4
157.8
94.5

69.0
65.7
131.0
165.4
93.3

70. C
65.7
129. E
170.6
91.6

64.8
77.1
75.0
78.6

48.2
65.3
61.0
67.7

61.0
70.4
67.2
71.3

72.9
95.6
92.7
100.8

54.9
69.7
67.8
73.8

70.3
73.1
72.6
71.7

80.2
94.4
93.2
95.8

71.4
90. 5
89.6
94.8

73.9
76.0
74.2
77.0

75.1
86.3
85.6
88.5

64.4
74.8
73.3
77.3

55.1
70.2
66.5
71.9

69.3
77.0
74.5
79.1

70.3
80.4
79.1
81.6

68.3
79.5
77.9
80.8

70.2
81.3
80.1
83.0

1941: Average_____
December___
1942: Average_____
1943: Average_____
1944: Average_____

87.3
93.6
98.8
103.1
104.0

82.4
94.7
105.9
122.6
123.3

82.7
90.5
99.6
106.6
104.9

108.3
114.8
117.7
117.5
116.7

84.8
91.8
96.9
97.4
98.4

76.2
78.4
78.5
80.8
83.0

99.4
103.3
103.8
103.8
103.8

103.2
107.8
110.2
111.4
115.5

84.4
90.4
95.5
94.9
95.2

94.3
101.1
102.4
102.7
104.3

82.0
87.6
89.7
92.2
93.6

83.5
92.3
100.6
112.1
113.2

86.9
90.1
92.6
92.9
94.1

89.1
94.6
98.6
100.1
100.8

88.3
93.3
97.0
98.7
99.6

89.0
93.7
95.6
96.9
98.6

1946: Average_____
A u g u st..........

105.8
105.7

128.2
126.9

106.2
106.4

118.1
118.0

100.1
99.6

84.0
84.8

104.7
104.7

117.8
117.8

95.2
95.3

104.5
104.5

94.7
94.8

116.8
116.3

95.9
95.5

101.8
101.8

100.8
100.9

99.7
99.9

1946: Average_____
June________
November___
1947: Average_____
1948: A verage_____
1949: Average.........
1950: Average..........
September___
October ___
November___
D ecem ber___

121.1
112.9
139.7
152.1
165.1
155.0
161.5
169.5
169.1
171.7
175.3

148.9
140.1
169.8
181.2
188.3
165.5
170.4
180.4
177.8
183.7
187.4

130.7
112.9
165.4
168.7
179.1
161.4
166.2
177.2
172.5
175.2
179.0

137. 2
122.4
172.5
182.4
188.8
180.4
191.9
203.0
208.6
211.5
218.7

116.3
109.2
131.6
141.7
149.8
140.4
148.0
158.3
163.1
166.8
171.4

90.1
87.8
94. 5
108.7
134.2
131.7
133.2
134.9
135.3
135.7
135.7

115.5
112.2
130.2
145.0
163. 6
170.2
173.6
176.7
178.6
180.4
184.9

132.6
129.9
145.5
179.7
199.1
193.4
206.0
219.7
218.9
217.8
221.4

101.4
96.4
118.9
127.3
135.7
118.6
122.7
128.7
132.2
135. 7
139.6

111.6
110.4
118.2
131.1
144.5
145.3
153. 2
159.2
163.8
166.9
170.2

100.3
98.5
106.5
115.6
120.5
112.3
120.9
127.4
131.3
137.6
140.5

134.7
126.3
153.4
165.6
178.4
163.9
172.4
181.8
180.2
184.5
187.1

110.8
105.7
129.1
148.5
158.0
150.2
156.0
165.7
169.3
173.0
178.1

116.1
107.3
134.7
146.0
159.4
151.2
156.8
164.0
163.5
165.1
169.0

114.9
106.7
132.9
145.5
159.8
152.4
159.2
166.9
166.9
168.8
172.4

109.5
105.6
120.7
135.2
151.0
147.3
153.2
159.2
161.5
163.7
166.7

1951: January ___
180.1
February____ 183.6
March______
184.0
April____ . .
183.6
M ay________
182.9
June________
181.7
July________ ' 179. 4
A u g u s t ..___ 178.0
September___ 177.6

194.2
202.6
203.8
202.5
199.6
198.6
194.0
190.6
189.2

182.2
187.6
186.6
185.8
187.3
186.3
186.0
187.3
188.0

234.8
238.2
236.2
233.3
232.6
230.6
221.9
213.6
212.3

178.2
181.1
183.2
182.8
182.1
177.7
« 173. 2
« 167. 5
163.2

136.4
138.1
138.6
138.1
137.5
137.8
137.9
138.1
138.8

187.5
188.1
188.8
189.0
188.8
188.2
• 187.9
188.1
189.1

226.1
223.1
228.5
228.5
227.8
225.6
• 223.7
• 222. 5
223.0

144.5
147.3
146.4
147.9
145.7
142.3
139.4
140.1
140.8

174.7
175.4
178.8
180. 1
180.0
179. 5
• 178.8
'175.3
172.5

142.4
142.7
142.5
142.7
141.7
141. 7
138.8
138.2
138.5

192.6
199.1
199.4
197.7
195.5
194. 7
189.9
187.5
186.9

185. 0
187.1
187.5
187.1
186.4
180. 0
174.0
170.0
168.8

173.1
175. 5
175.8
176.1
176.2
175.5
175.1
«174.4
174.2

176.7
179.2
179.3
179.2
179.0
177.8
176.0
'174. 9
174.8

170.3
171.8
172.4
172.3
171.6
170.5
' 168.6
' 167. 2
166.9

All
com­
modi­
ties 3

Farm
prod­
ucts

Average_____
July________
November___
M ay________
Average..........

69.8
67.3
136.3
167.2
95.3

1932: Average_____
1939: Average_____
A ugust___ _
1940: Average_____

Year and month

1913:
1914:
1918:
1920:
1929:

1 BLS wholesale price data, for the most part, represent prices in primary
markets. They are prices charged by manufacturers or producers or are
rices prevailing on organized exchanges. The weekly index is calculated
om 1-day-a-week prices; the monthly index from an average of these prices.
M onthly indexes for the last 2 months are preliminary.
The indexes currently are computed by the fixed base aggregate method,
with weights representing quantities produced for sale in 1929-31. (For a
detailed description of the method of calculation see “ Revised Method of
Calculation of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Wholesale Price Index,” in
the Journal of the American Statistical Association, December 1937.)
Mimeographed tables are available, upon request to the Bureau, giving
monthly indexes for major groups of commodities since 1890 and for subgroups
and economic groups since 1913. The weekly wholesale price indexes are

g


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

Chem­
icals Housefurand
nishallied
ing
prod­ goods
ucts

M is­
cella­
neous
com­
modi­
ties

available in summary form since 1947 for all commodities; all commoditie
less farm products and foods; farm products; foods; textile products; fuel and
lighting materials; metals and metal products; building materials, and
chemicals and allied products. Weekly indexes are also available for the
subgroups of grains, livestock, and meats.
3 Includes current motor vehicle prices beginning with October 1946. T he
rate of production of motor vehicles in October 1946 exceeded the m onthly
average rate of civilian production in 1941, and in accordance with the an­
nouncement made in September 1946, the Bureau introduced current prices
for motor vehicles in the October calculations. During the war, motor
vehicles were not produced for general civilian sale and the Bureau carried
April 1942 prices forward in each computation through September 1946.
• Corrected.

642

D : P R IC E S AN D

T a ble

MONTHLY LABOR

CO ST OF L IV IN G

D-8: Indexes of Wholesale Prices,1 by Group and Subgroup of Commodities
[1926=100]
1950

1951

1946

1939

June

Aug.

Group and subgroup

171.7

169.1

169.5

112.9

75.0

183.7
172.1
197.3
222.6
74.9
177.4
148.2
175.2
164.1
154.1
140.4
223.4
240.5
90.8
158.9
211.5
203.7
269.3
204.9
164.9
166.8
151.4
231.7
111.4
42.7
69.0
192.7
210.4
135.7
144.7
193.3
232.5
65.5
90.5
118.1
180.4

177.8
165.3
198.7
223.8
77.1
167.4
141.0
172.5
160.8
153.8
129.5
223.7
240.8
90.2
156.4
208.6
200.5
266.3
201.3
164.9
163.1
147.7
225.7
109.2
42.5
65.3
189.1
207.3
135.3
143.9
193.3
231.1
65.2
88.9
118.0
178.6

180.4
166.5
211.3
237.5
85.3
164.4
128.8
177.2
154.7
155.5
131.0
241.0
259.5
99.0
158.7
203.0
194.9
264.7
196.8
151.3
158.3
146.7
221.6
105.3
41.7
64.9
178.7
191.3
134.9
142.8
193.2
225.6
65.6
89.0
117.8
176.7

140.1
151.8
137.4
143. 4
(3)
137.5
97.3
112.9
127.3
101.7
136.1
110.1
116.6
(!)
98.1
122.4
129.5
121.5
110. 7
115.2
109.2
120.3
139.4
75.8
30.2
(3)
112.7
112.3
87.8
106.1
132.8
133.5
67.2
79.6
64.0
112.2

61.0
51.5
66.0
67.7
(3)
60.1
47.5
67.2
67.9
71.9
58.5
73.7
78.1
(»)
60.3
92.7
100.8
77.2
84.0
97.1
67.8
81. 5
65. 5
61.5
28.6
44.3
75.5
63.7
72.6
72.1
96.0
104.2
75.8
86.7
51.7
93.2

153.3
155.8
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

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

104.5
104.9
110.1
112.2
108.9
112.8
135.5
142.8
104.3
99.2
106.0
(*)
129.9
121.3
102.6
176.0
108.6
99.3
120.9
106.0
(<)
120.1
118.4

93.5
94.7
95.1
98.6
96.0
99.0
92.5
95.6
77.4
74.6
79.3
89.6
90.5
91.3
90.1
82.1
92.9
71.8
79.3
(*)
107.3
89.5

139.6
136.1

135.7
134.3

132.2
131.6

128.7
125.4

96.4
98.0

74.2
83.8

175.1
115.6
107.4
180.9
170.2
180.6
159.2
140.5
82.5
224.4
189.0
214.0
173.3
222.6
146.1
136.6
152.3

163.8
112.0
105.1
171.5
166.9
176.6
156.7
137.6
82.3
211.4
178.7
193.0
164.5
222.6
150.5
134.7
144.4

161.1
111.2
103.4
160.3
163.8
173.6
153.6
131.3
78.1
199.6
173.4
184.3
159.4
222.6
131.5
130.5
143.2

153.4
111.4
103.4
163.9
159.2
168.1
149.9
127.4
77.4
203.8
167.1
171.6
157.3
201.8
114.7
127.8
140.0

109.4
82.7
86.6
102.1
110.4
114.5
108.5
98.5
65.7
197.8
115.6
115.6
107.3
154.1
46.2
101.0
101.3

77.1
65.5
73.1
40.6
85.6
90.0
81.1
73.3
59.5
68.4
80.0
66.2
83.9
69.6
34.9
81.3
78.9

183.6

180.1

175.3

203.8
188.0
241.2
270.4
101.1
184.3
124.7
186.6
170.3
164.5
139.9
254.5
273.7
108.7
160.0
236.2
222.0
313.0
229.2
188.2
183.2
163.9
239.9
113.5
43.1
90.8
240.2
246.1
138.6
156.1
197.1
234.5
65.1
93.8
120.3
188.8

202.6
192.0
238.2
268.0
94.3
182.8
117.0
187.6
173.0
166.3
142.4
255.2
274.8
107.1
159.0
238.2
224.6
317.8
229.1
188.0
181.1
163.9
240.5
113.8
43.1
90.8
227.3
243.8
138.1
156. 5
197.5
234.1
66.4
92.2
119.4
188.1

194.2
186.6
222.2
250.6
84.7
178.2
116.5
182.2
171.5
163.0
136.1
242.7
261.5
98.2
157.7
234.8
219.4
318.2
224.8
188.0
178.2
161.6
239.2
115.2
43.1
86.1
217.4
238.1
136.4
145.8
193.2
232.8
65.4
90.0
119.4
187.5

187.4
180.9
204.9
231.8
74.5
177.4
149.5
179.0
164.4
157.6
138.0
233.7
251.9
92.3
161.5
218.7
209.3
277.5
213.8
173.9
171.4
155.4
236.6
113.7
43.0
75.0
195.6
229.6
135.7
145.7
193.2
232.7
65.7
90.2
118.0
184.9

159.1
161.1
185.9
186.2
196.2
184.9
184.1,
193.7
143.1
184.1
183.7
139.4
228.5
180.8
147.2
361.0
164.7
153.9
179.6
183.7
139.4
204.3
198.3

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
147.1
361.2
164.4
153.3
179.8
183.7
139.4
204.3
198.2

159.0
161.0
185.7
186.2
196.2
184.9
179.0
187.1
143.1
191.1
183.7
139.4
228.1
180.8
147.1
359.8
164.0
153.3
178.9
183.7
139.4
204.3
198.2

156.2
158.4
185.7
186.1
196.2
184.9
178.8
187.1
142.2
187.9
183.7
139.4
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
221.4
179.1
141.2
348.4
154.9
147.3
166.2
183.6
139.3
204.3
193.8

145.7
145.2

147.9
145.0

146.4
138.2

147.3
139.0

144.5
138.1

185.2
117.1
108.6
181.0
180.0
195.9
162.9
141.7
82.8
244.9
196.2
221.0
173.5
273.8
135.1
136.7
154.1

184.5
117.8
108.6
198.7
180.1
195.9
163.1
142.7
82.8
261.9
196.2
221.0
173.5
273.8
137.5
136.7
154.1

185.1
118.1
108.9
214.6
178.8
193.4
163.2
142.5
82 8
236.5
196.3
221.0
173.8
272.5
145.4
136.8
155.3

185.2
118.1
108.9
217.3
175.4
186.9
163.2
142.7
82.8
229.6
196.5
221.0
174.2
272.5
147.3
137.6
162.5

184.4
118.1
108.9
200.4
174.7
186.2
162.7
142.4
82.8
226.3
196.5
221.1
174.2
272.1
148.4
137.1
157.8

178.0

«179.4

181.7

182.9

183.6

189.2
181.6
227.8
257.1
86.0
166.9
162.3
188.0
170.3
160.4
141.9
258.4
280.2
97.9
162.5
212.3
221.8
225.7
195.8
180.6
163.2
164.7
196. 5
110.0
43.1
72.6
196.7
229.6
138.8
157.0
196. 7
234.8
(3)
120.5
189.1

190.6
180.4
233.1
262.8
89.4
166.7
154.7
187.3
169.0
161.9
142.6
256.9
278.5
97.9
161.2
213.6
222.1
222.1
203.4
180.6
'167. 5
«165.0
«206. 0
'110. 1
43.1
68.7
' 207.4
232.2
138.1
«154.9
'194. 9
234.8
i3)
94.1
120.5
188.1

194.0
178.0
233.9
263.4
91.5
173.1
137.3
186.0
167.5
162.3
144.3
254.6
275.2
101.1
158.5
221.9
222.4
250.7
216. 8
180.6
' 173. 2
164.8
'218.8
111.2
43.1
71.1
' 218.2
239.6
137.9
153. 5
194.6
234.8
65.4
93.8
120.4
' 187.9

198.6
178.6
235.8
265.1
94.4
180.4
137.1
186.3
163.4
162.3
146.3
255.2
275.4
104.3
160.8
230.6
223.3
284.3
227.5
180.6
177.7
164.0
228.7
112.9
43.1
73.2
225.3
250.1
137.8
152. 5
195.5
234.8
67.0
92.9
120.0
188.2

199.6
185.6
234.8
263.6
96.5
181.0
128.6
187.3
164.9
163.6
146.5
257.2
276.3
113.5
160.7
232.6
223.8
293.8
228.2
180.6
182.1
164.0
234.1
113.4
43.1
76.3
244.5
247.0
137.5
151.0
195.2
234.8
64.7
92.9
119.7
188.8

202.5
189.1
240.9
269.9
102.1
181.7
125.1
185.8
166.6
164. 5
140.0
255.1
274.1
112. 5
158.8
233.3
223.5
297.8
228.7
180.6
182.8
163.9
236.2
113.5
43.1
85.2
243.7
249.2
138.1
152.8
195.6
234.8
64.8
93.3
120.0
189.0

158.9
160.9
185. 9
186.2
196.2
185.0
187.4
196.7
147.0
176.4
184.4
138.4
223.0
179.5
147.2
343.2
159.8
153.9
169.2
184.4
138.4
204.3
198.4

158.9
160.9
185.9
186.2
196.2
185.0
185.0
193.7
147.0
175.3
184.6
138.8
'222.5
' 179. 5
147.2
342.8
158.0
153.9
165.5
184.6
138.8
204.3
198.2

158.9
160.9
185.9
186.2
196.2
184.9
184.6
193.7
145.2
175.6
183.6
138.8
' 223.7
'179.4
147.2
347.1
159.1
153.9
167.7
183.6
138.8
204.3
198.1

159.1
161.1
185.9
186.2
196.2
184.9
184.3
193.7
144.0
178.2
183.5
139.1
225.6
180.8
147.2
352.3
161.6
153.9
173.0
183.5
139.1
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
227.8
180.8
147.2
358.8
163.7
153.9
177.5
183.7
139.4
204.3
198.2

140.8
144.7

140.1
144.4

139.4
143.1

142.3
144.1

184.1
118.5
111.3
141.9
172.5
183.2
161.2
138.5
82.9
231.2
199.7
221.0
181.6
253.4
106.6
135.5
140.2

184.6
117.8
109.3
139.8
' 175. 3
' 188. 2
' 161. 6
138.2
82.9
225.9
198.7
221.0
180.2
253.4
106.6
' 135. 7
' 142. 8

184.7
119.0
108.6
139.3
' 178.8
194.6
'161.9
138.8
82.9
240.3
197.2
221.0
178.1
253.4
106.6
136.3
' 147. 9

185.3
115.1
108.6
161.2
179.5
196.3
161.5
141.7
82.8
245.0
196.2
221.1
173.5
273.8
135.1
136.7
153.6

' See footnote 1, table D -7. J See footnote 2, table D -7. » N ot available.
M ay 1950. • Corrected. ' Revised.
tRevised indexes for dates prior to August 1949 available upon request.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Sept.

184.0

177.6

Farm products
G r a in s___________ ___
Livestock and poultry r.
Livestock rl ____. . . .
P o u ltry r __________
Other farm products___
Eggs r_____ _____
Foods..__ ________
Dairy products________
Cereal p r o d u cts.______
Fruits and vegetables__
Meats, poultry, fish r. . .
Meats r ___________
Poultry r __________
Other foods___________
Hides and leather products—
Shoes...................................
Hides and s k in s ______
Leather.. ___________
Other leather products..
Textile products__________
Clothing______________
Cotton goods___ ______
Hosiers' and underwear.
■Rayon and nylon r
Silk ' .............___________
Woolen and worsted___
Other textile products...
Fuel and lighting materials.
Anthracite____________
Bituminous coal_______
Coke_________________
E le ctric ity ___________
Gas
. ________
Petroleum and products'
Metals and metal productssAgricultural machinery
and equipm entr_____
Farm machinery ’ . .
Iron and steel_________
Steel mill produets___
Semi-finished____
F in ish e d _______
Motor vehicles r . ____
Passenger cars_____
Trucks ____________
Nonferrous metals...........
Plumbing and heating..
Plumbing r_ ______
Building materials______ _
Brick and t i l e . _______
Cementf - . __________
Lumber. _____________
Paint, paint materials ’
Prepared p a in t ' ___
Paint materials r___
Plumbing and heating..
Plumbing ' _______
Structural steel................
Other bldg, m aterials...
Chemicals and allied products____________________
Chemicals____________
Drug and pharmaceutical materials_______
Fertilirpr m a te r ia ls .
Mixed fertilizers_______

N ov.

Oct.

Jan.

All commodities *..................-

O ils a n d fa ts

Dec.

Feb.

July

Housefumisbing goods
Furnishings............. .......
Furniture r____________
Miscellaneous______ ____
Tires and tubes r ______
Cattle feed_____ ______
Paper and pulp_______
Paperboard_______
Paper_____________
W'ood pulp________
Rubber, crude________
Other miscelleanous___
Soaps and detergents f. .

Mar.

Apr.

Aug.

(3)

June

M ay

Sept.

* Index based on old series not available.

Revised series first used in index in

REVIEW, NOVEMBER 1951

643

E: W O RK STOPPAGES

E : Work Stoppages
T a ble

E -l: Work Stoppages Resulting From Labor-Management Disputes 1
Number of stoppages

Workers involved in stoppages

Man-days idle during month
or year

M onth and year
Beginning
in month or
year

In effect dur­
ing month

Beginning
in month or
year

1935-39 (average)
1945.......................
1946
.........
1947
.........
1948.......................
1949
.........
1950
.........

2,862
4,750
4,985
3,693
3,419
3,606
4,843

1950: September.
O ctober...
November.
December.

521
550
329
218

820
801
605
423

270.000
197.000
200.000
61,100

1951: January3___
February 3__.
March 3____
A pril3_____
M ay 3 ...........
June 3.............
July 3______
A ugust3____
September 2„.

400
350
350
350
400
375
425
425
400

550
550
550
550
580
560
600
625
600

185,000
220,000
140,000
165, 000
150,000
190, 000
250,000
250,000
200,000

3 All known work stoppages, arising out of labor-management disputes,
involving six or more workers and continuing as long as a full day or shift
are included in reports of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Figures on “workers
involved” and “man-days idle” cover all workers made idle for one or more


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

In effect dur­
ing month

1.130.000
3,470, 000
4.600.000
2.170.000
1.960.000
3.030.000
2.410.000

Number

Percent of
estimated
working time

16.900.000
38,000,000
116,000,000
34.600.000
34.100.000
50, 500,000
38.800.000

0.27
.47
1.43
.41
.37
.59
.44

450.000
330.000
308.000
114.000

3.510.000
2.590.000
2.050.000
912,000

.48
.32
.27
.12

215,000
300,000
280,000
235,000
250,000
260.000
320, 000
350,000
340,000

1,200,000
1, 700,000
2,300,000
1, 850, 000
1,750,000
1, 600,000
1,750,000
2, 750,000
2,400,000

.15
.25
.29
.25
.22
.21

.23
.32
.34

shifts in establishments directly involved in a stoppage. They do not
measure the indirect or secondary effects on other establishments or industries
whose employees are made idle as a result of material or service shortages.
3 Preliminary.

644

M ONTHLY LABOR

F : B U IL D IN G A N D CO N STR U C TIO N

F : Building and Construction
T a ble F - l : Expenditures for New Construction 1
[Value of work put In place]
Expenditures (in millions)

Oct.8 Sept.3 Aug.8 j July
Total new construction 4---------. . . . - .-

1950

1951

Type of construction
June

May

Apr.

Mar.

Feb.

Jan.

Dec.

Nov.

Oct.

1950

1949

Total

Total

$2,692 $2,837 $2,859 $2,793 $2, 729 $2, 556 $2,387 $2,188 $1,973 $2,100 $2,234 $2, 569 $2, 773 $27,902 $22, 584

Private construction___________________ 1,789 1,879 1,906 1,894 1,859 1, 739 1,673 1,603 1,518 1, 586 1,721 1,901 2,025 20,789 16,181
8,267
902 1,003 1,131 1, 247 12, 600
852
827
882
881
944
947
939
934
933
Residential building (nonfarm)............
7,257
830
923 1,040 1,145 11, 525
750
775
795
840
835
785
835
830
825
N ew dwelling units_____________
825
62
73
84
900
60
55
71
61
88
92
90
80
93
89
Additions and alterations______
18
175
185
18
18
17
17
16
16
16
17
16
16
17
14
Nonhousekeeping 1_____ _ ______
403
382
3,228
3, 777
384
378
395
399
465
435
407
463
459
451
390
Nonresidential building (nonfarm)8. . 972
125
120
112
1,062
142
135
129
162
150
190
178
202
198
177
__________________
industrial
149
140
136
1,288
1,027
121
122
130
125
128
120
131
108
100
83
Commercial--------- -------- -----------Warehouses, office and loft
321
43
402
47
46
48
45
47
45
48
47
48
48
45
36
buildings ------ ----------------Stores, restaurants, and ga102
706
92
93
886
75
75
83
80
72
83
60
83
55
47
rages____________________
134
129
130
134
1,427
1, 229
132
128
127
155
143
154
153
149
130
Other nonresidential building-----40
40
360
39
409
35
35
37
35
41
38
42
43
42
33
Religious
_____________ -29
29
294
269
29
27
28
26
26
31
29
27
32
32
29
Educational ______________
262
22
20
23
247
19
14
16
IS
15
14
15
12
13
9
Social and recreational.. _____
30
30
202
30
30
344
31
34
32
38
38
37
38
37
36
Hospital and institutional7_ .
12
136
12
13
13
133
22
20
17
27
30
31
26
27
23
Miscellaneous______________
1,170
1,292
81
95
72
83
76
71
95
113
134
126
140
130
108
Farm construction_________________
279
294
3,130
3,316
264
226
229
247
283
343
305
326
357
353
358
Public utilities_____________________
352
32
32
315
20
26
28
26
31
29
33
34
31
35
38
Railroad ___
___________ . .
440
38
39
533
34
35
40
39
33
42
43
42
43
40
37
Telephone and telegraph-----------2,431
184
209
223
2, 375
169
214
199
173
232
267
253
280
283
278
Other public utilities____________
112
5
7
7
78
5
5
5
6
5
5
5
6
5
All other private •_ . __________ . .
6,403
513
668
748
7,113
455
514
714
585
899
817
870
953
903
958
Public construction___________________
30
359
30
31
345
33
42
36
44
52
46
50
58
69
65
Residential building 9---- -- ----------Nonresidential building (other than
228
2,402
2,068
224
216
247
251
210
312
292
313
316
310
323
319
military or naval facilities)________
177
29
31
224
30
31
49
36
73
88
83
80
103
96
106
Industrial_____________________
110
112
115
934
112
112
1,163
120
125
132
130
130
134
136
125
Educational. . . . ___________ _
42
39
42
476
477
39
42
36
52
48
51
52
49
49
48
Hospital and institutional. ------480
45
59
539
32
36
40
37
46
45
48
50
40
31
35
Other nonresidential____ . . . ......
26
137
29
24
28
177
39
29
72
59
90
79
120
113
127
Military and naval facilities 10_______
2,129
221
265
2,350
95
103
no
65
160
215
260
250
280
235
275
H ighways. ______________________
60
65
619
56
52
55
671
58
64
61
68
66
68
61
65
Sewer and w a te r __________________
Miscellaneous public service enter186
203
13
19
21
9
12
14
17
21
21
20
20
22
16
prises !1_________________________
793
60
65
76
84
886
49
73
64
85
83
80
79
83
86
Conservation and development______
95
96
6
6
7
8 j
5
8
8
7
8
7
6
7
All other public 11_________________
7

6

1 Joint 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.
i Preliminary.
* Revised.
* Includes major additions and alterations.
* Includes hotels, dormitories, and tourist courts and cabins.
* Expenditures by privately owned public utilities for nonresidential
building rre included under “Public utilities.”


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

7 Includes Federal contributions toward construction of private nonprofit
hospital facilities under the National Hospital Program.
« Covers privately owned sewer and water facilities, roads and bridges,
and miscellaneous nonbuilding items such as parks and playgrounds.
* Includes nonhousekeeping public residential construction as well as
housekeeping units.
i* Covers all construction, building as well as nonbuilding (except for pro­
duction facilities, which are included in public industrial building).
11 Covers primarily publicly owned airports, electric light and power sys­
tems, and local transit facilities.
» Covers public construction not elsewhere classifie , such as parks, play­
grounds, and memorials.

R E V I E W , N O V E M B E R 1951

F : B U ILD IN G AN D

645

C O N STR U C TIO N

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

Total
new
con­
struc­
tion s

Nonresidential
Air
ports
Total

Resi­
den­
tial

Total

H jspitals and
ic stitutior al

Edu­
ca­
tional4

Total
1935
$1,478,073 (7)
$442,782
1930
1, 533, 439 (7)
561,394
1937
344. 567
990,410 (7)
1938
1, 609, 208 (7)
676, 542
1939
1, 586, 604 $4, 753 669, 222
1940
2,316, 467 137,112 1, 537, 910
1941
5, 931, 536 499,427 4,422,131
1942
7,871, 986 579,176 6, 226,878
1943
2, 877,044 243,443 2, 068, 337
1944
1, 861,449 110, 872 1,438,849
1945
1,092.181 41,219 806,917
1946
1,502,701 15,068 617,132
1947 ___________ 1, 473, 910 25,075 454, 593
1948
1,906, 466 55, 577 543,118
1949.
2,174,203 49,317 880,101
1950. ------ ----------- 2, 706, 650 54, 461 1, 278, 263

$7,833 $434,949 (s)
63,465 497, 929 (8)
17,239 327,328 <8)
31,809 644, 733 (8)
231,071 438,151
(*)
244,671 1, 293,239 (8)
322, 248 4,099, 883 (*)
565, 247 5, 661, 631 (8)
405, 537 1, 662,800 (')
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

Vet­
erans

Other

(8)
(«)
(8)
(8)
(«)
(8)
(«)
(»)
(8)
(8)
(s)
(*)
(8)
(*)
(8)
(8)
(s)
(8)
(8)
(»)
(8)
(8)
(*)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(»)
(8)
(«)
(8)
(8)
(*)
(8)
$14, 281 $9,032 $5, 249
101, 992 96,140
5, 852
263, 296 168, 616 94, 680
355, 541 123, 967 231, 574
389,848 118. 565 271, 283

Ad­
minis­
trative
and
gen­
eral 1
(8)
(8)
(')
(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(')
(8)
(*)
$9, 713
32, 550
29, 926
88, 856
58, 255

Other
nonresidential
(8)
(8)
(•)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(8)
(»)
$126, 270
211, 607
201,274
387,863
811, 692

Total

Rec­
lama­
tion

$438,725 $158,027
189, 710 73, 797
133,010 59,051
303,874 175,382
225,423 115,612
197, 589 69,028
199, 684 41,880
217, 795 150, 708
155, 737 101,270
112, 415 66, 679
72,150 30, 765
290,163 149,870
307, 695 75,483
494,871 147, 732
497, 557 184,803
435, 253 195,845

River,
har­
bor,
and
flood
control

High­
ways

$280, 698 $381,037
115,913 511,685
73, 959 360, 865
128,492 372, 238
109,811 355, 701
128, 561 364,048
157, 804 446,903
67,087 347,988
54, 467 161,852
45, 736 lib 805
41,385 100,969
140, 293 534, 653
232,212 659,645
347,139 767,460
312, 754 690, 469
239, 408 835, 606

All
other*

$215, 529
270, 650
151, 968
256, 554
331, 505
79,808
363,391
500,149
247, 675
87, 508
70,926
45, 685
26,902
45, 440
56, 759
103,067

1949: January___
February...
March____
April______
M ay....... .
June______
July______
August____
September..
October___
November..
D ecem ber..

97,047 5, 520
242
101, 298
182, 992 4,288
133, 535 4, 212
257, 834 7,233
325, 997 12,262
142, 768 4,818
272, 671 3,385
173, 584 1, 902
103,616 3,413
222, 263
790
160, 598 1,252

40, 410
45,058
45,051
34,148
71,383
143,870
37, 979
134, 548
83, 971
36, 718
131,881
75,084

101
2,535
4,602
4, 498
6,245
23,017
821
49
446
672
9
3,805

40, 309
42, 523
40,449
29, 650
65,138
120,853
37,158
134,499
83. 525
36,046
131,872
71, 279

148
635
0
18
30
0
10
140
0
0
60
0

8,192
12, 651
26, 663
21,352
23, 649
64,985
22, 756
43, 544
57, 995
15,004
16, 600
42,150

428
5, 477
9, 612
1,204
1,045
14,814
202
25, 492
26, 500
8, 737
7,387
23,069

7, 764
7,174
17. 051
20,148
22, 604
50,171
22, 554
18,052
31, 495
6, 267
9, 213
19,081

25,008
6, 961
22, 719
6,518
1,747 12,039
949
7, 331
13, 658 27, 801
10,564 45, 304
2,018 12,374
969 89, 846
538 24, 992
4,333 16, 709
5, 308 109, 904
1,045 28,084

15,141
24,032
84, 342
39,899
89, 536
80, 530
22,115
52,304
20, 679
12,914
42,186
13, 879

7, 596
3,083
22, 546
18, 778
61, 537
26, 603
6,822
12,375
10,179
1,091
5, 677
8, 516

7, 545
20,949
61,796
21,121
27, 999
53, 927
15,293
39, 929
10, 500
11, 823
36, 509
5,363

34, 465
29,000
41,646
52,099
83, 769
80; 348
75, 448
79,020
63, 035
49, 910
38,100
63, 629

1, 511
2, 966
7,665
3,177
5,913
, 987
2,408
3,414
3, 997
661
9,306
6, 754

1950: January___
February...
March____
April. ____
M a y ............
June______
J u l y . . ____
A ugust____
September..
October___
N ovem ber..
D ecem ber..

129, 514
119, 057
233, 791
169, 416
224,363
367,371
162, 239
178,355
181,316
240, 426
150, 223
550, 579

4,827
2,533
8, 616
7,341
4,196
5. 345
5,852
5, 247
2,862
4, 060
2, 576
1,006

48, 467
38, 020
51, 294
66, 516
59, 921
155, 460
59, 664
66, 961
82, 757
145, 796
30, 588
472,819

213
127
1,059
3, 453
1.605
5,847
634
60
1,284
200
233
730

48, 254
37, 893
50, 235
63, 063
58, 316
149, 613
59, 030
66, 901
81, 473
145, 596
30, 355
472, 089

144
138
20
70
0
1, 923
616
174
0
19
2
17

28, 528
32, 081
23,100
40,184
32, 572
68, 384
43, 914
28, 741
35, 717
19, 797
21, 388
15, 442

19, 407
17, 354
14, 534
21, 969
13,688
7,766
8,007
1, 450
12, 957
643
676
114

9,121
14, 727
8, 566
18, 215
18,884
60, 618
35, 907
27, 291
22, 760
19,154
20, 712
15, 328

13, 261
6,321 26,147
1,259
4, 415 29,953
3, 459 23, 656 103, 559
2, 585 20, 224 20, 572
2, 537 23, 207 68,100
25, 880 53, 426 80, 602
2,217 12, 283 13, 938
1,849 36,137 15, 910
1, 580 44, 176 16, 046
1,234 124, 546 19, 630
1,853
7, 112 32, 538
541 «456,089
8,258

17, 993
7,087
69, 840
2,782
7, 726
43, 720
10, 600
8,364
9,549
13, 471
1, 753
2, 960

8,154 41, 027
22, 866 42, 357
33, 719 61,032
17, 790 63, 462
60, 374 80, 934
36,882 111,416
3, 338 77, 973
7, 546 83, 316
6, 497 73,883
6,159 55, 632
30, 785 81,142
5, 298 63, 432

9, 046
6, 194
9, 290
11, 525
11,212
14, 548
4,812
6,921
5,768
15, 308
3, 379
5,064

1951: January___
F ebruary...
March____
April______
M a y ..........
June--------July 77____
A u gu st72—

414,191
207, 755
286,085
287, 254
600,833
515,269
259, 553
173,421

9, 412
10. 773
6, 330
16,691
36, 724
84,911
37,475
9,556

105, 651
92,825
134, 681
95,964
445, 815
227, 221
107, 629
58,442

846
916
39
3,008
1,791
451
282
18

104,805
91, 909
134, 642
92,956
444,024
226, 770
107, 347,
58,424

96
41
179
1,217
128
450
0
0

14,818
110
15, 388
701
42, 943 19,141
28,357 18, 970
13, 946
592
23,862
2,375
5,941
989
8, 763 j 2,370

14,708
14, 687
23.802
9,387
13, 354
21,487
4,952
6,393

728 89,163 213, 044 10206,077
10, 096 66, 384 30, 333 10,125
8, 773 82, 747 45,613 15,346
2,880 60, 502 101,498 10, 803
2,149 9427, 801 43, 667
9, 308
6,486 195,972 29,848
9,214
1,102 100, 304 16, 266 12, 275
1,317 48,344
8,488
2,389

6,967
20, 208
30, 267
90, 695
34,359
20,634
3,991
6,099

10, 533
14, 757
28, 223
15,035
15, 421
75,446
22,416
8,028

1 Excludes projects classified as “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 perform non­
maintenance construction on the agency's own properties.
* Includes major additions and alterations.
* Excludes hangars and other buildings, which are included under “ Other
nonresidential” building construction.
4 Includes educational facilities under the Federal temporary re-use edu­
cational facilities program.
1 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
(January 1949: $23,810,000), for the Meeting Hall (January 1950: $11,238,000),
and for th »General Assembly Building (June 1950: $10,704,000).


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

75, 551
59,067
71.238
58, 066
59, 206
97,843
75,767
88,907

8

8 Includes electrification projects, water-supply and sewage-disposal
systems, railroad construction, and other types of projects not elsewhere
classified.
7 Included in “All other.”
• Unavailable.
5 Includes primarily construction projects for the Atomic Energy Com­
mission.
10 Includes primarily steam-electric generating projects for the Tennes­
see Valley Authority.
» Revised.
12Preliminary.

F : B U ILD IN G A N D

646

M ONTHLY LABOR

C O N STR U C TIO N

T able F-3: Urban Building Authorized, by Principal Class of Construction and by Type of Building 1
Number of new dwelling units—House­
keeping only

Valuation (in thousands)

Privately financed

New residential building
Housekeeping

Period
Total all
classes *

Privately financed dwelling units
Total

1-famfly

2-fam­
ily !

M ulti­
family *

Publicly
financed
dwell­
ing
units

Nonhousekeep-

New nonresidential
building

ing»

Addi­
tions,
altera­
tions,
and
repairs

Total

1-fam­
ily

$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
42,249 29,831 1,713,489 892,404 502, 312 393, 606
372, 586
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

2-fam­
ily »

Pub­
fi­
Multi- licly
fam­ nanced
ily *

15, 747 30,237
24,326 47, 718
33, 423 75, 283
36,306 87,341
26,431 135,312
33,302 139, 511

95,946
98,310
5,833
15,114
32,194
34,363

$2,707,573
4, 743,414
5, 563,348
6,972, 784
7,396, 274
10,408,292

$598,570
2,114, 833
2, 885, 374
3,422, 927
3, 724, 924
5,803, 912

$478, 658
1, 830, 260
2, 361, 752
2, 745,219
2,845,399
4,845,104

$42, 629
103,042
151,036
181,493
132,365
179,214

1950: August........
September.
October___
November.
D ecem ber-

1,097,651
848,041
870, 325
707, 673
781,384

606,346
438, 852
428,078
341, 335
345, 278

501,489
375, 214
363, 263
297,465
291,219

17,328
13,308
12,782
11,192
9,297

87, 529
50,330
52,033
32, 678
44, 762

36, 510
37,237
14.460
29,261
76,095

8,690
6, 599
4,406
5,546
4, 919

330,836
266,006
329, 426
250, 616
280,717

115,268
99, 346
93, 955
80, 915
74,375

79,140
58,172
55, 210
44, 588
44, 697

61, 740
46, 498
43, 761
36, 244
34,810

2,992
2,236
2,313
2,056
1,747

14,408
9,438
9,136
6,288
8,140

4,041
4,154
1,619
2,940
9,289

1951: January........
February—
March..........
April............
M ay.............
June _____
July 6--------August 7 -----

758,917
585, 683
770, 269
777, 318
813, 218
986,643
703, 258
755,926

379,178
330, 520
406, 763
420,085
457,664
388,187
342,532
383,431

329,624
294, 756
356, 550
374,674
393,080
335,958
292,861
334,623

14,109
10, 955
14,580
19,005
14,466
15, 587
13,816
15,189

35,445
24,809
35, 633
26,406
50,118
36,642
35,855
33,619

9,066
10, 201
5, 966
33,305
7,027
298,421
30,000
14,277

3,123
1, 252
3,082
3,346
1,477
1,454
3,685
4,071

270,314
174,050
263,920
234,024
239,332
202,036
224,381
253,957

97, 236
69.660
90, 538
86,558
107,718
96, 545
102.660
100,190

48,786
39, 749
50, 668
50,494
54,626
47,057
41,657
46,686

39,346
32, 962
41,206
42,816
43,957
37,860
33,291
38,074

2,813
2,103
2,816
2,857
2, 514
2,629
2,396
2,631

6,627
4,684
6,646
4, 821
8,155
6,568
5,970
5,981

972
1,039
579
3,343
836
35,007
3,275
1,541

1942.
19461947194819491950.

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 from building permits are not adjusted to allow
for lapsed 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.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

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.
2 Covers additions, alterations, and repairs, as well as new residential and
nonresidential building.
3 Includes units in 1-family and 2-family structures w ith stores.
< Includes units in multifamily structures with stores.
8 Covers hotels, dormitories, tourist cabins, and other nonhousekeeping
residential buildings.
8 Revised.
Preliminary.

7

R E V I E W , N O V E M B E R 1951

F : B U ILD IN G A N D

647

CO N STRU 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

1651
Aug.3

July <

June

May

1950
Apr.

Mar.

Feb.

Jan.

Dec.

N ov.

Oct.

Sept.

Aug.

1950

1949

Total

Total

All types.............. . ........... $253, 957 $224, 381 $202, 036 $239,332 $234,024 $263,920 $174,050 $270, 314 $280,717 $250,616 $329,426 $266,006 $330,83f $3,127, 769 $2,408,445
New England_____
30, 839 16, 471 12,881 16. 92( 29, 751 14,093 12, 916 10, 47f 16, 461 13,675 15, 652 12, 701 21,082
193,386
115, 582
Middle Atlantic___ 45, 781 25, 785 24, 58C 33, 578 26,901 55,33' 20, 989 41,909 36, 91i 47, 55( 68, 678 45,953 41,646
516, 583
429,042
East North Central. 63, 633 54, 828 66,075 70,4 3 ; 52, 625 85, 212 40, 62C 63, 558 42,105 46, 313 95, 545 62, 556 71,914
675, 555
492,384
West North Central. 16, 353 18, 084 14, 894 16, 272 22, 682 12, 235 11,643 20, 627 17, 797 21,064 25,098 24, 489 27,800
262, 737
203,409
21, 235 20,886 16, 582 25,040 17,94C 27, 262 17, 949 37, 526 37,65C 25,316 26,447 31, 628 42,836
South Atlantic____
375,803
311, 540
East South Central.
5,198
5, 436
5, 662
9, 651 17, 617 11,823
7,905 16, 440
6,087 11,347 10, 826
8,407 13, 430
144,084
133,377
West South Central. 26, 250 23, 019 26, 943 20, 266 19, 745 25,156 25,949 35, 967 60,882 28,01e 34,900 30,808 43,115
388, 201
270; 407
M ountain......... ......... 12, 677
8,101
6, 957
9, 63fi
6 955 13 453 IS 2Kfi
fi, 543
5, 285 14, 554
4,84C
8, 61C
8, 92S
Pacific______ _____ 31, 991 51, 772 27,462 4li 889 32, 213 27,965 31,354 39,265 49,468 51,845 39, 708 36]014 53! 731
459,’155
348,592
Industrial buildings *— 45, 028 43, 267 43,123 42,921 37, 655
New England_____
1,843
4,600
2, 667
4, 877
1,497
Middle Atlantic___
9,257
8, 528
8,722
8,133
8, 20C
East North Central. 22,165 15, 333 19,177 15,159 14, 970
West North Central.
1, 526
3,980
1,252
1,961
2,349
2, 865
South Atlantic____
1,008
1,853
2, 229
1,682
East South Central.
887
3,316
1, 048
1,129
1,209
949
1, 475
522
West South Central.
2,482
2, 631
304
M ountain_________
214
965
1.044
550
3.735
P a o iflc___________
8, 578
4, 421
6,135
4, 567
61,124
Commercial buildings *. 56, 695
52, 846 55, 727 62,308
7,071
2,042
New England_____
5, 947
1,984
2, 231
5, 266
Middle Atlantio___
10, 348
9, 004
8, 049
9, 448
East North Central. 10,822 13, 344 11,324 15, 708
8,689
West North Central.
2, 225
2,946 ÎT4,116
2,932
5,635
7,244
5,468
South Atlantic____
5,999
5,098
5,083
2, 244
2, 073
1,054 12, 315
East South Central.
1,797
6,120
5,640
7, 341
West South Central8,418
7, 778
M ountain......... .........
4, 675
1,300
1, 034
1, 854
2, 674
Paoiflc____________
9, 661 13, 990 10, 206 12,048
8, 455
Community buildings 7. 108, 712 86,240 71, 989 99,126 104, 474
New England_____
18, 528
6, 683
8,872 22,790
4, 870
8, 299
Middle Atlantic___
12,807
5,532 11,460
6,907
East North Central. 19, 759 14, 919 21,840 23,667 21, 547
8,333
9,257 11, 561
West North Central.
9, 267
7, 050
9,225
South Atlantio____
10, 755
7, 009 13, 588
8,939
1,718
East South Central.
1, 713
4,928
1, 966
3,245
West South Central. 14. 687 12,899 12, 280 10, 030
7,004
1,683
M ountain_________
1,673
9, 735
2,360
8,946
11, 461 22, 481
9,082 15, 651 13, 535
Pacific____________
9, 613
16,062
Public buildings *_____
2, 962
5, 608 10,876
114
0
New England_____
200
842
0
325
1,410
Middle Atlantic___
11, 076
159
102
3,714
East North Central.
375
5,338
109
524
163
0
244
132
West North Central12
1, 580
1,748
South Atlantic____
47
565
392
100
12
East South Central.
0
0
0
64
305
West South Central.
685
2,016
0
122
0
M ountain........ .........
326
614
1,165
3, 553
1,941
3,109
1,171
P a c ific ___________
766
Public works and utility
6,341 12, 878 11,368 10, 629
8,034
buildings ®__________
42
624
380
1,814
New England_____
2,476
1, 633
1,570
348
335
679
Middle Atlantic___
1,861
East North Central.
3, 309
7,683
3, 580
1.095
758
307
West North Central.
889
806
1,534
175
917
South Atlantic— . .
325
674
650
92
26
331
0
East South Central549
560
421
952
762
West South Central829
126
370
Mountain_________
240
18
68
1,094
3,798
1,348
455
Pacific.- _________
2, 749
All other buildings 10___ 19, 426 17, 796 15,590 19,314 15,996
941
717
750
N ew England_____
705
757
1,732
2, 002
1, 945
1,781
Middle Atlantic___
1, 565
5,657
6, 982
7, 203
5, 940
East North Central5, 798
1,814
2, 202
1,905
1, 592
West North Central.
1,538
935
1,574
1, 007
1,195
South Atlantic____
1,857
396
315
363
439
East South Central.
298
2,428
3,347
West 8outh Central.
986
1,130
1,500
1,313
853
M ountain_________
1. 128
1,151
1,068
2,074
2,316
2,128
2,677
2,140
Pacific____________

45,989
4,232
8,308
21,309
1,708
1,688
459
2, 231
373
5, 621
69,317
1,789
9,645
31,163
2,960
7,445
983
6,827
1,238
7,267
124, 661
4, 789
34, 325
28,233
5,668
16,446
10,040
13,038
2,515
9, 607
2,680
410
307
241
0
381
66
620
102
553
8, 777
1,367
1,554
1, 259
247
465
10
1,289
0
2,586
12,496
1,506
1,195
3,007
1, 592
837
265
1,151
612
2,331

i 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
3 For scope and source of urban estimated, see table F-3, footnote 1.
3 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.
1 Includes amusement and recreation buildings, stores and other mercantile
buildings, commercial garages, gasoline and service stations, etc.


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

24, 995 36, 675 26,646
1,062
1,415
1,678
5,705
4,194 11, 703
8,074
8,566
9,987
2, 861
1,696
2,266
1,495
3,168
677
1,832
1, 972
375
903
1,172
2,612
440
789
481
4,673
4,950
3, 570
53,922 103, 244 119,091
7,244
3, 783
4,945
6,506 17, 727 14,622
7, 277 18,072 15,107
6,873
5,809
3,239
7,255 17,325 17, 467
7,065
4,208
1,644
9, 609 16,115 35,996
3,014
1,132
2,424
12,315 14, 924 14, 560
70, 913 94,835 98,545
4, 556
6,630
5,773
7,959
8,151 10, 470
18, 721 26,000 14,077
6,796
3, 818 11,277
8, 967 13, 753 15,096
1,653
3,036
3,688
8, 360 17, 552
11,239
3, 756
3,721
5,895
6,835 12, 871 23,643
9,226
6,741 13, 972
809
49
38
662
2,495
1,195
3,997
527
160
48
1,621
219
6,53
826
165
0
366
0
6,195
303
769
451
695
69
1,584
1,928
4,115
7,308
100
313
1,562
1,014
299
181
1,896
485
1,458
10,171
371
630
2,913
491
587
198
1,265
655
3,061

9,507
323
66
4, 576
750
842
11
903
38
1,998
12,081
364
1,280
2,348
477
1,785
786
1,782
388
2, 871

17,939
279
5, 358
3,260
323
1,766
647
4,310
0
1,996
9,270
439
777
1,060
488
1,000
597
1,818
356
2,735

27,228 44,892 29,203 31,373
296, 803
203, 699
1,653
1,755
1,558
2,173
13,999
6,450
2, 586
7,281
4,308
4,762
55, 679
40,386
9,619 23, 745 13, 572 11,948
110,829
77,037
5,149
1,143
3,077
2,906
23, 369
15, 689
963
1,033
1,017
1,619
17,019
19; 173
1,456
1,168
946
1,000
13, 355
8,736
1,677
2,388
1,815
2,332
17,800
6,859
190
278
846
592
5,469
4,370
3,936
4,182
3,983
4,042
39,284
24,999
95,985 117,952 93,691 124,698 1,122,583
752,810
2,115
5, 343
5,700
3, 270
53, 675
36,668
28,391 37,017 14,293 18,846
212,645
127,049
15, 971 17,697 18,152 24, 797
201,314
147,620
5,045
8,335 10,336 10, 984
94,104
52; 907
8,553 11,877 10,280 15,071
139,990
106,037
2,226
3,344
4,055
4, 720
46,076
36,020
15,383 14, 578 10,613 21,801
175,129
101,025
3,620
3,308
4, 758
6,994
47,481
25', 589
14,682 16, 453 15,505 17,216
152,169
119,895
85,024 118,820 111,346 130,167 1,260,078 1,018,637
9,025
7,238
3, 520 11,839
107, 541
43, 770
12,862 20,957 24,137 13, 764
169,036
179,463
16,401 37,411 21,658 24, 964
275,029
201,808
6,673 10, 808
8,636 10, 417
105,603
100,282
13,191 11,327 19,003 17,949
179, 635
103,666
3,860
3, 438
2,281
6,803
62, 529
71,114
9,257 12, 641 13, 942 14,980
146,688
135, 620
4,164
1,709
6, 563
4,929
43,296
59, 923
9,593 13, 291 11,607 24, 522
170, 721
122,991
19, 225 11,719
5,087
7,229
134,894
153,103
0
70
30
53
2, 584
4,863
247
611
557
688
40,178
36,154
642
329
742
382
9, 513
8,157
0
111
30
711
4, 896
9,560
92
558
372
3,869
15,008
50, 313
35
7,966
0
171
9,279
6,257
178
820
2,566
185
8,268
5,041
29
494
186
247
3,240
5,436
18,001
759
604
925
41,928
27, 322
7,119
119
1,322
206
1,534
340
7
254
125
3,211
16,036
763
2,148
3,474
2, 663
2,177
321
1,267
801
2,422

14,235
161
554
10, 279
266
835
70
433
180
1,457
21,807
1,085
2,258
6,084
2, 501
833
454
4,040
986
3,566

7,432
941
759
607
2,233
105
370
543
338
1,536
19,247
952
1,899
7,825
2, 111
835
755
1,329
762
2, 779

9,954
2, 769
1,263
1,830
606
240
225
170
361
2, 490
27, 416
978
2, 323
7,993
2,176
3,088
511
3, 647
2,163
4, 536

106,164
6, 478
16,868
26, 585
9,314
7,658
3,316
13, 646
2,702
19, 597
207, 247
9,109
22,177
52, 285
25, 451
16, 493
9, 529
26. 670
10,077
35, 456

148,375
16,012
27, 651
22,302
11,337
23,281
7,223
111 944
2, 566
26, 059
131, 821
7,819
18,339
35,460
18,634
9; 070
4,027
9,918
6,228
27,326

’ Includes churches, hospitals, and other institutional buildings, schools,
libraries, etc.
! Includes Federal, State, county, and municipal buildings, such as post
offices, courthouses, city halls, fire 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.
10 Includes private garages, sheds, stables and bams, and other building
not elsewhere classified.

648

F : B U IL D IN G A N D

T able F -5 :

M ONTHLY LABOR

C O N STR U C TIO N

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

Estimated construction cost
(in thousands) 2
Publicly financed

Privately financed

All units
Period

Urban

Rural
non­
farm

Total
non­
farm

Urban

Rural
non­
farm

185, COO 937,000
48, 000
93,000
619, 500
271, 800
45, 600
138, 700
662, 500
266,800
845, 600
369, 200
406, 700
913, 500
988, 800
436,300
568, 200 1, 352, 200

752,000
45,000
369, 500
93,200
395, 700
476, 400
510,000
556,600
785,600

185,000
48,000
250,000
45, 500
266, 800
369,200
403, 500
432, 200
566,600

0
0
86,600
3,100
8, 000
3, 400
18,100
36,300
43,800

0
0
64,800
3,000
8,000
3,400
14,900
32, 200
42,200

0 $4,475,000 $4,475,000
285,446
285,446
0
21, 800 2,825,895 2, 530, 765
495, 054
100
483,231
0 3,769, 767 3, 713,776
0 5,642, 798 5,617, 425
3, 200 7, 203,119 7, 028, 980
4,100 7, 702,971 7,374, 269
1,600 11,788,595 11,418,371

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

75,600
20, 500
22,400
32; 700
121,900
38,800
41,500
41,600
126, 400
42, 800
43,100
40, 500
112,400
44,300
38,800
29,300

159,400
46,300
47, 800
65,300
267, 200
85,000
91, 200
91,000
289,900
92, 700
96,600
100, 600
272, 300
101, 900
93, 400
77,000

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

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

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

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

300
(T)
100
200
2, 500
600
900
1,100
1,000
200
800

278,900
78, 700
82, 900
117,300
426, 800
133, 400
149,100
144, 300
406, 900
144,400
141, 900
120, 600
283. 400
102, 500
87, 300
93, 600

187, 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

111,100
30, 500
31, 900
48. 700
179, 800
54,600
63, 600
61, 600
188, 700
60, 200
58, 300
50, 200
108, 600
43,100
34, 200
31,300

276,100
77,800
82,300
116,000
420, 400
131,300
145, 700
143, 400
393, 600
139, 700
137, 800
116, 100
262,100
100, 800
82, 700
78, 600

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

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

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

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

600
0
400
200
600
300
100
200
300

1951: First quarter---------- ------ January___________
February__________
March....................... .
Second quarter 8------- . . ._
April . _ _ . . .
M a y ... ___
June 8.
.

260, 300
85,900
80, 600
93,800
329,700
96, 200
101, 000
132, 500

147,800
49, 600
47,000
51,200
192,300
51,900
55,400
85,000

112. 500
36, 300
33, 600
42. 600
137,400
44,300
45, 600
47, 500

248,800
82, 200
76, 500
90,100
280,100
92,300
97, 600
90, 200

137, 000
46,400
43,100
47. 500
148,400
48,300
52,300
47,800

111, 800
35,800
33, 400
42, 600
131, 700
44,000
45,300
42,400

11, 500
3, 700
4,100
3, 700
49, 600
3, 900
3,400
42,300

10,800
3, 200
3,900
3, 700
43,900
3,600
3,100
37,200

5,700
300
300
5,100

July
_____
A ugust10 -----------

86, 000
85,000

(9)
(9)

(9)
(9)

82, 300
84, 200

(9)
(9)

(9)
(9)

3,700
800

(9)
(9)

(9)
(9)

Urban

Rural
non­
farm

937,000
1925_______ _____ - -----------------93,000
1933 s__________________________
706,100
1941«_ ________________________
141, 800
1944 »__________________________
670, 500
1946___________________________
1947........... ......................... ................ - 849,000
931, 600
1948___________ _____ _______ ___
1949_______ ____ ____ ______ ____ l, 025,100
1950 9__________________________ 1,396,000

752,000
45,000
434,300
96,200
403, 700
479,800
524,900
588, 800
827, 800

1949: First q u arter........ .............—
January..... ...........—
February_____ ____
March____________
Secondquarter. ------------April ____________
M a y .------- -----------June______________
Third quarter____________
July--------- -----------August- _________
September________
Fourth quarter___________
October _________
N o v e m b e r .-.------December. . . . . . .

169,800
50,000
50,400
69,400
279, 200
88, 300
95, 400
95, 500
298,000
96,100
99,000
102,900
278,100
104,300
95, 500
78,300

1950: First quarter______________
January__________
February_________
March____________
Second quarter________ _
April_________
M a y _____________
June. ___________
Third quarter___
_____
July_________ . . August
Septem ber_______
Fourth quarter.. ------------October._ ________
N ovember. ______
December - ______

Total
non­
farm

Total
non­
farm

i The estimates shown here do not include temporary units, conversions,
dormitory accommodations, trailers, or military barracks. They do in­
clude prefabricated housing units.
These estimates are based on building-permit records, which, beginning
with 1945, have been adjusted for lapsed permits and for lag between permit
issuance and start of construction. They are based also on reports of
Federal construction contract awards and beginning in 1946 on field surveys
in non-permit-issuing places. The data in this table refer to nonfarm
dwelling units started, and not to urban dwelling units authorized, as shown
in table F-3.
, ,
All of these estimates contain some error. For example, if the estimate
of nonfarm starts is 50,000, the chances are about 19 out of 20 that an actual
enumeration would produce a figure between 48.000 and 52.000.


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

(!)

300
100
100
100

C)

100
200
100
(7)
(T)
100
700
500
200
(')

Total

Privately
financed

Publicly
financed
0
0
$295,130
11,823
55,991
25,373
174,139
328,702
370, 224

1,287, 228
374, 020
382, 778
530, 430
2,120, 637
666, 969
733,967
719,701
2, 222,103
710, 341
743,389
768,373
2,073,003
776,674
723,097
573, 232

1,189,640
340,973
357, 270
491, 397
2,007, 563
637,170
692,063
678.330
2,153, 937
682, 863
722. 208
748, 866
2,023,129
756, 712
704, 220
562,197

97, 688
33,047
25, 508
39,033
113,074
29, 799
41, 904
41, 371
68,166
27, 478
21,181
19, 507
49, 874
19,962
18, 877
11,035

2,162.425
589, 997
637, 753
934,675
3, 564, 856
1,093, 726
1,232, 976
1, 238,154
3, 564, 9.53
1,253,340
1, 266,198
1,045,415
2,496, 361
915,895
762, 625
817,841

2,138, 565
581, 497
632,690
924, 878
3, 511,204
1, 075, 644
1, 204, 978
1, 230, 582
3, 446, 722
1, 210, 745
1, 230, 238
1,005, 739
2,321,880
902,190
724,876
694,814

23,860
8, 600
5,063
10,297
53,652
18,082
27,998
7, 572
118,231
42, 595
35,960
39, 676
174,481
13, 705
37, 749
123,027

2,293,974
755,600
716, 629
821, 745
2,974,723
866, 298
922,661
1,185,764

2,191,489
721,014
681,607
788,868
2, 549,238
828,339
895,309
825, 590

102,485
34, 586
35,022
32, 877
425,485
37,959
27,352
360,174

783,326
785,532

752,441
776, 739

30,885
8,793

> Private construction costs are based on permit valuation, adjusted for
understatement of costs shown on permit applications. Public construc­
tion costs are based on contract values or estimated construction costs for
individual projects.
1 Depression, low year.
< Recovery peak year prior to wartime limitations
Last full year under wartime control.
* Housing peak year.
' Less than 50 units.
*Revised.
* Not available.

1

10 P r e l im in a r y .

U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1951