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FZDERAL WORKS AGENCY WJRK PROJECTS ADl"!INISTRATl0N For Release to Afternoon Papers Thursday, April 9, 1942 ' l ENPL0Yrt.ENT UP ·i , 800 , 000 IN 11AECH AS LABOR F0i."tCE TNCFEAS:SS BY 1, !.i0C , 000 Ernplo>,,111ent increased by 1,800, 000 persons between February and l"Iarch, accordins to the Wl:1A IIonthly Report of Unemployment released today by Howard O. Hunter , Corrmns:aione'!r of Work Pro,jects . During the same period the labor force increased b;)t 1 ,400 , 000 persons and unemployment decreased by 400 ,000 . The survey found t'r\at the labor force increased from 52 , 600 , 000 in February :to 54,000 , 000 in :March . 'rhe number of employed persons rose from 48 , 600,000 in Fe::irua.ry to S0,400,000 in :March , ancl. the number of unemployed declinP-d from 4 , 000 , 000 to 3,600,000 . The impetus cf war activity, the r eport stated, accou"'.'lts for t he more-than-normal expansion of the nation I s workjrn:r, force . The decline i n unemployment was actua::.ly no greater tha.'1. was to be ex-9ected nor:nally at this time of year from seasonal expa.'1sion ln agricultural and other outdoor work . "The large:: increase in the la.bar .force should be encouraging to those who ha,ve been c oncern:.::d over U 18 TJOssible d,wclop,1:.~➔ nt of a general labor shorta,g e , 11 the r c.mort said. "As long as th:? labor fore .~ continues to expand , howe_ver, Ufo;mplc:mient cannot be: expected to rl ,,crc a sc i n a.rnout1ts equal to th~ increas es in employment ." i".'.qbilizat :hn of ind~stry and agricultur·:, in a total war effort far more than counterbalanc ed dfr:ni.acements arising fr0m conversion of j_nriustry to war production, short8.f~ of materials and restd ctfons on retail sales , the report stated . Increases in the working force and in e;np10:'/Inent were .found generally throughout the c0untry . Rural count:Les report ed increas -3:1. activity and , for a rn.1n~ber of i1nportant crops , increased acreag e . The s9aso ,1al upturn in agricultural employment was earlier this year tr:an last , possibly because of the ap;-:,eals for increased prod1_lCtion and th0! favorabl:.:: .farm price situation . The 11 r-Tonthly Report . of Unemployrr1s:mt " is pr:3pare.d by th3 WPA T.livision of Research a....vid Statistics from a r s-:,r e s 0ntative cross- section samplint~ of the entire population . (For more dctailej_ analysis , see:: ta.bl-2 on r .:w erse sj_de . Th:3 figurcis exclude institutional population and th:, est:Lnat ed number of persons in the armed forc es .) ---oOo--Digitized by NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY (Over) Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4- 2309 - 2 - Estimates of the Labor Forc'3 , Employment · and Unemplo~nnent April 1940 to March 1942 Total Dnited States (tiillions of Persons) Labor Force Employment Unemployment April 53 . 9 51.i . 7 h.5 .1 46.3' 47 . 7, 47 . 7 47 . 8 h8 . l 47 . 4 46 . 3 46 .1 3. 8 JVlay 8.6 9. J 8, 9 7.1 7. 4 7. 6 7.1 45 . 2 45 . 5 45 . 6 46 . 7 48 . J 49 . f. 50 . 1i 7. 2 6. 8 6. 6 5. 7 5. 9 5. 6 49.8 h9 . 6 49 . 4 49 . 5 4.5 J .9 J .9 3. u 48 .2 4. 2 1940 June July August September October November December 56 . 3 57 . 0 56 . 7 5S . 2 54 .8 53 .9 53.2 t, . 4 1941 January February March April May June July August September October November December 52 . 8 52 . 7 52 . 4 53 .3 54 . 0 55 . 7 56 .o 55 .8 5h.3 53 .5 53 .3 53 . J 7. 6 5.3 50 .5 C) 1942 52 .4 52 .6 54.0 January February March 4.0 48 . 6 50 .4 3.6 FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY Work Projects Administr ation Division of Resear ch and Statistics Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
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