Labor Force, March 1947 WHO IS COUNTED IN THE LABOR FORCE Labor force.-Persons 14 years of age and over who are The civilian labor force increased by 380,000 between February and March 1947 expanding the total to 58,390,000, according to the Bureau of the Census Monthly Report on the Labor Force. Employment rose by 540,000 during the month, while unemployment declined by 160,000 to a level of 2,330,000. The decline in unemployment between February and March occurred almost entirely among veterans. The number of unemployed ex-servicemen totaled 850,000 in March, as compared to a full million a month earlier. Many of the ex-servicemen who found jobs over the month were probably fairly recent entrants into the labor market, whose reemployment had been delayed as a result of the midwinter seasonal decline in job opportunities. The number of veterans outside of the labor force, on temporary vacation, dropped by nearly a third during the month to a new low of approximately 200,000. The size of this group has been declining rapidly with the slackening of demobilization. The level of total unemployment in March 1947 was 370,000 below the reconversion peak recorded in March 1946, though 400,000 above the November 1946 level. 74015047-10 Between February and March, the expansion in employment resulted from seasonal gains in both agricultural and nonagricultural activity. Farm employment, continuing the upturn of the previous month, rose 320,000 as plowing and planting began in many areas. The number of workers engaged in nonagricultural industry gained 220,000 during the month, reflecting the pre-Easter expansion in trade and the spring upturn in construction and other outdoor industries. The level of nonfarm employment in March 1947 (48,820,000) exceeded the year-ago total by 3,890,000-3,720,000 men (principally ex-servicemen) and 170,000 women. The increase in the number of women employed in nonagricultural industry reflected the net effect of opposing forces. High marriage and birth rates, as well as continued demobilization, caused many younger women to withdraw from the labor market. On the other hand, rising living costs and favorable job opportunities induced other women, particularly in the older age groups, to enter or reenter the labor force. Thus, the number of women over 45 years of age in nonfarm jobs increased by 340,000 over the year, more than counterbalancing a decline of 170,000 among younger women. Total labor force in the United States, classified by employment status, hours worked, and sex, February and March 1947 and March 1946 [Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census] 59, 630 59, 960 59, 630 43, 700 43, 990 43, 240 15, 93015, 97016, 320 58, 010 58, 390 55, 160 42, 100 42, 440 38, 870 15, 910 15, 950 16,290 430 400 150 380 350 120 770 840 710 380 470 600 660 680 1.160 130 150 350 430 410 700 88 1 Estimates are subject to sampling variation which may be large in cases where the quantities shown are relatively small. Therefore, the smaller estimates should be used with caution; those under 100,000 are not presented in the table but are replaced with an asterisk (*). All data exclude persons in institutions. 2 Total labor force consists of the civilian labor force and the armed forces. Estimates of the armed forces during the census week are projected from data on net strength as of the first of the month. 3 Excludes persons engaged only in incidental unpaid family work (less than 15 hours); these persons are classified as not in the labor force. Includes persons who had a job or business, but who did not work during the census week because of illness, bad weather, vacation, labor dispute, or because of temporary lay-off with definite instructions to return to work within 30 days of lay-off. Does not include unpaid family workers. Summary of Employment Reports for March 1947 EMPLOYMENT in manufacturing continued at February levels in March, with increases in durable goods industries offsetting drops in the nondurable goods industries. The 151⁄2 million workers in manufacturing are almost evenly distributed between the heavy and light industries. While manufacturing employment showed practically no change in March, nearly 220,000 employees were added to industry payrolls exclusive of agriculture. Contract construction reported a seasonal employment increase of 83,000. The spring season was also primarily responsible for an increase of 66,000 employees in trade. Expanded employment for highway maintenance raised Government employment-State and local-by 48,000. The February-March increase raised the number of employees in nonagricultural establishments above the 42 million mark in March for the first time in 3 months. This level is based on the revised and improved series of employment estimates presented on page 921 of this issue. Industrial and Business Employment The lumber industries reported the largest over-the-month increase of any manufacturing group. The net gain of 13,000 employees reflects the seasonal increase in lumber requirements of the construction industry. The largest decrease in manufacturing employment were seasonal declines of 7,000 in food and 5,000 in textiles. Although the drop TABLE 1.—Estimated number of employees in nonagricultural establishments, by industry division Estimates include all full- and part-time wage and salary workers in nonagricultural establishments who worked or received pay during the pay period ending nearest the 15th of the month. Proprietors, self-employed persons, domestic servants, and personnel of the armed forces are excluded. These estimates have been adjusted to levels indicated by final 1945 data made available by the Bureau of Employment Security of the Federal Security Agency and supersede data shown in mimeographed releases dated prior to April 1947 and Monthly Labor Reviews dated prior to May 1947. Data from January 1939 forward were affected by this revision. The complete series from 1939 to date is presented on p. 923 of this issue. in textiles may be partly seasonal, preliminary reports indicate that orders for cotton goods, woolens and worsteds are falling off. The apparel group, which in prewar years showed rather large increases in employment between February and March, showed only a small gain this year. The men's clothing industry registered a slight decline. TABLE 2.-Estimated number of production workers and indexes of production-worker employment in manufacturing industries by major industry group 1 Estimated number of production workers (in thousands) 1 Production-worker indexes (1939-100) Group The estimates and indexes presented in this table have been adjusted to levels indicated by the final 1945 data made available by the Bureau of Employment Security of the Federal Security Agency and supersede data shown in mineographed releases dated prior to April 1947 and Monthly Labor Reviews dated prior to May 1947. Comparable series from January 1945 are presented on p. 926 of this issue. Public Employment With new Budget Bureau employment ceilings still a month away and congressional appropriation cuts for the 1948 fiscal year still in the preliminary discussion stage, Federal employment between February 1 and March 1 showed a drop of only 10,000, one of the smallest since the end of the war. The War Assets Administration suffered a decline in employment for the second consecutive month while war agencies altogether declined 13,000. Although employment in most other agencies dropped slightly or remained unchanged during this period, the Veterans Administration probably reached its peak employment with a gain of over 1,000. The Treasury Department also showed an increase in personnel in preparation for processing income tax returns. This gain of over 2,000 was limited to temporary and part-time employees. Federal pay rolls shown here are, for the most part, on a calendar month basis. March 1946, however, consisted of two biweekly pay periods. At present a method of adjusting Federal pay rolls to a calendar month basis is being worked out and the adjusted figures for the period July 1945-November 1946 will be available shortly. Source of data. Data for the Federal executive service are reported through the Civil Service Commission, whereas data for the legislative and judicial services and Government corporations are reported to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment on Federal force-account construction is included in both the executive branch (tables 3 and 4) and in construction employment (table 2 in the section, Construction). TABLE 3.-Employment and pay rolls for regular Federal services and for Government corporations in selected months 1 Includes employees on force-account construction. Beginning July 1945, data include clerks at thirdclass post offices who previously were working on a contract basis. Substitute rural mail carriers are excluded from the employment. * Data are for employees of the Panama Railroad Co., the Federal Reserve banks, and banks of the Farm Credit Administration. Data for other Government corporations are included under the executive service. Employment is as of the first of the calendar month. 4 Revised. $ Prior to July 1945 and from December 1946 on, pay rolls cover the entire calendar month. Data for months in between represent the pay rolls for pay periods ending during the calendar month, which for most employees included pay for 4 weeks except in December 1945, June and November 1946 when it included pay for 6 weeks. Data not available. 7 Subject to revision. |