Trend of Factory Earnings, 1939 to March 1947 AVERAGE EARNINGS of factory workers, summarized in the accom- Earnings of factory workers in selected months, 1939 to March 1947 1 Overtime is defined as work in excess of 40 hours per week and paid for at time and one-half. The * Preliminary. 1 Compare Trends in Factory Wages, 1939-43, in Monthly Labor Review, November 1943 (p. 869), espe- Weekly earnings in all manufacturing averaged $47.72 in January 1947-105.8 percent above the average in January 1939, 79.1 percent above January 1941, and 22.7 percent above October 1942. Weekly earnings for March 1947 increased 12.9 percent above March 1946. Gross hourly earnings in all manufacturing averaged 118.0 cents in March 1947-86.7 percent above the average in January 1939, 72.8 percent above January 1941, and 32.1 percent above October 1942. Average hourly earnings exclusive of overtime, as shown in columns 7 to 9, are weighted by man-hours of employment in the major divisions of manufacturing for January 1941. Overtime is defined as work in excess of 40 hours per week and paid for at time and a half. The method of estimating average hourly earnings exclusive of overtime makes no allowance for special rates of pay for work done on major holidays or the effect of extra pay for work on supplementary shifts. For all manufacturing, the average hourly earnings, exclusive of overtime, in March 1947 were 113.9 cents per hour-77.7 percent above January 1939, 71.5 percent above January 1941, and 41.1 percent above October 1942. Recent Publications of Labor Interest June 1947 Cooperative Movement Handbook on major regional farm supply purchasing cooperatives, 1944 and 1945. By Joseph G. Knapp and Jane L. Scearce. Washington, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Credit Administration, Cooperative Research and Service Division, 1946. 45 pp.; processed. (Miscellaneous report No. 102.) Data for the 18 major regional associations, showing operating facilities, business done (in terms of money and volume of various commodities handled), and earnings (profits). Cooperative frozen-food locker plants organization and operation. By S. T. Warrington and Paul C. Wilkins. Washington, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Credit Administration, Research and Service Division, 1946. 82 pp., bibliography, maps, plans, illus. (Circular C-127.) 25 cents, Superintendent of Documents, Washington. Intended for use of groups wishing to organize and operate a cold-storage locker and processing plant. Describes organizing procedures, financing, plant design, selection of personnel, bookkeeping, and elements of expense. Credit union development in Wisconsin. By Eli Shapiro. New York, Columbia University Press, 1947. 174 pp., chart. (Columbia University studies in history, economics and public law, No. 525.) $2.50. Detailed examination, on the basis of State official records (mostly as of 1939), of Wisconsin credit unions. Among the topics covered are assets and liabilities, loans (including mortgage loans), investments, and earnings. One of the most valuable chapters relates to liquidations and reasons therefor. Report of the 77th annual cooperative congress of the Cooperative Union, Ltd., Blackpool, June 10-12, 1946. Manchester, England, Cooperative Union, Ltd., [1946?]. 550 pp. 10s. In addition to speeches and reports, contains detailed statistics on the various central organizations of the British cooperative movement and on the retail cooperatives. Cost and Standards of Living The changing composition of family budgets for selected groups of Corn Belt farmers, 1940-42. By Willard W. Cochrane and Mary D. Grigg. Washington, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, 1946. 107 pp., charts; processed. Quantity and cost budget for a single working woman. Quantity and cost budgets for dependent families or children. Quantity and cost budgets for three income levels: 1, Family of an executive; 2, Family of a white-collar worker; 3, Family of a wage earner. Berkeley, University of California, Heller Committee for Research in Social Economics, 1946. 17, 56, 107 pp.; processed. 35 cents, 75 cents, $1, respectively. Las condiciones económico-sociales y el costo de la vida de la clase media en Bogotá. Bogotá, Contraloría General de la República, Dirección Nacional de Estadística, 1946. 99 pp., charts. (Supplement to Nos. 19-20 of Anales de Economía y Estadística, October 1946.) EDITOR'S NOTE.-Correspondence regarding the publications to which reference is made in this list should be addressed to the respective publishing agencies mentioned, Where data on prices were readily available, they have been shown with the title entries. Las condiciones económico-sociales y el costo de la vida de la clase obrera en la ciudad de Honda [Colombia]. Bogotá, Contraloría General de la República, Dirección Nacional de Estadística, 1946. 95 pp., charts. (Supplement to Nos. 15-16 of Anales de Economía y Estadística, June 1946.) One of several studies of cost of living of the working class in Colombia, made by the national statistical office. Economic and Social Problems Can we prevent depressions? Washington, Kiplinger Magazine, 1947. 24 pp. Special report from the editors of the Kiplinger Magazine on the problems of depression and what the President's Council of Economic Advisers is doing to smooth out the cycle of "boom and bust." National product since 1869. By Simon Kuznets. New York, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc., 1946. 239 pp. (Publication No. 46.) $3. Intended chiefly for reference by students and technical users, this report is largely a collection of statistical tables with notes describing sources of data and procedures. Part I contains annual estimates of national product, 1919-43; part II, the same totals and categories as part I, by decades, 1869-1938; part III, discussion of derivation of the proportion of flow of goods to consumers accounted for by services not embodied in new commodities; and part IV, analysis and recalculation of national wealth since 1880, including the allocation of capital formation by categories of users. Pattern of consumer spending. (In Conference Board Business Record, National Industrial Conference Board, Inc., New York, March 1947, pp. 53-61, charts.) Review of consumer expenditure and income, the retail trade record, and volume of buying with borrowed funds in 1946 as compared with earlier years. The money value of a man. By Louis I. Dublin and Alfred J. Lotka. New York, Ronald Press Co., 1946. 214 pp., charts. Rev. ed. $6. Various aspects of the economic value of the breadwinner of a family are discussed from an actuarial point of view. Revised tables of valuation, by age and income of worker, are appended, as well as age schedules of family consumption units and of savings, together with other basic data. American capitalism vs. Russian communism. Compiled by Clarence A. Peters. New York, H. W. Wilson Co., 1946. 305 pp., bibliography. (Reference shelf, Vol. 18, No. 7.) $1.25. Neutral presentation of articles by numerous authors interpreting Russia, describing the Soviet and American ways of life (including various aspects of labor), and criticizing the Soviet and American systems. All important shades of opinion are represented. Quadripartite rule in Berlin. By Anne Whyte. (In International Affairs, New York, January 1947, pp. 30-41. $1.25.) Describes the machinery and activities of the Allied Control Authority in Berlin during the first year of its existence. An appendix lists the legislative measures (some dealing with labor) of the Authority from August 1945 to August 1946. Employment and Unemployment Full employment and free enterprise. By John H. G. Pierson. Washington, American Council on Public Affairs, 1947. 183 pp. $2.50 (paper) or $3 (cloth). Brings together papers which originally appeared as articles or pamphlets, or were presented as addresses during the war and reconversion periods, while the author was engaged in the analysis of postwar employment problems. The papers are mainly concerned with the role of fiscal policy in promoting full employment. Nature and extent of frictional unemployment. Washington, U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1947. 10 pp. (Serial No. R. 1872; reprinted from Monthly Labor Review, January 1947.) Free. Labor requirements for construction materials: Part III, Concrete pipe. Washington, U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1947. 8 pp. (Bull. No. 888-3.) 10 cents, Superintendent of Documents, Washington. State and regional variations in prospective labor supply. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1947. 34 pp., maps. Washington, U. S. 15 (Bull. No. 893; reprinted from Monthly Labor Review, December 1946, with additional data.) cents, Superintendent of Documents, Washington. An index of engineering unemployment [in Australia], 1852-1943. By N. G. Butlin. (In Economic Record, Melbourne, December 1946, pp. 241-260, chart. 5s. net.) Based on trade-union records. Seasonal variations of employment in the automobile and parts industry [in Canada]. (In Labor Gazette, Department of Labor, Ottawa, March 1947, pp. 287-292, charts.) Guaranteed Employment and Wages The guarantee of work and wages. By Joseph L. Snider. Boston, Harvard University, Graduate School of Business Administration, 1947. 191 pp. $2.75. Part I summarizes industry's experience with guaranty plans, part II suggests steps that management and labor might take toward greater security of work and wages, and part III discusses some long-range objectives and long-range measures for employment security. The guaranteed annual wage. By A. D. H. Kaplan and others. New Wilmington, Pa., Economic and Business Foundation, 1946. 52 pp., bibliography, charts. (American economic policy series.) 75 cents. Addresses at a conference sponsored by the Foundation. Guaranteed wages. Report to the President by the Advisory Board, Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion, U. S. Office of Temporary Controls. Washington, 1947. 473 pp., charts. $2, Superintendent of Documents, Washington. The guaranteed wage. (In Fortune, New York, April 1947, pp. 120-123, 140, 142. $1.) Summarizes and evaluates the progress of guaranteed-wage plans and explores their prospects in American industry, with particular reference to the preliminary report of the Advisory Board of the U. S. Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion. The final report of the Advisory Board is listed immediately above. Plus and minus of the annual wage. By Burnham Finney. (In American Machinist, New York, February 27, 1947, pp. 85-92. 35 cents.) Discusses problems and "obstacles" that stand in the way of wide adoption of guaranteed annual wage plans, and gives summary data from the preliminary report of the Advisory Board of the U. S. Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion. Handicapped Workers Adjustment to physical handicap and illness: A survey of the social psychology of physique and disability. By Roger G, Barker, Beatrice A. Wright, Mollie R. Gonick. New York, Social Science Research Council, 1946. 372 pp., bibliographies. (Bull. No. 55.) $2. Summarizes results of research studies on the relation between physique or impairment and personality in the adjustment of the physically handicapped or One chapter is devoted to employment of the disabled. ill. An evaluation of some factors in the development of occupational deafness. By Walter R. MacLaren, M.D., and Albert L. Chaney. (In Industrial Medicine, Chicago, March 1947, pp. 109-115, bibliography, charts. 75 cents.) Data from a survey of noise in airframe manufacturing and from an analysis of audiograms of workers exposed. The study revealed that noise levels above the safety borderline (established at 100 decibels) are common in metal fabrication, riveting being an important noise hazard. Development of hearing loss, recovery from noise exposure, and noise control are discussed. Preemployment and periodic audiometric tests of workers, in departments where noise exceeds the safety level, are suggested. |