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Labor Market News Letter, October 1948

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Maine State LibraryMaine State DocumentsCenter for Workforce Research and InformationDocuments Labor10-1-1948Labor Market News Letter, October 1948Maine Unemployment Compensation CommissionFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalmaine.com/cwri_docsThis Text is brought to you for free and open access by the Labor at Maine State Documents. It has been accepted for inclusion in Center for WorkforceResearch and Information Documents by an authorized administrator of Maine State Documents. For more information, please contactstatedocs@maine.gov.Recommended CitationMaine Unemployment Compensation Commission, "Labor Market News Letter, October 1948" (1948). Center for Workforce Researchand Information Documents. Paper 107.http://digitalmaine.com/cwri_docs/107LABOR MARI( ET NEWS LETTER \ 1ainc Unemployment Compen:.ation Commission 331 Water Street Augusta, Maine ~ - .. ··"' ~A OCTOBER- 1948 LABOR MARKET HIGHLIGHTS Demand for agricultural \\Urkers reached a seasonal high early in October, while labor demands in nonagricultural indus-tries in general Je,clcd oJT. easonal employment declines in industries l>hich normally operate on an expanded summer ba-i> have been a primary factor in lessened demands for nonagricultural "orkers, and at the same time reductions have occurred in the labor needs of certain nonseasonal industries. The current volume of unemplo)ment is not great but indi· t•ate~ a >urplm, labor pool in ~Iaine. The number of unemployed is expected to increase ~ignilicantly in tbe next few "t·cl~. \ ft." job opening, are not being filled in certain area-, de1-pitc an o~cr·all labor ~urpJu,. A lack of available quali-fied worker~ i' largely re.ponsiblc for this condition. AGRICULTURE ·ea>onal demand for agricultural work e r s reachrd a peak during tht' latter part of eptember when potato ha~e>ting became general in major production areas. Recruitment difficulties were encountered at the height of the harve,t, but a sufficient number o£ workers "as attracted to the area to assure timely harvesting of the crop estimated at 70 million bushels. Up to September 25 a total o£ 5,858 Canadian worker:., recruited largely in Quebec and New Bruns"ick provinces, came into Aroos-took under bond. In addition more than 5,000 persons from other Maine labor market areas, and from nearly all ca~tem seaboard state~; "ere attracted to the potato produc-ing area through inter-area recruitment initiated by the \ Iaine Unemployment Compen•ation Commission. While it b not po•sible to determine the exact number of local and out-of-area worker, "lw engaged in the potato harvest, t!-timate~ place thi> total at about 40,500. DEMAND SLACK The •_aumbcr.of job opemngs l1 s ted "ith the Commi,,.ion'~ 16 local offices sho"ed a definite do\\JI\\ard trend during the last l\;o months. As of Oltober 1 :\Iaine employers had current orders for 2,178 nonagricultural worl.er-, excluding logging. lumbering and pulp operations, as compared with 3,478 such openings Augu•t l. Of tht> job~ open October first 1,061 \\ere in the eon.truction indu'-lr). :171 '"'re in manufacturing plants, 299 "ere in service occupation•, 211 were in wholeoale and retail trade e>taLlishments and the balance of the demand \\8o in varied type;; of nonmanufacturing activitie~. Log-ging, lumbering, and pulpwood operators have unfilled orders for 7,512 woodsmen placed with 10 of the Commis· ~ion's local offices. These orders have been cleared for all offices, "0 that referrals to these "'oods jobs are made from each o£ the 16 offices. DEMAND TREND As of October 1, for a 30-day pe-riod, representatives of the Commission's local offices con-tacted 843 nonagricultural employers to obtain job orders or to perform other services. Aggregate employment (part-time and full-time workers on pay rolls) totalled approxi-mate!)' 71,500 in establishments visited. Information sup· plied by these 843 employers indicated that by the end of ~ovember these same pay rolls would carry but 70,050 names, an estimated drop of nearly 6 percent. Pay roll cxpan,ions were predicted by some employers visited, but such employment gains would he more than offset by antici-pated reductions. These employers visited, while they do not nreessarily constitute a representative cross section of all \lainr nonagricultural indw,trie~. do give coverage suf-licit'ntly broad to warrant a general conclusion that labor demands will decline during fall months. ,\ •·cording to current indications, the greatest decline "ill occur in the food products industry, a deer~e result· ing from seasonal cuts in sardine packin~ Despite re· ducrd labor requirements in some textilo and shoe lifO· during oren~, it may be deduced from information (iven by employers in both fields that extensive pay roll curtail· ments -were not expected in the immediate futlll'e. MAY 4 1950 FURTHER CUTS Preliminary . e s t i • mates compiled by the Commission in cooperation with the Uruted States Bu-reau of Labor Statistics indicate that 276,100 full and part-time workers were employed in Maine's nonagricultural industries as of September 15. This figure, based on in-formation furnished by selected employers throughout the state, represents a 1.4 percent decline from the August 15 estimate. Monthly declines occurred in ten of the major industrial fields, while employment gains were registered in only three. The table on page four carries the latest estimates for September and August of this year and for September, 1947. PLACEMENTS The Commission's local offices placed 3,515 unem-ployed workers in suitable nonagricultural jobs during Sep· tember, including 1,124 women and 1,024 veterans. In addi· tion, 14,694 agricultural placements were made, largely workers for potato harvesting. New applications for jobs last month numbered 1,920, including 932 women and 340 veterans, actively seeking work. At the close of September business there were 11,718 active applications for jobs filed in Commission offices. Of this active total, 4,268 applica· lions were made by women, 3,580 by veterans. This is a considerable decrease from the number on the active list August 1,-13,571, including 4,174 women and 4,828 vet· erans. INSURED EMPLOYMENT The number of persons in insured unemploy· ment during the first week of October was 6,381. This represents a sizable decline from a mid· summer insured unemployment level of 9,381. Several factors induced this 33 percent drop. The more important of these factors include retirement from the labor force of youths and women who were in the labor market only dur-ing summer months, the absorption of many workers by potato harvesting, and exhaustion of benefit rights by claimants who have drawn total benefit amounts allowable under the Unemployment Compensation law or under the Se,rvicemen's Readjustment Allowance program. l\fUCC officials anticipate that insured unemployment will increase rather significantly during the next several weeks following curtailment o[ ~:>easonal occupations and as a result of I!C&ltered employment reductions in textiles and shoe manu-facturing. The term "insured unemployment" refers to claimants filing for waiting period credits or for bene-fits under UC-SRA programs. Indicative of a grow-ing labor surplus in ~1cine is the current WORK APPLICATIONS acthe registration of 11,718 job seekers in the areas served by the Commi~sion's 16 local offices. All occupations in which there are current labor demands are not represented by these job seekers, but the occupations represented cover a wide range. Gen-eral occupational fields in which current job applicants are classified include; profession and managerial-494; clerical and sales, 1,326; service occupations, 957; skilled, 2,026; semi·skilled, 3,278; unskilled, 3,637. Of the total current active registration 7,450 are men and 4,268 are women. Included are 3,422 World War Two veterans. HANDICAPPED The ~Iaine Unemploy· m e n t Compensation Commission has been endeavoring, in cooperation with other state and federal agencies, to promote an increased employment of physically handicapped workers in indus-tries throughout the state. The primary aim of this pro-gram has been to acquaint :Maine employers with the abilities of so-called handicapped \\Orkers, and to place those workers in jobs where they can produce as well as normal workers. During the pa~t year, the Commission's local offices have placed 1,738 handicapped workers. Of these placements 18 were in professional or managerial fields, 161 in clerical or sales positions, 222 were in service occupations, 218 were in skilled employment, 256 in semi-skilled, and 863 in unskilled \\Ork. Employers who have made it a JOB OPENINGS FOR HANDICAPPED practice to hire selectively placed handicapped per~ons report that in the vast majority of cases thebe workers are ab productive as nonhandicapped workers, ha\'e lebs absenteeiblll, and excellent safety records. Currently, 949 workers with a great variety of handicaps arc registered with the Com-mission's offices. Many of these men and women are vet-erans with varied educational qualifications and with work experience in many occupations. Representatives of the MUCC local offices welcome opportunities to help em-ployers iu finding handicapped workers for bpecified jobs. PRELIMINARY ESTIMATE OF NONAGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT IN MAINE SEPTEMBER, 19481 (In thousands) Compiled by Lhe Maine Unemployment Compensation Commission in cooperation with the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics INDUSTRY Total Nonagricultural Employment Total-Manufacturing . .. . ................ ... .. . Durable Goods Lumber and Wood Products .. Primary and Fabricated Metal Products and and Machinery . . . . . . . . . ....... . All Other ........... . ... ..... ... .. . .. . :'liondurahle Goods .... ................•...... Food and Kindred Products . . . . ........ .. . . Textile Mill Products and Apparel . .. . ....... . Paper and Allied Products . . . . .... . .. . . . .. . Leather Products ......... . ............... . All Other ... . ...... ...................... . Total-Nonmanufacturing ......... .. .. ........ . Mining and Quarrying ........ . ... ..... ...... . Contract Construction . . ... . ...... ........... . Transportation and Other Public Utilities ....... . Wholesale and Retail Trade .......... . ....... . Finance, Insurance and Real Estate ... . ... .. . . Business, Personal and Misc. Services .... . ..... . Government 3 ....•....• . ...•..••.•.•. September~ 1948 276.1 118.0 34.0 19.9 10.4 3.7 84·.0 14.6 29.9 19.1 16.2 4.2 158.1 .5 15.0 20.7 48.2 6.6 26.2 40.9 Augu&t 2 September " 1948 1947 280.1 120.1 34.3 20.4 10.2 3.7 85.8 15.4 30.2 19.4 16.5 4.3 160.0 .5 14.8 20.8 49.0 6.6 28.3 40.0 272.4 119.6 34.5 19.9 9.9 4.7 85.1 16.2 29.4 19.0 16.4 4.1 152.8 .5 14.2 20.4 47.6 6.4 25.6 38.1 Percent of Change Aug. 1948 Sept. 1947 to to Sept. 1948 Sept. 1948 - 1.4 -1.7 -0.9 - 2.5 2.0 0.0 -2.1 - 5.2 -1.0 -1.5 -1.8 -2.3 -1.2 0.0 1.4 - 0.5 - 1.6 0.0 -7.4 2.3 1.4 -1.3 - 1.4 0.0 5.1 -21.3 -1.3 - 9.9 1.7 0.5 -1.2 2.4 3.5 0.0 5.6 1.5 1.3 3.1 2.3 7.4 1 Data pre~ented exclude dome~tics in private households, sell-employed, and unpaid family workers. Employment figures le:..cept for go,ernmcnt) relate to full·and part·tirne wage and salary l>Orkerb in pay periods ending nearest the 15th of each month. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. ~ Estimates corrected to October 11, 1948. 1 Includes fcdl'ral, ~late and municipal cmplo)ee~. Federal employment figureb relate to fir,L·of.thc·munth pay pt>riod~. MAI.l\E Ui\EMPLOYMENT CO.MPE:\SATIO~ CO.M.MlSSIO'\ 331 VVATER STREET AucuSTA, MAINt.: To the Reader: While no charge is made for the MAINE LABOR MARKET "'E\' ' , current budget l imitations are sw·h that the Commission does not feel justified in sending the :'\EWS to any who ha'e not definitely indicated that they desire to be retained on the mailing list. For your convenience in retain ing your name on the mai ling li!:-t, to facilitate comments on current LABOR MARKET NEWS coverage, a request form is printed belo\\ . (detach on this line anti mail) - - - - ----------------------- - -Maine Unemployment Compensation Commission, 331 Water Street Augusta, Maine (date) The couteut~ of the MAl 'E LABOR MARKET NEWS arc of 'aluc to me and I \1 uuld like to rccci' e it regularly. Please address my copy as follows: Name ...................................................................... - ... . .................................................... ..... _ ................ . Address treet City State Since you request comments and suggestions, I offer the following: \ftc1· Fi, c Da)S Return To MAINE LNt.:\IPI.OlMEJ\T Co:.tPEl\'SATJOs CoMM/::>!)101\ AUGUSTA MAINE OFFICIAL BUSINESS E.\IPLOniE:\T SECURITY \ JAIL V:\ l T£0 ST.\ TES POSTAGE .\ CCOU TED FOR U'WER .\ CT OF COXGRE S !P.\R. 13, SEC. 579, P. L. & IU 

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Labor Market News Letter, October 1948

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