The People's Voice

MID-NOVEMBER
JOBLESS PAY CLAIMS
60 PER CENT HIGHER THAN A YEAR AGO

Employment in Montana industries as of October 15 was 149,100 workers, the unemployment compensation commission reports, a decline of 10,700 from October, 1953, and a seasonal lag of 2,900 from the September level.

Decreased employment in metal industries from 11,700 a year ago to 3,200 in October, accounts for most of the shrinkage, the commission says. The metal industry was tied up by a wage dispute from late August until October 15, when settlement was reached.

Another factor in employment decline, the commission says, was the transportation and utilities industry, which is down to 21,800 this year as compared with 23,800 a year ago.

The same disparity in transportation employment has marked other recent months and is ascribed to two main causes: Technological changes in the railroad field reducing manpower needs, and decreased traffic following the end of military activity in Korea.

Employment gains were shown in finance, insurance and real estate, and in government, while contract construction shows the same volume this October as a year ago. Very slight decreases occurred in circles of trade and industry services.

"Seasonal aspects of employment this fall," says Wesley Castles, chairman of the commission, "have encouraging symptoms. Even with metal mining and smelting at a standstill and 10,000 persons out of jobs temporarily, the shrinkage from September to October measures only 2,900 workers. For the past five years the average decline in employment from September to October has been 2,460."

Mr. Castles points out that volume of claims for unemployment compensation has been shrinking each week since settlement of the wage difficulty October 15, and are well below the level reached in the period of the work stoppage. For the week ending November 12 the claim level was 2,575, as compared with 3,296 for the week ending September 17.

"We are now in the season," Mr. Castles says, "when a sudden shift in weather can swell the tide of claims very rapidly. A year ago it rose from 1,548 the week of November 13 to 3,974 on December 12 and 8,125 the first week in January. In February it rose to 10,800 in one week."