Jackson Advocate

New Jobless
Rise Twice
Normal Rate
A 1,120,000 jump in unemployment-the largest increase for any month since the government started keeping records-has drawn from Pres. Eisenhower the statement that the worst is over, an upswing is just around the corner in March.
The President's statement, issued in lieu of his normal press conference and recorded for television and radio, came 24 hours after the Labor and Commerce Departments reported unemployment at 4,494,000, or 5.8 percent of the labor force.
The jump in jobless between mid-December and mid-January was twice the normal seasonal figure which usually registers at between 500,000 and 600,000. The 1,120,000 jump is the largest since records have been kept in 1941.
At about 4.5 million unemployment is at the highest peak since 1950.
The president acknowledged in his statement the sharpness of the upturn in unemployment and expressed concern for the "hardships" suffered by the jobless and their families.
President Is Optimistic
But he added he was convinced that the nation is "not facing a prolonged downswing in activity" and that "every indication is that March will commence to see the start of a pick-up in job opportunities."
His statement was accompanied by a "fact paper" designed to show Administration action on various economic fronts to meet the deepening recession. Most of the "facts" have been ticked off by labor and other economists as "too little" and in face of the latest unemployment figures, of little real value.
On Capitol Hill congressmen and senators, reviewing the economic situation for the past few weeks, called for strong and immediate action by the White House for a cut in personal tax exemptions, a public works program, loosening of credit and other devices to end the recession.
A few hours after the job figures were released the White House announced a $2 million post office construction and modernization program. However, Postmaster Gen. Arthur Summerfield told a Senate committee that the program had nothing to do with the unemployment figures and involved no new federal funds except those that Congress may vote via a postage rate increase.
Truman Aide Asks Action
Leon Keyserling, chief economic adviser in the Truman Administration, called for an immediate 10-point program to meet the crisis.
Sen. Paul H. Douglas (D-Il.) said that the government's latest employment - unemployment report actually understated the seriousness of the situation. His own figures, disallowing the seasonal adjustment in the government figures and counting part-time workers as part unemployed, would put unemployment at 8.5 percent of the labor force.
Employment in manufacturing industries declined by 303,000 from mid-December to mid-January with the decline occuring mostly in the durable goods industries.
The factory work week was further shortened, averaging 38 hours and 42 minutes in January as against 39 hours, 12 minutes in December.
The shorter work week reduced weekly factory earnings from $82.41 to 81.27.