Employment Bulletin, Volume 2, No.3, September 1922

              The Employment Bulletin
Published Monthly by the Illinois Department of Labor. Under the Direction of the General Advisory Board of the Free Employment Service
F. S. DEIBLER. Chairman. General Advisory Board	GEO. B. ARNOLD. Director of Labor	C. A. TOWNSEND. Asst. Director of Labor
A. H. R. ATWOOD. Secretary. General Advisory Board	A. C. LEWMAN, State Supt. of Free Employment Offices

Vol. II	CHICAGO, ILL., September 1922	No. 3

The Bulletin is supplied without charge to firms reporting on employment, and to others upon request. Address all Communications to the Employment Bulletin, 116 N. Dearborn St., Chicago, Illinois.
B. D. Cahn, Statistician in Charge.

CHANGES IN THE INDUSTRIAL
SITUATION IN ILLINOIS IN SEPTEMBER, 1922.
THE GENERAL SITUATION.
Outstanding changes in the industrial situation in Illinois from August 15 to September 15 were the general expansion in industrial operations, following the settlement of the rail strikes and the resumption of the flow of fuel from the coal fields; increases In the wage rates in almost every industrial group, and a reduction in involuntary unemployment as shown in the reports of the free employment offices of the state.

Signed reports from 1367 employers of the state, show that a general increase in the volume of employment in Illinois industries took place last month. These employers reported that they had 304,357 workers on their payrolls in September. as compared with 299,366 in August, an increase of 1.6 per cent. These figures include not alone manufactures, but public utilities and building contractors as well. The manufacturing industries alone, show an expansion of 1.9 per cent in employment over the preceding month. 4213 more workers thus found employment in the manufacturing industries of the state than were at work in August.

The reports made to the General Advisory Board by the employers of the state are based upon the number of persons whose names appear upon the payrolls. Thus it is probable that the increase in employment during the past month is greater than that stated above, for the wage increases given last month have without doubt served to reduce labor turnover, so that the same number of workers represents a larger scale in industrial operations.

The 1125 reporting manufacturers are grouped in 11 major classifications, of which evey one showed an increase except printing and paper goods, where there was a reduction of less than one per cent.

Employment in manufacturing Industries is now 17 per cent, above that one year ago. Thus it is estimated that unemployment in the manufacturing industries of Illinois has been reduced by approximately 100,000 during the past year. In September of last year, employment conditions had already begun to improve, and the reports to the General Advisory Board at that time showed an employment gain of 5.8 per cent over August, 1921.

The sharpest increases during the past month occurred in the railroad shops, where the end of the shopmens strike brought an increase in the shops reporting amounting to 58.9 per cent. Employment in the fruit and vegetable canneries also expanded greatly. In each of the past three months, increases have been shown in the reports from the canning industry, of 71.1 per cent. 35.2 per cent, and 77.6 per cent respectively. This of course in a highly seasonal industry, which for the most part is carried on only on a small scale. However. 17 canneries had more than 1,000 more workers in September than in August. In the stockyards, the expansion amounted to 2.3 per cent. The flour, feed and cereal products are also seasonally active, engaging an additional 21 per cent more employes than in the month preceding.

The drop in building trade activities of 6.6 per cent compares with a drop of 26.2 per cent last year, as revealed by reports from, 197 contractors. Building permits declined in September from the August volume in 7 of the 12 principal cities of Illinois, the reduction being largest in Chicago; East St. Louis, and Rock Island. Not only were permits smaller in September than in August, but they were also smaller than in September, 1921 by about $1,000,000 in total for the twelve cities. In Chicago, although September permits were smaller than in recent months, they still were the largest amount issued in any September in ten years.

The cost of living in the United States dropped slightly in August, according to the reports of the National Industrial Conference Board and of the Massachusetts Commission on the necessaries of life. The reduction these authorities found to be about .7 of 1 per cent. This was largely due to a drop in food prices. Reports of the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that food prices declined in August, 5 per cent in Springfield, 4 per cent in Peoria, and 3 per cent in Chicago.

Wage increases were general, extending throughout all the industrial groups, but being particularly evident in the iron and steel industries. The amount of money put in circulation in wages during the week of September 15, amounted to 37,322,774.41, for the 1366 firms. This was an Increase of 3.7 per cent from the amount paid by the same firms to their workers during the week of August 15.

Bulk wages expanded most in the paper factories, being accompanied by a corresponding increase in the number of workers. Wage payments were larger in September than in August in 739 firms, smaller In 606 and the same amount in 21 firms.

The average weekly earnings of 304,357 workers of the State amounted to $24.06 in September as compared with $24.75 in August and $24.08 in July.

SITUATION IN GROUPS OF INDUSTRIES.
Stone, Clay, and Glass Products. A seasonal decline in employment is to be expected in this group of industries during the early fall months. With buildings being rushed to completion and few new structures started on account of winter being directly ahead, employment usually declines at this season in these industries producing building materials. However, last month the 73 reporting firms had 9264 persons at work, an increase of 298 over the preceding month, or 3.3 per cent and three of the four industries of the group show a larger number of workers than one month before. However, the number of firms reducing employment outnumbered those expanding 39 to 22. In the class of miscellaneous stone and mineral products. 20 firms cut their forces while only 4 added to them the result being a decline of 8.1 per cent, in employment for that class. The sand companies operating along the Illinois river reported shutdowns due to inability to get cars which are being concentrated in coal movements. Two glass companies which were unaffected by the building boom and were closed throughout the summer, announce the resumption of operations commencing with the first of October. A large downstate brick manufacturer, who was obliged to shut his plant in August on account of lack of fuel, resumed operations.