and functions are laid down by the Royal Social Board, and eac office must comply in all particulars with national rules and regulation in order to be eligible for the national subsidy granted to publie placement agencies.

Subdivision into occupational and industrial sections is general Separate departments are maintained for men and women, and juvenile departments are maintained in the large cities.

Each employment office must create an advisory council as a condition of receiving the grant in aid from the national Government. These councils, or joint committees, must consist of an equal number of representatives of employers and workers under impartial chairmen. Provision is made for alternates. Methods of selecting committee members vary. In Stockholm, all members are appointed by the city council; in some counties the selection is made by the various bodies contributing to the support of the employment office, which may include the county and municipal governments, agricultural societies, etc. The chairman of a local office is usually appointed by the local magistrate, while county committees select their own chairmen Special committees to advise on technical and occupational prob lems are often necessary and have been established in several instances. Except with regard to the advisory councils attached to the seamen's offices, however, specialized advisory groups are optional. Seamen's employment offices are required to appoint consultative groups of representative seamen and shipowners in equal numbers and to consult with them on problems and practices regarding the employment of seamen.

The social council, a group of advisers on placement problems attached to the central social board, consists of five persons, three of whom represent respectively employers, workers, and the Ministry of Social Affairs; the other two represent the employment service Two special advisers, one a worker and one an employer, especially selected to represent public opinion on important matters, also serve the social board in a consultative capacity. These advisers are called in at the option of the social board, when important decisions must be made, and while they take an active part in discussions, they have no

vote.

The advisory councils in the local and county offices participate actively in the determination of policy and have, moreover, considerable authority in the choice of office staffs. In the small offices they may even perform some of the duties of the placement agency. Because of the effort that is made to insure the representative character. with regard to varied interests, of the persons making up the joint committees, the resulting "guarantee of fairness" is held "largely responsible for the great confidence imposed in the placement service by both employers and workers" in Sweden.

TREND OF EMPLOYMENT AND PAY ROLLS

F

Summary of Reports for October 1936

URTHER gains in employment and pay rolls were shown in October in the combined manufacturing and nonmanufacturing industries surveyed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is estimated that nearly 223,000 workers were returned to employment in these industries between the middle of September and the middle of October and that weekly pay rolls were over $16,000,000 greater in October than in September.

Class I railroads also added more employees to their pay rolls, according to a preliminary statement by the Interstate Commerce Commission. The number added, exclusive of executives and officials, was 7,800.

Public employment reports for October showed gains in employment on projects operated by the Works Progress Administration and in emergency conservation work (Civilian Conservation Corps). Decreases in employment, on the other hand, occurred on construction projects financed from funds provided through the Reconstruction Finance Corporation on P. W. A. construction projects and on Federal projects under The Works Program. Employment on construction projects financed from regular governmental appropriations showed virtually no change.

Adjustment of Indexes of Factory Employment and Pay Rolls to 1933 Census of Manufactures Totals

Ir is the policy of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, adopted upon the recommendation of the advisory committee to the Secretary of Labor, appointed by the American Statistical Association, to keep its indexes of employment and pay rolls adjusted to the trends shown by the census of manufactures, the census of distribution, and other industrial censuses. The last revision based on the Census of Manufactures for 1931 was released in 1934. In keeping with this policy the Bureau has now completed the revision of its indexes of employment and pay rolls in manufacturing industries adjusted to the 1933 Census of Manufactures totals which have become available.

The present revision of the Bureau's index shows that the declines in factory employment and pay rolls in all manufacturing establishments from 1931 to 1933, as revealed by the census of manufactures,

were not so great as those indicated in the monthly figures of the particular manufacturing establishments reporting to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in those years. When adjusted to the census totals, the revised index of average employment in 1933 stands at 72.0 as compared with the index heretofore published of 69.0. The revised index of pay rolls for 1933 stands at 49.4 as compared with the old index of 48.2. The base period used in constructing the indexes of factory employment and pay rolls remains unchanged and is the average for the 3 years 1923-25 as 100.

The adjustments of the indexes to the levels of employment and pay rolls as shown by the Census of Manufactures for 1933 necessarily raise the levels of the indexes in subsequent years by relatively the same amount as the 1933 figures are raised. This revision has had virtually no effect on the trend of the indexes of employment and pay rolls for the years following 1933. The increase in employment between 1933 and October 1936 as indicated by the indexes before revision was 33.5 percent and after revision 34.0 percent. Similarly. the unadjusted pay-roll index showed an increase of 79.5 percent between 1933 and October 1936, whereas the revised series shows an increase of 79.8 percent. Any necessary revisions of the indexes for the period 1933 to 1935 must wait upon the publication of the data of the Census of Manufactures for 1935.

A detailed description of the method used in revising the indexes, which is fundamentally similar to that used in adjusting the indexes from 1919 to 1931, is being prepared for publication, and this information together with other relevant data will be available within a short time. Upon request the Bureau of Labor Statistics will be glad to furnish the revised indexes for each of the separate industries, the several groups of industries, and all manufacturing combined, by months, from January 1931 to September 1936, and the revised group indexes and the general indexes prior to 1931.

Industrial and Business Employment

A CONTRASEASONAL gain of 1.3 percent in factory employment between September and October indicated the additional employment of over 100,000 workers, and a gain of 6.5 percent in factory pay rolls represented an increase of more than $11,000,000 in the amoun: paid out weekly to wage earners. The revised factory employmen index for October 1936 (96.5) was above the level of any mont! since March 1930 and the revised October pay-roll index (88.S exceeded the level of any month since June 1930. Factory pay rollnormally show a gain from September to October, pay rolls in Sep tember being reduced to some extent by the observance of the Labor Day holiday. The increase in the October pay rolls, however, wa

more pronounced than the percentage gains shown in October in any of the preceding 17 years for which information is available.

The gains in factory employment and pay rolls were widespread, 70 of the 89 manufacturing industries surveyed reporting increased employment over the month interval, and 77 industries reporting increased pay rolls. Employment in the durable-goods group showed a substantial gain (4.0 percent), the October employment index (88.9) reaching the maximum recorded since June 1930. Although employment in this group as a whole was still below predepression levels, several of the industries were employing more workers than in 1929. Employment in October in the blast-furnace, steel-works, and rollingmill industry exceeded the levels of any month since April 1924. In the glass industry employment was above any month since November 1926, and in the stamped- and enameled-ware industry the October level was above that of any month over the preceding 13 years for which data are available. Brass-bronze-copper firms employed the maximum number of workers since December 1929; machine tools and furniture showed the highest levels since June 1930; electrical machinery and shipbuilding, the highest since September 1930; locomotives, the highest since October 1930; and sawmills, the highest since November 1930.

The October index of employment in the nondurable-goods group (104.7) was 1.0 percent below the September level, sharp seasonal declines in a number of food industries and smaller losses in the boot and shoe, leather, and men's clothing industries being primary factors contributing to the group decrease. It will be noted that employment in October 1936 in the nondurable-goods group was 4.7 percent above the 3-year average 1923-25 and, with the exception of September 1936, was higher than that of any month since the latter months of 1929.

The most important gains over the month interval were in the automobile industry, which registered increases of 21.9 percent in employment and 31.4 percent in pay rolls. This was due largely to a resumption of more normal operations in automobile plants following recessions incident to changes in models. Other industries in which pronounced employment gains were shown were beet sugar, 188.5 percent; hardware, 13.6 percent; wirework, 9.8 percent; typewriters and parts, 9.8 percent; stamped and enameled ware, 7.6 percent; lighting equipment, 7.1 percent; jewelry, 7.0 percent; silverware and plated ware, 7.0 percent; and cottonseed oil-cake-meal, 6.8 percent. Most of these gains were seasonal.

Gains ranging from 5.1 percent to 6.6 percent were shown in cotton small wares, men's furnishings, rubber goods, tools, and locomotives. Among the remaining industries reporting increases were such important industries as glass, 4.3 percent; electrical machinery, apparatus,

and supplies, 3.3 percent; dyeing and finishing, 3.2 percent; furniture 2.3 percent; chemicals, 2.2 percent; cotton goods, 1.7 percent; foundries and machine shops, 1.4 percent; newspapers and periodicals, 1.3 percent; book and job printing, 1.1 percent; knit goods, 1.0 percent: sawmills, 1.0 percent; slaughtering and meat packing, 1.0 percent: baking, 1.0 percent; and blast furnaces, steel works, and rolling mills. 0.6 percent.

Seasonal declines in employment from September to October were shown in canning and preserving, 35.4 percent; ice cream, 15.0 percent: millinery, 10.7 percent; tin cans, 8.0 percent; beverages, 9.0 percent: fur-felt hats, 4.8 percent; butter, 4.2 percent; and marble-graniteslate, 2.4 percent. Cane-sugar refining showed a decrease of 3.0 percent in employment and among the remaining 10 industries reporting declines the decreases were 2.0 percent or less.

In addition to the gains shown by the manufacturing industries. employment increases were reported in 10 of the 16 nonmanufacturing industries surveyed and pay-roll gains were shown in 13. Nearly 123,000 workers were returned to jobs in these 16 nonmanufacturing industries, and nearly $5,000,000 was added to weekly wage disbursements.

Seasonal influences in retail trade resulted in an employment gain of 2.4 percent, or 81,300 workers. The general-merchandising group. which is composed of department, variety, and general-merchandise stores and mail-order houses, reported a seasonal gain of 5.5 percent. The wearing-apparel group also reported a substantial seasonal increase of 4.9 percent. Other branches of retail trade sharing in the expansion were furniture (4.0 percent), lumber and building materials (3.7 percent), jewelry (4.0 percent), and coal dealers (2.0 percent). The group of retail food stores showed practically no change from September to October, employment increasing 0.1 percent. The only important branches of retail trade in which recessions in employment were noted from September to October were drug stores (1.1 percent) and the automotive group (0.6 percent). The latter reflected decreased activity pending the introduction of new models.

A seasonal gain of 1.1 percent in wholesale trade indicated the return of 16,100 workers to jobs. Among the more important lines in which increases were shown were chemicals and drugs, dry goods and apparel, hardware, machinery, paper and paper products, and petroleum products, including bulk tank stations. The group of wholesale-grocery firms showed but little change, while the group of assemblers and country buyers of farm products, which includes packers and shippers of fruits and vegetables, showed a seasonal expansion of 13.7 percent. A small decline of 0.5 percent in wholesale-food-products firms was the only employment loss in any important group.