idle for other causes. ing table: These facts are brought out in the follow CAUSES OF IDLENESS OF MEMBERS OF LABOR UNIONS AT END OF MARCH, 1905–1911. NUMBER OF MEMBERS IDLE FOR EACH CAUSE. Turning from the totals for all trades combined to individual groups, considerable variation between groups appears when 1911 is compared with 1910 as revealed by the following comparative table. IDLENESS OF MEMBERS OF LABOR ORGANIZATIONS, BY INDUSTRIES, 1908-1911. GROUPS OF TRADES. 1. Building, stone working, etc.. 5. Printing, binding, etc... 8. Theaters and music. 9. Tobacco.. 10. Restaurants, trade, etc. 11. Public employment.. 12. Stationary engine tending.... 13. Miscellaneous.. Total.. 96,608 20.3 16.1 21.1 35.7 46,021 9.7 7.3 14.3 26.3 Increases in the percentages of idleness, both continuous idleness throughout the quarter and idleness at the close, appear in seven, or a bare majority of the thirteen groups of trades (building, clothing, metals, wood working, theaters and music, restaurants and trade, and stationary engine tending), while one other minor group (miscellaneous) shows higher idleness for the quarter but lower for the last day of March. The other five groups (transportation, printing, food and liquors, tobacco, and public employment) show lower percentages this year than last. Under these circumstances it is important to consider the changes in the more important groups in order to discover the chief elements in the net increase in idleness for all trades combined. Of the first five groups, the transportation and printing trades as already noted show less idleness this year than last. In the clothing trades continuous idleness was higher this year than last, but at the end of March the percentage this year was but a fraction above that of 1910. But in both the building and metal trades there are conspicuously heavy increases in both classes of idleness, which are, therefore, the principal, though not the sole, explanation of the increased percentages of idleness for this year for all trades combined. In the table below it will be seen that not only in the building and metal trades, but also in the other groups in which increased idleness appears this year, the increases were almost entirely due to increased unemployment, that is, due to a lessened demand for labor this year. CAUSES OF IDLENESS OF MEMBERS OF LABOR UNIONS AT END OF MARCH, 1911, BY INDUSTRIES. UNEMPLOYMENT.* GROUPS OF TRADES. 1. Building, stone working, etc.... 2. Transportation. . . . 3. Clothing and textiles. 4. Metals, machinery, etc...... 5. Printing, binding, etc. 6. Wood working, etc... 7. Food and liquors..... 8. Theaters and music.. 9. Tobacco. 10. Restaurants, etc..... 11. Public employment.. 12. Stationary tending.. 13. Miscellaneous. LABOR DISPUTES. DISABILITY. trade, Total...... 69,279 52,006 88,958 1,498 6,864 3,289 3,467 3,838 3,752 * Inclusive of lack of work, lack of stock, and weather. In connection with the increased idleness in the building trades Table IV of the Appendix, containing returns from municipal building departments in certain leading cities, would indicate that the lessened activity in the building trades this year, noted above, was most marked in New York City. The figures for Syracuse and Troy indicate about an equal amount of building work, planned at least, this year as last; in Buffalo and Rochester the figures are somewhat lower; but in the metropolis there is a heavy decrease both in amount of work projected and amount begun. As between boroughs, Bronx and Brooklyn are most conspicuous for decreases, while Queens appears as an exception to the rest of the city by a marked increase. The complement of idleness, in considering the labor market, is amount of employment. The latter naturally moves in the opposite direction from the former. It is only to be expected, therefore, that with the increased idleness already noted, there should be a reduction in the average number of days worked by those employed during the first quarter of 1911, as compared with 1910. Thus the average days worked by union men who had employment during January, February and March was 65.1 as compared with 67.3 in 1910. Similar decrease in the average for women also appears. In the following tables are comparisons as to amount of employment for a number of recent years. AVERAGE NUMBER OF DAYS OF EMPLOYMENT OF MALE MEMBERS OF LABOR UNIONS IN FIRST QUARTER, BY INDUSTRIES, 1905-1911. NUMBER AND PERCENTAGE OF ORGANIZED MALE WAGE EARNERS WITHIN CERTAIN LIMITS OF EMPLOYMENT IN FIRST QUARTER, 1905-1911. The first of the above tables shows lower average days of employment in eight of the thirteen groups of trades, including all of the five leading groups except the printing trades in which the average this year was practically the same as last year. In other words, measured either by amount of unemployment or amount of work, the first quarter of 1911 shows a decidedly less favorable demand for labor than did the corresponding quarter of 1910. WAGES AND EARNINGS. While the union returns for the first quarter indicate less work this year than last, they afford no evidence that wages for those who had work were not as high or higher this year than last. In fact the average per diem earnings of those employed were $3.26 as against $3.18 last year, and were in fact the highest on record as shown in the following comparative table. AVERAGE DAILY EARNINGS OF MALE MEMBERS OF LABOR ORGANIZATIONS IN THE FIRST QUARTER 1904-1911, BY INDUSTRIES. GROUPS OF TRADES. 1. Building, stone working, etc.. 2. Transportation. 3. Clothing and textiles. 4. Metals, machinery, etc.. 5. Printing, binding, etc... 3.18 6. Wood working, etc.. 2.68 7. Food and liquors.. 8. Theaters and music. 9. Tobacco. 10. Restaurants, trade, etc. All trades. 1904. 1905. 1906. 1907. 1908. 1909. 1910. 1911. $3.41 $3.37 $3.47 $3.73 $3.69 $3.74 $3.75 $3.83 2.36 2.55 2.62 2.75 2.70 2.75 2.76 2.87 2.40 2.38 2.47 2.39 2.50 2.64 2.61 3.14 2.76 2.88 2.94 3.09 3.09 3.22 3.12 3.20 3.23 3.34 3.33 3.37 3.43 3.51 3.47 2.63 2.75 2.82 2.94 2.93 3.05 3.00 2.31 2.47 2.55 2.56 2.61 2.65 2.64 2.71 4.20 4.73 4.81 4.31 7.72 7.19 6.97 7.18 2.03 2.04 2.08 2.05 1.97 1.92 2.15 2.12 2.06 2.17 2.14 2.31 2.36 2.43 2.46 2.47 2.54 2.59 2.65 2.63 2.61 2.82 2.88 2.96 2.72 2.72 2.83 3.15 3.12 3.15 3.22 3.14 2.17 2.63 2.72 2.82 2.41 2.83 2.75 2.89 $2.72 $2.85 $3.00 $3.03 $3.10 $3.17 $3.18 $3.26 Of the individual groups no less than nine, including the four leading groups, show average daily earnings higher this year than last, in correspondence with the general average. Further, of the four groups in which a decrease in the average appears, in by far the largest (the printing trades, with very nearly as many members reporting as the other three together) the average was practically the same this year as last. In other words, per diem wages averaged as high or higher this year, not only for all trades combined but quite generally among the different groups of trades. Standing out very conspicuously among the individual groups. for amount of increase, however, is the increase in the clothing and textiles group from $2.61 in 1910 to $3.14 this year, the latter being far above any previous average for the group. The wholly unusual amount of change in this group calls for some explana |