The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1906-12-29
CONDITION Of LABOR
IS BETTER Than EVER
Interesting Statistics Given
Out by Bureau Of
Labor.
Wages Are Generally 1ncreas-
ed and Hours of Labor
Are Made Shorter.

The result Of the investigation by
the bureau Of labor into wages and
hours Of labor during the year lsoo
was announced today.
The figures show that the average
wages per hour in the principal man.
ufacturing and mechanical industries
of the country were 1.6 per cent hlgn-
er than in 1904: that the average
hours Of labor per week remained the
same as In 1904 and that 6.3 per cent
more persons were employed IN the es-
Establishments investigated.
AS there was no reduction In the
average hours OF labor per week, the
average weekly earnings per employe
were 1.6 per cent higher than In 1904.
The purchasing power of hourly
wages, and also of weekly earnings,
per employe, as measured by retail
prices of thirty articles Of food, it was
declared, l per cent higher IN 1910
than In 1904. The report says:
LAS there was an increase In the
number Of employees as we'll as in the
weekly earnings per employe, there was
a considerable increase in the weekly
earnings of all employees, or, In other
roll. This increase was 8 per cent in
theestablishments investigated.
when the figures relating to wages
and hours Of labor and those relating
to retail prices of food are brought
together, it is seen that the retail
prices Of food, due weight being given
to the quantity and cost of the differ
ent Commodities consumed, were O.6
per cent higher in 1905 than in 1904.
LAS the average wages per hour in
creased more than the retail prices of
food, the purchasing power Of wages
increased. In 1905 the purchasing
power Of both hourly and weekly wages
was 1 per cent higher than in 1904;
or, expressed in other words, an hours
wages in 1905 would purchase ! per
cent more food than an hours wages
in 1904.
Wages Higher; Hours Fewer.
THE average wages per hour in
1905 were 1879 per cent higher than
the average for the ten year period
from 1890 to 1899, inclusive. The
number of employees Was. 23.6 per cent.
greater and the average hours Of la
Dor per week were Al per cent lower.
1.-The retail price Of the principal
articles Of food, weighed according to
family consumption Of the various ar
ticles, was 12.4 per cent higher in 1905
than was the average price for the
ten years from 1890 to 1899.
1.-The average prices Of wheat, bread,
butter, cheese, chickens, cooked meat,
eggs, fresh fis h,salt fish, milk NUT
ton, and veal were higher in 1905 than
in any other year of the sixteen year
period covered by the investigation.
Much Better Than 1894.
''The average wages per hour in
1905 were 21.5 per cent higher than
in 1895, the year of lowest wages dur
ing the period covered, and weekly
earnings were 1877 per cent higher.
The purchasing power Of an hour S
wages was greater in 1905 than in any
other year covered by this investiga-
ton, being TT per cent greater than in
1894, the year Of lowest wages, and 13
per cent greater than in 1896, the year
Of lowest retail prices. The purchas-
ing power Of a weeks wages in 1905
was 3.5 per cent greater than In 1894,
but 2. per cent less than in 1896
I'm making the inquiry, the labor
bureau attempted to cover only those
Industries in which the wages paid
in the United States were $4,000, OOO
or over. The data presented were OBJ
tained in all cases by special agents
Of the bureau through personal visits
to the establishments represented.