The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1907-10-10
WAGES AND EATABLES
PURCHASING POWER OF LABOR
ON THE INCREASE.
Result of investigation by Federal De.
partment-Worklng Hours Fewer
Per Week-Earnings Of Me-
chanics Soaring.

llOH III the DuT0Au vi ldDOC lHtO wages |
and the retail prices of food, the re-
port on which has just been placed |
In the hands of the printer, shows |
that In the principal manufacturing |
and mechanical industries of the coun- |
try average wages per hour in 1905 |
were as per cent. higher than In 1905,
the regular hours of labor per week |
were 0.5 per cent. lower, and the num-
ber of employees in the establishments
investigated was 7 per cent. greater
The average fulLtime weekly earnings
per employe in 1906 were 80 per cent
greater than In 1905.
During 1906 wages were increased
generally In nearly all industries, 40
of the Al industries covered by the
investigation showing some increase.
The greatest increase was in the man
ufacture of cotton goods, where the
average wages per hour in 1906 were
11.2 per cent higher than in 1905. In
the manufacture OF electrical apparat-
us and supplies the increase was 1O1
per cent. In street and sewer work
doLe by contract the increase was 81
per cent; In iron and steel, Bessemer
converting S,5 per cent, and In the
manufacture of cigars, S.4 per cent.
In the manufacture of bar iron the IN
crease In wages per hour was SO per
cent. and In the building trades 81
per cent. Briefly stated, two industries
showed an increase In hourly wages of
more than 10 per cent, seven indus
tries an increase of per cent. but
less than 10 per cent, and 81 indus
tries an increase of less than per
cent In one industry-paper and wood
puip-there was decrease Of IL per
cent. In the industries as a whole,
weighted according to importance, the
increase in hourly wages was As per
cent.
The fact should be borne in mind
that these figures apply on to wage
workers in manufacturing and me-
chanical industries, and do not show
conditions so far as salaried employees
are concerned.
The retail prices of food, weighted
according to consumption in repre-
sentative wOrkingmen's families. were
2.9 per cent higher in 1906 than in
1905. As the advance In wages per
hour from 1905 to 1905 was greater
than the advance in the retail prices
of food, the purchasing power OF an
hours wages, as measured by food,
was greater In 1906 than in the pre-
ceding year. In 1905 the purchasing
power of an hours wages as expend-
ed for food was IA per cent greater
than In 1905, and the purchasing pow
er Of a full weeks wages was l per
cent greater in 1906 than in 1905, or,
In other words, an hours wages in
1906 In the manufacturing and me-
chanical industries of the United
States would purchase IA per cent
more food than an hours wages in
1905 and full weeks wages in 1905
would purchase per cent more food
than full weeks wages In 1905.
The price of food was higher in
every month of 1906 than in the cor
responding month Of 1905. The In
crease over the corresponding month
of the preceding year, which in Feb
ruary, 1906, was only 0.4 per cont,
grew steadily greater throughout the
year, the price in December, 1906, be-
ing ST. per cent above that Of the pre-
ceding December. The price in Decem'
Der. 1905, was 4.S per cent higher
than the average for the year 1908,
which year showed a higher average
than any other year during the sew
enteen years, 1890 to 1905, covered by
the investigation Of the Bureau OF
Labor.
The increase In prices in 1906 over
1905 applied, in unequal degree, to 20
Of the 80 articles included in the In
vestigation. The articles which show
ed the greatest advance in prices are
lard, 9.S per cent; evaporated apples,
81 per cent; fresh pork, 8.S per
cent; dry or picked pork, S.7 per
cent; bacon, s.4 per cent; ham, 7S
per cent; while the advance in fresh
Ash and mutton exceeded per cent
The only articles which showed any
material decrease are -four and sugar
The retail price Of the principal ar
ticIes of food, weighted according to
family consumption of the various ar
ticles, was 1871 per cent. higher In
1905 than the average price for the
ten years, 1890 to 1899. Compared with
the average for the same ten-year
period, the purchasing power of an
hours wages in 1906, as measured by
food, was 7.3 per cent greater, the In
crease in the purchasing power of the
full weeks wages being less than the
increase in the purchasing power o.
hourly wages because Of the reduction
in the hours of labor.