Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-01-28
LABOR CONDITIONS
BECOMING SERIOUS
Rapidly Increasing Surplus of
Workers Over Wide Area
Causes Alarm.

Reports received by the United States
| Employment Service for the current week
on labor conditions all over the country
| indicate that the situation Is becoming
| serious. On December 10, 1918, - per
| cent of the cities reported n shortage oi
| labor, and TO per cent reported that the
supply about cquaIlcd the demand From
| that date on until the current week there
/ has been steady decrease IN the short
| ages reported and IN localities where the
/ supply equalcd the demand while thc
| surpluscs have been increasing. For the
] current week the percentage ol critics re-
| porting shortages has dropped to l3
| per cent, that reporting surpiuaes has
! increased ia I 1 per cent. while that report
| ing that the supply equals demand has
| dropped 20 81 per cent
| The ARIA of unemployment ~ spreading
| all over the country Up 70 December u
| onlv six states were reporting any con
| eilcrablc amount of surplus labor During
| the current week 20 States reported a
! surplus. On December 3 - cities re-
| ported labor shortagca and this number
| hns been cut down IN the current week
| 60 Is
On December there was reported Il
! total shortage II II .OoOand sIrpusee tntal-
ing onv $1,000 During the following
/ Cipht weeks this shortage was reduced to
| I2,000 while tho SURPRISES reported reach
cd the figure Of 2l0,OOO
NEW EN0IANpa CONDITION
In Connecticut the surplus IS inorca--
ing Ever, center except New britain rr-
porte aurplusea over demands with in
crcasng Unemployment In Massachu-
setts. Worcester reports surplus "a Of
C.NAl ~ against a surplus 5000 last week
lynn and Lawrence report surpiuses
Boston and Springfield both report the
supply about equal tie demand although
other reports Indicate a large number ot
unemployed IN Boston In tie State
there is surplus ~ about 1000 boot
and shoe workers 7nO factory hands. and
I .OUN machnist4 reported In Name
there IS surplus ol shoe workers and
wooden tcNtllc workers Noodmen and
shiphuldcrs an still needed. but tho
demand Il lessinc
nenfiotuent conditions Throughout
Ncw York state arr steadily Increasing
4 surplus ol labor II reported ~ every large
city IN tie state The surplus in Buffalo
has increased from l2eu0 t. 5000.
New \ 0rk CITY. Rochester. Syracuse and
| tlca Ell wperi heavy 9urpluNes. The
Rurpiu. ~ Nbouy has increased from 5000
- 0t1
In Ncw lcrscp last week he supply Of
labor was reported about equal the de
Fnand with sIeht ~uullece ia Paterson
and Ehsabcth his week SURPRISES of
labor rs arc reported ii almost nl critics.
rTuton report surplus Of i.0CN
IN Prunsplvanla, shortages arc stlll
reported III ptteturg and scranton The
shortages IA Harrisburg and Philadelphia
have been wH,cd cut and both CITIES report
Il surplus re report. heavy surplus
In Oha. the surplus N Cleveland ot
10000 has pumped to IS. 600 Toledo re-
ports \ surplus of 10000 and DAYTON
surplus oi IaN Cincinnati and louugs-
town both report suneuscS eurplusee
a7c reported III atl ccutcr~ except Akron
ana Columbus whore the supply about
equals lhc demand The condition IN
OHIO seems e be steadily growing worse.
rpE MIDDLE wrsr
In the Middle West -thc surplus IN
Detroit of - ono reported last week has IN
ca-ri "a a0.oH Grand Rapids ! lint
and jackson all pporf SURPRISES. ILLINOIS
reports surnulees af almost cycrv pnlut !.
The c<p~ctcd IaNaf III tie Rock Island
Ar~cua wlll effect haja Illinois and iowa,
lu ludt3na heavy eurpjuecs r reported.
indanannls IMPORTS surplus ut 400
Minneapolis. Minnesota reports II surplus
OF 1 00o. II the copper districts the con-
drlons arc serious. Copper producers are
unable q market anv considerable por-
tIou If their output with the result that
m'uCs and Sne}tcrs are hcIng closed down
ana ueH ind af every dtN Butte,
Montana report 4 surplus ut 10000 In
ARIZONA l23 mining companies are cut
ting down their forces and a large amount
ol unemployment Is aH over the state.
In Colorado the supply exceeds the de-
mand for almost ever> class az labor In
Idaho and Iowa SURPRISES Of both skilled
and unshlled labor are indicated every
where
In Alabama there is some dcmand for
miners and agricUit;fal help hi Georgia
There i some shortage m Atlanta and
Savannah but taking the State ms a
whole there is b surplus II III classes Of
labor Savannah reports q shortage Of
mechanics and shipyard workers. orida
reports That the supply Of labor exceeds
the demand With nuWhets Of mechanics
and machlnists ont u work. There are but
few opportunities for labor in Florida eN-
cept for agricultural workers, saw mill
turpeltInc and C,rltrsn Ia or. Re
turning soldiers who arc natives Of tine
state nlli be taken care Of, bat i warning
is issued that soldiers from other states are
horkng there III Larger numbers than con
dItiunS warrant
Norfolk, Va. reports j shortage Of
! 500. white Richmond reports i surplus
Nashville, Tennessee reports q surplus Of
: 900 without much change ID other cities |
from Iast week Iii Louisiana there is a
demand ior coI0fed help but a large sur
;1lu- of white labor. In kcntnclly the
condition, ere reported generally poor. /
ln Louisville However. there Is 4 slight |
-iiortagc There are slight shortages III !
RalcIel ana Wilmington, North Carolina, |
with Il sarpl of scrm-skiled tabor IN the |
cotton and tobacco mill Industries iii |
South Carolina shortages arc reported III I
agricultural and toNtilc workers and IN /
common labor In Alaryland there Is /
substantial shortage IN Baltimore and 7
..ne demand for miners throughout the T
state IL delaware there y small de- ,
mand Tor lahorer= Wilmington reports Il +
.lgh' surplus.
On the Pacific coast, heavy surpuses |
arr reported ID san Francisco. Oakland, /
4nd Los Angeles. san Frencsco reports a /
surplus oi i ,O00 Iabcrers and returning !
sold S seem unwilling to leave the cities.
The Iaior situation IN Oregon, especially /
q Portland. Is acute Portland reports .
surplus Of 7 900 IT. Washington there is +
great unrest, with heavy surplus Of work /
RS all over tie St&te.