The New York herald., 1922-05-24
City Directors Figures
Show Building and Rail-
road BOOmS.
MANY RETURN TO FARMS
Real Distress Ended, Appar-
emily for Good, Says John
Sullivan.

Industrial revival has cut the num-
ber of unemployed in New York city
from 100000 in October, 1921, to 200,-
900 in May, 1922. Jobs are beginning
to hunt the jobless, and. except for
certain white collar activities, there Is
no respectable reason, according to
employment experts, for men who
really want to work being out Of work.
John Sullivan, director of the City
Employment Bureau. at 129 Worth
street, who has been in intimate touch
with the unemployment situation since
the end of the war. said yesterday
that the crest of distress is past. and
apparently for good.
Mr.. Sullivan's observations agree
with those by various volunteer
agencies that have accomplished re-
readjustment, notably the knights Of
Columbus, the Y. M. c. A.. the Saliva
ton Army and the American Legion.
They check closely with facts and fig
ures presented by the United States
Department Of Labor and by the State
Labor Bureau. In this connection Mr..
Sullivan said:
There has been big revival In In
dustry. especially in the building trades.
Carpenters. brckiayers, ironworkers and
common labor connected with the build
| ing operations are In keen demand. /
should say that employment in all of
the building trades IS back to normal.
There is boom also in railroad con-
struction, which has put thousands Of
men to work and n considerable e,Span-
sion of railroad payrolIs In other dIrec-
tjons We figure that railroad employ
ment, always a big item in the large
cities, Is back to about so to S5 per cent.
"Highway Work Improving"
Highway construction is being re-
sumed now that spring Is here. and tina:
field is absorbing and will continue t.
absorb many men seeking employment.
| But both the State and national gov
ernments are slow to apply appropria-
tions madc for new roads and road re-
construction. Park Improvement, espe-
| caliy in The Bronx, has been a help
IAN interesting feature of the situation
| Is that thousands of men have left tho
city and are going to leave to get Jobs
in the rural districts. Very many Of
! these have despaired of obtaining in
this city the kind OF work they sought.
| and reading OF good wages and board to
be had on the farms are going out TO
have try at It. This Is one OF the
most encoura gng signs I have noted IN
wears. for I believe that twice as many
men are seeking farm labor from New
York as ever turned their faces that
way before.
There is a revival in the machinery
| trades. and employment Is growing In
that direction, but 1 should say that
It is hardly more than 80 to so per cent.
| of normal. so far as New York city
is concerned. The same figures apply
to marine work and transportation
labor. 1t is scarcely recovered from the
depression of last year. and labor
! troubles.
"Slackness In the clothing industries
contributes a good many thousand to
New York's total Of 100000 out OF work.
slackness due to overproduction and to
labor difficulties. The printing trades
are busy and I think are about back
to normal.
"Aniline dye workers seem to have
been hit by the apparent ease with
which Germany has reintroduced her
dyes at low costs, and there are
hundreds of such workers out OF Jobs
here. Ii seems that the revived COM
petition OF the Germans has forced a
number OF American plants TO close
UP or to cut down their payrolls
| Clerical workers Hard Hit.
There are probably $4,000 clerks or
clerical workers and statesmen out OF
work in the big city. Here is where
the unemployment situation hits hard.
for very many of these men are getting
along In years and are scarcely able 10
Continued on Page Five.