Evening star., 1934-04-05
FEBRUARY WAGES
REACH NEW HIGHS
SINCE EARLY 1881
Further Improvement Seen
in MarCh-EStimateS
Are Incomplete.
FACTORY EMPLOYMENT
INCREASES 6 PER CENT
Voluntary Working Hour Cuts
Are Looked for Eventually
by N. R. A. Officials.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
Pay rolls in American manufactur-
ing industry hit new high in Feb
ruary, creating peaks y both wages
and employment untouched since
early 1881.
The Department of Commerce, an
nouncing this today added that prob
able further improvement in March
would supplant these figures, but that
only incomplete estimates for the
month were available.
The department stated that SWELL
ing in manufacturing pay rolls OF II
per cent in February as compared to
January constituted the greatest one
month improvement Il. Is years.
A 6 per cent gain in actual factory
employment during the month as COM
pared to January was recorded as
having been exceeded only three times
II Is years
None of the figures included the
splurge of pay increases recently an
nounced l.. the steel, automobile and
other industries, many of which go
into effect this month.
Houi Cuts Looked For.
The N. R. A. was disclosed today to
be watching such data intently. while
gathering more of its own.
On good authority it was indicated
that quick general action by industry
to shorten working hours for re-em-
ployment is not now expected by Blue
Eagle officials, but within a reason
able period voluntary cuts are looked
tor from large individual groups.
If not, the original idea that fiat
10 per cent reduction be required by
the Government of all who cannot
show good cause to the contrary, may
be brought into play.
The present attitude is to put the
responsibility directly up to business,
It's spokesmen have urged upon Hugh
S. johnson inSiStently their view that
If there is no compulsion many indus
tries will do the thing handsomely.
With his own belief that the initia-
tive should be on the part OF industry,
johnson has found it easy to leave
direct action to private interests for
time
While Johnson's aides are going be-
yond present conditions to gain data
on how many more men industry could
possibly employ-"and if not. why
not?" in the words of the N. R. A. ad-
ninistrator-the allied Commerce De-
partment concentrated on past statis-
tics.
Reversed Trend Down.
It noted slight declines in employ
ment in non-manufacturing industry
between the middle of January and
the middle of February as offsetting,
but small proportion Of the marked
gain in factory employment. The ac-
tual gain, if added, reversed the
downward trend which had extended
over a period of four months"
AS to March possibilities. the report
found that current indications point
toward further improvement in the
employment opportunities in March" "
1t noted that cash income received
by farmers from the sale of farm
products rose nearly 5 per cent dur
ing February after allowance for the
seasonal trend and was 50 per cent
above year ago.
Production advances were not &C
companied by similar advances in
sales of goods, the figures indicated.
The February rise in freight-car load
ings was regular, while retail sale fig
ures showed no marked change, ex-
cept in the case of automobiles, the
value of which was almost double
January. Preliminary March figures,
however, indicated general retail i'm
provement.
Production Gain 4 Per Cent.
The gain in the composite index Of
industrial production for the month,
after allowance for the seasonal trend,
was nearly per cent. bringing the
index considerably above both 1888
and 1882 and within per cent of
February. 1881
N. R. A. and other administration
efforts to improve the figures thus
far noted are concentrated principally
on two fronts.
Legislation is now being considered
on Capitol Hill to follow President
Roosevelt's suggestion that about
$700,000,000 more capital could be
used by medium sized businesses to
good employment effect.
An allied effort is being studied by
the Presidents National Emergency
Council, involving methods to spur
both home construction and the
heavy goods industries, which will be
turned over to the N. r. A. for ad-
ministration.
Already the Emergency Council. in
its study of home modernization pos
sibilities has been told that ex-
penditure of billion dollars can be
stimulated in that field.
Replies Are Incomplete.
The plans in that direction, how
ever, are not intended to shelve the
code hours and wages program. john
son had received today large num-
ber of replies from code authorities
to questionnaireS, sent out in March
which asked for employment figures
ratio of labor earnings to the value
added to goods by manufacture all
for comparative periods of this year
1888 and 1929
The replies generally have been in
complete. An accompanying letter
had asked the code groups to say
what they could do towards complying
with the 10 per cent hour reduction
with unreduced wages plan
It concluded with: a." and
If not, why not?" The replies were
understood to contain a good deal OF
"why not"