Evening star., 1934-04-15
Incomes of Workers
In Service Industries
BY HARDEN COLFAX.

Some idea of what happened to the
income of the so-called service" work
ers of the United States during the de-
preston is now available.
According to study of national in
come by the Bureau of Foreign and
Domestic Commerce, in cooperation
with the National Bureau of Economic
Research, the service industries of the
United States in 1929 furnished en-
ployment for approximately 10000
Salaried employees and wage earnerS
and another two-thirdS of a million
of individual enterpreneurs. or those
who initiate enterprises. hire workers
and conduct matchmaking activities
From the employment standpoint
during the depression, this group of
service industries ranks close to the
wholesale and retail trade group. after
those of manufacturing and agricul-
ture.
In 1929 the total income paid out by
the service industries amounted to So
500 900, 900, or 10.6 per cent of the total
for all industries, and practically all
derived from labor or management
sources, the property income account
ing for very small percentage of the
total.
Under the heading of service indus
tries, the study lists amusement and
recreation, professional, personal, do
meStic, business and miscellaneous
services, omitting consideration of the
- ~
durable goods" such as houses, auto
mobiles, furniture, etc, earnings from
odd jobs and the services of relief and
charity. Workers in wholesale and re-
tail trade are also not included under
this head
At the front in the list of service in
dustries are recreation and amusement.
the group including theaters. vaude-
vile and concert halls. motion picture
production and theaters and radio
broadcasting under the first section
under the latter, consideration is given
to amusement.
The gradual change of relative in
come from silent" to the sound"
motion picture field is interesting.
showing that the legitimate theater
has lost considerable in this connec-
ton. While the gross income of mo-
ton pictures declined about A per
cent between 1929 and 1892. legitimate
theater receipts fell of 81 per cent.
There was sharp drop in radio
broadcasting gross income from 1929
to 1880, with a rapid increase there
after, representing the continued eX-
pansion Of a rapidly growing new
industry"
The amusement group accounts for
employment of half million persons
From 1929 to 1882 the income of en-
ployes in the motion picture produc-
ton group declined slightly.
The professional services considered
include those of religious bodies, pri-
vate education, private hospitals,
private practicing physicians and pri-
vate legal and engineering services.
One and a third millions of persons
were engaged in these professions in
1929 and the number has remained
fairly stable. The total income, which
amounted to $500, 100000 in 1929.
showed decline at the end OF 1882
of some 80 per cent. 1t is interesting
to note that the number of clergymen
increased by some 5 per cent and their
total income fell off only 2 per cent.
More than million workers are
included in personal service indus
tries-hotels. laundries, cleaning and
dyeing establishments, barber and
beauty shops. OF the total income
therein there is noted decline of 40
per cent.
Domestic service was the largest of
the major groups considered and in
this the decline in average compenSa-
ton was greater than that in the cost
of living. Moreover, probably larger
percentage of these workers were
dropped than in other sections, and
the Government report says that so
per cent Of this group still employed
in 1882 was relatively worse of than
in 1929"
Copyright, 1934.)