Montana labor news., 1936-09-03
MONTHLY SURVEY
OF u. : Business
Needed - A Million And A
Quarter New Homes Yearly.
MONTHLY SURVEY OF
BUSINESS
of the
American Federation of Labor


Recent issues of the Monthly Sur
vey of Business have emphasized
the creative possibilities of Amer
ica's highly efficient industrial
equipment. If this equipment is
used to its full capacity, all Amer
lean workers may have work and
can produce enough to give every
family a comfort level of living. In
this issue we deal with one indus
try, building, showing its part in
creating this comfort level of living
and suggesting steps which may be
taken to help it meet the require
ments.
Building construction is one of
our four great basic producing in
dustries. l. Normally, it creates con-
structions worth more than $10,-
600, O0O, 900 each year, and 100000
workers depend on it for their live
lihood. Beside direct employment
in building, n man employed in
the materials industries is needed
to provide the building supplies for
each worker on the construction
job, and in the consumer-goods
industries to provide his food and
clothing. Thus the fate of the
building industry affects 100000
workers in other industries. in adj
dition to its own 100000 or a total
of nearly 100000.
Records covering building con-
tracts awarded in the 81 eastern
states show that about 40 per cent
of the wealth created by building
each year is in homes and apart
ments, 80 per cent in factories, Of
flee buildings and public utilities,
20 per cent in public works and
public buildings, and 5 per cent in
other buildings. 2. Home building is
the backbone of the industry, bust
ness building the next most impor-
tant, and public construction nor
mally accounts for about one quar-
ter of the whole.
During depression, home build
ing almost ceased, dropping from
$4,000 homes built in 1928 (3) at
the peak of the building boom, to
$4,000 in 1888, or less than Is per
cent of its 1928 volume. Contracts
for factory and commercial build
ing dropped to less than II per
cent of their 1929 value, and al
though public building was not so
drastically cut, tax losses reduced
it to barely 40 per cent of 1929. 4.
This virtual disappearance of pri-
vate building SO cut employment
that by March, 1888, less than 600,-
900 of the industry's 100000 work.
ers still had jobs - three fourths
were out of work. 5. When those
thrown out in materials and con-
sumner industries are added, this
meant unemployment for 100000
in all.
There can be no prosperity with
out recovery in building, yet build
ing has Jagged behind other indus
tries on the road out of depression.
Therefore, the gains of this year
and last, which have finally lifted
building to nearly half CAB per cent?
its 1929 value and definitely started
it toward recovery, have strength
ened confidence throughout the
business world. Also re-employ-
ment in building and related indus
tries has added greatly to the ma
tons power. The level of building
activity in the first half of 1886 has
been twice that of 1888. Over AGO.
900 men have gone back to work in
the industry since March, 1898, as
shown on the picturegraph on page
3, and probably about double this
number in material and consumer
goods industries, a total of about
100000. There are still, however,
100000 unemployed in building
(see photography and over H.
100000 in American industry as a
whole.
While private building in 1886 is
more than doubling its 1888 volume,