Evening star., 1941-02-14
Skilled Workers GET
Jobs, but D. {. Relief
Load Continues
Defense Program Cuts
Unemployment Here
To Under II 900
By JAMES FREE.

There are several thousand able
bodied Washington residents who
have been unable to obtain nom
relief Jobs, but virtually all the city'S
skilled workers and most of its
semiSkilled workers have obtained
employment through the defense
program.
The exact number of jobless
Washingtonians is not known, but
most of the 27,00O persons listed
with the District Employment Gen.
ter are unemployed, according to
Edward Jones, director of the GEN.
ter. All 10,70O persons employed on
District w P A work relief projects
are listed with the employment CEN
ter and must report there at least
once each month in an effort to
find private employment. In ad-
dition to these, several hundred
other persons are registered at the
center hoping to find better jobs
than they now have.
About 5000 persons. mainly in
skilled and semiskilled classical
tionS. obtained Jobs last year
through the center, Mr.. Jones added.
And skilled workers are in such
great demand here nowadays that
those registering at the center for
the first time or returning from
temporary jobs are "just in and
out of the Office"
Few Are Awaiting Assignment"
But, because so many trained
workers have been placed, the re-
naming roll of predominantly un-,
skilled lob seekers probably will be
more difficult to absorb in private
industry, Mr.. Jones declared.
w. P. A Director Paul Edwards
points out that District projects
have never had any considerable
number of skilled workers since
Washington is not an industrial
city and building trades here per-
haps did not suffer so keenly as
in other urban areas. The local
w P. AS awaiting assignment"
list. which several months ago often
included skilled and semiskilled
workers. has virtually none in that
9sSifcation now.
This awaiting assignment" list
consisted of only 469 persons at the
first of February, as compared with
about 5000 year ago. This is re-
garded by Mr.. Edwards as evidence
that the Districts general employ
ment problem has been relieved con-
siderablv by the defense program.
Jobs Unlikely for Many.
Both Mr.. Edwards and Mr.. Jones
agree that there is a large number
of persons here. so-called employ
ables, who, because of their age or
lack of specialized training, prob
ably will never be able to find pri-
vate employment.
And to this residue" which will
be reduced little if any by defense
activities, must be added the Dis
trict'S entire public assistance case
load. Unlike all other large Ameri-
can cities, save one, Washington
does not take care of any employ
ables in its public assistance pro-
! gram. No persons claSsed as en-
playable can obtain direct public re-
| lief, regardless of need. They are
referred to the District Employment
Center and to w. P. A, and, if they
cannot get jobs through those agen-
cies, there is no provision for them
in the District public welfare setup
The local policy was fixed by Con-
gress.
During the next fiscal year, the
District budget calls for expendi-
ture of S950,000 for public assist
ance-an increase of $4,000 over the
current fiscal year And Robert L
Bondy, District director of public
welfare, asserted that there is nc
reason to believe the number OF
unemployables in Washington in the
1912 fiscal year will be any less than
it is in 194l.'
His statement is given weight by
the trend of the case load of the
public assistance program. The
present fiscal year began with nearly
500 more cases carried in the initial
month-July-than had been cared
for in July of the previous year;
the July, 1910, figures being 1925
as compared with LAB in the same
month in 1899 And during De-
cember, 1910. the last month for
which records are available, the
case load rose to 2,038.