The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1941-01-30
Oday
AND
Tomorrow
Ely
Frank Parker StOckridge

UNEMFLOYED 0,41V,H(V
For the last years it has been
anybody's guess just how many
people there were out of,,workp at
any particular time. i
No actual count was made un-
til last March, when the Census
takers presumably counted every
nose in the United States-and
found out just how many noses
were being kept to the grindstone
and how many people were look
ing for work.
The government adding ma
chimes haven't yet finished the
huge job of getting exact totals,
but when the final figures are
available here is what they are
expected to show:
Seeking work----5,11O,270
On public emer-
gency work 1880, O62 80
Those are the figures for last
March, however. Since then many
of those seeking work have found
jobs in defense industries. So, by
the time the final figures are re-
leased, they will already be out
dated and the extent of the un-
employment situation will still be
anybody's guess.
STATISTICS -. impersOnal
While l was analysing the cold,
statistical records of unemploy-
ment, a man came in to see me
about a job. When the Census
takers checked him they marked
him up as unemployed" There
after he became just one little
digit, under that head. in the
Census Bureaus statistical de-
partment. If it hadn't been for
him the figure on those seeking
work" would be 5,110,269 instead
of 5,11O,270.
But he wasn't interested in fig
ures on employment. He said that
during his year of being unem-
ployed he hadn't felt that he had
gained any solace from the fact
that there were a lot of others in
the same boat.
Now, however, he is getting
panicky over reports that the ma
tons huge defense program has
the employment problem pretty
we'll licked.
II didn't get any comfort out of
the fact that a lot of others were
out of work when I was" he said,
"but I'm plain scared now when
l hear that everybody's getting a
job and I'm still adrift."
There are plenty of others who
must feel the same way as this
man. The answer for most of
them is that skilled workers are
the ones who are in greatest de-
mand, that factory workers in
general have gone back to work
in droves. but white collar jobs
haven't opened up at the same
pace. They probably will, since
greater production means more
supervision and clerical work
but that will be a secondary
phase. Right now all attention is
centered on getting all of Amer
ica's machines humming.
WOMEN Jobs
Did you knew that, in this
country, there are three times as
many men working as there are
women?
That census figure surprised
me, because in so many bust
ness the women seem to far out
number the men But in our big
gest factories most of the work
is mans work and that's where
the bulk of employment is these
DAYS.
There are over 81 million wo-
men in the country who don't try
to get jobs. The great majority
of them, of course, do homework.
but the government doesn't count
them as part of the Labor
Force" Taking care of house,
cooking the meals, raising few
children and doing the washing
puts them under the statistical
classification of non-workers =. e.
wives opinions Notwithstanding.
And speaking of wives - the
Census shows that there aren't
enough to &C around. If every girl
lin America had husband, there
would still be 256.412 men left
over. Husbands, it would seem,
are becoming a drug on the mar
ket.
AUTOMOBILES -. treasures
Lift the hood of your auto
mobile and you'll uncover a veri-
table treasure-chest of hidden
precious metals! Only, unless
you're an expert at metalurgy,
you'll never be able to find them.
That they are there, although in
minute quantities, is testified to
~, - ,ooo&o1,,ro;ck IF tho Ford Mo.