Laurel outlook., 1949-08-31
ECONOMIC FIGURES
ADD UP TO FAVOR
M0NTANAS FUTURE
With National Employment
Down, Major Industries In
State Show Gains


Surveying existing economi
factors in Montana, the states un
employment compensation com
mission at Helena, which has
wealth of statistical information
on the ever-changing present a
well as the recorded past, recent!
listed eight items as of now:
Drought could be reflected il
declining employment in the trade
and service industries in 1850;
Surplus ~itinerant labor has pro
crossed from a trickle to a tide;
Insured unemployment is still
more than twice as high as a yeal
ago;
Unemployment will be high this
winter;
Benefit payments from the state
trust fund may exceed payments
for any previous year;
Non-farm employment is at an
all-time high;
The number of Montana en-
ployers is continuing to increase;
and
Demand for workers is high,
but supply is eve higher, while
turnover has declined drastically.
Commenting on the economic
hodgepole, the commission said
that from the turmoil of SEEM
ingly contradictory economic hap
penings that has characterized the
first two-thirds of 1949, no clear
cut picture congeals; but, out of
the welter, there has arisen a
series of independent develop
ments that are certain to have an
important bearing on the future
economy of the state. Any at
tempt to draw these many factors
together into a composite forecast
at this time would be premature,
but the preponderance of evidence
at this time appears to be massed
on the optimistic side and the
prospect of impending economic
doom finds little support from the
statistical data now at hand"
Most pessimistic is the occur
renee of drought after a decade of
lush harvest, which means a de-
cline in purchasing power of Mon
tana's rural population. How
sharp this decrease may be is not
yet measurable, but there will be
decrease is apparent.
An offset is that trade and SER
vice industries are being bolstered
by record high number of tourists,
but visitors total spendings may
not equal the total of recent years.
Demand deposits in Montana
banks indicate that overall pSr-
chasing power is by no means
weak. Retailers have reduced in
ventories during the past 80 days,
may be reversed in some
areas because of heavy buying
now for the start of schools and
the later buying for Christmas.
Surplus workers who were a
60 days ago have now
reached a flood stage in some
areas, as in Kalispell because of
rumors of plentiful work on the
Hungry Horse dam, and in Helena
because of rumors about the Can
yon Ferry dam. The migration of
workers reflects mounting I'M
employment elsewhere, particular
y on the Pacific coast.
But while unemployment was
lncomfortably high in many states
asst month, Montana was well up
among the favored few. No
state east of the Mississippi could
,oast a lower percentage of in
,ured unemployment than Mon
ana. Though national unemploy-
nent the first week of July reach
ID and passed 100000, the sum-
ner trend in Montana was in the
opposite direction. Non-farm en-
,loyment reached an all-time high,
lp 1000 from the previous high
md up $500 from a year ago.
lore Montana individuals and
oncerns report they are employ
ne an ever-increasing number of
workers., which may develop into
he biggest industrial and COM {
nercial payroll of any year in the l
history of the state. Analysis $
the upsurge of new bust I
.ess enterprises in the state is an ,
cross-the-board increase, with all l
industries recording a gain.