Evening star., 1949-02-22

OlOCl 1colOC11CS Va C11C S1Vy, b0O IL
there. Although some have predi'
seen for a long time He is man
This man is unfamiliar to a
new, bustling postwar Capital, but
he is no tourist. He seems out OF
place on the landscape, but that
landscape already has changed to
accommodate him. Last week the
first soup kitchen in Washington
for seven years opened its doors
to him.
Where he came from. how long
he will stay and what the city
will have to do about him are
questions that a few people are
beginning to ask.
The fact that unemployment in
the District is increasing was
established by the release Of figures
for January by the local branch
of the United States Employment
Service.
Job Openings Fall.
The figures were not startling.
They showed that there were 49,
963 persons out of work in Wash
ington during the month, in con-
traSt to 1886 for the same month
in 1948. Job openings had fallen
from $500 to 1,700, and place
ments from 3,464 to 2,846 in the
course of the year.
These statistics attracted little
notice, compared with national
Unemployment figures which
jumped 100000 in the first week
of January. But even this was not
considered alarming by Govern
ment spokesmen, who predicted
the slump would be a temporary
one.
Some local officials. however.
including those who prepared the
statistics, are neither so optimistic
nor so unconcerned. According to
Fred Hetzel, director of the WASH
ington branch of USES, the figures
show a trend toward increasing
unemployment here.
Uncover Explanations.
In trying to discover the factors
that have brought about this
change, experts have to dig well
below the surface of Washington's
economic picture. This is be-
cause more than half of the total
labor force ESTIMATED at about
450,000) have steady jobs with the
Federal Government and the rest
are divided among many small
businesses. Having dug, they
offer the following explanations:
On July l allowances for most
veterans under the Servicemen's
Readjustment Act will end. This
will mean the breaking up OF the
1920 Club"-veterans who have
been drawing Government allow
ances of $40 a week under the act
for a maximum Of So weeks be-
tween periods Of sporadic and
half hearted employment. Many
of these men already have ex-
hausted their benefits and are
entering the labor market for the
first time as serious competitors
for jobs. .--.-
Six months ago club members
who found their income cut on
would have had no trouble getting
the jobs they wanted. Now nearly
one-third of the job applicants at
USES come from veterans.
Another factor is the return to
the labor force Of veterans who
have been getting an education at
Government expense. Some OF
these, who have trained them
selves in technical skills, are hav-
ing no trouble getting jobs, but
the liberal arts students are run
ming into tough shedding.
For one thing, the Veterans
is running into
increasing difficulty in placing
applicants in on-the-job training
programs. It was easy in 1947.
when most employers had pro-
grams set up to train veterans
under the GI bill, or disabled men,
but in many fields today these
programs have all but disappeared.
The total number of nondis-
abled veterans enrolled in such
programs has dropped from total
of 6,712 in July. 1947, to 3.191 last