PUBLIC WORKS AID IS CITED BY HOOVER

White House Statistics show 420,000 Have Been Given Jobs Since January, 1930

INCREASE IS EXPECTED

Labor Survey Claims Employment Gains Last Month Were Almost Negligible.
(Washington Bureau of The Sun)

Washington, June 5--By way of showing what the Government has been doing to reduce unemployment, through the inauguration of public works projects, President Hoover today made public industrial statistics showing that jobs had been given through this medium to 420,000 persons since January, 1930, and that by September 1 next jobs will be supplied for 150,000 more workers.

The President made no comment on the statistics, which he made available at his regular Friday afternoon press conference. The statement showed that on last Monday there were actually 1,000 fewer employees on the regular pay roll of the Federal Government, excluding construction workers, than on January 1, 1930, but 2,000 more than on October 1, 1930. The figure of January 1, 1930, was 902,000 and on the first of this month 901,000.

655,000 Last Monday
On January 1, 1930, according to the tabulation, there were 235,000 "persons employed upon construction work and furnishing supplies therefor" in the Federal service. This total was increased to 420,000 on October 1, 1930, and on Monday was 655,000. It was estimated the figure would reach 805,000 by September 1, this year.

The additional emergency appropriations made by the last Congress for public works over public-works appropriations in other years totaled approximately $195,000,000. Of this increase about $132,000,000 was for highway construction. Congress made available around $482,000,000 for public works.

Advocates of launching a large public-works program out of receipts of a bond issue of several billion dollars immediately seized on the President's figures as proving the merit of their contention. They pointed out that if an additional appropriation for public works of less than $200,000,000 gives employment to 387,000 persons an appropriation of one or two billion dollars should put at least 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 jobless persons at work, directly or indirectly.

Labor Survey Cites Losses
The American Federation of Labor also made public its monthly survey of business and claimed that "workers lost between two and a half and three billion dollars' worth of wages in the first four months of 1931 alone."

The explanation was made that this statement was predicated on the assumption that "income of workers in factories and railroads bears the same relation to the income of all wage earners as it did in 1927."

The analysis pointed out that on the basis of unemployed workers, part-time workers and wage reduction the total income of workers in American industry during the first four months of this year was more than $2,500,0000,000 [sic] less than what it was in the same period of 1929.

Using factory pay rolls as a basis for the computation, labor economists found that wages in April this year totaled $650,000,000 as compared with $990,000,000 in April, 1929, or one-third less.

Points To Effect On Retail Trade
"Now this loss is a most significant fact," the labor survey said. "For nearly all of the lost income would have been spent to buy the products of industry and agriculture sold through retail stores. In 1929 all the retail stores in the country, including grocers, bakers, meat markets, hardware stores, automobile supply stations, clothing, department stores and all others took in roughly $13,000,000,000 worth of business in three months.

"The decline of nearly $3,000,000,000 in workers' incomes means that in the first quarter of this year the stores lost over one-fifth of their entire business. Their total loss was greater than this, for workers have been holding billions of dollars in reserve and spending only for the barest necessities, because they fear unemployment and wage cuts."

Increase Put At 150,000
Employment gains in May "were so slight to be almost negligible," the federation reported, pointing out that its weighted employment index showed 17.1 per cent. Out of work in May, compared to 17.6 per cent. In April. This meant, according to the report, "only 150,000 more jobs for all unemployed wage earners." The improvement since January, it was added, "has been little more than half the normal spring gain."

"Probably not over 1,500,000 found work in industry and agriculture by May 15," the report stated. "This leaves nearly 5,000,000 unemployed, with the summer dull season just ahead and winter approaching. Except for the short fall pickup, employment rarely gains much after May."

The report contained graphs showing sharp declines in residential and nonresidential building, but a gradual increase in public works and utilities buildings. The volume of residential building has dropped from its peak of $2,800,000,000 annually early in 1929 to about $1,100,000,000 this year. The volume of public utilities and public works building in prospect this year is approximately $1,700,000,000, or more than in either the residential or nonresidential fields. Non-residential building for this year is estimated at about $1,500,000,000.