BY SCOTT NEARING, INSTRUCTOR IN ECONOMICS, UNIVERSITY OF
PENNSYLVANIA.

66

A discussion of unemployment necessarily relates only to those persons who are normally engaged in what the census describes as "gainful occupations." The literature on unemployment abounds in attempts, some fortunate, but more calamitous, to accurately limit the field to which the term unemployed" should apply; but for the purpose of this paper no subtle distinctions will be drawn, nor will any attempt be made to define "unemployed" further than to say that those who are normally engaged in gainful occupations, and who for any reason are temporarily not so engaged, are unemployed. This broad construction of the term is justifiable in view of the fact that such a definition of unemployed forms the basis upon which the available statistics have been gathered.

What is the extent of unemployment in the United States? Much has been spoken and written on this theme; but, so far as the writer has been able to discover, no careful attempt has heretofore been made to compile the available facts and furnish a definite answer to the question. Most of the articles on the subject discuss the causes and effects of unemployment and analyze its remedies; some articles deal with specific cases; but the facts, so far as they exist, are referred to piece-meal or not at all.

This article represents an attempt to present, in a connected manner, the various available figures showing the extent of unemployment. While the writer has sought to point out certain relations between the groups of figures, the broad deductions and generalizations to which they may lend themselves are reserved for other papers and other writers.

The Massachusetts figures are the only available general statistics of unemployment before 1900. They were collected with the data for the Massachusetts censuses of 1885 and 1895, and they cover the regular occupations of those gainfully employed, as well as special or secondary occupations, to which the unemployed may have turned during periods of temporary idleness.

Table I presents a group of Massachusetts figures. The most surprising thing shown by the table is the lengthy period of idleness reported for those unemployed during 1885. For the state at large the average period of idleness is four months. In the individual towns it is slightly less. Equally remarkable is the high percentage of unemployment, which is nearly 30 per cent. for the state at large and twice as much for Fall River, the town showing the highest percentage.

These early figures are valuable, not because of their intrinsic worth, but because they throw the later figures into perspective. They show that unemployment is by no means a new phenom

enon, as in 1885 it was already an important factor in the typically industrial state of Massachusetts and was particularly noticeable in the industrial towns.

Unemployment since 1900 forms a topic that lends itself to discussion, because since that date considerable material has been collected which bears directly on the problem. In order to present the subject fairly the sources of the material will first be described, and then the material itself will be analyzed.

There are five principal sources of material on unemployment since 1900.

I. The United States Census of 1900 (volume on Occupations) deals at some length with "Unemployment." In 1880 questions on unemployment were asked by census takers, but the answers were not compiled because of lack of funds. The census of 1890 discusses "Unemployment," but very inadequately. In 1900 an attempt was made to treat the question thoroughly. Even in 1900 the figures are regarded as unsatisfactory by the compilers of the census and are described as representing tendencies rather than definite conclusions.

The figures of the census of 1900 are defective in that they do not give the average duration of unemployment for the various trades, but for this purpose classify the unemployed according to the duration of their unemployment. Thus among 5,227,472 males unemployed in all occupations in 1900:

49.6 per cent. were unemployed 1-3 months. 39.6 per cent. were unemployed 4-6 months. 10.8 per cent. were unemployed 7-12 months.

In short, half of the unemployment is for less than 25 per cent. of the working time, and half of it for more than 25 per cent. of the working time. Thus nearly three millions of working men and boys were unemployed in 1900 for more than one-quarter of the full working time. The census does classify the unemployed by color, nativity, sex, trade, occupation, and state and territory of residence.

II. The Twenty-fourth Annual Report of the United States Commissioner of Labor (1903) is more restricted in scope, but more authoritative in result, than the census. It includes 25,440 families of whose lives a special investigation was made. This investigation was made by experts, while that of the census was made by persons wholly untrained in social investigations. The returns from this work of the Bureau of Labor can therefore be regarded as much more reliable than the census returns.

The 25,440 families selected by the Commissioner of Labor were representative of those gainfully employed in all parts of the country and in all types of employment, and the intensive character of the study makes certain a result of considerable value. The report of the Commissioner does not go into such analytical detail as does the United States Census. The unemployed are classified according to nativity, color, and length of time unemployed; but no attempt is made to classify them by industries.

III. The reports of the New York Bureau of Labor Statistics furnish the most thoroughly compiled, the most ably presented, and the most up-to-date unemployment material available. The Bureau receives reports from the secretaries of as many labor unions as are willing to make the returns, and it is thus enabled to publish, four times a year, a group of facts regarding the employment of about 400,000 labor union members in New York State. The material secured from the labor unions is thoroughly analyzed, and the unemployed are classified by trades, causes of unemployment, months and years unemployed.

The New York figures, coming as they do from union men alone, are not entirely comparable with the census and other figures that are collected irrespective of union membership. There has been considerable discussion as to whether union figures should show a greater or less percentage of unemployment than general figures. On the one hand, it is contended that the unions consist almost exclusively of the skilled workers, who are employed with much greater regularity than the unskilled workers. On the other hand, it is held that many of