Labor-Health, Education, and Welfare Appropriations for 1961

During the past year, also, the Department has introduced a legislative proposal for the registration and establishment of accountability among the farm crew leaders who move their crews from State to State.

CHRONIC LABOR SURPLUS

During the course of the 1957-58 recession, certain areas, notably those manufacturing durable goods, were particularly hard hit and unemployment rose rapidly. In January 1959, 76 of the 149 major labor market areas were areas of substantial labor surplus. In November 1959 there were only 32 such areas. There were also some 112 smaller centers still in this category, whereas there had been 183 in January 1959. In some of these areas unemployment has persisted at a high rate for a long period of time.

Some cities where unemployment has been chronic-like Lawrence, Mass.-have had notable success in greatly increasing job opportunities and reducing unemployment after many years of effort. Lawrence, the Massachusetts State Employment Service and our own Bureau of Employment Security and Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training have all been active participants, but the real drive has come from local people. This Department stands ready to give any technical assistance in manpower and on-the-job training, an in other aspects of local economic development, as it has done in the past.

THE OLDER WORKER

Some 6,000 State employment security personnel have received special training in the servicing of older workers-1,000 more than a year ago.

During fiscal year 1959, 1,100,000 nonagricultural job placements of workers 45 and over were made. In the first 6 months of this fiscal year 1960 over 621,000 placements were made.

Another encouraging trend may be emerging, however. In fiscal 1959, as compared with fiscal 1958, there was slight improvement in the proportion of workers 45 and over placed in higher skill occupations and in clerical and sales jobs, and fewer proportionately placed in the service occupations.

A study of productivity of younger and older office workers has been completed but not yet published. A study of employee adjustments to the introduction of electronic data processing is nearing completion. It will show that while older workers were not advanced to the newly created electronic positions to the same extent as others, their performance records after retraining-were clearly impessive and provide a strong indication of the value of employers retaining older workers.

The budget for elderly couples, in the first 20 cities for which the CPI is prepared, will be released beginning this spring, with others to follow into midsummer.

We have provided consultative services on extension training for skilled craftsmen, foremen, and supervisors; on retraining for new occupations in electronics and atomic energy. We have continued our promotion of community programs for training of older women graduates to enter the teaching field and for training of older women

as nurses.

We are taking a very active part in the White House Conference on Aging preparations in all areas related to employment of older people. The Department has in preparation some new materials for an informational program, national in scope and using all forms of public media to promote employment of older workers.

This concludes my prepared statement, Mr. Chairman.

Senator HILL. Mr. Secretary, we will put in the record at this point the tables which you have here with your statement.

Secretary MITCHELL. Yes, sir.

(The tables referred to follow :)