More Employment The decrease in the unemployment figures by 17,186
last month affords small ground for complacency or indeed satisfaction. It is usual at this period, when building especially becomes more active, for the numbers of those out of work to decline. But, although unemployment was reduced by over 22,000 in the building industry last month, the total net decrease for all employment fell short of the corresponding monthly decline of last year by as much as 44,000. The seasonal reduction for February, this year, is in fact the smallest since the incidence of the world economic depression, and the total unemployment figures, which are 238,000 more than in February last year, are still as high as r,81o,421. The textile industry, especially cotton and rayon, has suffered the greatest increase. That nearly 13,000 more cotton operatives have lost employment during the last month is an indication of the serious condition of that industry. How- ever, these total net figures, which show the first reduction in unemployment for six months, at least indicate that there are no signs as yet of an actual slump. They emphatically do not indicate that the preparation of measures to mitigate or offset the effects of a possible trade and business recession are unnecessary.
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