Employment in April Seasonal activity and heavy Government expenditure combined
to produce a further improvement in the employ- ment and unemployment figures for April. Employment rose by ro8,000 to 12,511,000, an increase of 270,000 since April last year ; unemployment fell by 82,535 to 1,644,395, a decrease of 103,370 since April last year. The unemploy- ment figures would have shown a still greater fall but for an abnormally large number of children leaving school at Easter. These figures have aroused speculation whether, or how soon, Mr. Keynes' prediction that the unemployment problem will be abolished in the course of this year is likely to be fillfilled. On the assumption that " full employ- ment " is compatible with ro per cent. of registered unemployment, a further fall of quarter of a million is necessary before this condition is reached ; so that a large improvement is still possible without creating new difficulties. Examination of the figures for particular industries shows that in some cases Government expenditure does not com- pensate for trade recession. Despite heavy Government orders, employment declined in the woollen and worsted industry ; the building trade, directly affected by rearma- ment, has still 15,000 more unemployed than in April of last year. Except perhaps in engineering, the problem of labour shortage is not likely to arise in the near future.
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