Persistent Unemployment
The persistence of unemployment in this country is baffling to foreigners, and it must be admitted that it goes beyond what our own economists had led us to expect. The figures for December show only a small reduction as com- pared with November, and that is mainly due to the absorp- tion of more women for the Christmas trade. This, more- over, is a month when the number of employed regularly shows an increase. The Prime Minister is undoubtedly right in saying that the figures are misleading—a large number of the workless are merely passing from one job to another—and it is also true that the war effort is likely soon to absorb the surplus labour. None the less it is not easy to account for the existing total of 1,361,000 when we remember the huge number of men who have already been drawn into the fighting services or into war work ; and indeed it is im- possible to resist the conclusion that the controls and restrictions imposed have temporarily led to a reduction of employment. Amongst these the restrictions on building have been the most conspicuous. In that trade there is a great deal of unemployment which would not have occurred if the ban on new building had not been too quickly and drastically imposed.
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