Job Seekers Registered at Public Employment Offices, April 1941

* Prepared in the Research and Statistics D i v i s i o n , Bureau of E m p l o y m e n t Security. S I N C E T H E Bureau of E m p l o y m e n t Security made i ts survey of registrants a t publ ic employment offices i n A p r i l 1 9 4 0 , vast changes have taken place i n the nat ional economy. Between J u l y 1 9 4 0 and A p r i l 1 9 4 1 , the m o n t h of the most recent inventory , the Government had awarded $ 2 0 b i l l ion i n contracts and had disbursed $ 5 . 9 bi l l ion for defense purposes. Near ly three-fourths of the amount spent was for airplanes, ships, and other m i l i t a r y equipment and supplies; the rest went in to construction of cantonments, indust r i a l plants , and housing for workers drawn to centers of defense a c t i v i t y . Product ion of d u r able goods, wh i ch had declined most sharply d u r ing the depression and had lagged behind the general recovery since 1 9 3 3 , suddenly began to exceed product ion of nondurable goods. Plants idle for years were reopened, and new plants were b u i l t . Hundreds of thousands of workers of a l l types were needed, especially i n the skilled m a n u factur ing occupations, for which there had been l i t t l e demand dur ing the past decade. Between A p r i l 1 9 4 0 and A p r i l 1 9 4 1 , i t is estimated, t o t a l employment i n the country increased 1.6 m i l l i o n ; more t h a n a m i l l i o n men were w i t h d r a w n f rom the labor force i n t o the armed services; and t o t a l unemployment declined 2 . 2 m i l l i o n .