Abstract

The Nation Index of Labor Welfare

A slight decline in working-class living standards is indicated by the preliminary figures of The Nation Index of Labor Welfare for May, the last month in which NRA codes were legally in effect. Owing to a continuation of the mild business recession which started in March, employment and payrolls fell off noticeably in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries. The average weekly wage for all industrial workers, including those employed in the retail and wholesale trades, transportation, and mining, as well as in factories, declined from a peak of $21.66 in March to $21.47 for May, a drop of 0.9 percent. The last month's decline was offset by a slight decrease in the cost of living--the first for many months leaving real wages unchanged from the revised April figures at 99 per cent of the 1932 average.