INDEX NUMBERS OF CUSTOMARY FULL-TIME HOURS PER WEEK, EARNINGS PER HOUR AND FULL-TIME EARNINGS PER WEEK FOR THE INDUSTRY, 1910 TO 1924, BY SPECIFIED YEARS The State quotas for this study are based upon the United States Census of Manufactures, 1921, for knit goods, which embraced all establishments whose principal products are made by machine knitting. Separate data were not shown by the census for hosiery and underwear. The data here summarized were taken by agents of the bureau directly from the pay rolls and other records of 143 representative establishments located in Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin, which States, according to the Census of Manufactures, 1921, contained 92 per cent of the total number of wage earners employed in the manufacture of knit goods. The majority of wage earners in the hosiery and underwear industry are pieceworkers whose average earnings per hour depend upon the number of jobs or pieces completed in a specified time. The figures for 1924 include 38,549 employees and were taken from the January records of 60 establishments, the February records of 25 establishments, the March records of 33 establishments, the April records of 19 establishments, and the May records of 6 establishments. The great mass of data is, therefore, as of the first quarter of 1924. The figures for other years are from prior publications of the bureau. Data were not collected for the years 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1920, 1921, and 1923. It will be observed that for 1924, averages are shown for 10,146 male employees and 28,403 female employees in 143 establishments. The average earnings per hour of males in all occupations were $0.558 and of females $0.356. The average full-time hours per week of males were 51.6 and of females 50.4. The average full-time earnings per week of males in all occupations were $28.79 and of females in all occupations were $17.94. Studying the several occupations it is seen that for 1924 the average earnings per hour of males ranged from $0.297 for "folders, hosiery and underwear" to $1.099 for "knitters, full-fashioned hosiery"; and of females from $0.322 for "inspectors, hosiery and underwear" to $0.484 for "seamers, full-fashioned hosiery." The days of operation for the 12 months ending December 31, 1923, of the 143 establishments covered in this report ranged from 225 to 308, the average being 294. The difference between the average days of operation and a possible full time of 313 days was due to the following conditions: Four establishments did not operate on any Saturday, while one establishment did not operate on 5, two did not operate on 8, and one did not operate on 50 Saturdays during the year; 143 establishments were closed from 4 to 19 days for holidays; 22 establishments were closed from 3 to 12 days for vacation; 52 establishments were closed from 1 to 67 days on account of slack business or lack of orders, while 21 establishments were closed from 1 to 68 days for other causes. From September 1, 1922, to the period of the 1924 survey there were a number of changes in both wage rates and hours of labor. Thirty-seven establishments reported changes in wage rates. In 33 of these all the employees were affected, while in 4, separate occupations only were affected. Thirty-three establishments reported increases in wages, while 4 establishments reported decreases. Eight of those which reported increases later on during this period reported a decrease, while one establishment which had reported a decrease originally, later on reported an increase. Two establishments reported two separate increases during this period. Seven establishments reported a decrease in weekly hours of labor ranging from three-fourths of an hour to five hours per week. More extended information will be presented in a forthcoming bulletin of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. AVERAGE FULL-TIME HOURS PER WEEK, EARNINGS PER HOUR, FULL-TIME EARNINGS PER WEEK, AND INDEX NUMBERS, IN THE HOSIERY AND UNDERWEAR INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES, 1907 TO 1924, BY OCCUPATION AND SEX AVERAGE FULL-TIME HOURS PER WEEK, EARNINGS PER HOUR, FULL-TIME EARNINGS PER WEEK, AND INDEX NUMBERS, IN THE HOSIERY AND UNDERWEAR INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES, 1907 TO 1924, BY OCCUPATION AND SEX-Con. |