The Three Projects

EACH of the three projects undertaken is headed by a project chairman and is being carried on largely with an independent staff.

Project I, dealing with the economic aspects of unemployment, has as its objectives finding out how industrial changes are affecting the volume and character of employment in the region, revealing the types of vocational training and guidance that are needed under modern conditions, and determining what business changes would help to stabilize conditions of employment. To attain these ends, the staff for Project I is at present engaged primarily with four major surveys, as follows: (1) The individual case histories of 4,000 unemployed, (2) the industrial survey, (3) the job analysis survey, and (4) the survey of business migrations.

Project II, dealing with individual diagnosis and retraining, is testing the various methods of diagnosing the vocational aptitudes of unemployed workers, providing a cross section of the basic reeducation problems of the unemployed, and demonstrating methods of reeducation and industrial rehabilitation of workers unemployed because of technological changes.

Under Project III the development of public employment agencies is being studied. It is stated that this project constitutes a type of laboratory or testing ground for certain of the technics developed in the first two projects. At present, public employment offices are maintained jointly by the State and city governments in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth. The funds for the support of these offices are supplemented by the Spelman fund, "with the proviso that for a 2year period the responsibility for the supervision and development of these public employment agencies be assumed by the Tri-City Employment Stabilization Committee." By turning over to the committee the advisory control over the public employment agencies the governor and the industrial commission have sought to make more effective the development of the agencies in cooperation with the employment stabilization committee. The chief objectives sought are four in number, as follows:

1. To establish a unified system of labor clearance. This means coordinating the activities of all placement agencies that seem to be serving a useful community function and clearing job information through the public exchanges. It further involves the minimizing of the number of units engaged in employment work.

2. To establish in the public offices adequate statistical indexes of occupational and industrial trends and conditions in each city, as a background for effective Vocational guidance and placement.

3. To introduce scientific technics for the individual diagnosis of the aptitudes and special qualifications of all applicants for jobs.

4. To provide adequate personnel and equipment in order to maintain effective contact with employers of labor and to administer scientific selection and placement procedures.

THE

Unemployment in Foreign Countries

HE following table gives detailed monthly statistics of unemployment in foreign countries, as shown in official reports, from January, 1930, to the latest available date.

1 Sources: League of Nations-Monthly Bulletin of Statistics; International Labor Office -International Labor Review; Canada-Labor Gazette; Great Britain-Ministry of Labor Gazette; Austria-Statistache Nachrichten; Australia-Quarterly Summary of Australian Statistics; Germany-Reichsarbeitsblatt, Reichs Arbeitsmarkt Anzeiger; Switzerland-Wirt. u. Social, Mitteilungen, La Vie Economique; Poland-Wiedomosci Statystyczne; Norway-Statistiske Meddelelser; Netherlands-Maandschrift; Sweden-Sociala Meddelenden; Denmark-Statistiske Efterretninger; Finland-Bank of Finland Monthly Bulletin; France-Bulletin du Marché du Travail; Hungary-Magyar Statisztikai Szemle; BelgiumRevue du Travail; New Zealand-Monthly Abstract of Statistics; U. S. Department of CommerceCommerce Reports; and U. S. Consular Reports.

*Not reported.

Provisional figure.

New series of statistics showing unemployed registered by the employment exchanges. Includes not only workers wholly unemployed but also those intermittently employed.

Strike ended. Provisional figure.