machinery have increased in relative as well as absolute importance since 1939, the machinery groups having surpassed even their wartime peaks. Durable goods employment on the whole, though not as high as during the war, was greater in 1955 than nondurable employment, thus reversing the prewar relationship.

Government Personnel

Government Personnel, United States, 1955 average (in thousands)

Total Federal, State, and local employees

Federal.

Executive_

Legislative..

Judicial_

State and local_

---

6, 914

2, 187

2, 162

22

4

4, 727

3, 025

Military personnel_

Note. Total employees are those in the continental United States; military personnel refer to both the United States and elsewhere. Executive includes not only the executive agencies but also Government corporations, civilian employment in arsenals and navy yards, etc.

Source: U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings, June 1956 (pp. 55 and 63).

Labor Turnover in Manufacturing

When industry is in a recession new jobs are scarce. Layoffs rise and the number who quit their jobs voluntarily falls. When production is active the reverse is true. Many persons quit to look for better jobs; employers try to retain their labor force and layoffs are few; while the rate of hiring (accessions) rises. This relationship makes the labor turnover series a useful indicator of seasonal and cyclical change.

TABLE 20.-Annual averages of Accessions and Separations in Manufacturing, per Month, per 1,000 Employees, Selected Years, 1930-56

Note. Figures show the number of accessions and number of separations of different kinds during the month, per 1,000 wage and salaried workers at mid-month. The 12 monthly figures are averaged to obtain an annual rate.

Certain highly seasonal industries and also plants on strike are omitted from the estimates.

Quits are terminations of employment initiated by employees.

Discharges are terminations of employment initiated by employers for such reasons as the employee's incompetence, dishonesty, etc.

Layoffs are terminations of employment initiated by employers without prejudice to the employee, for such reasons as lack of business, etc.

Miscellaneous separations include retirements and deaths.

Source: For data by month and by industry, and averages for intervening years, see U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings, June 1956 (pp. 93-103).

Hours of Work

Hours of work have been greatly reduced during this century. The prevailing worktime in the United States now is 8 hours per day for 5 days, or 40 hours per week; it is less in some industries, and is also frequently exceeded. If longer hours are worked they are generally paid for at a higher, or premium, rate, usually time-and-a-half. (See p. 139.) It is essential to distinguish, in speaking of the length of the working week, between the standard length-now 40 hours in much of industry and the average hours worked during a given week. Hours worked may be longer than the standard week when there is much overtime; or may be shorter when part-time work, labor turnover, or absenteeism are common: nor do these factors affect all industries alike.2

The average number of hours worked per week in 1955 has been estimated as follows:

Average hours in agriculture varied between 44.7 in the first quarter of 1955 and 50.3 hours in the third quarter. Independent farmers and other self-employed persons are included, as well as unpaid family workers who worked 15 or more hours during the week. These figures are not comparable with other averages shown.

At the beginning of the century, the prevailing workweek in manufacturing was 60 hours (10 hours per day for 6 days). Some industries, notably steel, had a longer working week (66 hours in 1913); and premium pay for overtime was exceptional. By 1925, the prevailing workweek was about 51 hours, and ma many plants had adopted a 51⁄2-day week. Standard hours have been progressively shortened since that time, except for an increase during World War II. Thus, in 1900, a manufacturing employee who was steadily employed worked about 3,000 hours in a year. By 1955, such an employee enjoyed a paid vacation, and actually worked only about 2,000 hours a year. With greatly increased productivity (p. 107), so much more is produced in an hour's working time that workers have gained more purchasing power at the same time that they have achieved greater leisure. The trend in average hours worked is shown in table 21. (For hours in other industries in 1950 and 1955, see pp. 56-57.)

TABLE 21. Average Weekly Hours Worked by Coal, Manufacturing, and Railroad Workers, United States, Selected Years, 1909-56

Injuries and Deaths From Industrial and Other Accidents and Industrial Diseases

Accident rates, except from automobiles, have decreased greatly in recent years. The estimated number of deaths from different causes in 1913 and in 1955 is shown below. (As 1913 numbers are rough estimates, they are shown as ranges.)

Accident Deaths per 100,000 Population, by Cause of Accident

Accidents in public places, except motor-vehicle (drowning,

The improvement has followed continued widespread safety campaigns in all fields. The National Safety Council, a private association formed in 1913 as an outgrowth of years of effort to reduce work accidents, soon broadened its scope to include the prevention of home, automobile, and other types of accident as well.

Industrial accidents and disease have been the special concern of numerous agencies outside as well as within industry. Federal and State governments take part in worker safety programs. The U. S. Department of Labor sets up standards and supplies information and advice, but no legal requirements; State governments administer their own safety laws and programs of education and prevention. (In 1879 a special agency to enforce safety laws was set up by Massachusetts, the first State to take such action.) State workmen's compensation laws (see p. 133) are usually accompanied by laws requiring safety measures, with inspection and enforcement.

Industrial concerns and trade associations, however, have taken the lead in accident prevention. Some industries where the danger is great, such as explosives manufacturing and oil refining, have made such thorough use of safety measures, safety committees, year-round safety education, etc., that their injury rates are among the lowest. Steel and cement companies likewise have obtained excellent results through many years of effort. Farming, trade, and services, on the other hand, largely untouched as yet by organized safety campaigns, contribute greatly to the total number of injuries. Many large firms have reduced their number of injuries to the lowest possible minimum, and most have come near it. The small firms, lacking special safety personnel, account for a considerable share of present injuries.

During recent years (1954 to 1956) the injury rates in manufacturing reached and held at record low levels. The average for 1954 was 11.9 disabling injuries for each million man-hours worked (called the injury-frequency rate). The rate for 1955 increased slightly, to 12.1, and the average for the first 9 months of 1956 has also held at 12.1. These rates are substantially below the average of 13.4 reported in 1953, and far below the wartime peak of 20.0 injuries per million man-hours in 1943. Since 1943, the total volume of injuries in all industry has decreased 20 percent and the number of fatalities has dropped 23 percent, while total employment has risen 15 percent.

Disabling Work Injuries in Manufacturing

Despite substantial reductions injury rates are still high in certain industries, particularly logging (73.5 disabling injuries per million hours worked during 1955); anthracite-and bituminous-coal mining (75.7 and 46.9); roofing and sheet-metal work (41.2); sawmills and