in each class receiving 30.0 cents or over. Thus, the gains were from 0.4 to 31.3 percent in the class earning 30.0 cents, from 7.0 to 29.5 percent in the group receiving over 30.0 and under 35.0 cents, from 2.3 to 17.7 percent among those earning 35.0 and under 40.0 cents, and from 1.1 to 13.1 percent among those earning 40.0 cents and over. With the discontinuance of the code, a sharp increase took place in the relative number of southern females earning less than 30.0 cents per hour, the percentage rising from 8.4 in August 1934 to 22.2 in August 1935. This rise was accompanied by an equally sharp decline in the percentage receiving 30.0 and under 35.0 cents (from 60.8 to 46.5). The changes in the classes earning 35.0 cents or more were small, the total variation being from 30.8 percent in August 1934 to 31.3 percent in August 1935.

Changes by Occupational Classes

The variations in the average hourly earnings of individual occupations and occupational groups are presented in table 6.

6

TABLE 6.-Average hourly earnings by region, sex, and occupational class

• These include occupations not sufficiently large to warrant the publication of separate averages,

TABLE 6.-Average hourly earnings by region, sex, and occupational class-Con

7

For male workers in the North, averages are presented for 23 individual occupations and 7 occupational groups. In May 1933, the range in the averages of individual occupations was from 26.4 cents for unskilled miscellaneous bench workers to 57.7 cents for machine adjusters and repairmen. However, when all averages are considered, the occupational group of office and plant supervisory employees had the highest, 64.5 cents, and the occupation of unskilled miscellaneous bench workers still had the lowest, 26.4 cents. In August 1934, machine helpers and floormen had the lowest average of any occupational class, 40.2 cents, while scorer operators had the

The 7 occupational groups include compositors and printing pressmen, office and plant supervisory employees, office and plant clerical workers, other unskilled service workers, other skilled indirect workers, other semiskilled indirect workers, and other unskilled indirect workers.

highest average of any individual occupation, 69.2 cents, and office and plant supervisory employees the highest of all averages shown, 80.8 cents. Between May 1933 and August 1934, office and plant clerical employees had the smallest relative increase in average earnings, 12.6 percent, and unskilled miscellaneous bench workers the greatest, 59.5 percent. In general, the percentages of change seemed to vary indirectly with skill. Thus, on the whole, percentage increases were small for the skilled classes, greater for the semiskilled classes, and greatest for the unskilled classes. Between August 1934 and August 1935, the average hourly earnings advanced in 11 of the occupational classes, declined in 17, and remained unchanged in 2. The relative increases ranged from 0.2 percent for combination printing pressmen and feeders and for printing-press feeders to 3.3 percent for scorer feeders. The decreases, on the other hand, extended from 0.7 percent for ender feeders and for unskilled miscellaneous bench workers to 10.1 percent for hand box makers. In August 1935, watchmen had the lowest average hourly earnings, 38.5 cents, and, as in August 1934, scorer operators had the highest average, 68.6 cents, of any individual occupation, and office and plant supervisory employees the highest of all averages presented, 79.5 cents.

In the case of female workers in the North, the range in average hourly earnings in May 1933 was from 23.4 cents for hand turners-in to 46.5 cents for office and plant supervisory employees. In August 1934, the lowest average, 31.0 cents, was for other indirect workers, while the highest, 52.6 cents, was still for office and plant supervisory employees. The percentage gains between these two periods extended from 12.4 for miscellaneous machine operators to 53.8 for hand turners-in. It will be noticed that the August 1934 average for other indirect workers was 1.5 cents under the code minimum. This was due to the presence in this group of learners and apprentices and substandard workers, whose averages in August 1934, while much higher than in May 1933, were still well under the code minimum. With the exception of three small increases, the average earnings per hour decreased in all occupational classes between August 1934 and August 1935. The declines, both relative and absolute, were smallest for automatic wrapping-machine operators, 0.1 cent or 0.2 percent, and greatest for miscellaneous machine feeders, 2.3 cents or 5.9 per

The following classification of occupational classes according to skill was used: The skilled group included miscellaneous cutter operators, compositors and printing pressmen, combination pressmen and feeders (printing), scorer operators, corner-cutter operators, quadruple-stayer operators, ender operators, miscellaneous machine operators, machine adjusters and repairmen, truck drivers, office and plant supervisory employees, and other skilled indirect employees; the semiskilled group comprised miscellaneous cutter feeders, printing-press feeders, scorer feeders, corner-cutter feeders, single-stayer operators, quadruplestayer feeders, ender feeders, hand box makers, miscellaneous machine feeders, office and plant clerical employees, and other semiskilled indirect workers; the unskilled group included unskilled miscellaneous bench workers, machine helpers and floormen, bundlers and packers, watchmen, laborers, other unskilled service workers, and other unskilled indirect workers.

cent. On the other hand, the increases were small, ranging from 0.1 cent or 0.3 percent for quadruple-stayer feeders to 0.8 cent or 2.2 percent for corner-cutter feeders. In August 1935, the same two occupational classes had respectively the lowest and the highest average hourly earnings as in August 1934, the range being from 30.0 cents for other indirect workers to 53.1 cents for office and plant supervisory employees. The 1935 average of the other indirect workers was affected even to a greater extent than in 1934 by the presence of learners and apprentices, as the number of these workers more than doubled during this period, and, along with that, their average hourly earnings declined slightly over 8 percent.

In the North, there are eight identical occupational classes for which a comparison of average hourly earnings may be made by sex. In May 1933, the differential in favor of males was 5.7 cents for corner-cutter feeders, 5.5 cents for single-stayer operators, 4.4 cents for quadruple-stayer feeders, 17.1 cents for hand box makers, 1.2 cents for unskilled miscellaneous bench workers, 5.4 cents for bundlers and packers, 18.0 cents for office and plant supervisory employees, and 8.9 cents for office and plant clerical employees. Instead of decreasing, as provided under the code,' these differences increased somewhat. Thus, in August 1934, they were respectively 7.0, 9.6, 7.7, 19.0, 5.5, 7.8, 28.2, and 9.5 cents. With the discontinuance of the code, however, these differentials declined in six and increased in two of the eight occupational classes. In August 1935, the respective differentials were 5.8, 8.2, 8.8, 14.0, 7.0, 7.0, 26.4, and 8.7 cents.

The range in the average earnings per hour of male workers in the South was from 18.4 to 46.5 cents in May 1933 and from 33.6 to 60.1 cents in August 1934. In both periods, the lowest earnings were for machine helpers and floormen and the highest for other skilled indirect workers. The same two occupational groups had respectively the greatest and smallest relative change between May 1933 and August 1934, 82.6 percent for the former and 29.2 percent for the latter. Following the discontinuance of the code, the averages of all but one of the six groups shown declined, miscellaneous machine feeders having the smallest decrease, 0.3 cent or 0.8 percent, and miscellaneous machine operators the greatest, 3.5 cents or 6.2 percent. During this period, the average of machine helpers and floormen advanced 0.9 cent or 2.7 percent. In August 1935, other unskilled indirect workers had the lowest average hourly earnings, 33.1 cents, and, as in the other two periods, other skilled indirect workers had the highest average,

59.5 cents.

The average earnings per hour in the nine occupational classes shown for female workers in the South varied from 17.8 to 23.8 cents in May

See p. 13.

1933, from 31.6 to 36.0 cents in August 1934, and from 30.4 to 34.5 cents in August 1935. In each period, automatic wrapping-machine operators had the highest average, while hand turners-in had the lowest average in 1933 and 1935 and, together with other indirect workers, the lowest in 1934. Between May 1933 and August 1934, the females in the South had, on the whole, the highest percentage increases of any group. The lowest percentage gain during this period was 34.5 for other indirect workers and the highest was 77.5 for hand turners-in. These large advances were due to the low precode average hourly earnings in this group and to the necessity of bringing these earnings in line with the code minimum. In all but two of the occupational classes, the average hourly earnings dropped between August 1934 and August 1935. Machine strippers and miscellaneous machine feeders had the smallest decline, 0.8 cent or 2.4 percent, and hand box makers the greatest decrease, 3.5 cents or 10.2 percent. The advances were 1.0 cent or 3.0 percent for unskilled miscellaneous bench workers and 1.5 cents or 4.7 percent for other indirect workers.

Among female employees, there are six identical occupations for which regional comparisons are possible. In May 1933, the differentials in favor of females in the North were 8.6 cents for single-stayer operators, 8.6 cents for machine strippers, 5.6 cents for hand turners-in, 8.0 cents for automatic wrapping-machine operators, 9.2 cents for hand box makers, and 3.5 cents for unskilled miscellaneous bench workers. By August 1934, these differences had declined in the first five occupations mentioned and increased slightly in the sixth. They were respectively 4.5, 7.5, 4.4, 5.0, 4.4, and 3.7 cents. The reductions were due to the greater relative and absolute increases in the average hourly earnings of females in the South than in the North. On the other hand, the slight increase in the differential favoring female unskilled miscellaneous bench workers in the North was due to the fact that between May 1933 and August 1934 the absolute increase for that occupation in the North was slightly greater than in the South. In August 1935, for each of the six occupations, the differentials in favor of females in the North, which amounted respectively to 5.5, 7.2, 4.4, 6.4, 7.1, and 0.9 cents, were all smaller than the corresponding differentials in May 1933. As compared with August 1934, however, they increased in three instances, declined in two, and remained unchanged in one.