Shortage Spreads

The general shortage of labor throughout the country is spreading. An actual shortage of workers, including farm help, now exists in 23 states, while in 21 others unemployment has been completely absorbed. In only four states does unemployment appear above "normal," according to figures and reports gathered from labor leaders, industrial commissions, State and Federal employment agencies, and private research bureaus which have been conducting labor surveys in the 48 states of the Union.

Statistics show that in 14 states in the central, middle-western, western and southern sections, a shortage in farm labor confronts the tiller of the soil this Spring.

That a period of industrial peace has settled over the entire country is indicated by the report of only nine strikes of any consequence now in progress. Some of these are trivial at present, and none of them appear to cause more than a ripple of local importance. This includes the big railroad shop strike of last July, which is still in effect in some quarters.

In fact so marked is the boom in American industry at present that skilled workers from Canada are entering the United States in great numbers, attracted by higher wages and better living conditions. This has created an embarrassing situation for Canadian industry, which is itself enjoying prosperity and is unable to replace the lost labor except by bidding up wages to the prohibitive level.