Welsh Journals

Search over 450 titles and 1.2 million pages

Editorial Comment Unemployment dwarfs all other Welsh problems in April 1959 AT THE EASTER meeting of the Welsh Board for Industry (West Wales District Committee) held in the Co-operative Hall, College Street, Amman- ford, on 3rd April, 1959, the Ministry of Labour and National Service reported: There has been little change in the general level of employment in the West Wales manufacturing industries. Losses were recorded in engineering, tinplate, iron foundries, vehicles, and watch and clock manufacture; but there were gains in textiles, metal manufacture, metal goods, constructional engineering, chemicals, and food processing. Work on the clearance of the site for the Crawley Industries factory at Llanelly is well advanced and constructional work may begin in about a month's time. In Pembrokeshire, the Territorial Army Training Programme (which will last from April to September) is likely to mean employment for some 80 men who will be needed for a variety of civilian jobs. The labour force at the Esso refinery site, Milford Haven, is steadily increasing and has risen by 91 to 671. At the British Petroleum site on the south side of the Haven the labour force has increased by 51 to 408. At the Rheidol Hydro electric scheme, Aberystwyth, however, there has been a slight fall to 366. There has been a small increase in the number of workers reported to be on short-time in the committee area, and some 2,300 workers (mainly from the metal manufacturing industries) are now affected. The only redundancy reported, however, was at Llanelly where 50 men were discharged from a tinplate works. The register of wholly unemployed fell by over 700 between February and March, of which about 400 were men. There was, however, a rise in the number of temporarily stopped (mostly at Llanelly), leaving a net increase (wholly unemployed and temporarily stopped) of 321 in the number of men unemployed. The total number of unemployed women, boys and girls decreased by 256. Employment Situation THE FOLLOWING is an analysis of persons registered as unemployed in the Committee area as of 9th March, 1959 (excluding registered severely disabled persons who are unlikely to obtain work other than under special conditions).