NOTE: Charts 25 and 26 relate to production or nonsupervisory workers; charts 27 and 28 relate to production workers. Data for the 2 most recent months are preliminary in charts 21-28.

rez tout.) and weekly earnings for

estrars in place wongricultural payrolls for the math of September are 1 to be rescued tier 8. The September carnings fig.res will be

* IH SAT. the wes of September. --is and will be the first ** ****s for a period following imposition of the wage-price-reat freeze

6) kverige weekly earnings are the product of average hourly earnings 1.ses intay may IS. As a result, changes in weekly earnings can re* est.rely from a hange in the length of the workices, without any change of evetage to stay earnings. For example, the average Joraweek of all private prakties and nonsupervisory workers normally declines two-tenths of an hour beweer hugat and September, although i mufacturing and some other Industore it usually tubes.

(2)

Average wurly earnings are computed by dividing total payrolls by to total number of man-hours paid for. Although the wage-price-reat freeze $rombits increases in wage rates, average hourly curaing feen change with

Changes i... wage rates. Inis can happen in several ways:

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(a) Premium pay for overtime, shift differentials, holiday work, etc., will continue to be paid during the freeze and, as a result, any changes in the number of hours paid for at premium rates will affect average hourly earth. For example, overtime hours worked by manufacturing production workers usually rise about two-tenths of an hour between August and September. This in itself could produce an increase of about 1 cent in average hourly earnings for manufacturing.

(b) Average hourly earnings reflect the average earnings of all private payroll production and nonsupervisory workers-- full- and part-time, high and low skilled, and in all occupations and industries. As a result, if a larger proportion of low-paid workers are employed in one month than in the previous month, average hourly earnings will drop, even if individual workers in that month receive the same hourly wage rates. Conversely, an increase in the proportion of the more highly paid workers raises the average. Each September, substantial numbers of lower-paid youth leave their jobs to return to school; because of this shift in worker composition, average hourly earnings typically ise between August and September by several cents.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes monthly in Employment and Earnings an average hourly earnings sexies adjusted for overtime (in manufacturing) and for interindustry employment shifts. In addition, these data are adjusted for seasonal variations. These adjustments allow for some, but not all, of the factors described above.

The above comments on average hourly earnings apply also to the quarterly data published by the Bureau on "total compensation per manhour." On the other hand, quarterly figures for across-the-board increases negotiated under

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collective bargaining (general wage changes, are free of these difficulties. Quarterly data, however, overla the period of the wage-price-rent freeze. Third quarter data (July-September) cover a period both before and after the beginning of the freeze (August 15), and fourth quarter data (OctoberDecember) will cover a period both before and after the end of the freeze.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Changes Affecting Eligibility of Areas for
Various Types of Federal Assistance
October 1971

HIGHLIGHTS

Three major areas--Canton, Lorain-Elyria, and Youngstown-Warren, Ohio--were added this month to the list of areas officially classified by the Manpower Administration as "areas of substantial unemployment. At the same time, two areas --South Bend and Terre Haute, Indiana-were removed from this category. These changes increased the number of major labor areas in the substantial unemployment category (Groups D, E, and F) to 65. 1/

The higher unemployment levels in the Canton, Lorain-Elyria, and Youngstown-Warren areas were due principally to layoffs in the steel industry. Lowered demand for steel reflected earlier stockpiling by steel users fearing a possible industry-wide strike this past summer. Recalls of laid-off workers, some new hiring, and a reduction in new layoffs, brought down unemployment in the South Bend area to the lowest level in almost a year. Fabricated metals, nonelectrical machinery, and transportation equipment, accounted for most of the recent gains in area employment. In the Terre Haute area, the decline in unemployment was attributable to recent employment increases in fabricated metals, nonelectrical machinery, and other durables, combined with a gradual decrease in the area's work force.

A total of eight other areas were added to the substantial unemployment list in October, and four were added to the persistent unemployment list. On the other hand, three other areas were removed from the substantial unemployment category this month. For purposes of Federal procurement preference, all changes in the substantial or persistent unemployment classifications are effective on November 1, 1971.

Two counties in Tennessee--Overton and White--were added to the list of classified sections of concentrated unemployment or underemployment in October. Sixteen areas were found to be newly eligible for assistance under Title I of the Public Works and Economic Development Act.

1/ Descriptions of the various area classification categories are found in the "Explanation of Area Classification" section of this bulletin. The current letter classifications of the 150 major labor areas are shown in the table on "Current Classification and Work Force, Unemployment, and Employment in 150 Major Labor Areas."