Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 2 · column 4 of 7 · from the scan, no model involved
However, if the figures are taken decade by decade since 1890, it is found that the labor force for 1949 showed only the same percentage increase over the 1940 figure as did the population as a whole. Each showed a rise of in per cent, the first time in the last GO years that the population has matched the labor force growth in any decade.
It is true that the recent war did bring an. exception, as it brought so many other distortions to the economy in general. Reflecting the nation’s enormous manpower needs, the labor force broke away from the normal trend and reached a record high above 6fi-million in 1945. However, much of this reflected the huge size of the armed forces, and most of the rest an abnormally large number of teen-agers and elderly men and women over fin who entered the labor force. In the last four years, though, the size of the labor force has shrunk about 4-million to a level somewhat above 62-million, or more in line with normal trends.
Over the long term, there has been a definite downtrend in the proportion o f youngsters of school age and persons of 65 and over in the labor force. Barring unforseen contingencies, authorities expect these trends to prevail in the future. With respect to “oldsters” of retirement age, their withdrawal from labor force will undoubtedly be accelerated by plans to expand Social Security benefits and the growth of the pension movement in private industry.
Forecast for Future
60.2%