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363. The entry of aliens or of non-European British, subjects is still a matter for the Customs Department, and when such persons have applied for permission to settle here the Department has given advice from the employment point of view when such advice has been requested by the Comptroller of Customs. PART IV.—EMPLOYMENT LEVELS SECTION I—EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT IN RETROSPECT (i) Data available on Past Trends and Experiences 364. The year under review has seen the threshold of post-war employment policy crossed. A new approach to employment problems has been established, founded on the study of factual data to an extent not hitherto tackled. Data on employment levels and trends has until the present been deficient. Nevertheless, it is most desirable in crossing the threshold into full-employment policy to construct as coherent a picture as is possible from the scanty data available of the employment trends and experiences of the past, since these experiences throw up the problems which the current and future activities of the National Employment Service will be mainly concentrated on. It is necessary to establish the nature and characteristics of these problems as accurately as is possible if full value is to be derived from the subsequent parts of this report and from succeeding reports of the National Employment Service. 365. Information about the levels of employment or unemployment is particularly deficient in New Zealand for the years prior to 1930. Since 1867 the census returns have provided figures on the occupational distribution of the population, and from 1896 onwards information on unemployment has been included. These five-yearly census returns provide the only complete coverage of data in all fields of employment. The following table shows the main features reflected in census returns :

The population, figures are taken from Volume I of the Census Reports, 1936, and those on unemployment from Volume XI. All tables are exclusive.of Maoris, though prior to 1926 Maori half-castes living as Europeans were included in the population totals. 366. From 1918 onwards information regarding the numbers of people employed in manufacturing industries has been available in the annual Reports on Factory Production. Apart from inference from these reports, the only sources of information regarding employment and unemployment prior to 1930 are the records of unplaced applicants registered at Labour Department Bureaux available from 1892 onwards, and the percentages of trade-unionists unemployed, available from 1925 onwards. From October, -1930, unemployment figures are available at frequent intervals', though changes in administrative procedure make any comparisons between periods somewhat difficult. The coming into force of the Social Security Act in April, 1939, introduced a change in the definition of unemployment and again made comparisons with previous figures difficult. 3*

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Number of Number of Number of Number of ' Population. Males Males Females Females employed. 1 unemployed. eriiployed. unemployed. 1874 300,000 111,000 Not shown 15,000 Not shown 1881 490,000 167,000 Not shown 25,700 Not shown 1891 626,000 207,000 Not shown 45,400 Not shown 1896 703,000 235,000 14,700 50,600 2,630 1901 772,000 274,000 8,400 63,000 1,360 1906 888,000 323,000 8,180 72,000 1,370 1911 1,008,000 363,000 7,150 87,600 1,200 1916 1,099,000 355,000 5,900 97,600 1,150 1921 1,218,000 401,000 11,060 107,600 2,150 ' 1926 1,344,000 438,000 10,690 113,300 2,430 1936 1,491,000 505,000 ■ 35,770 138,900 1,860