H—ll

Hospitals. —At 31st March, 1948, mental hospitals required 33 women workers and general hospitals 28 nurses and 94 other workers, a total of 155. Corresponding figures for 31st March, 1947, were 55, 164, and 15, totalling 234. Wholesale and Retail Trade.— Vacancies for females in shops, &c, numbered 118 at the end of March, 1947, and 111 at 31st March, 1948. Vacancies for males were 63 and 77 at these dates. Invercargill District In addition to farming and its related seasonal industries, the district offers a wide range of secondary industries, transport, distribution, servicing, and extractive industries such as sawmilling and coal-mining. Employment in seasonal industries other than farming rose from 495 at the end of August, 1947, to 1,721 at 31st January, 1948. The numbers employed in freezing-works rose from 303 to 1,093, in dairy factories from 183 to 366 and in wool-stores from 15 to 262. There are over 1,100 males in extractive industries, including 460 in coal-mining and 450 in bush sawmilling; nearly 3,000 in secondary industries, including more than 900 in engineering trades; 800 in building and construction; 1,400 in rail and road transport; and 4,000 in servicing industries, including more than 1,800 in wholesale and retail trades. Male notified vacancies at 31st March, 1948, numbered 339, comprising 62 skilled, 188 unskilled, and 89 juveniles. These included 14 required for bush sawmilling (9 skilled), 30 for general engineering (18 skilled), 19 for building and construction (5 skilled), and 147 for rail transport. Male vacancies at 31st March, 1947, were 332, comprising 32 skilled men, 268 unskilled, and 32 juveniles. Female notified vacancies at 31st March, 1948, were 82, of which 14 were required for clothing-manufacture, 17 for wholesale and retail trades, and 22 (no nurses) for hospitals. Female vacancies at 31st March, 1947, totalled 111.

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