struction activity generally, in relation to other economic indicators during the recent recession and the upturn in 1958. The article took into account also the effects of Government policy in cutting back or accelerating civil public works and military construction programs. It demonstrated the steadiness of conventionally financed housing and the volatile nature of the FHA-VA segment, which has been responsible for most of the year-to-year fluctuations in total private housing starts.

In addition, with the cooperation of authors both inside and outside of the Bureau, a series of articles on construction and housing programs was initiated and published in "Construction Review." These included articles on price trends in construction machinery, the career patterns of former apprentices in the construction trades, work injuries and work stoppages in construction, and the home loan program of savings and loan associations.

Three bulletins were completed and sent to the printer. The first of these interprets results of studies of the characteristics of new housing built during 1954-56. Another presents detailed building permit statistics for the period 1954-58, and furnishes information for linking data for those years with similar statistics compiled prior to 1954. A third bulletin provides data on nonfarm housing starts for the 70-year period 1889-1958, and describes the evolution and development of this statistical series.

At the request of several private firms and trade associations, tentative plans were developed early in the fiscal year for the private financing of another study in the series on new housing characteristics and builders' operations. The F. W. Dodge Corp., which expressed interest in continuing the series on housing characteristics, was provided with descriptive material covering the sampling and survey methods used in previous studies.

An expanding awareness of the need for coordinating housing and construction programs, including those that result in administrative and economic statistics which frequently are not comparable even when covering the same unit of measure, was indicated in requests to the Bureau for advice and other assistance. For example, the Division: (1) reviewed plans for the 1960 Census of Population and Housing for closer comparability of census data with related statistics that have been produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other government agencies; (2) participated in discussions sponsored by the American Standards Association aimed toward development of a model code for residential buildings that would combine the best features of existing codes; and (3) gave information to the American Institute of Architects that would aid the institute in its survey of work on architects' drawing boards as it is related to the future volume of construction.

Along with its study of the various measures proposed to cope with the economic recession, the Division again last year aided the President's Office of Public Works Planning in compiling and tabulating the current year's Shelf of Public Works. Review and analysis of legislation and regulations affecting construction continued in fiscal year 1959 as an essential step in evaluating the effect of public policy determinations on the trend and volume of construction.

Productivity Developments

The report on trends in output per man-hour for the private economy and major sectors was reviewed with both business and labor advisory committees during the fiscal year. The report contains indexes of output per man-hour covering the postwar period for the total private economy, farm and nonfarm sectors, 1947-58. Data for manufacturing and nonmanufacturing covered the period 1947-57. In addition, indexes are included for the total private, farm, and nonfarm sectors back to 1909.

The indexes for the postwar period were part of the Bureau's testimony at the Joint Economic Committee hearings on the January 1959 Economic Report of the President. The material on output per man-hour was published in a release, "Recent Changes in Output per Man-Hour-Total Private Economy and Major Sectors." At the request of the Joint Economic Committee, information previously supplied to the committee on the relationship of labor and nonlabor payments, prices, and output per man-hour was revised and brought up to date for publication in the committee hearings. Indexes of labor and nonlabor payments per dollar of real product and prices for the private nonfarm sector as well as real product per man-hour for the total private economy and real hourly earnings were made available to the public in a separate release.

In addition to the more comprehensive measures of output per man-hour presented in the testimony before the Joint Economic Committee, indexes of output per man-hour for about 23 selected manufacturing and nonmanufacturing industries were released in April 1959. These indexes related to selected years 1919 through 1957 or 1958.

The Bureau continued to work closely with other agencies interested in the development of production and productivity measures. In connection with its work with the Bureau of the Budget's Interagency Committee on Production and Productivity, two papers were presented at a Conference on Research in Income and Wealth; one on "Data Available for the Measurement of Productivity," the other on "Estimates of Real Product in the United States by Industrial Sector, 1947-1955."

The Bureau completed its joint project with the Bureau of the Census and Federal Reserve Board to develop benchmark indexes of manufacturing production for the years 1947 and 1954, based on data from the Census of Manufactures. The results were released in a joint publication as volume IV of the "1954 Census of Manufactures." The benchmark indexes will provide the basis for revising and extending the indexes of output per man-hour for manufacturing.

The Bureau also prepared tables and text for the section on productivity in the forthcoming revised edition of "Historical Statistics," to be published by the Bureau of the Census.

Work began on measurement of output per man-hour for petroleum refining and electric and gas utilities.

Automation

The Bureau continued to collect data for individual plants which have recently introduced automation. A case study was published on the implications for productivity, displacement, skills required, and personnel management of an airline which had installed an electronic reservation system. A draft report on the mechanization of a foundry was also prepared. A detailed study was started of the effect of major technological changes in the paper and pulp industry, for five plants, geographically distributed. Work began on a case study of technological changes introduced by the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Older Worker Activities

A report was drafted covering 20 companies that had installed large-scale computers. It covers the implications of electronic data processing for displacement, reassignment, and retaining of office employees, with particular reference to the special problems of older persons. The report presents data on the extent of job and occupational changes among employees of different age groups and describes the personnel practices adopted to cope with the problems that arose in the introduction of electronic data-processing machinery.

A study was completed of the relationship of age and productivity of office employees. It covered approximately 6,000 employees in 21 private companies and 5 Government agencies. The findings parallel those of studies previously made for factory workers.

Construction Labor Requirements

Exploratory work began on a program for estimating the employment-generating effects of various types of construction. The initial emphasis will be on the development of estimates for direct "on-site❞ labor requirements. Developmental work will also proceed on estimating the employment requirements for materials and equipment used in new construction.

Industrial Hazards

As in previous years, the Industrial Hazards Division worked closely with the National Safety Council. The two organizations pooled their basic data and jointly prepared the annual national estimates of work-injury volume and of total manpower losses resulting from work injuries during 1958. These estimates were released simultaneously. This procedure eliminates duplication and avoids the confusion and misunderstanding which arose when each organization compiled and issued its estimates separately.

The Division also prepared for the council special injury-rate tabulations in groupings matching the council's sectional groups for which it publishes injuryrate data based upon the experience of its members. The council publishes both the rates for their groups and the more comprehensive national rates from

BLS surveys to demonstrate differential rates and to present an effective argument for organized establishment safety programs.

The Division also provided the council with detailed data drawn from other studies which the council publicized in its monthly magazine and in its annual fact book. In addition, the Division prepared special materials for a number of speakers who were addressing sectional meetings of the council.

The Division participated extensively in the development of the amendments to the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Act providing for the establishment of a Federal safety program for these industries. Early drafts of the amendments were reviewed and a number of suggestions were offered, summary tables of available data were prepared for use in justifying the need for the legislation, and the Department was briefed on the significance and limitations of the data. In testimony on the bill, the Department indicated that it interpreted the amendment as including authority for compulsory reporting of injury-rate data, although this was not specifically mentioned in the amendment.

Staff of the Division participated extensively in the safety standards work of the American Standards Association; participated in the statistical committee of the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions; served as adviser to the National Health Survey of the U.S. Public Health Service; and participated in the preliminary planning for the 1960 President's Conference on Occupational Safety.

A wide range of technical consulting services in the field of work-injury and accident analysis were furnished to the 10 cooperating States and to the Workmen's Compensation Commission of Georgia.

The following formal survey reports were issued during the year:

Four quarterly injury-rate tabulations covering the experience of 135 manufacturing industries.

Estimates of the total volume of disabling work injuries in the United States during 1958 and of the resulting manpower losses.

Final annual injury rates for some 160 manufacturing and 50 nonmanufacturing industries during 1958.

Two special reports summarizing current work-injury experience in the construction and retail trade industries.

A major report detailing the types of accidents and the causes thereof experienced in the boilershop products industry.

A major report detailing the work-injury experience of the cooperage industry.

Special-purpose reports prepared during the year included:

A series of analytical charts of work-injury data for use by the Planning Committee for the 1960 President's Conference on Occupational Safety.

Summary tabulations of work-injury volume (1936-57); rates of injury per 1,000 workers; and current injury rates for selected industries in the United States were prepared for the U.S. Information Agency for distribution abroad.

A tabulation of logging and sawmill injury experience in the State of Maine for the Maine Department of Labor.

A tabulation of the injury experience of their member companies for the National Concrete Masonry Association.

Chart summaries covering the injury experience of the cooperage and concrete brick and block industries for presentation at industry conventions.

A tabulation of injury rates for pulpwood production operations for the American Pulpwood Association.

Two releases summarizing injury-rate findings from studies in the logging and sawmill industries.

Two tabulations comparing the types of accidents experienced by minors with those experienced by all workers in selected industries were prepared for the Bureau of Labor Standards.

A series of descriptions of accidents to minors, drawn from the last 5 special industry surveys, was prepared for the Bureau of Labor Standards.

A group of 117 case descriptions relating to industrial-truck accidents was selected from data collected in the concrete brick and block survey and prepared for use by the Bureau of Labor Standards in developing accident-prevention recommendations for the operation of these vehicles.

A new extensive study of injuries and accident causes in the operation of public school lunchrooms was started.

Foreign Labor Conditions

As part of the Division's regular program, many special reports and analyses were prepared for policy papers being prepared by the Department in connection with the foreign aid program. Background papers on subjects to be discussed at meetings of the International Labor Organization Governing Body were prepared for U.S. delegations.

To help the Department to meet its responsibilities in interagency programs, the Division participated in the work of interagency committees. In cooperation with the Department of Commerce, members of trade missions were briefed for representation at U.S. trade fairs abroad. Foreign Service officers were briefed before assignments to new posts. Appraisals of the labor reporting by the Foreign Service were made in cooperation with the Office of International Labor Affairs. The Division was represented on the Foreign Service Selection Board and staff members lectured at the Foreign Service Institute; a Division representative attended the Paris Conference of U.S. Labor Attachés. A biweekly report on foreign labor developments was prepared and transmitted regularly to the oversea posts. A staff member sat in on some of the deliberations of the OCB (Operations Coordinating Board). Division staff continued to prepare the labor section of the "Handbook of Latin American Studies" published by the Hispanic Foundation of the Library of Congress.

The Division continued to provide information on a wide range of topics in the field of foreign labor economics in response to individual requests from the Congress, labor and business organizations, and the general public. These reports included tabulations of earnings by industries or occupation in foreign countries as well as analyses of industrial relations, fringe benefits, and data on labor force. A bibliography of basic source material for research in foreign and international labor was published. An investigation of labor costs per man-hour in the steel industry was made for a number of countries to determine whether such data could be developed.