A year of economic expansion.. Increase in both employment and unemployment. Page Development and use of labor market facts.. Informing the public.... Improved information for economic analysis. 105 105 108 110 Special activities... 110 1. Selected employment service activities, U.S. totals for fiscal 123 2. Significant provisions in State unemployment insurance laws, 124 3. Claims, beneficiaries, amount and duration of benefits under 4. Subject employers, covered employment, and selected unem- 6. Selected data on unemployment compensation for veterans program, U.S. totals for fiscal years 1954-60, by State for fiscal year 1960. 126 128 130 131 7. Disqualifications under State programs, by issue, fiscal years 1953-60, and by State for fiscal year 1960... 8. Selected data on unemployment compensation for ex-servicemen, U.S. totals for October 1958-June 1960, by State for fiscal year 1960... 132 134 Introduction Economic security for most people is the assurance of a regular and adequate income. Making this possible for the American labor force is the major goal of the Federal-State employment security system. The system includes 54 State employment security agencies linked with each other and with the Federal Government through the Department of Labor's Bureau of Employment Security. To the employers and employees who seek its services, the face of the employment security system is the local public employment office. There are over 1,800 of these, stretching from Florida to Hawaii. Both Federal and State laws govern the operations. This system makes two major approaches to the goal of employment security. One is a Federal-State employment service which provides a nationwide employment exchange geared to finding jobs for workers, and workers for employers, in both nonfarm and agricultural establishments. The other is a system of unemployment insurance which provides income to wage earners who become involuntarily unemployed. This factual statement on the basic functions of the employment security system is deceptively simple, however. It does not, for example, reveal the dynamics of the Federal-State partnership in which funds for administration are federally supplied while the actual operation is by the States. The Bureau is responsible for auditing State accounts, establishing budgetary standards, assuring a merit system of personnel selection, and offering technical advice and assistance to the States. In the same sense, a bald statement that 16 million job openings were filled, which is the total for fiscal 1960, fails to reveal the unique problems involved in placement when a worker is over 40, or is physically or mentally handicapped, or new to the labor market. It doesn't tell about the special services to veterans, nor about the farm labor program concerned with the particular needs of the agricultural labor market. No simple statement of accomplishment ever explains the volume of work involved in processing unemployment insurance claims, interviewing, bookkeeping, striving for swift, regular payment. In order to perform intelligently in all of these areas, the Bureau and the States study the labor market to discover the trends of employment and unemployment, the kind of skills that will find use, and where they will be needed. They delineate and seek to vitalize centers of chronic unemployment. Occupational research and information is essential to a sound employment security program. In quite a different field, the employment security system, with its 25-year experience in manpower, works constantly on defense readiness and manpower mobilization. Also, realizing that many other countries have the same labor problems as the United States, the employment security system aids them by training personnel, providing technical assistance, and exchanging information. The Bureau seeks to insure effective performance of its diversified and farreaching operations by subjecting them to the continual scrutiny of the Federal Advisory Council, a statutory body composed of representatives of employers, employees, and the public. In addition, from time to time the Bureau calls in special consultants, as it did in fiscal 1960, to provide a fresh view of the system's activities. Consultants this year studied and presented a number of valuable recommendations on the future policy and program of the employment service. A summary review of how the employment security system interpreted economic security in fiscal year 1960 shows that advances were made in all its programs. Nonfarm placements rose 6.7 percent above fiscal year 1959, with over 6 million placements made by the public employment offices. Especially noteworthy was the 12.8 percent jump in placement of professional workers, attributable in part to improved techniques developed by the Bureau for assisting professional people seeking employment outside their own communities and to the expansion of the professional office network. Living and working conditions for migrant farm labor improved through the Secretary's issuance of new regulations, through the legislative interest revealed in over 30 bills introduced into Congress, and through the efforts of local communities more aware than ever before of the needs of this group. Fiscal year 1960 saw continuing interest in bettering the quality of employment security personnel. Forty-two State agency administrators and 17 Bureau directors participated in executive leadership conferences conducted by the Brookings Institution. As another example, over 600 employment service counselors were enrolled in outservice training courses at various universities throughout the country during the fiscal year. In its continual exploration of the meaning of labor market facts, the employment security system moved forward by developing seasonally adjusted insured unemployment figures, which will allow deeper analysis of this data. During the steel strike, the Bureau issued seven semimonthly reports on the strike's impact. A new report on "Characteristics of the Unemployed" was introduced to throw more light on who are the unemployed. Skill surveys were completed in a number of areas of chronic unemployment which may provide the basis of attracting new industry for these regions. In fiscal 1960, over $2 billion was paid in unemployment insurance benefits, and, in a year of considerable unemployment in certain centers, the processes of payment reached a new peak of efficiency. The detailed report in the following pages sheds light upon the meaning of employment security in fiscal 1960. To be understood, it should be viewed against the economic setting of the year's operations. |