Full text: Migration and business cycles

THE PRE-WAR QUARTER CENTURY 
As will be noted more in detail in connection with the immediate 
discussion of each period, the method of analysis differs somewhat 
from period to period in order to make the most profitable use of 
data available. 
QUARTER-CENTURY COMPARISONS 
In Chart 13 we have depicted the fluctuations of male immigration 
and factory employment. Both series represent deviations from 
computed trends with the normal seasonal movement eliminated, 
and hence represent the cyclical fluctuations to the extent that 
these can be statistically isolated. In plotting these curves the 
scale unit for each curve is the typical measure of its fluctuations, 
or the standard deviation, so that the curves are brought into 
convenient form for comparison of the timing of the cyclical flue- 
tuations. It should be remembered, however, in interpreting these 
curves, that the method used conceals the fact that the fluctuations 
in the migration curve are relatively more violent. An approximate 
measure of the relative violence of fluctuation of the two series is 
found in their average deviations from trend, which are, respectively, 
24.74 per cent for male immigration and 3.40 for employment. 
Immigration Fluctuations Lag Behind Employment Changes. 
These series and others subsequently discussed have been examined 
for the degree of consistency in their timing by two methods. In 
the first place a graphic comparison was made by plotting the 
curves on separate sheets and superimposing them over an illum- 
inated chartbox with varying degrees of lag assigned to the migration 
curve. Then, in significant cases, coefficients of correlation have 
been calculated as one means of testing the conclusions reached 
from the graphic comparisons. 
It is quite obvious upon a brief examination of Chart 13 that in 
general contour the fluctuations of male immigration and factory 
employment bear a marked resemblance. Both show a decided 
depression in 1894, a checkered recovery through the late nineties, 
a mild depression in 1904, a boom in 1906 and 1907, followed by the 
severe depression of 1908, a new high in early 1910, and a sharp 
decline in 1914. 
. There are also a few striking differences which challenge attention. 
The sharp drop in immigration in the latter part of 1892, a tem- 
porary crest in the latter part of 1904 and the first months of 1905, 
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