161 
.S 
nt 
10 
2 
3 
3 
12 
12 
UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE UNITED STATES 41 
Mr. Micuener. What is the average number of men out of em- 
ployment in the United States in ordinary prosperous times? 
Mr. Green. About 9 per cent. 
Mr. MicueNer. Normal times. 
Mr. Green. About 9 per cent; that is, it has increased to 9 per 
cent during these periods, during this intense period of machine 
displacement and technological unemployment. Heretofore it was 
not quite so great. 
Mr. MoNTAGUE. You mean involuntary unemployment. 
Mr. Michener. What I mean is this: If the country was normal and 
we were going along in a way in which I was satisfied, you were satis- 
fied, and everybody else, how many men would naturally be out of 
employment? Of course, it is often asserted and I think I heard 
Mr. Gompers say at one time, before this committee, there were 
probably 2,000,000 men who were not working in the country who 
did not want to work. That is what I am getting at. 
Mr. Green. Congressman, that question has been highly debated. 
The Labor Department has made statements that a certain number 
of men were unemployed. 
Mr. MicHENER. Yes. 
Mr. Green. Then other statistical departments have challenged 
the statement and there has been some more or less confusion. 
Mr. MicueNER. I have great respect for your judgment and I 
wondered what your judgment was. 
Mr. Green. Thank you, sir. I want to try to maintain the stand- 
ard you have set; but it is our best judgment that the unemployment 
runs about 9 per cent under normal conditions. Now let me make 
this observation, however, that the census on unemployment has 
been taken and for the first time in the history of our country we 
ought to have the picture before us—the picture of unemployment; 
because, through the census enumerators, the Government has 
endeavored to ascertain the number who are constantly employed, 
who want work, but can not find work, and the men who are out of 
work because of sickness, or because of some other inability, and 
because of seasonal unemployment. So the whole picture will be 
before us and we will be able to know what the situation is in a few 
months. 
Mr. Micaener. This 9 per cent—that would mean about how 
many individuals? 
Mr, GReeN. Well, we have to find the total number of employed 
in the United States. I think perhaps 9 per cent of 30,000,000 
or 35,000,000 emplovees. That would take in. of course, office em- 
ployees. 
Mr. MicaeNer. That would be, normally, we would have, say, 
between two and three million people in this country out of emplov- 
ment? 
Mr. Green. Well, you understand they would be out of emplov- 
ment temporarily, most of them. 
Mr. MicueNER. Yes. 1 am talking about normal times, just the 
number of people not working. 
Mr. Green. Yes. I judge it would run perhaps 9 per cent of 
whatever the total number was. 
_ Mr. Hickey. Do you take the agricultural workers into considera- 
tlon in that number? 
Mr. GreeN. Yes.