From the foregoing table it will be seen that, leaving out of 
account the year 1926, which was the year of the General Strike, 
unemployment in the Engineering Industry by March, 1930, had 
assumed greater proportions than the industry has known since 
1925, the earliest comparable date, and further that by June, 1930, 
unemployment exceeded the average unemployment in 1926 when 
the whole country was dislocated by the Miners’ Strike and the 
General Strike. At October, 1930, there were unemployed in the 
Engineering Industry 197,000 workpeople, representing 19-4 per 
cent. of the insured Engineering employees. 
In every table relating to unemployment the percentage un- 
employed has been calculated on the total number insured as at 
July of each year. This figure varies each year and it may happen 
that a greater number unemployed may represent a smaller per- 
centage of the total insured in any one vear compared with another. 
While the general figures show the depression of the industry, 
some interesting deductions may be made from the figures relating 
to the individual branches shown in Appendix “ A.” It will be 
found that the variations are in some respects very much more 
acute than in the general table. For example, whilst unemployment 
in the Marine Engineering Industry represented, on an average 
in 1926, 28-2 per cent. of insured employees, it had come down at 
the commencement of 1930 to 10-8 per cent., but by October, 
1930, it had risen to 26'2 per cent. 
In the Motor Industry average unemployment in 1926 was 
8:6 per cent. and at the commencement of 1930 it was 7-7 per 
cent. It had increased to 15-7 per cent. by October 1930. 
It may be argued that, to some extent, this increase in unemploy- 
ment is due to rationalisation and to the introduction of more 
scientific methods of manufacture. 
It may be contended that improved methods of production have 
contributed to a temporary increase in unemployment, but it cannot 
be argued with any reasonableness that this has created an increase 
in unemployment of from 10-1 per cent. to 19-4 per cent. in the 
first ten months of 1930. The progress of science is not so 
rapid and rationalisation to that extent has not been proceeding in 
the industry.