The statistics for the five-year period Dec. 1923 to Dec. 1927, inclusive, together with those for the quarter ending March 1928 (the latest date available), are as follows : Germany.—Official unemployment statistics in Germany relate to the numbers in receipt of unemployment insurance bene fit (published monthly for the whole of the Reich and for the different States) ; to applications for work, vacancies offered, and workpeople placed in the course of employment exchange adminis tratinn and to the records of trade unions with unemployment *From Oct. 13, 1923 until Oct. I, 1927, when the Unemployment Insurance Act of July 16, 1927, came into force, the German system of relieving unemployment was a compromise between relief and insurance: both employers and workers were compulsorily required to contribute to the funds, but the workers were not unconditionally entitled to benefit. Since Oct. I, 1927, unemployment insurance proper has been in force.
France.—French official statistics cover only the numbers of unemployed in receipt of State assistance, and the activities of employment exchanges. The statistics of State relief cover only a limited number of workpeople, the municipal and departmental unemployment funds on which they are based having only a temporary and intermittent existence. The statistics of the activi ties of the employment exchanges set up in each department and open to all workers comprise, inter alia, the number of applica tions and vacancies outstanding and the number of placings during the month. Both these sets of figures are given weekly in the Bulletin du Marche du Travail. Owing mainly to the comple mentary character of agricultural and industrial employment, but also to a combination of other factors, unemployment is not usually a problem of any gravity in France; but the "live register" figures cannot be taken as more than a rough indication of ebb and flow of employment activity. In the five years end ing July 1928 they have varied between 6,883 at the end of Dec. 1923, and 96,591 at the end of Feb. 1927. In 1928 the number on the live regist,:r fell from 32,849 in January to 8,009 in July.
Belgium.—The Belgian statistics of unemployment cover about 630,00o workers voluntarily affiliated to insurance funds and belonging to the chief industries and to transport. They are based
on the reports of these funds, which are controlled and sub sidized by the State. There are also compiled statistics of the activities of public employment exchanges, open to workers of all kinds and established since the war on a national scale. These two series of statistics are published monthly in La Revue du Travail. The insurance figures which are given below, distinguish between those wholly unemployed and those intermittently un employed on the last working day of each month.
Netherlands.—The Dutch official unemployment statistics cover some 310,000 workpeople voluntarily affiliated to unemploy ment funds in the principal industries, as well as in different branches of commerce, transport and agriculture. They show, inter alia, the number of members covered, the number and percentage of unemployed registered during the course of a week (an average for four or five weeks for the month), the total number and the number of days of employment per unemployed worker during the week. These figures are also combined with those obtained from a few trade unions which have no unemploy ment funds but are able to give information regarding the num ber of members unemployed. The percentages resulting from this combination differ very slightly from the others, as the supple mentary data cover only about 9,00o workers. In addition to these relatively complete figures less detailed statistics of a provisional nature are compiled.
The figures for the five months ending June 1928, given below, relate to members of unemployment funds, supplemented by addi tional information from trade unions without such funds.
Sweden.—Official Swedish statistics regarding employment and unemployment cover state relief, showing the number of persons engaged on State or communal relief works; the activities of employment exchanges; statistics of employment in the prin cipal industiles based on returns from about 2,000 employers employing some 270,000 workers indicating the number of work ers engaged and the general state of activity in the undertaking; and unemployment among members of trade unions. The last statistics cover more than 260,00o trade union members in the principal industries and in certain branches of commerce and transport. Figures for the seven months ending July 1928 follow :