LABOR: Jobs & Jobless

One looming problem for the new Administration came clear last week in the October employment figures. More people were holding jobs (67,490,000) than in any previous October—yet unemployment, which normally falls by 200,000 during the month, rose by 191,000 to 3,579,000. (The number of long-term unemployed—jobless for 15 weeks or more—increased from 800,000 to 1,000,000.) Apparent cause: more and more of the World War II crop of babies coming of working age.

If there is no change in the pace of the economy, said the Labor Department, seasonal factors will drive the unemployment total up to 5,250,000 in January.