44 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 197 



Bearing in mind the above qualifications, certain observations can be 

 made. First, the 1950 census reported that about 85 percent of the 

 male Navaho work force was employed in agriculture or in unskilled 

 or semiskilled labor. White-collar and skilled workers comprised only 

 about 10 percent of the employed Navaho male work force at this 

 time. The data from the Arizona employment service for the 1950-56 

 period reveal a similar distribution — about 10 percent of the male 

 Navaho job applicants were classified as qualified for white-collar or 

 skilled work, while the remainder were classified as semiskilled 

 laborers or unskilled laborers and farm workers. 



The 1960 census figures reveal a remarkable improvement in the 

 skill levels of the male Navaho work force, but they also indicate that 

 the skills demanded in the economy have been rising apace. In 1960, 

 about 30 percent of employed Navaho males were working in white- 

 collar occupations, or as skilled workers or as nonprivate household 

 service workers. 



Changes in the occupational distribution of employed Navaho 

 women reveal even sharper improvements during the 1950 decade. In 

 1950, about 90 percent of these women were reported to be engaged 

 in agricultural or service work or semiskilled labor. Similarly, the 

 Arizona employment service classified about 80 percent of the Navaho 

 female job applicants as qualified only for service occupations 

 in the 1950-56 period. It is noteworthy, however, that this employ- 

 ment service classified 7.5 percent of these women applicants as quali- 

 fied for clerical or sales work, whereas the 1950 census found only 1.8 

 percent of employed Navaho women engaged in such work in 1950. 



According to the 1960 census, 22.5 percent of employed Navaho 

 women were in white-collar occupations, as contrasted with only 3.5 

 percent so employed in 1950. These changes suggest that Navaho 

 women have been somewhat more successful than Navaho men in 

 upgrading their skills and in fijiding employment wherein these skills 

 could be utilized. 



However, the very large rise in the unemployment rates reported 

 for both sexes between 1950 and 1960, together with the alarming 

 decline in the proportion of Navahos in the labor force during this 

 10-year period, suggest that the less skilled Navaho adults of both 

 sexes are experiencing even greater difficulty in finding work at the 

 present time. The unemployment rate among Navaho men rose from 

 6.5 percent in 1950 to 20.5 percent in 1960, while the proportion of all 

 Navaho men 14 years old and over in the labor force declined from 

 71.5 percent in 1950 to 48.0 percent in 1960. During the same period, 

 the unemployment rate among Navaho women rose from 1.0 percent 

 in 1950 to 14.8 percent in 1960, while the proportion of Navaho women 

 14 years old and over in the labor force declined from 27.6 percent to 

 19.0 percent in that time. 



