2 MISC. PUBLICATION 570, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



Table 1. — Employment, prices, and income, United States, average 1935-39, 

 19^3, and estimates for 1950 under assumed conditions 













1 1950 







Unit or 



Average 











Item 



base 



1935-39 



1943 



Full 

 employment 



Intermediate 

 employment 



Serious 

 depression 



Total labor force 



Million 



53.8 



62.6 



60.0 



60.0 



60.0 



Armed forces 



Million 



.3 



9.1 



2.0 



2.0 



2.0 



Total unemployment. 



Million 



10.2 



1.1 



2.0 



7.0 



17.0 



Total civilian em- 



Million 



43.3 



52.4 



56.0 



51.0 



41.0 



ployment. 















Total agricultural 



Million 



9.3 



8.3 



8.0 



8.5 



9.0 



employment. 















Total nonagricultural 



Million 



34.0 



44.1 



48.0 



42.5 



32.0 



employment . 















Gross national prod- 



Billion dols_ 



81.9 



187.8 



188.0 



130.0 



76.5 



uct. 















National income 



Billion dols_ 



65.4 



149.4 



150.0 



105.0 



57.5 



"Wholesale prices, all 



1926 



81.0 



103.0 



103.0 



87.0 



66.0 



commodities , index . 















Cash income from 



Billion dols_ 



8.0 



19.2 



17.0 



12.5 



6.5 



farm marketings. 















Net income of farm 



operators. 

 Prices received by 



Billion dols_ 



4.2 



11.4 



9.3 



6.5 



3.0 



August 1909- 



107.0 



193.0 



165.0 



125.0 



75.0 



farmers, index. 



July 1914 













Prices paid, interest, 



August 1909 



128.0 



162.0 



165.0 



140.0 



120.0 



and taxes, index. 



July 1914 













Parity ratio (prices 



August 1909 



64.0 



119.0 



100.0 



89.0 



62.0 



received vs. prices 



July 1914 













paid) i 















Food consumption, 



1935-39 



100.0 



106.0 



118.0 



110.0 



100.0 



per capita, index. 















Agricultural produc- 



1935-39 



100.0 



129.0 



2 135.0 



1 125.0 



2 115.0 



tion, index. 















1 The number of employed or unemployed is not the only factor that distinguishes 

 any one set of conditions from the other 2 assumed for 1950. The general price level and 

 productivity per worker change also. The full employment estimates assume a minimum 

 frictional unemployment of 2 million persons, continuation of trends in productivity per 

 worker, and a general price level equivalent to that of 1943, with prices received by 

 farmers adjusted to their usual relation with the general price level during 1921-41. 

 The intermediate situation assumes per capita income and prices generally at about the 

 level of 1941. Serious depression assumes an income level somewhat above 1932, but 

 below 1935-39 and prices generally about equal to the average of 1932 and 1933, but 

 since both the labor force and productivity per worker are increasing, unemployment 

 under this situation would be even greater than in 1932 and 1933. Population in 1950 

 is estimated at 144,000,000. All three estimates assume 2 million workers in the armed 

 forces. 



2 Production consumers would buy (and farm families would use) at the prices assumed. 



The differences between the conditions likely to be associated with 

 various levels of employment include more than changes in the num- 

 ber of workers employed. They include also changes in the utiliza- 

 tion of capital and other resources, as well as changes in productivity 

 per worker and in the general price level. Whether and to what 

 extent a given change in the number of workers employed would set 

 in motion all of these other changes depends in part upon who em- 

 ploys them, how they are employed, and under what conditions. The 

 full-employment estimates are based on the assumption that most of 

 the employment would be private employment, and this report is 

 concerned with how to maintain full employment that is largely 

 private employment. 



Shifting Production From War To Peace 



More or less time will be required after the fighting stops to com- 

 plete the reconversion of the economy to a peacetime basis. The 

 major domestic problems of this transition period fall into six 



