Among the 5000 MC&B organics and inorganics are several groups of reagents that we developed for special high purity requirements: SPECTROQUALITY® SOLVENTS—a comp l e t e l i n e of s o l v e n t s for s p e c t r o photometry, fluorometry, Far UV, etc. Generally recognized as the highest quality products in the field. CHROMATOQUALITY—More than 100 reagents of 9 9 + mol % purity as established by gas chromatography. Lot chromatogram furnished with each unit. CRITERIOQUALITY—a newline of organic Reference Standards for physical chemical measurements, instrument calibration and other precise techniques. Purity 99.9 mol % For complete information on these and 5000 other MC&B reagents, ask your MC&B distributor for our new Catalog. Or write for a free copy.
MC&B Specializes in Special Grade Reagents for the Biochemist
C&EN CHARTS If levels of employment are any indication of the strength of a nation's economy, then the U.S. economy is in good shape. Not that this is a new observation. But if, as is predicted, the U.S. economy continues to remain strong throughout the remainder of this year and into 1966, then new records in employment will be set for a year that has already brought record highs. August reflected further gains in the U.S. job situation. Payroll employment rose by 3 3 5 , 0 0 0 ( 1 2 5 , 0 0 0 more than seasonally) to 6 1 . 1 million.
It was up 2.1 million from a year ago and at the highest level on record, according to the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The August situation brought the largest over-the-year gain for any month since 1959, when the U.S. economy was recovering from a recession. The 2.1 million gain was also the highest August-to-August increase since 1 9 5 0 . Manufacturing employment in August rose by 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 to 18.3 million — a n all-time high. Consistent with the usual July-to-August pattern, there
EMPLOYMENT Number of Employees chemicals and AIM products
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
46
C&EN OCT. 11, 1 9 6 5
Average Weekly Hours
Average Hourly Earnings
Production Workers
Production Workers
This Week In Business were sharp advances in the soft goods industries (food, tobacco, textiles, and so on), while employment in the hard goods sector (lumber, glass, metals, equipment) showed very little net change. After allowance for seasonal adjustment, there were indications of continued job strength in machinery and transportation equipment (where model changeover layoffs were somewhat less than usual). Primary metals employment was down slightly in August after reaching a five-year high in July.
Among the soft goods industries, apparel and rubber showed small improvements from July; in chemicals and allied products, there were 4800 more jobs in August than July. Employment in manufacturing was up 800,000 in August from a year ago. Three fourths of the increase was in durable goods industries. In the past 12 months, the rate of expansion in manufacturing employment has averaged about 65,000 jobs a month, more than double the average increase from August 1963 to August 1964. The acceleration has been
O C T O B ER
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1965
concentrated in the five major metal and metal-using industries. In comparison with August 1964, there were job increases in excess of 125,000 in machinery, electrical equipment, and transportation equipment. The factory work week, although unchanged between July and August at 41.0 hours, was at the highest August level since 1950. Average factory overtime, at 3.5 hours, was up slightly over the month and at the highest level since the Labor Department started collecting these data in 1956.
PRICES All Wholesale Commodities vs. Chemicals
Industrial Chemicals
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Rubber Products
Petroleum Products
Drugs
OCT.
11,
1965
C&EN
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