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STATE OF EMPLOYMENT
Finchley is largely a residential district containing comparatively little industry or
commerce and is mainly a "white collar" area, the majority of workers travelling to
the City or West End. More manual workers are now settling in the district but again
most of the skilled workers travel to the more industrialised areas of Hendon,
Wembley, Willesden, etc.
The percentage of unemployed workers to the employed population is not known,
but it is believed to be well below the national percentage.
Unemployment usually reaches its lowest point in June of each year, normally
rises again after Christmas and then starts to decrease in March. The exceptionally
hard winter and consequent general recession in industry resulted in a considerable
increase in the registers in early February to a peak of 411 men and 28 women. The
registers gradually decreased during the summer but industry did not recover its
momentum until later in the year and due to this continued momentum the decrease
was maintained during the 1963/64 winter.

School leavers, slightly fewer in number than last year, were absorbed into
employment without undue difficulty, although the choice of employment available to
boys and girls in Finchley was somewhat restricted. Conditions improved as the year
progressed and they were able to select from a large number and variety of local
vacancies. This upward trend was noticeable also in the neighbouring areas to which
some of our young workers are attracted every year.
The variety of occupations open to young people did not affect the popularity
of some. As in previous years, engineering attracted boys of all ages and all levels
of ability. Next in order of preference were the building and electrical contracting
industries, the distributive trades and office work of various kinds.
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