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The diversity of industry is such that the area can continue to
remain prosperous and maintain a reasonable balance in spite of
difficulties in particular sectors.
During the year the Employment Exchange placed 3,325 men and
1,129 women in work locally and 154 men and 39 women in other districts,
this being an increase over the total figure for 1963, Of
all those placed 77 men and 49 women were persons already in employment
who were for a number of reasons seeking a change, while 191 men
and 23 women were disabled.
A further 25 key workers employed by a firm at New Maiden, some
of whom lived in Kingston, were assisted under the Ministry's Transfer
of Labour Schemes to move their households to the Isle of Wight where
they were required to train local labour at the Company's new factory.
In 1964, 56 ex-Regular service men (other ranks) sought help in
their resettlement into civilian employment. Of these 25 were placed
in employment and 8 were accepted for courses for vocational training
to fit them for specific occupations in civilian life.
There was little change in the labour force in the local aircraft
industry during the year. Following the change of Government in
October the aircraft industry became the subject of special review,
but by the end of 1964 nothing definite had been decided.
The overall picture is happily one of continuing full employment.
Of those unemployed a good proportion are people over 60 who have retired
from their normal employment, and for these openings are
certainly few. There is always some turnover of labour taking place,
but, in common with most of South-East England, a general labour
scarcity prevails."
3. Extract from Vital Statistics of the Year.
The crude birth and death rates for local areas cannot properly
be compared by reason of the fact that the population on which they
are based may be of widely differing sex and age constitutions. Consequently
the Registrar General provides a comparability factor for
each area. When the crude rate of any area is multiplied by this
factor an adjusted rate is produced which can be used to compare with
the adjusted rate of any other area, or with the crude rate for
England and Wales as a whole (where the comparability factor is unity).
The comparability factors for Kingston-upon-Thames are Births
1.00, Deaths 0.89.
The birth and death rates in respect of the town are shown overleaf
and for the purpose of providing some comparison the rates for
England and Wales are also shown.