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2 r tc '-, '3 ~! E T R (J POL I TAN W A T F. R D 1ST R leT ..~~~.. a long succession of above normal rainfall years, caused serious concern. In a number of sections study was being given to the formation of overlying local districts that would be legally eligible to annex to the Metropolitan Water District, and would also be of a size and character acceptable as annexation units by the District's Board of Directors. Indust.rial cJ,:pulIsion In the Los Angeles metropolitan area an industrial expansion of huge proportions has resulted from war's demands. In the prewar year of 1939 the value of manufactured products reporten for this area by the U. S. Department of Commerce was $1,219,- 434,000. Add to this amount the value of motion pictures produced in that year, and the total rises to approximatel.,' $1,400,000,000, lifting this area into lifth place among,t the industrial areas of the nation. No figures are available on the annual value of local manufactures since 1939 because the production has been primarily for war. However at the beginning of 1944 the total value of war contracts in effect in the Los Angeles metropolitan area was the enormous amount of $8,500,000,000. This total is exceeded only by that of the Detroit industrial area. Civilian production is con- tinuing, though on a reduced scale, and, inclusive of motion pic- tures. represents a very considerable volume and value of goods. The California Department of Industrial Relations has released the results of a study of employment in Los Angeles County and has stated that the civilian labor force, including the unemployed, rose from 1,193,000 in April 1940 to 1,494,000 in June 1943, de- spite the withdrawal of thousands of men and women by the armed forces. The number of persons actually employed, either as wage or salary workers, or as employers or own-account workers, was reported to be 1,469,000 in June 1943. On the same date the num- ber unemployed in the county was estimated at only 25,000, com- pared with 162,000 in 1940. Estimates covering the State of California for June 1944 indicate some switching of labor out of durable goods production into non- durable goods production and a drop of ahout 5 per cent in em- ployment. However, the fact that the War Manpower Commission still lists Los Angeles as a labor shortage area would snpport the belief that as of June 1944 the total labor force of Los Angeles County was practically unchanged from June 1943. The Division of Labor Statistics of the State Department of Industrial Relations asserts that more than 42 pel' cent of the ~ 1 ~ 1 ." , ., ,