White House Statement on Executive Order Continuing Reduction in Pay of Federal Employees.

The President today signed an Executive Order continuing the fifteen percent reduction in compensation of Federal officers and employees until June 30, 1934.

The Department of Labor reported two sets of findings. The first, based on the cost of living for families of wage earners and lower salaried workers in 32 cities scattered throughout the United States, reveals that the average cost of living for these groups in our population was, during the last half of 1933, 21.1 below the average of the base period of December, 1927, and June, 1928. In this set of findings the decline in the cost of living in the District of Columbia for similar families was 17.9.

The second set of findings resulted from a special study of the cost of living of Government employees in the District of Columbia and was made during the past three months by the Labor Department. These show a decline in the cost of living of 14.6 percent.

In view of the above and because the law provides for index figures covering all parts of the country, it is necessary to continue the present scale until June 30, 1934.