SCB_031937

MARCH 1937

SURVEY

COF

S

UNITED STATESDEPARTMENT OF COMMERCEBUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE

WASHINGTONVOLUME 17 NUMBER 3

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

A General Revision of the Statistics presented on pages 22-56, inclusive,was made in the January 1937 issue. With this change the data in the monthly numbers are in accord with the series in the1936 Supplement, except for the changes made since the Supplement went to press; these latter are indicated by footnotesIn this issue. A list of the new data added and the data discontinued is given below. The pages indicated for the newseries refer to the January issue, while the pages given for the discontinued series refer to the December 1936 issue.

Data Added pageConstruction cost indexes (E. H . Boeckh and Associates). _ 25Real estate foreclosure indexesmetropolitan cities and non-

farm real estate . 25Federal savings and loan associationstotal number of

associations, number of associations reporting, and loansoutstanding __. 25

Air mailamount transported . 26Rural sales of general merchandise indexes, unadjusted and^ a d j u s t e d , by geographic divisions . .__ 27Factory employment (Board of Governors of the Federal

Reserve System), adjusted indexes of durable and nondur-able goods, and aluminum manufactures and beverages. _ 28

Employment indexes, Wilmington, Delaware 29Employment , nonmanufacturing, division of retail trade

group 29Employment , Class I steam railways, unadjusted and

adjusted indexes _ _ 29United States Employment Service, private placements. 29Labor turnover, total separation rate . 29Pay roll indexes, Wilmington, Delaware 30Pay rolls, nonmanufacturing, division of retail t rade group- 31Corporation profits, indexes, unadjusted and adjusted

(Standard Statistics Co., Inc.) 34Obligations of the Federal Farm Mortgage Corporation,

Home Owners* Loan Corporation, and the ReconstructionFinance Corporation, fully guaranteed by the U. S.Government 34

New securities effectively registered with the Securities andExchange Commission, number of issues by type of security- 35

Bond prices, 15 municipal issues 35Bond yields, 45 corporate issues 36Stock yields, 200 stocks, by groups 36Exports and imports of United States merchandise, indexes

unadjusted, quant i ty , value, and unit value 37Hotels, restaurant sales index 3&Sulphur production, Louisiana 39Powdered milk production 42Barley, corn, and oats, domestic commercial stocks 42Rice, California, receipts, shipments, and stocks 42Wheat, Canadian stocks and domestic stocks in the United

States 43Tea stocks in the United Kingdom 44Edible gelatin (7 companies) production, shipments, and stocks- 44Bituminous coal consumption by industries 45Bituminous coal stocks, by industries 45Byproduct coke stocks at furnaces and at merchant plants. 45Gasoline, total stocks of finished gasoline, and stocks of

natural gasoline - 46Western pine lumber, new and unfilled orders, production,

shipments, and stocks 47Ponderosa pine lumber, common, wholesale price 47West Coast woods (lumber), new and unfilled orders, produc-

tion, shipments, and stocks . 47Convection type radiators (cast iron), sales 48Copper imports, for smelting, refining, and export; product

of Cuba and the Philippine Islands; all other imports 50Electric furnaces, value of new orders 50Electric motors, shipments and new orders of AC and DC

type motors . . . 50Power cables, value of shipments 50Electric ranges, value of billed sales 50Brass and bronze ingots, unfilled orders 51

PageSingle and double texture, rubber proofed fabrics, production- 52Common brick, wholesale composite price 53Face brick, shipments and stocks 53Rayon, producers' stocks 54Wool consumption (scoured, carpet basis) 54Vessels under construction, steam and motor, and unrigged

types 56Vessels launched, steam, motor, unrigged, and steel types. 56Life insurance sales, Canada 56

Data DiscontinuedIndustrial production indexes, unadjusted and adjusted,

lumber, paper and printing series 22Domestic stock indexes, manufactured goods, iron and steel,

leather, nonferrous metals, stone, clay, and glass products,and leather series... 25

Real estate foreclosures, number 25Home Owners' Loan Corporationnumber of applications

received and number and value of loans closed 25Employment and pay-roll indexes, unadjusted (U. S.

Department of Labor), turpentine and rosin industry.-. 27, 29Ratio to market value of brokers' loans 32Foreign bond prices (New York Trust Co.) 35Bond yields, 60 bonds (Standard Statistics Co. Inc.) 36Powdered milk, net new orders. 42Visible supply of bailey, corn, oats, and wheat in the United

States and wheat in Canada, Dun's Review 43Bituminous coal consumption, at coke and electric light

plants and by railroads 46Douglas fir lumber, production, shipments, new and unfilled

orders 48Northern pine lumber, new orders, production, and shipments. 48Porcelain plumbing fixtures, shipments, new and unfilled

orders, and stocks 50Vitreous china plumbing fixtures, shipments, new and

unfilled orders, and stocks . 50Tin and terne plate production. 51Air conditioning equipment, new orders, total and air-

washer group 51Imports of ore and blister copper 52Manufactured mica, unfilled orders 52Panel boards and cabinets, shipments 52Electrical porcelain, special and standard, shipments 52Industrial reflectors, sales 52Welding sets, new orders 52Damaged and off quality, and miscellaneous wood pulp,

consumption and shipments, production and stocks 53Solid and cushion tires, production, and total and domestic

shipments and stocks 55Rubber bands, shipments 55Rubber proofed fabrics, total production and production of

raincoat and automobile fabrics , . 55Rubber flooring shipments 55Rubber heels and soles, production, shipments, and stocks.. 55Mechanical rubber goods, shipments 55Wholesale price of common brick 56Face brick, unfilled orders, production, shipments, and stocks. 56Sand lime brick, unfilled orders, production, shipments, and

stocks . 56Illuminating glassware, percent of full operation 56Rayon, imported stocks 57Total wool^consumption (grease equivalent basis) 57

In addition to the series that were either added in the January 1937 issue or discontinued with the December 1936 issue,other major changes in the identity of some of the series were made. These are shown below with the indicated pagenumber on which they appear in this issue. For a description of changes made refer to the footnotes in the 1936Supplement and in the January and February 1937 issues.

Highway and grade crossing construction 25Radio and magazine advertising cost 26Agricultural loans outstanding 31,32Electric power production, other producers 41Rye, commercial domestic stocks 43Boot, shoe, and slipper production 46Maple, birch, and beech flooring, new and unfilled orders, production,

shipments, and stocks 47Southern pine lumber, new and unfilled orders, production, shipments,

and stocks - 47

Douglas fir flooring, wholesale prices of common boards and flooringPulverizers, new ordersMechanical stokers, salesTin, world stocksWood pulp, consumption and shipments and production, all groupsRubber consumptionTires and tubes, production, shipments, and stocksFabric consumption in tire manufacture __Rubber and canvas footwear, production, shipments, and stocksVessels, officially numbered - .

47494950515252525256


UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCEDANIEL C. ROPER, Secretary

BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCEALEXANDER V. DYE, Director

SURVEY OFCURRENT BUSINESS

Prepared in the

DIVISION OF ECONOMIC RESEARCHROY G. BLAKEY, Chief

M. JOSEPH MEEHAN, Editor

Volume 17 MARCH 1937 Number 3

CONTENTSSUMMARIES AND CHARTS

PageBusiness indicators 2Business situation summarized 3Graphic comparison of principal data 4Domestic trade 5Employment 6Finance 7Foreign trade 8Real estate and construction 9Transportation 10Survey of individual industries:

Automobiles and rubber 11Forest products 12Iron and steel 13Textile Industries 14

SPECIAL ARTICLECommodity price movements in 1936 15

STATISTICAL DATANew or revised series:

Table 12. Revised indexes of factory employment, with and with-out adjustment for seasonal variation, in electric and steamrailroad car manufacturing, in the agricultural implementindustry, and in the transportation, machinery, iron and steel,durable, nondurable, and all manufacturing industry groups,1934-36 19

Table 13. Revised indexes of factory pay rolls, without adjust-ment for seasonal variation, for the same series as indicated intable 12 19

Weekly business indicators, 1936 20Weekly business statistics through February 27 21

STATISTICAL DATAContinuedMonthly business statistics: Page

Business indexes 22Commodity prices 23Construction and real estate 24Domestic trade 25Employment conditions and wages 27Finance 31Foreign trade 37Transportation and communications 37

Statistics on individual industries:Chemicals and allied products 39Electric power and gas 41Foodstuffs and tobacco 41Fuels and byproducts 45Leather and products 46Lumber and manufactures 47

Metals and manufactures:Iron and steel 48Machinery and apparatus 49Nonferrous metals and products 50

Paper and printing 51Rubber and products 52Stone, clay, and glass products 53Textile products 53Transportation equipment 55

Canadian statistics 56General index. Inside back cover

Subscription price of the monthly and weekly issues of the SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS is 31-50 a year. Single-copy price: Monthly, 10 cents: weekly, 5 cents.Foreign subscriptions, 33. Price of the 1936 Supplement is 35 cents. Make remittances only to

Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C.12623637 1 1


SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS March 1937

Business Indicators1923-25=100, except as noted

150125100755025

0

125100

755025

0

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

\

i i I i I i i

Ac/jus fed

FREIGHT CAR LOADINGS

i i i i i i i

/. C. L (Adjusted)

TOTAL (Adjusted)

i i 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 i i 1 1 i i i i 1 i i i i 1 1 1 1 i i i 1 1 i 1 1 i

FACTORY EMPLOYMENT & PAYROLLS #

250 1 1 I I 1 I

PAmOILS (Unadjusted)

CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS AWARDED

TOIAL

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

(AC/JL

A.1 1 I 1

'stect) *

?TSLt?Tt/T/Ai i 1 i i i i i

L (Adjusted) *1 ! 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

150125100755025

0

125100

755025

0

125100755025

0

125100

755025

0

RURAL SALES OF GENERAL MERCHANDISE

Z.

1 I I I 1 I I 1

Adjusted

11 11 1 i 11 i i 11 i i i i 1 11 I i i I 11 i 11 1 i i i i

DEPARTMENT STORE SALES

I 1 1 I I I 1

Adjusted

i 11 i i 1 i 11 i i 11 i i i i I 11 i i i I 11 i 11 111 i i i

CASH INCOME FROM FARM MARKETINGS

i i i i

Adjusted

WHOLESALE PRICES

I I I I ! 1 I

A(L COMMODITIES^

FA/?M PRODUCTS

1 1 i i I i 1 1 i i I i i i i i 1 1 1 i i i I i i i i i I i i i

150125100

7550

FEDERAL RESERVE MEMBER BANK LOANS BANK DEBITS OUTSIDE NEW YORK CITY

0 1 I 1 I 1 I i 1 , 1 ,T o l i i i i [ i i I,,,, 11,,,. 11.11111... 1111111 n1930 1935 1935 1936 1937 1930 1935 1 9 3 5 1 9 3 6 1 9 3 7

ADJUSTED FOR SEASONAL VARIATION * REVISED * REPORTING MEMBER BANKS ^ 1 9 2 9 - 3 1 = 100 " * " l 9 2 4 - 2 9 = 1 0 0

NOTE: Indexes are based on dollar f igures , except industr ial production, f re ight-car loadings and factory employment


March 1937 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS

Business Situation SummarizedFEBRUARY industrial output in the aggregatevaried but slightly from the January results.Production of manufactures was maintained at a highrate, despite the retarding influences exercised, in theearly part of the month, b}^ the labor dispute in theautomobile industry and the aftermath of the flood.Steel output moved steadily upward; automobileassemblies rose sharply in the latter half of the monthwith the reopening of the plants closed by the labordispute, after tending lower in the first 6 weeks of theyear; textile-mill activity has been maintained at anexceptionally high level; lumber production, whichmoved downward during the period of the maritimestrike, has been slow to recover, although the largevolume of unfilled mill orders and the conditions ofstocks assure an expanding rate of production for thisindustry over the near future. Bituminous coaloutput has increased after being curtailed during theflood period.

For the first 2 months of 1937 industrial productionhas been about one-fifth above the output of the corre-sponding months of 1936.

In January most of the seasonally adjusted produc-tion indexes were lower than in December, but the pigiron, leather boot and shoe, and crude petroleum serieswere important exceptions. Steel production and cot-ton consumption rose less than the estimated seasonalamount; automobile and plate-glass production wascurtailed by labor disputes; woolen-mill activity de-

clined and rayon mills continued to operate at capacity.Aggregate output of manufacturers, without seasonaladjustment, was slightly lower than in December.

Employment and pay rolls declined in Januarymainly as a result of seasonal recessions in retail tradeand in manufacturing industries, but partly due tolabor disputes. The drop in factory employment ap-proximated the usual seasonal change; the reduction of4.7 percent in factory pay rolls was reported by theBureau of Labor Statistics to be slightly more thanseasonal. Cash farm income from marketings in Jan-uary dropped more than usual owing in part to the dropin hog marketings. Both agricultural and labor incomein January were much higher than in January 1936.

The index of freight-car loadings, seasonally adjusted,dropped from 86 in December to 80 in January andremained unchanged in February. Loadings wereturning upward in the latter half of that month withthe removal of the restrictive influences of floods andlabor disputes which occasioned earlier recessions.Total retail sales dropped more than usual after theChristmas rise, although the adjusted index of depart-ment-store sales was unchanged from December toJanuary.

The outlook for the construction industry remainsbright with privately financed work tending upwardduring the first 2 months of the current year. Residen-tial and factory construction particularly are movingwell ahead of last year's totals.

MONTHLY BUSINESS INDEXES

Year and month

Industrial productionj I Factory em-

ploymentand pay rolls4

Unadjusted 1 Adjusted J

hII

Iff

Freight-carloadings

TotalMer-

chan-dise,1. c. 1.

3

Retail sales,value,

adjusted 2

Monthly average, 1923-25 = 100 1929-31 = 100

11II2

Foreigntrade, value,adjusted 2

I

C 3

P.ItIS

Monthly average, 1923-25=100

Cash farmincome 3

IMonthlyaverage,

1924-29=100Monthlyaverage,1926=100

1929: January1930: January1931: January1932: January1933: January ._ .1934: January ._ .1935*

JanuaryDecember

1936:JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMay .JuneJ u l y . . . .AugustSeptember^..OctoberNovember....December. . .

1937:January

11710382716477

8896

969596104105104105106108111115114

112

11710281706375

8796

959397105105105105106107110115114

113

11410887747286

9297

1001079095101101102104110115115110

106

11910683726578

90101

979493101101104108108109110114121

115

12010583716376

90101

969293100101105109110110111115121

115

11611089777588

94102

1041119710610210010199102105112117

110

103. 099.481.771.064.278.3

84.188.7

88.887.487.788.689.890.492.893.493.894.496.298.6

98.8

102.095.974.259.449.454.6

65.077.6

73.873.777.679.380.881.180.283.583.689.090.795.1

90.6

10810082645664

6471

707066697070737072738086

80

10410190816970

6566

646262636466676767666771

68

11010799806273

109.9107.585. 169.356.879.587.5

109.896.393.0

106.7109.9113.3112.4114.7111.9123.6127.1122. 6131.0

93 106.7

12610664393145

4556

515351535655545155575257

57

1139556422942

5158

576055585862656270646176

74

142.4130.2110.080.661.166.9

76.094.7

88.780.090.688.786.295.794.486.789.1102.193.7117.8

103.3

1209571312249

2768

625247474652596259575866

64

106.097.569.551.541.049.5

53.572.5

65.053.059.558.564.069.584.075.089.0104.088.586.0

74.0

106.598.069.553.544.050.5

54.067.0

66.513.0

67.519.5

72.580.018.0

74.577.576.077.578.5

74.5

95.992.578.267.361.072.2

78.880.980.680.679.679.778.679.280.581.681.681.582.484.2

85.91 Adjusted for number of working days. > Adjusted for seasonal variation. 1 From marketings of farm products. < See table on p. 19.



Graphic Comparison of Principal DataI JANUARY V//S/\ REMAINDER Of YEAR

BANK DEBITS OUTSIDE NEW YORK CITY (BILLIONS OF DOLLARS)0 5O

19371936193519341933J929 mini

IOO

X /

V///////////1

J5O

f///A

2OO 2 5 O 300 35O

CASH INCOME FROM FARM MARKETINGS ^(BILUONS OF DOLLARS)

STEEL INGOT PRODUCTION (MILLIONS OF TONS)

O c

193719361935193419331929

> 4 6 8 JO 12

193719361935193419331929

CONSTRUCTION (0 I 2

CONTRACTS AWARDED (BILLIONS OF DOLLARS)! 3 A 5 6

193719361935193419331929

3 10

sssssZO 30 4 0 50 60

AUTOMOBILE PRODUCTION (MILLIONS OF CARS)193719361935193419331929

2 3 4- 5 6

(193719361935

19331929

FREIGHT CAR LOADINGS (MILLIONS OF CARS )5 10 20 30 40 5O 60

SzzzzzzJ

. z z z z z z z z ,/ / / / / / / / / / / /

INCLUDES BENEFIT PAYMENTS BEGINNING AUGUST 1933, AND AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION PAYMENTS BEGINNING OCT. 1936D.D.9O2SDigitized for FRASER

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis


Domestic TradeTHE decline in retail sales during January exceededthe usual seasonal change, according to the indexesnow available. For department stores, the recessionwas no more than seasonal but for the chain stores andmail-order houses, as well as for automobile salesrooms,the decline was more than seasonal. Sales for themonth continued to run well ahead of those of thepreceding year, with the following percentage gainsindicated by the available indexes: Department stores,16; rural sales of general merchandise, 11; variety stores,3.8; and chain grocery stores, 4.7 percent.

Estimates of the value of retail and wholesale tradein 1936, by kinds of business, have recently beencompleted by the Bureau of Foreign and DomesticCommerce. These have been presented in detail intwo reports which may be secured without charge byaddressing a request to the Bureau.

Retail trade for 1936 was estimated at $37,940,000,-000, an increase of 14.5 percent over the 1935 censusfigures of $33,161,000,000, and only fractionally higherthan the increase tentatively quoted in the Januaryissue of the Survey. The largest relative increase insales for 1936 was reported for the building materialsgroup with an increase of 27 percent, followed by thefurniture and household and automotive groups withincreases of 25 and 24 percent, respectively. Jewelrystores and beer and liquor store sales rose 20 percenteach, and catalog mail-order sales increased 19 percent.The smallest increase, 7 percent, was recorded for thefood group, while increases ranging from 9 to 15 percent

were shown for the eight remaining kinds of business.These data afford definite evidence of the broadeningof purchases during the past year to include a relativelylarger volume of consumers' durable and semidurablegoods.

Wholesale trade in 1936 was estimated at $52,070,-000,000, an increase of 17 percent over the 1935 totaland a decrease of 24 percent in comparison with the1929 figure.

Sales made by wholesalers proper in 1936 are esti-mated to have reached $20,400,000,000, an increase of15.5 percent over the 1935 total of $17,662,000,000reported by the Census of Business. Although thetotal dollar volume was about 29 percent below that for1929, several kinds of business had almost reattainedthe 1929 level. Sales of general merchandise and oftobacco and its products were only 3 percent below1929; drugs and drug sundries, 4 percent below; whilemachinery and electrical goods were both about 10percent below.

The largest relative gains in 1936, as compared with1935, were for lumber and construction material, 37percent; plumbing and heating equipment, 36 percent;furniture and house furnishings, 34 percent; electricalgoods and machinery equipment and supplies, about30 percent each. Of the remaining groups, fourrecorded increases of about 25 percent; four, increasesranging from 20 to 25 percent; nine, increases rangingfrom 10 to 15 percent; and the four remaining groupsrecorded an average increase of about 7 percent.

DOMESTIC TRADE STATISTICSRetail trade

Department stores

Year and month Salesj Unad-! just-i ed i

Ad-just-ed 2

Stocks 3Unad-just-

edAd-just-ed

Monthly average, 1923-25=100

Com-binedindex(Chain

Store Age)

Chain-store sales

Avg. samemo. 1929-

31 = 100

Variety storesUnad-just-ed i

Ad-just-ed

Rural sales ofgeneral mer-

chandise

Unad-just-ed i

Ad-just-ed 2

New passen-ger-car sales

Unad-just-ed i

Ad-just-ed 2

Monthly average, 1929-31= 100

Wholesaletrade

Em-ploy-ment

Payrolls

Monthly aver-age, 1929=100

Commercialfailures

Fail-

Num-ber

Thou-sands

of dolls.

Liabil-ities

1929: January1930: January1931: January1932: January1933: January1934: January1935:

JanuaryDecember

1936:JanuaryFebruaryMarchApril.. -MayJuneJuly..August... _SeptemberOctober..NovemberDecember _

1937:January

908881644957

59145

63667785898463689499105161

73

11010799806273

7683

818384848787918688909392

93

898878665259

5761

586267686762596571768066

66

10099

88.479.789.2

91.7102.7

96.599.4

101.2102.0103.0108. 0109.6109.0110.0109.5111.0113.0

105.5

74.773.670.366.161.370.2

67.2178.4

67.773. 580.395.796.898.897.286.597.8100.4104.5195.7

70.3

100. 298.794.388.882.394.2

90.296.7

90.888.093.395.296.8104.0109.297.7102.498.9103.0106.1

94.4

91.289.270.657.547.266.0

72.6155.9

79.984.299.2105.5106.5106.288.396.2122.3155.1150. 8186.1

88.6

109.9107.585.169.356.879.5

87.5109.8

96.393.0106.7109.9113.3112.4114.7111.9123.6127.1122.6131.0

106.7

90.874.147.331.228.122.8

51.590.6

69.365.5117.8142.3138.6139.3117.392.971.056.5113.1130.4

89.6

138.5110.570.545.541.033.5

75.0106.5

102.089.5101.093.593.5109.5104.592.083.085.5151.0175.0

128.5

97.7100.088.980.773.680.6

84.286.8

85.685.085.685.784.684.685.486.388.089.089.791.2

90.8

96.799.986.371.858.360.3

63.968.6

66.669.067.968.268.469.069.770.671.673.273.0

72.7

2,8891,317

1,146910

1,077856946830832773639655586611688692

811

77,06429,035

14, 60315,686

18,10414, 08916, 27114,15715,3759,1779,9048,2719,8198,266

11, 53212, 288

1 Adjusted for number of working days. 2 Adjusted for seasonal variations. 1

End of month.



EmploymentMANUFACTURING and nonmanufacturing indus-tries employed fewer workers in January than inDecember, according to the monthly data collected bythe Bureau of Labor Statistics. The decline was largelycaused by the dropping of temporary workers employedin retail trade establishments during the Christmasrush and to seasonal recessions in certain manufac-turing industries. Labor disputes also accounted forpart of the decline. The number at work in the report-ing industries was about 1,300,000 higher than thetotal for January 1936 while weekly pay rolls were ap-proximately $51,500,000 higher.

In manufacturing industries, the decline in employ-ment in January as compared with December approxi-mated the usual change at this season of the year.Seven of the 14 major groups showed increases overDecember, after seasonal correction, and 5 of theseare included in the durable goods classification. Twogroups included among the durable goods industriesnonferrous metals and transportation equipmentrecorded declines in January. In the last-mentionedgroup, the recession was attributed largely to labordisputes in automobile plants.

In addition, labor disputes also affected severalother industries in January. Employment was downsharply in the hardware industry as a result of cur-tailed operations of firms supplying the automobilemanufacturers with hardware. In the lighting-equip-ment industry, strikes were responsible for a decline

of more than one-fourth in the number at work, and thesame factor explained the more than seasonal declinein the glass industry. Except for the rubber boot andshoe industry, in which employment declined 12 per-cent, other recessions reported were largely of seasonalproportions. Among industries reporting gains in-stead of the usual seasonal declines were blast fur-naces, steel works, rolling mills; machine tools, and cottongoods. More than seasonal gains were recorded in theagricultural implement, shipbuilding, and millineryindustries.

Eight of the 16 nonmanufacturing establishments forwhich data are collected reported increased employmentin January as compared with December, but these wereoffset by the decline in retail trade establishments.The largest relative gain reported was that for metal-liferous mining. In private-building construction aseasonal decline in employment occurred.

According to preliminary data compiled by theBureau of Labor Statistics, labor disputes in Januaryresulted in the loss of 2% million man-days, while workersinvolved numbered 192,000. These were the largestfigures reported in any 1 month since the coal strikein September 1935. The January figure for man-daysidle compared with a total of slightly over 2 million inDecember and about the same number in November.The most important of these strikes from the stand-point of the amount of time lost have been settled, orare in the process of arbitration.

STATISTICS OF EMPLOYMENT, PAY ROLLS, AND WAGES

Year and month

1929: January...1930: January...1931: January...1932: January...1933: January..1934: January. _1935:

JanuaryDecember--

1936:JanuaryFebruary-..MarchAprilMay..JuneJuly_AugustSeptember.OctoberNovember..December..

1937:January. _.

Factory employmentand pay rolls

Employment1

Unad- Ad-justed justed

Payrolls

Unad-justedMonthly average,

1923-25 = 100

100.697. 179. 569.162. 676.5

82.288.3

87.989.189.890.191.293.595.596.796.998.1

96.4

103. 099. 481.771.064.278.3

84.188.7

88.887.487.7

90.492.893.493.894.496.2

98.8

102.495.6G9. 953.640.154.6

65. 077.6

73.873.777.679.380.881.180.283.583.689.090.795.1

80.fi

Nomnanufacturing employment and pay rolls(U. S. Department of Labor)Anthracite

miningEm-ploy-ment

Payrolls

Bituminouscoal miningEm-ploy-ment

Payrolls

Electric lightand powerand manu-factured gasEm-ploy-ment

Payrolls

Telephoneand tele-

graph

ploy-men t

Payrolls

Retail trade

Em-ploy-ment

Payrolls

Monthly average, 1929-100

105. 7102.190.676.252.564.1

62. 957.3

59.161.252.549.854.951.248.441.147.649.951.554.8

54.1

100.7105.889.361. 543.273.2

57.555.4

54.476.742.628.656.342.037.231.434.948.540.355.4

i 42.7

106. 4102. 5

93. 980.869. 875.8

80.079.1

79.880.280.477.576.275.775.576.978.281.182.383.8

84.4

106. 1101.473.347.036.151.3

59. 669.5

70.678.470.262.662,261.562.665.471.079.280.784.9

SO. 0

92.999. 699.289. 377. 782.2

82.786.8

86.186.186.888.089.090.491.793.193.594.093.593. 1

92,1

91.799.7 i98. 688.473.073.8

78.086.0

84.884.785.986.287.088.189.889.891.492.791.894.1

92. 1

94. 3101.690.583.074.670.2

70.569.6

70.169.970.270.871.672.173.173.573.773.873.773. 6

74.4

94.5105. 196.389. 171.769.0

73.975.6

75.076. 277.276.078.577.479.981.278.883.181.682.4

S4, 0

97.2100.292.380.372. 179.8

79.592.9

80.479.781.985.285.085.583.282.486.688.790.4

100.1

8(5.3

95.999. 888. 171.954.759.0

59.769.3

62.161.663.565.365.866.465.164.466.668.370.175. 6

68.0

Trade-Unionmem-

bers em-ployed

Wages

Percentof total

members

787879828383838687888886

86

Factory(National Indus-trial Conference

'Board)Averageweekly

earningsAveragehourly

earnings

Dollars28. 7627.3323.2018. 9116.2318.77

21. 5923.38

23. 4023.1423.6724.3324.4124.4524. 2324.6625.1125.51 .25. 8326. 64

26.18

585!592.578.540.466.552

.594.604

.608

.608

.611

.613

.616

.617

.617

.616

.619

.619

.624

. 636

Com-monlaborrates(roadbuild-ing)_Cents

perhour

364036323243

3941

403837384242424142424139

39

1 Revised; see tables nos. 12 and 13 on p. 19. ! Adjusted for seasonal variation.



FinanceASIGNIFICANT financial event of the past monthwas the announcement of the Board of Governorsof the Federal Reserve System on January 30 of anincrease in member bank reserve requirements by 33%percent, effective by equal amounts on March 1 andMay 1, respectively. This action is the most recentin a series of moves begun in 1936 by the Board ofGovernors and the Treasury, by which it was antici-pated an "injurious credit expansion" growing out ofthe large volume of excess reserves might be avoided.In July, the Board announced an increase in memberbank reserve requirements, which became effectiveAugust 15, and on December 21 the Treasury announceda sterilization procedure for handling gold importsand newly mined gold. By the action of January 30,reserve requirements have been increased to the fullextent permitted under existing law.

In its recent announcement the Board states thatsince the step which became effective August 15, 1936,"the country's gold stock has been further increasedby a large inflow of gold, amounting to $600,000,000.* * * This inflow had the effect of adding an equalamount to the reserve of member banks as well as totheir deposits. The total amount of deposits in banksand the Postal Savings System, plus currency outsideof banks, is now $2,000,000,000 larger than in thesummer of 1929.

"In order to sustain and expand recovery, the coun-try's commerce, industry, and agriculture * * *require a more complete and productive utilization ofexisting deposits rather than further additions to theamount now available.

"By its present action, the Board eliminates as abasis of possible credit expansion an estimated $1,500,-000,000 of excess reserves which are superfluous for thepresent or prospective needs of commerce, industry,and agriculture, and which in the Board's judgmentwould result in injurious credit expansion if permitted tobecome the basis of a multiple expansion of bank credit.

"At the same time the Federal Reserve System willbe placed in a position where such reduction or expan-sion of member bank reserves as may be deemed in thepublic interest may be affected through open marketoperations, a more flexible instrument, better adaptedfor keeping the reserve position of member banks cur-rently in close adjustment to credit needs."

This announcement had little immediate effect onthe money and security markets, since the banks arenot expected to have any difficulty in meeting the newrequirements. Short-term interest rates have firmedto some extent from figures abnormally low, and bankstocks have strengthened on prospects that changes inrates would improve bank earnings.

Stock prices made little net gain during February,with divergent movements among the major groups.Both industrial and railroad groups moved irregularlyupward, while the public-utility stocks declined. Bondprices tended to soften.

Preliminary estimates of earnings for 1936 indicatethat the year's profits of the 161 corporations includedin the Standard Statistics index were 55 percent aboveprofits made in 1935. The fourth-quarter profits werethe best for this period since 1929, as well as the bestfor any quarterly period since the second quarter of 1930.

FINANCIAL STATISTICS

Year and month

Bankdebits

outsideNewYorkCity

Reporting memberbanks, Wednesdayclosest to end ofmonth

Loanson

securi-ties

"Oth-er"

loansIn-

vest-ments

FederalReservebankcreditout-

stand-ing,

end ofmonth

Excess jreserves

ofmem-

berbanks,end ofmonth

Netgoldim-

portsin-

cludingreleased

fromear-

mark !

Moneyin

circu-lation

Savingsdeposits

NewYorkState

PostalSav-ings

Millions of dollars

Stockprices(419)

Stand-ard

Statis-tics

Bondprices,NewYorkStockEx-

change(do-mestic)

Dollars Thous.of dollars

Newcapitalissues

Aver-agedivi-dendper

share(600com-

panies)

Dollars

Interestrates,com-

mercialpaper(4-6

months)

Percent1929: January1930: January1931: January1932: January1933: January1934: January1935:

JanuaryDecember

1936:JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember

1937:.January 20,383

7,44G7, 6817, 3795,5744,2593,805

3,1323,274

3,1283,1173,3133,3043, 4863, 3193,1733,1773,2423,1793, 2053,326

3,238

3,1943,401

3,3043,2813,4953, 4853,5863, 6193, 6003,7493,9494, 0334, 0684,290

4,100

6, 0535,5296,8437,1498,5599,288

11,48112, 646

12, 99613,04713, 22913, 45213, 52214, 15914, 08413, 80913 92913]79613, 64713, 742

13,638

1,4841, 209980

1,8562,0772,6302, 4012,486

2,4792, 4822, 4732,4752,4742,4732, 4622,4702, 4732, 4762,4532,500

2,491

40507745

2, 2062,8443,0842,9862,3052,6642, 8662,7173,0291,9501,8402,1752,2361, 984

2, un

-17 .84.5

46.3-47 .6

37.09.4

150. 5191.3

43.9-26 .1

627

166.253

17.

49707

55.5143207.

06

78.856. 3

73.0

4,4614, 3654,4085, 3585,3445,382

5,4115,897

5,7575,7795,8575,8925,9186, 0626,2036,1916,2586,3216, 4016, 563

6,400

4,4104, 4164, 8885, 2405, 3175,067

5,1425,187

5,1775,1775,2045,1755,1655,2105,1975,1975,2235,2105,2015, 243

153165278666943

1,2011,2011,201

1,2081,2141,2161,2151,2141,2321,2441,2491,2511,2551, 2571, 260

5.344 I 1,266

185.2156.3111.357.549. 174.6

70.195.3

100.1106.1108. 7108.9101.0105.6109.2113.0114.1118.7124.2123. 1

126.4

97. 7296. 7196.1080.3483.3288.7793. 3594.47

96.1697.2297. 2696.6997.3897.6398.1998.8199. 2799.41100.55100. 76

100.05

918,149749, 644466, 659184, 87064,50747, 953

92, 697221, 206

124,004106, 739129, 527176,672111,571217, 270102, 769216, 510178, 989173, 694156,399266,480

248,526

3.052. 69

.89

.20

.12

.28..41

1.421.451.461.471.501.511.581.641.671.701.982.03

2.04

3A3A3A3A3A3/

743A%

1 Net exports indicated by ().


8 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS March 1937

Foreign TradeBOTH exports and imports were substantiallylarger12 percent and 28 percent, respectivelyin value in January 1937 than in the correspondingmonth of 1936. Exports declined slightly in value ascompared with December 1936, in conformity with theusual seasonal movement. Imports, which ordinarilyincrease slightly, also were somewhat smaller than inDecember when the seasonally adjusted index rose 15points to 76 (1923-25 = 100).

Increases in exports as compared with the opening-month of 1936 were largely confined to semimanufac-tured and finished manufactured products. Exportsof crude materials were only slightly larger in valuein January 1937 than in January 1936, while exportsof foodstuffs were markedly lower in value. Semiman-ufactured exports were 19 percent and finished manu-factured exports 21 percent higher in value. Iron andsteel products increased from a value of $10,715,000in January 1936 to $13,844,000 in January 1937;copper, from $2,682,000 to $5,048,000; electrical ma-chinery and apparatus from $6,037,000 to $7,472,000;industrial machinery from $13,988,000 to $16,531,000;agricultural implements from $2,362,000 to $4,018,000;and automobiles, including parts and accessories, from$22,080,000 to $27,586,000. Other principal commodi-ties showing increases in value included gas oil and fueloil, naval stores, aircraft, manufactures of textiles,leather and leather manufactures. Some of the im-

portant commodities which recorded declines in valuewere: Meats, lard, fish, fruits, and leaf tobacco.

The increase in imports for consumption over Jan-uary a year ago embraced a wide range of commoditieswith the crude materials and crude foodstuffs classesshowing larger proportional increases than the othereconomic classes. Higher prices were responsible fora part of the increase in the value of crude materialsimports, and the larger grain and feed imports, madenecessary by the drought of 1936, occasioned a partof the increase in crude food imports. Imports of un-manufactured wool increased from 21,167,000 pounds,valued at $4,089,000, to 46,890,000 pounds, valued at$12,821,000; imports of raw silk from 5,578,000 pounds,valued at $10,244,000, to 6,757,000 pounds, valued at$12,229,000, and imports of crude rubber from 76,107,-000 pounds, valued at $9,113,000, to 97,437,000pounds, valued at $15,988,000.

Imports of grain and preparations increased from avalue of $3,848,000 to $8,756,000; feedstuffs from $424,000to $1,704,000; and coffee from$12,201,000to$15,867,000.

Among other imports which increased markedly inquantity and value were: Butter, cheese, furs, lumber,newsprint, precious stones, tin, and fertilizers. Importswhich were lower in both quantity and value includedcane sugar, alcoholic spirits, vegetable oils, unmanu-factured tobacco, wood pulp, ferro-alloys, copper, andart works.

EXPORTS AND IMPORTS

Year and month

Indexes

Valueof

totalex-

ports,ad-justed i

Valueof

totalim-

ports,ad-justed

Monthly aver-age, 1923-25=100

Ex-ports,

in-clud-ing

reex-ports

Exports of United States merchandise

Total

Crudematerials

TotalRawcot-ton

Food-stuffs,total

Semi-man-ufac-tures

Finishedmanufactures

TotalMa-

chin-ery

Auto-mo-biles,partsand

acces-sories

Imports 2

TotalCrudema-

terialsFood-stuffs

Semi-man-ufac-tures

Millions of dollars

Fin-ishedman-ufac-tures

1929: January...1930: January...1931: January...1932: January...1933: January...1934: January...1935:

JanuaryDecember..

1936:JanuaryFebruary...MarchAprilMayJuneJuly..AugustSeptember-OctoberNovember..December,.

1937:January...

12610664393145

4556

515351535655545155575257

57

1139556422942

51585760555858626562706461

488. 0410.8249. 6150. 0120.6172.2

176. 2223.5198.0181.8194. 8192.6200.7184.9179.8178.3220.1264.7225.8229.7

221.6

480.4404.3 |245.7 !l146.9 ||118.6 I169.6 !

120.6103.958. 649.742.260.4

173. 6220.9195.1179.2192.1189. 4196.9 !180.6 I176.4 !175.6 .217.5262.0223.3226. 6217.9

1 55.8j 82.7

59.850.1

i 44.5! 40.4i 42.6! 39.3i 30.4i 3 8 . 11 72.81 100.4! 82.2 6 7 . 4

| 60.6

84.972.531.236. ]29.741.532.256.835.726.626.322.822.919.710.812.438.258.447.040.237.5

77.257.635.523.716. 222.7in. 319.715.914.816.814.215.914.515.019.723.324.913.713.113.1

67.750.734.618.815.825.027.231. 728.628.332.133.835.134.133.332.331.936.732.834.9

I 34.2

214.9192.1117.054.744.361.574.386.890.886.198.7

101.0103.292.797.785.589.5

100.094.6

111.2

110.1

49.556.037.511.49.2

14.418. 222.525. 524. 627. 930. 729. 626.029.325.227. 331.826.430.831.5

46.029.214.56.86.5

10.817.219.722.122.124.023.022.519.116.912.412.515.821.228.827.6

368.9311.0183. 1135.596.0

129.0168. 5179.8186.4189.6194.3199.8188.4193.6196.5200.1218.4213.2200.4239.8228.7

142.2109.059.338.127.135.943.055.558.458.657.762.155.154.656.061.769.462.861.275.477.0

76.563.342.038.330.839.365.744.855.360.363.665.755.859.059.356.364.261.358.373.368.4

71.568.036.926.616.226.429.743.039.740.136.137.638.543.142.740.840.840.540.649.046.5

70.644.932.521.927.3

30.136.433.030.636.834.439.137.038.641.443.948.640.242.2

36.7

' Adjusted for seasonal variations. 2 General imports through December 1933; imports for consumption thereafter.Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis


Real Estate and ConstructionTHE semiannual survey of the National Associationof Eeal Estate Boards reveals a steady improve-ment in all phases of real-estate activity during thepast 6 months. The market is reported to be moreactive in over 90 percent of the 253 cities covered, andproperty values (including values of undeveloped sites)are rising throughout the country. Residential vacan-cies are reported to have declined in most cities, withsingle-family dwellings inadequate for the demand innearly three-fourths of all the reporting cities. Abouthalf of the cities reported an undersupply of apart-ments. Thip situation has been reflected in an in-crease in rents, the most common increase over a yearago being 10 percent. The National Industrial Con-ference Board's index of rents, which is reportedmonthly on page 23 of the Survey, shows approximatelythe same increase for this period.

Rents of business properties also are reported to beadvancing with vacancies declining. The situation isnot so favorable for such properties as for residentialbuildings, though there has been a measurable improve-ment during the past year. An oversupply of officespace still exists; office rentals are, however, higher incomparison with those of a year ago in one-third of thecities, and no city reported a lower scale than for last year.

A special survey of the cost of mortgage money fornew homes conducted by the Association indicatedthat the spread in interest rates over the country hasshown a very definite tendency to lessen. Over 90

percent of the replies from 250 cities reported the mostcommon rate fell in part or entirely within the range of5 to 6 percent, inclusive. The proportion falling withinthis range was higher than in any previous survey.

The favorable influences affecting residential andbusiness properties, together with the needs which havedeveloped for industrial construction, are reflected inthe continued upward trend of private building. Con-tracts awarded during January in the area covered bythe F. W. Dodge Corporation service for both privatelyand publicly financed construction were valued at 243million dollars, compared with 200 million dollars inDecember. Privately financed work alone rose from117 million dollars in December to 130 million dollarsin January, the latter figure being twice the total forJanuary 1936. Awards for both types of work duringthe first half of February were in excess of 100 milliondollars, or more than 50 percent higher than in the sameperiod of 1936 when contracts dropped off temporarilyon account of adverse weather conditions.

Contracts awarded for factory buildings during Janu-ary were valued at only 10 percent less than the totalfor the entire first quarter of 1936. The value of resi-dential contracts was more than twice the January 1936total, with apartment construction more than four timesthat of a year ago. Contracts for public works, educa-tional buildings, hospitals and institutions, publicbuildings, and social and recreational buildings werelower in January 1937 than in January 1936.

BUILDING MATERIALS, CONSTRUCTION, AND REAL ESTATE

Year and month

Construction contracts awarded

FederalReserve

indexad-justed i

Monthlyaverage,1923-25 =

100

AH types ofconstruction

Num-ber ofproj-ects

Mil-lions ofdollars

Residentialbuilding

Mil-lions ofsquare

feet

Mil-lions ofdollars

Pub-lic

utili-ties

Pub-lic

works

Millions ofdollars

Building-material shipments

Com-monbrick

Thou-sands

Lum-ber

Mills,of ft.b. m.

Oakfloor-ing

Thous.of ft.b. m.

Thou-sands ofbarrels

Ce-ment

Con-struc-tion

costs,Eng.

News-Rec-ord 2

Month-ly av-erage,1913=

100

Loans outstanding

Federalsavings

andloan

associa-tions 3

Home-loan

banks

HomeOwners'

LoanCorp.*

Thousands of dollars

Real-estatefore-clo-

sures(non-farm)


100

1929: January. 1930: January..1931: January..1932: January. .1933: January. ,1934: January. .1935:

JanuaryDecember .

1936:JanuaryFebruary._MarchAprilMay__June ._JulyAugustSeptember.OctoberNovember..December..

937:January..

1209511312249

2768

6252474746525962595758

64

10,1897,5876, 9114. 6593,8007,728

6,4588,2497,7246, 44210,51413, 33813, 24213, 35213,89012, 91212, 05612, 96611, 2699,605

8,731

4063242288583186

100264

215142199235216233295275234226208200

243

29.313.812.26.93.13.9

5.511.9

10.39.115.619.720.520.620.524.421.221.620.019.0

18.4

138. 166.654.427.512.015.1

22.445.1

37.431.255.267.270.373.672.0100.580.779.768.465.5

78.4

40.089.938.64.68.010. 6

18.1

17.911.918.123.812.89.3

27. 517.915.714.218.019.1

21.8

38.949.758.119.534.7103.1

35.776.4

36.344.249.750.871.199.176.468.852.955.842.1

46.7

46, 994

38, 28173, 586

56,47144, 736109, 641154,473171,418172, 892170,135172, 748173, 723189,104163,246141,080

1, 018

1,2731,331

1, 5691,4671,6881,9321,8211,8461,9151,8671,9632,1691,6081,757

1,698

34,91428, 03818,36511,6734,4335,137

8,67019,497

20, 39523, 08128, 47929, 48328, 57931, 61730,12330, 40833, 43233, 93529, 98835, 878

38,847

5,7074,9554,6923,3932,5023, 778

2,8464,514

3,9173,1777,1869,18211,24012, 52111,82312, 62412,61913,0898, 9626,246

4,678

209.4209.0194.5162.5158.4191.3198.7194.9199.5201.2201.2202.2203.4204.6204.4208.1208.1211.5212. 7220.7

223.5

92, 720315, 683

329,643330,154366,405390,810404,722442, 027465,682497,852505, 574532, 064531.078544,107

552,411

3,89688, 98881,978102, 791

102, 745102, 887103, 354105, 969110,871118, 580122,094125, 211129,752134, 929137, 250145, 394

143, 738

192,064

2, 363, 8242, 940, 029

2, 984,4383, 014, 4233, 040,1373, 060, 0293,083,3123,092, 8712,920, 7392,897,3672,869,6602,883, 5032,801,8272, 765, 098

2,729,274

99.7110.288.278.977.683.283.982.681.782.778.385.777.875.184.4

68.11 Based on 3-month moving average of values and adjusted for seasonal variation.

2 Index is as of 1st of month; Feb. 1, 1937, 223.5.12623637 2

3 See footnote marked * on D. 25.



TransportationDAILY average loadings of freight in February,seasonally adjusted, approximated the Januaryfigure which, in turn, was sharply lower than in Decem-ber. With the removal of the hampering influences ofthe flood and the automobile strike, the weekly indexof loadings has again turned upward.

The increase in the volume of freight traffic over thecorresponding period of the preceding year, whichamounted to 20 percent in December narrowed to littlemore than 10 percent in February. Miscellaneousloadings (composed largely of manufactured products)were, however, 30 percent larger in February 1937 thanin February 1936, a gain in excess of that reported foreither January or December.

For the first 7 weeks of 1937 miscellaneous loadingswere 25 percent above those of the corresponding periodof 1936. This was the largest relative gain recordedfor any of the eight classes of freight for which statisticsare reported on a weekly basis, with the exception ofthat for ore loadings. Under the stimulus afforded bythe steadily expanding activity in the iron and steelindustry the movement of ore was up 79 percent. Ship-ments of grain and grain products were about the sameas in 1936, while coal loadings were down 6.2 percent,due in part to the floods and in part to the high baseof a year ago when loadings were influenced by a longperiod of low temperatures.

With the recession in freight loadings in January andFebruary, and the elimination of the freight rate sur-

charges, gross revenues of the carriers have tended todecline and the percentage increase in revenues overthe corresponding period a year earlier has been reduced.On the basis of reports from carriers which in January1936 accounted for more than nine-tenths of all operat-ing revenues, gross in January 1937 was about 10percent above the total for the corresponding monthof 1936. In December, the increase in gross revenuesover those of December 1935 amounted to 26 percent.

Equipment ordering has continued in heavy volume,with freight car orders during the first 20 days ofFebruary exceeding 10,000, according to the RailwayAge. In January about 11,000 cars were ordered.Unfilled orders of the class I railroads for cars ex-ceeded 33,608 units on February 1, the largestbacklog of railroad orders since April 1, 1930. Itis to be noted that these figures do not include thelarge volume of unfilled orders for nonrailroad organ-izations or cars owned by the railroads but controlledby other organizations. Unfilled orders for locomotiveshave also increased further, and the outlook for enginemanufacturers is the best in a long period of years.January pay rolls of the car builders were 60 percenthigher than a year ago, while the locomotive manu-facturers reported a pay roll nearly three times aslarge as in January 1936. The pay-roll indexes were,nevertheless, only 59 and 31 percent, respectively, ofthe 1923-25 average.

RAIL AND WATER TRAFFIC

Year and month Unad-justed^

Freight-car loadings

F. R. indexAd-justed1

Monthly aver-age, 1923-25=

100

TotalCoalandcoke

For-est

prod-ucts

Grainand

prod-ucts

Live-stock

Mer-chan-

diseI. c. 1.

OreMis-cel-la-

neous

Freight-car

surplus

Thousands of cars *

Pull-manpas-sen-gerscar-ried

Thou-sands

Financial sta-tistic*;, class I

railways

Oper-atingreve-nues

Net rail-way op-eratingincome

Thousands ofdollars

Canal traffic

SaultSte.

MarieNewYorkState

Thousands ofshort tons

Pana-ma3

Thous.of longtons

1929: January..1930: January..1931: January..1932: January..1933: January..1934: January..1935:

JanuaryDecember...

1936:JanuaryFebruary...MarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember-OctoberNovember..December..

1937:January . . . 70

10810082645664

6471

707066697070737072738086

80

903.7849.3718.5568.1482.1549.7

553.2580. 6

594.9627.0604.7636.2670.4696.8706.4740.2765.3819.1753.4693.9

663.4

216.3207.8162. 7123.8113.6139.8

149.0138.8

162.0192.1112.5118.2119.6114.9117.2129.7142.4168.7167.4167.4

163.4

55.346.233.818.414.018.7

19.825.9

26.526.930.530.332.334.732.736.134.735.734.033.0

29.7

46.440.340.831.126.529.6

24.627.3

30.230.234.030.631.134.952.943.331.832.232.832.5

29.6

29.127. 225! 121.717.017.1

14.412.8

12.810.611.912.412.311.812.915.418.221.919.214.8

13.6

232.4225.7208.7186.8155.1155.5

145. 7146.4

142.8146.0155.6161.8158.9162. 2157.0165.6165.8171.2162.7158. 1

152.7

8.98.35.32.71.83.0

3.46.4

5.65.76.08.9

37.450.552.354.956.452.828.38.3

9.9

315.4293.9242.1183.6154.0185.9

196. 3223.0

214.9215.6254.2274.0278.7287.9281.3295.2315.9336.7308.9279.7

264.4

278393647743692434

342271

231171205179185170147146125112121133

131

2,8362,7602, 2031,6431,1581,306

1,3981,409

1,5331, 3591,3121,3531,2951,4301, 5161,5651,5191,4691, 3511,497

481, 648446, 261361, 843272,116226, 555258, 015

264,197296,149

299,058300, 459308, 304313,410320,966330,692349,744350, 585357, 207391, 457358, 548372, 265

331,685

75, 68254, 67633, 58011,18213, 58531,058

21.93546,021

35, 72933, 59535,20641, 54841, 84250, 31361. 77464,68170,16689, 85172,41170, 520

38,437

000000

0440

00037

8,7109,83510, 95110, 69911,04110,7897,094373

000000

00

000

228568616738605821722717

0

1,2181,198

958652560

825852

775813981

1,023940989976

1,0581,054

962485214

281

1 Adjusted for number of working days. 2 Adjusted for seasonal variation. 3 American vessels, both directions. * Average weekly basis.


March J937 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS 11

Automobiles and RubberTHE agreement to arbitrate the labor dispute whichhad reduced production of the General MotorsCorporation from over 50,000 units per week in mid-December to less than 2,000 in mid-February, was ofprime importance to the motor and allied industries.With the agreement signed on February 11, operationsby the corporation were gradually resumed, although itwill be some time before a rate of output warranted by theneeds of its dealers is reached. The gradual reopening ofGeneral Motors assembly lines, and the maintenance of ahigh level of production by other producers, indicate thattotal output of cars and trucks in February will exceed thatof a year ago. The seasonally corrected index of produc-tion for the month may be lower than in January whenthe index dropped slightly below the December figure.

While production in January was considerably lowerthan in December, and showed less of an increase over1936 than would have been the case in the absence oflabor controversies, new car sales for the month made arelatively good showing. The dollar volume of newpassenger-car sales for the month was 29 percent higherthan in January 1936, although considerably less thanin December last. General Motors sales of all types ofcars to consumers in the United States in January 1937numbered 92,998, compared with 173,472 in December1936 and 102,034 in January 1936. Thus, sales of

by other manufacturers were about 50 percentcarsahead of the opening month of 1936. One importantfactor contributing to the much higher level of sales hasbeen the mild winter experienced this year; in January

1936 the situation was the reverse, with severe weatherconditions retarding sales of cars.

Although seriously disrupting for a time the move-ment of production and employment in the motorindustry, the effect of the strike on the automobilemarket, in point of final sales to consumers, cannot beappraised accurately as yet and attempts to do somight be misleading. It is expected that, barringfurther interruptions, General Motors will have itsdealers adequately supplied with cars for the springselling season; stocks of cars in the hands of otherdealers are no doubt entirely adequate at the presenttime to care for all sales.

Production in the rubber manufacturing industry hasremained high, notwithstanding the reduction in thedemand for original equipment tires from the auto-mobile companies. Pay-roll data indicate a decline inoutput for December to January, particularly in thefootwear industry where some seasonal decline is usual.

The improved position of the rubber manufacturingindustry in 1936 was reflected in the substantial earn-ings reported recently by the major corporations.This improvement in profits and the favorable outlookprompted the four major Akron tire manufacturers toincrease wages from 5 to 8 cents an hour and to establishminimum wages of 75 cents an hour for men and 65cents an hour for women for their nearly 40,000 em-ployees. This recent change was the second advancein a year, the manufacturers having made a wageincrease last May.

AUTOMOBILE AND RUBBER STATISTICS

Year andm on til

F. R.index,

ad-justed^

Automobile production

United States

Month-ly av.,1923-

25=100

TotalPas-sen-gercars

Thousands

Trucks

Canada

Total

Automobileexports

Passen-ger cars Trucks

Registrations

Newpassen-ger cars

Newcom-

mercialcars

Number

New passenger-car sales

Unad-justed 3 Ad-justed

Monthly average,1929-31 = 100

Pneumatictires i

Pro-duc-tion

Do-mesticship-

ments

Thousands

Crude rubber

Do-mesticI con-| sump-

tion,totali

Im-ports

Worldstocks,end ofmonth

Long tons

1929: January1930: January1931: January1932: January1933: January1934: January1935:

JanuaryDecember

1936:JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember

1937:J a n u a r y . . .

1429763454856

103107

1089310712211711812411110793105122

401273172119129156

290405

364288421503461453441271135225395499

380

34823413899110113

228343

29822534441738637637221091191341426

310

53, 42839,40633, 53120, 54118, 99242, 912

62,17461, 506

65,73062, 79077,44885, 64275,05877,06168,59761, 53744,53333, 94053,43472, 702

70,249

21, 50110,3886,4963,7313,3586,904

10, 60713, 789

13, 30213, 26818, 02124,95120, 00616, 40010, 4754, 6604, 6555,36110,81220,411

19,583

24, 63315, 2938,5884,4747, 0593,685

11,01517, 736

15, 86716,04618,92117, 72317, 72714, 98712,7148,3234, 5649,89420,03224, 788

20,099

13,03212,8764,6422,5153,0827,559

6, 59110, 276

9,7879,9139,9998,33010,8489, 0559,8117,4056,3756,8267,39610, 501

12,592

219, 760179, 885126, 78687, 49379, 84561, 242

136,635237,194

215,782176, 668301, 272397,190392, 750369,423357,490262,912208,896171,319223, 560327, 303

256,000

29,91430, 20224, 41414, 77611,70922, 903

34. 75939, 258

43, 76040,30151,81757,00062,18356,00063, 69559, 22254,61141, 20730, 22242, 208

47,000

90.874.147.331.228.122.8

51.590.6

69.365.5

117.8142.3138.6139.3117.392.971.056.5

113.1130.4

89.6

138.5110.5

70. 545.541.033.575.0

106.5102.089.5

101.093.593.5

109.5104.592.083.085.5

151.0175.0

128.5

6, 3974,6113,7053.4802,2623,922

4,5714,002

4,5793,5773,6384,8544,9715,6105, 4655,0144,9815,1254,9695,308

5,9914,3063,5993,1972,5183,137

3, 6084,124

3,8023,1423,7844,8365,7525,7115,6784,9113,7684,0124,1624,925

42, 78236, 40528, 63929, 64822, 84239,261

46, 79242, 657

48, 50636,74642,70351,89750, 48252, 63648,12746, 65746, 33049, 50950, 30349, 626

48, m

57, 58147, 90436, 59833, 55230, 66349,088

40, 52339, 81233, 92134,33934, 87445,83037,05038,27339,84341, 78850,03340, 96538,41451,382

43,339

296, 270389,041510, 296623,416634, 797661,948

698,153613,987

600,479599,355574, 594558, 583533,411511,931510,873492,439485, 488478,190458,637448,414

444,087

i Data are raised to industry totals; see note in the 1936 Supplement. 2 Adjusted for seasonal variation. 3 Adjusted for number of working days.Digitized for FRASER



Forest Products1UMBEK is one of the few major production seriesJ

which is currently below the level of a }^ ear ago.This situation has resulted mainly from the maritimetie-up on the West Coast which was ended early inFebruary, though adverse weather conditions in certainregions have checked output and sales. With thesehampering influences removed, a more normal relation-ship between production, shipments, and orders shouldbe restored. From last September to the middle ofFebruary orders exceeded production, the disparitybeing wide in both December and January.

Demand for lumber is on the increase, particularlyin the residential construction field, in the furnitureindustry, and in the railroad and farm equipmentindustries. The repairing of damage caused by recentfloods has resulted in temporary demands for rehabili-tation purposes.

The latest quarterly report of the Lumber SurveyCommittee to the Department of Commerce statedthat while total stocks of lumber are slightly higherthan a year ago, the regional relationships of stocks weredisrupted by the maritime strike. The committeestated, "Considered in the light of the heavy unfilledorder files, stocks are inadequate in many regions.* * * Local shortages in supply of desirable items,grades, and species, have developed. * * * Howeverthe inadequacy of stocks is temporary. The resumptionof normal operations of established mills will amplytake care of expected demand."

January reports covering identical mills show pro-duction to have been 12 percent below the corresponding

period of 1936. Shipments, although exceeding produc-tion by 14 percent, were 2 percent below those of theprevious year. New orders booked were up 4 percent.The volume of unfilled orders on hand at the end ofJanuary 1937 amounted to 49 days' average productionat the January rate, as compared with 30 days' a yearago. Principally affected by the maritime situationwas the West Coast area where the industry's unfilledorders were the highest since April 1929. Flooring pro-duction also failed to keep pace with incoming ordersand unfilled orders on January 30 exceeded the grossstocks held by reporting mills.

The slight decline experienced in paper production inDecember was more than offset by a rise in January.Mills in the latter month were operating at an averagerate of over 90 percent of capacity as compared with88 percent in November, peak month of 1936. Earlyreports for February indicate a slight slackening fromthe January average. Paperboard production has in-creased during the first 6 weeks of 1937. The Januaryaverage was lower than the peak of 82 percent ofcapacity reached last October, but reports for the firsthalf of February indicate that current production is inexcess of last year's high point.

United States and Canadian production of newsprintdeclined slightly during January and a more markeddecline in shipments increased mill stocks. Bothproduction and shipments exceeded those for the samemonth last year.

FOREST PRODUCTS STATISTICS

Year and month

Lumber production

TotalTotalsoft-

woodsSouth-

ernpine

Cali-forniared-

wood

Westcoastwoods

Millions of feet, board measure

Car-load-

ings offorestprod-ucts,ad-justed i

Furniture industry

Factoryem-ploy-ment,

ad-justed i

Fac-torypayrolls

Monthly average,1923-25 = 100

Plantopera-tions,all dis-tricts

Percentof

normal

Paper production

TotalBookpaper,

u n -coated

News-print

Paperboard

Wrap-Ping

paper

i News-print

Short tons

Con-sump-tionby

pub-lishers

1929: January- . .1930: January. _.1931: January...1932: January- --1933: January...1934: January1935:

JanuaryDecember.. _

1936:JanuaryFebruaryMarch. _.April...MayJuneJuly...AugustSeptember-OctoberNovember. ..December...

1937:January

1, 1401,0881,422

1,4901,3531,5871.8651,8911,8982,0551,9901,9782,1561,6491,677

869

8711,215

1,2611,1381,3431,6131,6381,6231,7731,7061, 6941,8751, 3971,428

1,518 i 1,290

232379

364460

453510540550545590585595625615625

640

35G462

552461521666559513594515516679336444

354

73512822303145

423640404446484747485157

48

11010277675362

6673

747372747576798182818486

90

107.393. 660.243.9". 7

34. 9

43.157.8

51.353.855.155.656.158.759.968.471.176.977.678.3

71.7

45.046.033.031.0

39.059.0

60.058.058.059.059.065.068.074.081.086.085.082.0

81.5

651,231 !j!765,906 I 88.878717, 604 91, 075

819,300753, 581776, 471867,931798. 060797,826846, 434833,038843, 417981,819863,004950,151

101, 22396, 068101, 669107, 53397,36986, 67689, 21093,98895, 793103,41798,939112, 689

109,396

123,822124,851101, 91794, 38974, 42283,181

80, 29875, 86979, 33672, 24976, 50076, 50475, 71979, 82073, 36174,33872, 20681, 07679,85380, 048

80,005

205, 326233,182

262,026243, 594

271, 210271,107285, 257295,899289,527288,682299,033319,391328, 519359,849321,624328,773

115,198

147, 698131, 544160, 822130,719132, 887165, 537140,120144, 615163, 588147,142150,952195,874155,605190, 749

183, 502176,162160, 660151,181127,446140,955

157,870186, 514

161,185182, 213183, 974183, 399227, 216178, 396170, 884168, 289175,811203,198223,813198, 264

183,1061 Adjusted for seasonal variation. i See note marked " V on p. 52.


March 1937 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS 13

Iron and SteelSTEEL production during the first 2 months of 1937has continued to expand. Mills are booked wellahead, and there has been a tendency for market com-mentators to refer to the development of a "seller'smarket" for certain types of steel.

Notwithstanding the hampering effects of the OhioValley flood, daily average steel output rose about 7percent during January; a further rise occurred duringFebruary, according to the weekly estimates whichindicate a steady upward movement. The automobileindustry is again consuming steel in more normalquantities with the resumption of production byGeneral Motors plants in the middle of February.Data are not available to determine to what extent, ifat all, steel inventories are being accumulated.

The Federal Reserve seasonally adjusted index ofsteel production has moved lower since December, asthe actual rise in ingot output was not so large as thecalculated seasonal change. As demand has been tend-ing upward sharply, seasonal tendencies are naturallymodified. With production running wrell above 80percent of estimated capacity, and probably close toeffective capacity, the mills find it advantageous tomaintain as even a rate of operations as possible.

Demands for light steel products are higher than ayear ago, but the largest relative gains continue to bemade in the heavy products. The United States SteelCorporation, which normally produces a large propor-tion of heavy steels, is currently reporting shipments

at a rate 50 percent or more above those of a yearago. Shipments of finished products by this Corpo-ration in January were the largest for that monthsince 1929, and exceeded those of every month sinceMay 1930.

Tonnage booked from the railroads, the railway-equipment builders, the construction and machineryindustries make up an important portion of the presentvolume of unfilled orders held by the industry. Theupward trend in these lines is indicated by the largeorders by the railways; the heavier bookings of struc-tural steel; and the movements of machine-tool orders.Machine-tool business in January, while less than therecord December volume, was about one-fourth abovethe 1929 average. Orders from foreign countries madeup more than one-fifth of the total. This relativelylarge volume of foreign business received by machine-tool builders is in line with the increased foreign demandfor iron and steel products generally, and for thenonferrous metals as well.

Demand for pig iron has caused a sustained upwardmovement in the seasonally corrected index of output ineach month since July 1936. Daily average pig ironoutput, seasonally adjusted, was up 3 percent inJanuary with no change in the number of furnaces inblast. Two fewer furnaces were in blast at the end ofJanuary than at the end of January 1930, althoughoutput was 14 percent higher in January 1937 than inJanuary 1930.

IRON AND STEEL STATISTICS

Year and month

General operations

Produc-tion,ad-justed

E m -ploy-ment,

ad-justed2

Payroils,

unad-justed3(4)

Monthly average,1923-25=100

Iron andsteel

Ex-ports

Im-ports

Pig iron

Pro-duc-tion

Thousands of Jongtons

Fur-naces

inblast

Num-ber

Steel ingots

Pro-duc-tion

Thou-sandsof longtons

Per-cent

ofcapac-

ity

Steel sheets

Newor-ders

Ship-ments

Thousands ofshort tons

UnitedStatesSteel

Corpo-ration,finished

prod-ucts,ship-

ments

Longtons

Prices

Ironandsteel,com-posite

Steelbillets,reroll-

ing(Pitts-burgh)

Steelscrap(Chi-cago)

Fin-ishedsteel,com-posite

33.0034.0030.0027.7526.0026.0027.0029.0029.0029.0028.2028.0028.0028.0030.0030.0030.4032.0032.0032.4034.00

15.2512.6910.227.505.25

10.5011.8013.3513.3814.1914. 7514.3412.8812.8513.3815.1916.1516.2516.5017.1518.06

Dollarsper 100pounds

1929: January. _1930: January. .1931: January. .1932: January. .1933: January. .1934: January..1935:

JanuaryDecember..

1936:JanuaryFebruary..MarchAprilMayJuneJuly..AugustSeptember.OctoberNovember..December..

1937:January..

12610771442956

80103

868383

100105113119121119127138143

130

101.498.176.862.653.071.777.285.786.484.785.387.189.090.893.595.396.898.499.6

101.0102.5

102.392.761.837.025.043.8

55.964.4

70.375.479.783.084.681.886.887.193.295.8

102.0

99.7

273224

934157

178

263239

242214264S02315295297295236262203244

202

554442312223

2354

504357495960486160656252

43

3,4422,8271,714

973569

1,215

1,4772,106

2,0261,8242,0402,4042,6482,5862,5942,7122,7302,9922,9473,115

3,212

2021721026145

90120

117120126144146145146148155161164170

170

4,5003,7782,5121,4851,0171,997

2,8703,073

3,0462,9643,3433,9424,0463,9853,9234,1954,1614,5454,3374,432

43S38218112176

209

322203

175138252190192261193208256223294337

4,737 S3 | (6)

36224217011379131

206195

207176210252210204213197204224212244

1,104,168800,031426, 271285,138331, 777

534,055661,515

721.414676,315783,552979, 907984, 097886, 065950, 851923, 703961, 803

1,007,417882, 643

1,067,365

1,149.918

35.9435.1931.6929.6528.1731.1532. 5833.3133.3433.4833.2133.1032.9232.7933.4933.8834.1534.6334.6535.1536. 55

2.552.462.222.112.122.312.442.43

2.432.432.372.362.362.362.432.432.412.462.462.522.57

1 Black, blue, galvanized, and full finished.* RevisedSee tables 12 and 13 on p. 19.

2 With adjustment for seasonal variation.J See footnote marked "f" on p. 48.

8 Without adjustment for seasonal variation.6 See footnote marked "V on p. 49.Digitized for FRASER



Textile IndustriesPRODUCTION in the textile industries so far dur-ing 1937 has been maintained at a high rate andconsiderably above the output in the early part of1936. With mill work so active at the year end, aftera rapid increase in the final quarter of last year, themarked seasonal increase usually experienced in Jan-uary did not occur. The seasonally corrected indexdeclined from the December figure of 139 (1923-25 100) to 124, the latter figure being above every monthlyindex for 1936, except that for December.

Rayon mills continued to operate at capacity inJanuary. Producers' stocks have remained very low, andthe manufactured yarn and staple fiber has moveddirectly into consumer channels. The long period ofcapacity operations in this industry suggests the likeli-hood of an expansion in productive facilities at somenear future date.

Cotton-mill activity recorded a small gain in Januaryas compared with December. Daily average output,as indicated by the data on cotton consumption andspindle activity, was at the highest level on record.Cotton consumption was about 2 percent larger inJanuary than in December on a daily average basis,and the largest since the figures were first compiled in1913. Spindle activity also recorded a small gain,

with operations at 137.7 percent of single-shift capacityas compared with 134.5 percent in December. Cottonconsumption during the first half of February, accordingto the weekly estimates, held steady at the January rate.

The marked rise in the production of cotton goodshas been accompanied by a steady rise in cloth pricesand a sharp increase in manufacturers' margins. Withimproved profit possibilities, spindles which have beenidle for a long period have been returned to service.In January 89 percent of all the spindles in place wereused some time during the month.

Output of woolen mills was lower in January than inthe preceding month but was still above any 1936month with the exception of December. Usuallyactivity increases in January as compared with Decem-ber. Daily average wool consumption was 20 percentlower than in December, but 8 percent higher than inJanuary 1936. Weaving activity in other than carpetand rug mills was higher, but spindle activity decreased.Despite this decline, woolen spindle operations were stillabove maximum single-shift capacit}7.

Silk deliveries recorded a less-than-seasonal gain inJanuary over those of the preceding month. On adaily average basis, deliveries were 13 percent higherthan in December.

TEXTILE STATISTICS

Year and month

Pro-duc-

tion in-dex, ad-justed

Month-ly av-erage,

1923-25=100

Cotton,raw

Millcon-

sump-tion

Run-ningbales

Cotton manufactures

Spin-dle ac-tivity,total

Mil-lions ofspindle;pinchou:

Cotton cloth,finishing

Plainbleach-

edPrintgoods

Thousands ofyards

Whole-sale

price,cottongoods


100

Wool

Con-sump-tion 2

Thou-sands

ofpounds

Wool manufactures

Spinningspindles

Wool- Wor-sted

Looms

Nar- Broad

Percent of active hoursto total reported

Whole-sale

price,woolen

andworstedgoods


100

Deliv-eries tomills

Silk

Balesof 133pounds

Whole-sale

price,raw,

Japa-nese,13-15(New

York)

Dollarsper

pound

Rayon

Deliveriesfrom mills

n-ad-just-cd

Ad-just-ed '

Dailyaverage,

1923-25=100

Ho-siery

Pro-duc-tion

Thou-sandsof doz-

enpairs

1929: January..1930: January..1931: January..1932: January..1933: January..1934: January1935:

January...December..

1936:January-..February.MarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctober. _.NovemberDecember.

1937:January.

116103

8787

103111

105102100100100107116120120114121139

668, 286576,160450,117434, 726470,182508,021

550,553499, 773

590,484515,977550,641576,762530,894555,449607, 056574, 289629, 727646, 499626, 695692, 921

124 678,064

9,2278,1766,3656,2136,7916,973

7,5426,804

7,7096,7357.2547,3136, 8967,3207,8557,5738,0888,3287,9978,679

8,587

122, 679

145.159101.16097, 43592,807107,893104, 837105,062104, 630101, 904104, 667107, 706121,419105,188123,125

99, 627

120,180104,702

100,52891,86095, 27491,07489, 51890, 33891,27391,15786,51488, 89083, 76090,839

113,771 93,741

100.494.773.555.850.186.5

84.186.0

80.478.177.176.275.575.478.779.580.082.085.590.3

91.9

34,00027,00021, 00019, 60020, 40023, 500

27, 80035,184

36, 34532, 02327, 63329, 34624,33327, 30233,96331,62730, 63937, 76033, 99039, 504

41, 616

826248525965

8692

9396858287879097889096110

105

695552535650

7274

636859605757596865748392

88

635028253632

2742

474438363436364341464252

56

91.484.973.763.353.484.3

73.881.0

81.482.883.882.282.282.682.081.280.980.584.390.5

91.9

57, 34957, 68355, 91058, 79346, 20440 942

47,44335, 55938,99532. 05336. 00034, 56432, 08731, 43736.65842.01645,70943, 09340. 40141.627

44,198

4.9984. 6302.8071.9531.3051.468

1.4611.958

1.950.784.733.682.600.597

1.7141.7911.6981.7561.9351,968

2.051

255268279273353383

553473

47751742243342849861463353750453562

539

258274285278361391

5P5557

48745439941644662380858638747561!6fi2

550

7, 302

9,9968,918

10,0999,2529,83210. 2019,2709.4799.P8310.11110,82811,56610.71611.280

1 Adjusted for seasonal variations. * Scoured basis, total; see note marked " V on p. 54.


March 1937 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS 15

Commodity Price Movements in 1936By Roy G. Blakey, Chief, Division of Economic Research

CHANGES in the general level of wholesale pricesduring the first 10 months of 1936 were influencedmostly by the fluctuations of agricultural prices, withnonagricultural prices moving approximately horizon-tally. Agricultural prices, after having risen sharply asa result of the 1934 drought, moved lower during thefirst 4% months of 1936 on prospects for increasedsupplies. When the 1936 trans-Mississippi droughtbegan to appear serious, however, agricultural pricesturned up sharply and carried the general price averagewith them. The rapid rise during the summer was suc-ceeded by a lull in September and October, but imme-diately following the November election there was asharp upward movement of most agricultural prices atthe same time that a marked rise in nonagriculturalproducts was experienced. The net result of thesedivergent movements was a 1-percent increase in the1936 annual average of the Bureau of Labor Statisticsindex of 784 wholesale price series, though the December1936 index was 4 percent above that for December 1935.The year closed with most prices advancing above levelsalready higher than those of a year earlier.

In other words, United States wholesale commodityprices advanced for the fourth consecutive year butthe net gain in 1936, measured by annual averages,was relatively small. The sharpest rebound from thedepression occurred during the first year of recovery,after the banking panic of March 1933, and while thenew legislative program respecting money (gold), agri-culture, and industry was being formulated and putinto effect. The price advance was substantial but ata diminishing rate each subsequent year, as is indicatedby the accompanying summary table.

Table 1.Changes in the Bureau of Labor Statistics Wholesale PriceIndex, 1930-36

[1926=100]

Item

Annual index _ . _ _Percentage change from preced-

ing year. . _ __, .December indexPercentage change from pre-

ceding December _

1930

86.4g g

79^6

-14.7

1931

73.0

-15.568.6

-13.8

1932

64.8

-11 .262.6

- 8 . 8

1933

65.9

+1.770.8

+13.1

1934

74.9

+13.776.9

+8.6

1935

80.0

+6.880.9

+5,2

1936

80.8

+1.084.2

+4.1

Source: Index numbers from the U. S. Department of Labor.

Principal Price Changes.In the 12 months ending in December 1936, prices

of raw materials and semimanufactures both advancedabout 10 percent, while those of finished productsadvanced less than 1 percent. The annual index forfinished products was 0.2 percent lower for 1936 thanfor 1935. In other words, the price indexes of thetwo economic classes which fell most rapidly from 1929

to 1933 also rose most rapidly during 1936 as they didin the preceding 3 years. (See fig. 1.)

The annual index of food prices was 1.9 percent lowerfor 1936 than for 1935, but the index of farm productswas 2.7 percent and the index of prices of all commodi-ties other than farm products and foods was 2.2 per-

INDEX NUMBERS (Monthly average, 1926= lOO)1201

60

/

1929 1930

-Finished Products

1952

-Row Maferia/s

1934 I9?6

Figure 1.Wholesale Prices by Economic Classes, 1929-36 (UnitedStates Department of Labor).

cent above the corresponding annual indexes for 1935.If the December indexes instead of annual averagesare compared, it is seen that from December 1935 toDecember 1936 wholesale food prices declined 0.2 per-cent, whereas prices of farm products advanced 13percent and the "all other" index advanced 4.4 per-cent. (See fig. 2 and table 2.)

INDEX NUMBERS (Monthly11 or

erage, 1926 = 100)

Figure 2.Wholesale Prices of Farm Products, Foods, and OtherCommodities, 1929-36 (United States Department of Labor).

Thus, though the Bureau of Labor Statistics com-bined index advanced 4 percent from December 1935to December 1936, this was mostly because of the risein prices of farm products which started with thedrought; there was a moderate decline in wholesalefood prices during this interval. Price advances ofbasic raw materials and semimanufactures, other thanfoods and farm products, played an important role in


16 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS March 1937the general advance, however, particularly duringJune, July, November, and December.

Prices of the principal grains performed spectacularlyduring 1936, most of them rising very rapidly throughJune, July, August, and December, though corn de-clined in December. The Bureau of Labor Statisticsannual index of grain prices was 7 percent higher for1936 than for 1935, 124 percent higher than for 1932,but 9.3 percent lower than for 1929. Comparingmonthly averages, the December 1936 index for grainswas 42 percent higher than the December 1935 figure,12 percent higher than that for December 1929, and244 percent higher than that for December 1932.Prices of steers declined irregularly till the last ofAugust and then moved upward for the rest of theyear, beef prices showing similar but less extrememovements. Prices of hides also made sharp gainsduring the latter half of the year. Prices of hogs, onthe other hand, showed little net gain from Januaryto December, pork declined slightly but lard advancedsubstantially during July, August, and December.Wool, steel scrap, copper, lead, zinc, tin, rubber,cocoa, and coffee were among the other importantcommodities which had substantial to large net priceadvances during 1936, most of the rise in a number ofthese items taking place in November and December.

Wholesale prices of relatively few of the most im-portant commodities were lower at the end of 1936

than at the beginning of the year. Among these weresome livestock and poultry items and their products;also coal, burlap, and shoes, though the net pricedeclines in some cases were small.

Table 3 enables the reader to see at a glance whichimportant individual, class, and group price indexeswere above and which were below the combined indexof the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1936 and also whereeach stood with relation to its position in 1926. Inas-much as the annual average for 1936 was 80.8, it will beseen that the prices of print cloth and the other com-modities listed in the last section of table 3 were not upto the average, while prices of the commodities listedabove were higher than the general average. IfDecember indexes (last column) are compared with thecombined index of 84.2 for December 1936, it will beseen that many relative positions were different fromthose in the preceding (annual index) column and alsothat most price indexes for 1936 were higher at the endof the year than for the average of the year. Moreover,no group or class index shown in the table was as highin 1936 as was the 1926 average, though among theindividual commodity indexes, barley, corn, and steelscrap averaged higher in 1936 than in 1926. Thesethree commodities and eight other commodities listedwere priced higher in December 1936 than in 1926(annual basis).

Table 2.Percentage Changes in Wholesale Price Indexes and Other Price Indexes

Item

Annual averages of 1936compared with thosefor-

WHOLESALE PRICE INDEXES (U. S. DEPARTMENT OFLABOR)

Combined index (784 commodities or priceseries).

Economic classes:1Finished products -Raw materialsSemimanufactured articles

Farm products, foods, etc.:1Farm products . .

GrainsFoods

Meats.... ._Other than farm products and foods

Groups:1Building materials.._Chemicals and drugsFuel and lighting ._Hides and leatherHouse-furnishing goodsMetals and metal productsTextile productsM iscellaneous

OTHER PRICE INDEXES

Cost of living (National Industrial ConferenceBoard).

Prices received by farmers (U. S. Department ofAgriculture).

Retail foods (U. S. Department of Labor)Retail prices 2 (Fairchild Publications)

-15 .2

-13 .2- I S . 1-19 .2

22. 9- 9 . 4

-17 .8-19 .5-13 .1- 9 . 1

-14.7- 8 . 2

-12.6-13.4-13.420.9-14.7

-15 .3-21 .9

1932

Monthly average for December 1936 compared with those for

Decem-ber 1929

+24.7 + 1.0

+16.6+45.0+28. 0+67. 8

+124.1+34. 6+50. 9+13. 4

+21. 4+9.4+8.4

+30. 9+8.8+8.5

+30. 2+9. 5

+3.6+3.1+2.7+7.0- 1 . 9- 7 . 1+2.2+ 1.6

. 1+3.7+6.5+1.4+.7+.8

+3.2

+8. 9 j +2. 7+75.4 +5.6+20. 2 I +2.1+17. 3 +2. 7

1929 high

Month Percent

- 9 . 8 | July_.

- 9 . 9-10.6-13.2+11.8-13.4-15.5- 9 . 2- 5 . 2- 8 . 8- 8 . 0- 7 . 1

12.2- 9 . 0

-13 .1- 9 . 4

-14.2

-14.3

August..March-July..

_do_.August-.J u l y -January-

MarchFebruaryJuneJanuaryOctober and December-March and AprilJanuary.October

October.

August.-

.do

1932 or 1933 low

Month

-13.7-14.4

-17 .8+6.7

-17.4-25 . 3-11 .0

- 7 . 5-10 .9- 9 . 5-12.1-12.2-12.4-17.5-10. 5

-14.9

-17.1

February 1933.

February, March,April 1933

February 1933July 1932

and

February 1933, _.December 1932..February 1933..December 1933-April 1933August 1932March 1933May 1933February 1933-April 1933..

dFebruary 1933-April 1933

April 1933February and March 1933.

Percent

Decem-be

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