SCB_111931

NOVEMBER, 1931

SURVEYOF

CURRENT BUSINESS

UNITED STATESDEPARTMENT OF COMMERCEBUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE

WASHINGTON

V O L U M E I I N U M B E R I IDigitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

EXPLANATORY

The Survey of Current Business is designed to presenteach month a picture of the business situation by settingforth the principal facts regarding the various lines oftrade and industry. The figures are very largely thosealready in existence. The chief function of the Surveyis to bring together those data which, if available at all,are scattered in hundreds of different publications. Aportion of these data are collected by Governmentdepartments, other figures are compiled by technicaljournals, and still others are reported by trade asso-ciations. The Survey of Current Business computesthe indexes on total stocks, new orders, agriculturalmarketings, crop marketings, and unfilled orders basedon available data.

SOURCES OF DATAThe sources and inclusiveness of the data appearing

in the table "Monthly Business Statistics" will befound noted in the 1931 Annual Supplement to theSurvey of Current Business, and the sources of theweekly data are given on page 4 of the February 5,1931, issue of the Weekly Supplement to the Survey ofCurrent Business.

HISTORICAL DATAMonthly data on all the various series carried in the

Monthly Survey will be found in the 1931 AnnualSupplement to the Survey, running back seven yearsand in some cases eight years. Data previous to thatincluded in the 1931 Annual Supplement will be foundin the monthly Surveys prior to 1924.

RELATIVE AND INDEX NUMBERSTo facilitate comparison between different important

items and to chart series expressed in different units,relative numbers (often called "index numbers," aterm referring more particularly to a special kind offiumbers described below) have been calculated. Themonthly average for 1923-1925 has usually been usedas a base equal to 100.

The relative numbers are computed by allowing themonthly average for the base year to equal 100. Ifthe movement for the current month is greater thanthe base, the relative number will be greater than 100,and vice versa. The difference between 100 and therelative number will give at once the per cent increase

or decrease compared with the base period. Thus, arelative number of 115 means an increase of 15 percent over the base period, while a relative number of80 means a decrease of 20 per cent from the base.

Relative numbers may also be used to calculate theapproximate percentage increase or decrease in amovement from one period to the next. Thus, if arelative number at one month is 120 and for a latermonth is 144, there has been an increase of 20 per cent.

When two or more series of relative numbers arecombined by a system of weightings, the resultingseries is denominated an index number. The indexnumber, by combining many relative numbers, isdesigned to show the trend of an entire group of indus-tries, or for the country as a whole, instead of for thesingle commodity or industry which the relativenumber covers. Comparisons with the base year orwith other periods are made in the same manner asin the case of relative numbers.

SEASONAL ADJUSTMENTS TO INDEXESSeasonal variations are found in most series of eco-

nomic statistics for which monthty values are obtain-able. Consumption and production of commodities,interest rates, bank clearings, railroad freight traffic,and many other types of data are marked by seasonalswings repeated with minor variations year after year.These, in so far as they exist at all, are definitelyperiodic in character, with a constant 12-month period.In cases where an adjustment is noted for a series car-ried in the Survey, the index has been corrected fornumber of working or business days in the variousmonths and then adjusted for seasonal variation,The index figures thereby become comparable through-out the series.

METHODS OF USEMethods of using and interpreting current business

statistics have been collected by the Department ofCommerce from many business concerns and aredescribed in a booklet entitled "How to Use CurrentBusiness Statistics," together with methods of collect-ing statistics. This booklet may be obtained from theSuperintendent of Documents, Government PrintingOffice, Washington, D. C., at 15 cents per copy.

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

V o l u m e 11 N O V E M B E R , 1931 Number 11WEEKLY DATA THROUGH OCTOBER 24, 1931MONTHLY DATA THROUGH SEPTEMBER

SURVEY OFCURRENT BUSINESS

P U B L I S H E D B Y

U N I T E D S T A T E S D E P A R T M E N T O F C O M M E R C EW A S H I N G T O N

CONTENTSPage

Monthly business indicators _ 2Business situation summarized _ 3Finance _ 41931 in comparison __ 6Commodity prices. __ _. 7Employment _ _. 8Domestic trade 9Foreign trade . 10Transportation _ 11Construction _ _ __ 12Agriculture _ _ 13Iron and steel industry __ 14Chemical industries _ _ __ 15Automobile and rubber industries. _ _ 16Textiles industry __ ._ _._ . 17Food industries 18Forest products industry 19Miscellaneous industries __ 20New and revised series _ 21Weekly business statistics _ 22Monthly business statistics (Index) _ 23

Subscription price of the SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS Is $1.50 a year which includes the 12 monthly numbers, the annual supple-ment, and the 52 weekly supplements; single copies (monthly), 10 cents; annual supplement, 25 cents. Foreign subscriptions withoutweekly supplements, $2.50; single copies (monthlyissues),including postage, 14 cents; annual supplement, 36 cents. Make remit-

tances only to Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C., by postal money order, express order, or New York draft.Currency at sender's risk. Postage stamps or foreign money not accepted

8329331 1


SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS November, 1931

Monthly Business Indicators1 9 2 3 - 1 9 2 5 = 1 0 0

(40

120

100

80

125

loo h^

75

130

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

J.JJLLLI1L1J311111ALL1

FACTORY EMPLOYMENT

i i | 1 1 ! i i 1 ! t

^*^*

I U 1 1. 1 ) 1 ' i !

ADJUSTED*

\

UJJjJ_LLLLL

XXlJJJ_LJJ-i_LLL*nsnvi LI a

TOTAL FREIGHT CAR LOADINGS

I ! ! I 5 I I I ! I M ! I M 1 I I H ! ilifl I il\70LLi

220DEPARTMENT STORE SALES

100

!50

SCO

VALUE OF EXPORTS

5 Q J J 1 M Li i i ! I I i t I I i i M 1 1

ZOO

150

100

50

BANK DEBITS OUTSIDE NEW YORK CITY

1927 192S 59E9 1930 1931* ADJUSTMENT FOR NUMBER OF WORKING DAYS AND SEASONAL VARIATION

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

r\vv^*V

50

120

100

60

60

120

\ f^M

1

FACTORY PAYROLLSUMDJUSTED

CAR LOADINGS L.C.L.

120WHOLESALE PRICES

VALUE OF IMPORTS150

100

5Q LLUJ-LJLLLllll I i I I 1 1 I I LI I I I ! M 1 1 U i ! I i I I I ! 1 1 i i I I if! ! >TH1 I I S

BUILDING CONTRACTS AWARDEDZOO

150

100

501927 1926 1929 1930 1931


November, 1931 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS

Business Situation SummarizedONLY slight change occurred in the volume of busi-ness in September and early October, and suchgains as were realized were smaller than the usual sea-sonal increases. Freight-car loadings expanded; re-tail trade, as measured by department store and mail-order sales, increased; foreign trade advanced slightly;and bank debits were larger, but in each instance thegain was less than the normal seasonal increase. Build-ing contract awards in September increased contrary tothe usual trend, but the gain was not held in the first halfof October. The index, which is based on a 3-monthmoving average, again declined. Wholesale prices de-clined in September after holding steady since June,due largely to declines in the prices of farm products.

Industrial production failed to expand in September,and further declines marked the iron and steel, auto-motive, and building material industries. Activity inmajor lines producing articles for direct consumptioncontinues at a relatively high level, particularly in thetextile and food products industries, although someslackening was noted in the leather and rubber prod-ucts industries. The index of industrial productionwas off slightly as a result of continued declines in themineral industry, influenced principally by the reduc-tion in iron ore and petroleum production. The indexof manufacturing was unchanged, but a seasonal in-

crease is usual at this time. After adjustment, theindustrial production index and the subsidiary seriesof manufacturing and mineral production all moveddownward. The general index for September was 3.8per cent below August and 16 per cent below a yearago. The latter decline was the same as the cumula-tive deficiency for the nine months, but the drop inthe third quarter was slightly less, 14 per cent, ascompared with the same period of 1930.

The slight gain in factory employment in Septemberwas not of seasonal proportions, and there was a furtherreduction in pay-roll totals. Employment in Septem-ber was 73 per cent of the 1923-1925 average, whilepay rolls were but 62 per cent of the average for thesame period. Pay-roll gains in September were con-fined to the clothing, food, and chemical groups, withall other major classes reporting declines.

Security markets were reactionary in September andearly October, but efforts to strengthen the domesticbanking situation have improved sentiment and re-sulted in an upward reaction. Reserve bank credithas continued to expand, and gold withdrawals, throughexport and earmarking operations, for a time assumedextremely large proportions, but recently the rate ofwithdrawal has slackened. Money rates have firmedas a result of recent developments.

MONTHLY BUSINESS INDEXES

Industrial produc-tion

Year and month g5a

H Man

ufac

ture

s,

ad-

juste

d i

Min

eral

s, adju

sted

*

I Factory em-!! ployment j Freight car loadings| and pay rolls i

&B 8itsfc A

mou

nt o

f pay

ro

lls,

un

adju

sted

2

Una

djuste

d

1-3!

ef

Adju

sted

* *"

Merchan-dise, 1. c. I.

i1 "89 ! 1j? 1p \

September 91October, . 87November _ 85December ! 82

1931: ]January 83February _ _ . . _ _ ! 8 6March 88April . 90May 89June 84July . 83August . 79September 76

Monthly average, Januarythrough September:

1929 1221930 1001931 84

122

90858480

i rihi

, 8688908984837976

12310034

118

94989294

908887928685847974

11510185

102

83i 82

8180

787878787876757473

1029076

112

83817574

687375747268646462

109 ;9169

121

99978674

747475777977787678

1079476

106 j

87888484

8280 i80 !80 i79 !7776 !72 !69

110

99979486

838789919289878688

1059888

106

95939292

908989888989888685

117

103112113165

798092

1019790656788

999384

114

991029894

979897

1069795918884

115

j 82\ 86! 76I 72

6659| 62575449484348

! 1128654

Impo

rts

Ban

k de

bits

o

uts

ide

New

Yor

k C

ityi

Bui

ldin

g co

ntr

acts

, all

type

s,v

alu

e, adju

sted

ii

109

70776365

575465585655545253

1158356

138.5

J07.7120.1 :99.9

117.2 :

110.086.698.499.595.698.493.583.884.3 |

137. 8118.8 :94.5

!

110

81787673

717977736664615955

1219667

Wholesale pricesC

ombi

ned

inde

x, 55

0co

mm

odi

ties

Farm

pr

oduc

ts

Oth

er

than

fa

rmpr

oduc

ts an

d fo

ods

Monthly average1926=100

97.584.282.680.478.477.075.574.573.371.370.070.070.269.1

97.188.372.3

106.685.382.679.375.273.570.170.670.167.165.464.963.560.5

105.691.667.3

92.782.881.580.179.0

77.877.175. 674.273.271.971. 872.372.0

92.986.774.0

1 Adjusted for seasonal variation. 1

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

SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS November, 1931

FinanceCredit and BankingAMONG the more important factors which in-

^^-fluenced the general banking situation duringSeptember were heavy security liquidation andEngland's suspension of gold payments on the 21st ofthe month. More recently the uncertainty which wasidentified with these influences has given way to adistinctly more hopeful tone owing primarily to theannouncement on October 7, that a national creditcorporation was to be formed to aid distressed banksand thereby to bring about the restoration of confidencegenerally.

The September statistics on bank debits indicatethat a relatively greater part of the month's credittransactions were centered in New York. Securityliquidation and shifts in bank portfolios, incident tobill sales and to gold exports, explain the nature of themajor part of these transactions. Outstanding loanson securities made by reporting member banks de-clined steadily throughout September and the firsthalf of October. By the end of September the totalhad fallen 19 per cent below that of September, 1929.The decline of recent weeks has been paralleled by agrowth in member-bank investments, which increased23 per cent during the year ended the last week of Sep-tember. "All other" loans, which include changingproportions of acceptance holdings, moved slightly up-ward early in the month and then entered upon a de-cline which continued through the first half of October.

Federal reserve bank statistics for Septemberreflect the rapid rate at which portfolio changes tookplace after England's suspension of gold payments.Acceptances held by the reserve banks for foreignaccount have been steadily diminishing since themiddle of the year and in general foreign deposits haveincreased accordingly. During September, and par-ticularly after the third week, acceptances were furtherliquidated and foreign deposits were drawn against andtaken in the form of gold for export or for earmarking.These transactions were reflected in an increase ofopen market bill purchases by the reserve banks andresulted in a net outflow of gold of $258,500,000 duringthe month. About the middle of October the sale ofacceptances for foreign account gave way to renewedbill purchases and a decline in the outward movementof gold.

The New York Federal Reserve Bank raised its re-discount rate from 1% to 2% per cent on October 9 anda week later moved it up to 3K per cent. These in-creases accounted for a rise in bill rates which, aftera period of heavy gold withdrawals by Europe, con-tributed to a reversal by the middle of October of themovement which had caused a heavy outflow of goldand had caused renewed liquidation in the bond marketafter a week's recovery in the wake of announcementof a national credit pool.

CREDIT AND BANKING STATISTICS

1929: September.1930:

September.. .OctoberNovember...December _ - _

1931:JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember...

Bank debits

NewYorkCity

Out-sideNewYorkCity

Can-ada

Reporting memberbanks Wednesdayclosest to end ofmonth

Loanson

securi-ties

Allotherloans

In-vest-

ments

[Condition of Federal reserve banks, end of month

Totalbillsdis-

count-ed

Totalbillsbought

in theopen

market

TotalUnitedStatessecuri-

ties

Totalreservebankcredit

Notesin cir-cula-tion

Mem-ber

bankreserve

ac-count

Re-serveratio

Totalbank-ers' ac-cept-ancesout-

stand-ing

end ofmonth

Netgoldim-

portsin-

cludinggoldre-

leasedfromear-

mark

De- 1positsNewYorkState

savingsbanks

MILLIONS OF DOLLAKS

50, 342

27, 38330, 78122, 49029, 001

24, 55720, 94827, 58926, 82125, 07225, 89321, 00717, 50120, 073

27, 314

21, 25323, 69319, 70023, 113

21, 69717, 08419,42119, 62018, 85819, 40618, 44416, 52616, 627

3,4702,9673,6182,9743,0122,6682,6352, 5702,7863,1722,6942,4002,244

7,8288,4768,0657,7687,8147,3797,3137,2587,0526,8676,7466,5446,5196,346

9, 6008, 5388,7078,7668,4498,3748,1518,1267,9417,8637,9457,9427,8797,845

5,4016,4546,7316,8006,6936,8437,1837,5517,9037,8077,7957,8107,6657, 916

958

272207275251

232198250157174149195255328

293

209163175364

12510912416312510673

215469

162

597602599729

610599599598598668678728738

1,458

1, 103998

1,0791,373

980925990937917943976

1,2551,578

1,863

1,379,368,455,664

,494,478,486,535,580,723,765,963

2,098

2,3262,4672,4182,3732,4712,3982,3432,4282, 3712,3892,3812,3672,3732,364

73.179.782.280.373.782.283.782.684.084.984.683.878.871.7

1,272

1,3671,5081,5711,556

1,5201,5201,4671,4221,4131,3681,2281,090

996

11.06.5

20.333.117.546.318.628.642.053.6

156.110.2

41.5-258. 5

4,4574,6624,6584,6664,7924,8884,9285, 0185,0595,0835,1565,1495,1735,231


November, 1931 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS

FinanceSecurity and Money MarketsAFTER a period of steady liquidation, extendingthroughout September and the first week ofOctober, during which new low levels were constantlybeing established in both stock and bond prices,security prices reversed this course toward the middleof October, owing, apparently, to the announcementthat a large credit pool would be formed to aid banksin possession of unliquid assets. During several of theweeks featured by heavy liquidation the turnover ofstocks assumed large proportions and for the monthsales were more than double those of August and wellin line with those of a year ago.

Leading European security markets were likewiseunder pressure during most of September. Duringthe first week of the month the German Bourse opened,after being closed for 55 days as a result of the criticalcredit and banking situation of midsummer, and therenewal of trading became the occasion for heavyliquidation. By the middle of October, however, anincreasing degree of firmness prevailed in Europeanmarkets generally.

Money rates showed virtually no change throughoutthe greater part of September. During the first partof October rates became somewhat firmer and reflectedthe higher rediscount rates established by the NewYork and several other reserve banks. Rates on prime

bankers7 acceptances rose sharply during the last weekof September due to heavy sales on foreign accountand to corresponding purchases of gold for export.

New capital issues continued on a low level through-out September, and the third week of October becamethe first such period since the war, during which therewas not a single bond issue brought out in the market.Brokers' loans by New York City reporting memberbanks showed a further decline, which brought thetotal below $1,000,000,000 by the middle of Octoberfor the first time since 1922. The general nature ofthis liquidation is indicated by the fact that loans fromall sources made to all members of the stock exchangeshowed a corresponding decline to a September totalof less than one-eighth the amount outstanding in thesame month of 1929.

Immediately following the suspension of gold pay-ments by England the New York Stock Exchange putinto effect a rule, never previously tried, whereby theexecution of short-selling orders is forbidden at quota-tions lower than the price at which a stock was last sold.The step enabled share prices to hold up and it affordedthe European security markets the necessary time toadopt suitable emergency measures preliminary toreopening.

SECURITY AND MONEY MARKET STATISTICS

1929: September1930:

Stockprices

Rel. to1926

225.3September 148.8OctoberNovember _ _ _December _

1931:JanuaryFebruaryMarchApril . _MayJuneJuly ._ . .August _ _.September

127 6116.7109.4112 3119 8121.6109.298.095 198.295.581.7

Re-portedsales

ofstocks

Thou-sands ofshares

100, 05653, 54565 49751, 94658, 76452 54364 14565, 49454, 33546, 66158, 71933, 54024, 89051, 140

Com-mon-stockyields

Percent

2.92

4.33

Price indices of for-eign listed com-mon stock

Lon-don

1Rel. toDec. 31,

1923

129. 4790.35

5 05 92.685.43 92.165.625 505 124.955.435.955.965,665.746.51

89.9486 3983.9280.7081.0277.6370.3376.4272.4066.90

Paris

Rela-tive to

1913

501424425395378349365373362346322329309304

Berlin

Priceto par

weight-ed

151.6113.2105.0103. 497.090 584.797.3

101.296.680.683,7

Closed,62.0

Bondyields

Percent

4.764.414 414.464.554 434 444.414.434.434.454.444.504.70

Newcapitalissues

Long-termreal

estatebonds

T'nf nldividend

andinterestpay-

ments

Thousands of dollars j

1, 201, 284

284, 570151, 148137, 622180, 872399 84874, 251

269, 030267, 471169, 360131, 343115,07046, 197

156,381

5,338

13, 8906, 6359,965

29, 8774 5203,5902,0157,2359, 4853, 425

7752,100

66, 785

530, 200573, 500777, 329579, 028712, 927

1,121,434523, 807594, 282748, 873559, 624762, 077945, 976489, 858532, 840

Range of open mar-ket money ratesNew York

Callmon-ey re-newal

Timeloans

Com-mer-cial

paper

Per cent

8.502.192.002.002.231.571.501.551.521.451.501.501.501.50

8^-9

2H~2^2*4-2*42 -2)42 -2^

1% Wi2 -fyi1 -^2ll^-l^ji/_ji/1}^ -1 V4l^t-2

6K33

2M-3

2%-32^-22421/-2V*?2 -2)4

2222

Brokers' loans

Madebyre-port-ing

mem-berbanksinN.Y.C.,

Wed.closest

toend ofmonth

Re-portedby the

NewYorkStockEx-

change,end ofmonth

Millions ofdollars

6,8043,0632,5122,1111,9261,7341,798,875,730,539,479,390

1, 3661,172

8,5493,4812,5562,1621,8941,7201,8401,9091,6511,4351,3911,3441,3541,044

Ra-tioto

mar-ket

value

Percent

9.82

5.794.654.063.863.303.223.583.403.372.933.033.043.23


6 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS November, 1931

1931 in Comparison

FIRSTS MONTHS >7Z?777% REMAINDER OF YEAR

BANK PEBiTS OUTSIDE NEW YORK CITY {BILLIOMS_Q^J3QLLARS)__

50 100 ',50 eOO 250 300T

CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS AWARDED (dILLIONS OF DOLLARS)

STEEL INGOT PRODUCTION (MILLIONS OF TONS)

193!1930192919281927

AUTOMOBILE PRODUCTION (THOUSANDS OF CARS)

193!1930192919281927

FREIGHT CAR LOADINGS (M/LLIONS OF CARS)


November, 1931 SURVEY OF CUREENT BUSINESS

Commodity PricesA^TER having remained practically stationary forthree consecutive months, prices averaged some-what lower during September, 1931. Weekly indexesindicate that some advances have occurred in thewholesale markets during October.

Despite declines from August to September, 1931,in the indexes of 8 to 10 major groups of wholesaleprices, advances occurred in price of 102 of the 550individual commodities and no change in price occurredin 287 of the others. Drops in prices of the remaining181 products caused the combined index to decline 1.6per cent. Prices of furniture, rubber, leather, livestockand poultry, and hides and skins fell from 5 per centto 15 per cent from August to September, 1931, andcotton goods, paint materials, meats and farm prod-ucts, other than grains and livestock, dropped about 3per cent each. Declines of from 1 to 2 per cent oc-curred in prices of grains, mixed fertilisers, and housefurnishings, and declines of less than 1 per cent oc-curred in prices of lumber, brick, and chemicals. Nochange occurred in prices of boots and shoes, silk andrayon, coke, iron and steel, agricultural implements,

cement, structural steel, and rubber tires. Prices ofpulp and paper and bituminous coal averaged slightlyhigher in September than in August, 1931, and ad-vances exceeding 2 per cent occurred in prices of an-thracite coal, butter, cheese and milk, and petroleumproducts.

Retail prices of foods declined slightly from August15 to September 15, 1931, to a level 18 per cent lowerthan a year ago. Twenty-five of the 42 articles offoods on which quotations are received regularly de-clined in price, 9 advanced, and 8 remained unchanged.Prices of certain meats, of flour, beans, potatoes, aridcabbage declined from 3 to 10 per cent from August 15to September 15, while prices of eggs and butter ad-vanced 6 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively.

As a result of declines ranging from 6 to 14 per centin meat animals, grains, cotton and cottonseed, andfruits and vegetables, farm prices averaged 4 per centlower on September 15 than on August 15. Prices ofdairy and poultry products advanced about 5 per cent.Farm prices now average about 28 per cent lower thanbefore the war,

INDEXES OF COMMODITY PRICES

Year and month

1929: September - .1930:

SeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember . . _ .

1931:January _ ._ _ _.FebruaryMarchApril _ - _MayJune - _ _ . - - -JulyAugust _September

Monthly average, January throughSeptember:

19291930 .1931

Com

bine

d in

dex,

55

0co

mm

odi

ty q

uo

ta- !

tion

s

! iF

arm

pr

oduc

ts

97.584 282.680.478. 4

77.076.574.573.371.370.070.070.269 1

97.188.372.3

106.6

85 382. 679.375.273.570.170.670.167.165.464.963.560 5

105. 691.667.3

Foo

ds

Oth

er

than

fa

rmpr

oduc

ts an

d fo

ods

{

103. 2

89.288.685.781.880.177.176.775.672.972.473.173.772.9

99.891.874.9

92.782,881.580.179.077.877.175.674.273.2 l71.971.872.372.0 i

92.9 i86.7 i74.0 i

Hid

es

and

leat

her

;pr

oduc

ts

!

Tex

tile pr

oduc

ts

M

110.8 93.199.1 ! 75.596.5 i 73.894.0 1 73.391.2 I 72.4

\88.6 ! 71.088.6 ! 70.487.4 | 69.287.3 67.687.3 i 66.387.8 i 65.489.2 | 65.488.5 I 64.284.8 ! 62.9

109.3 94.5102.1 ! 83.387.5 | 66.9

Fue

l an

d li

ghti

ng

Met

als

an

d m

eta

l ,

Jfpr

oduc

ts

1 g

1 J?

Bui

ldin

g m

ate

rial

s

Che

mic

als

an

d dr

ugs

onthly average, 192(>=100

81.1 ; 104.1 ; 97.5 93.9

76.3 1 91.8 86.4 86.675.1 i 90.4 85.8 86.071.8 90.2 85.6 bo. 270.5 90.0 84.4 84.869.8 89.3 82.9 83.669.6 88.9 81.8 82.264.5 89.0 81.9 81.961.6 88.7 80.9 80.160.9 87.8 78.4 79.158.1 87.4 77.5 77.958.2 87.5 75. S 77.362.3 87.1 75.4 75.563.3 87.2 74.9 74.8

81.5 104.9 i 97.2 94.677.3 i 96.9 i 92.0 , 89.863. 1 ! 88. 1 ! 78. 8 I 79. 2!

' i

Mo

use

fu

rnis

hin

g i

good

s

97. 195. 495. 395. 291. 391. 190.890.890.889.288.688.087.584.7

96.896.389.1

Mis

cell

aneo

us

SI. 769.768.867.866.964.763.961.763.962.861.861.058. 558.4

80.575.462.2

11IS=

S3&

98.982.180.076.874.2

72.970.669.468.366.564.764.364.162.7

97.986.967.1

Sem

iman

ufac

ture

s

Fin

ishe

d m

an

ufa

c-tu

res

!

97.6 ' 97.076.5 i 86.875.5 i 85.675.6 j 83.774.3 | 81.973.4 80.572.3 i 79.372.2 1 78.471.1 ! 77.168.9 : 75.168.5 i 74.069.5 ! 74.068.3 ! 74.666.3 | 74.0

96.7 96.884.8 i 90.070.1 | 76.3

i

Retail i

1

I1 *s

1 ' -Z 1

! O! & ,

1 Mo.

aver-age

1913 =100

i 161

| M6! 144| 141! 137

133127126

i 124i 121i 118! 119

120119

j 156i 149! 123

Mo. :aver- !age

1923 =100

100.8

95.494.8 '.93. 9 !92.6

91.1 ,89.6 j89.188.286.985.9 i85.985.985.6

99.896.987.6 ;

Farm1

SS8ISi!f iS*oQ

Mo.aver-age1909to

1914=100

141

1.J110610397949091918380797572

13812284

1 Department of Labor. 2 Department of Agriculture. a National Industrial Conference Board.



E m p l o y m e n tEMPLOYMENT in the factories of the countryduring September increased by less than theusual seasonal proportions, so that the seasonally ad-justed index of the Federal Reserve Board declinedalmost 1.8 per cent from the August figure. The aver-age monthly index of employment for the first three-quarters of the year was almost 16 per cent under thesame period last year and about 25 per cent under 1929.

While the actual number of factory workers in-creased 0.5 per cent during September, the unadjustedvolume of wage payments to factory workers declined4 per cent, a reflection of recent reductions in wagerates as well as increases in part-time employment.The volume of factory pay rolls during the first ninemonths of the year averaged about 24 per cent underthe same period last year and almost 37 per centunder 1929.

Wearing apparel was the only group of manufac-turing industries reporting an increase in employmentgreater than would normally be expected at thisseason of the year. The textiles group as a whole,food products, the chemicals group, rubber products,and tobacco were the only other groups reportingincreased number of employees as compared withAugust, but these increases were in each case smallerthan those usually recorded during September. Thegreatest decrease in employment during September,after seasonal adjustments are made, was recorded by

the iron and steel industry, with a decrease of 4.1per cent.

The textiles, chemicals, and food groups were theonly groups to register an increase in volume of payrolls from August to September. All groups reportedpay rolls materially under those of September, 1930.

Both employment and pay rolls of bituminous coalmines increased seasonally from August. Anthracitemining also recorded seasonal increases in employmentand pay rolls but of materially greater proportions.Both employment and pay rolls of power, light, andwater companies decreased during September as com-pared with August. The index of employmentdecreased by 1.3 per cent, while pay rolls decreased by2 per cent. The telephone and telegraph groupreported a decline in employment of 1 per cent duringSeptember as compared with August, and a drop of0.2 per cent in volume of pay rolls for the same period.Employment in the retail trade increased seasonallyduring September by almost 6 per cent, while pay rollsincreased by 4 per cent.

The proportion of trade-union members employedduring September was the same as for the previous twomonths, 74 per cent. This was 6 per cent underSeptember, 1930, and almost 18 per cent under 1929.Wages of common labor in road building duringSeptember decreased to 34 cents per hour, a new lowfor the present depression.

STATISTICS OF EMPLOYMENT, PAY ROLLS AND WAGES

Year and month

1929:September

1930:SeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember

1931:JanuaryFebruary . .MarchAprilMayJune _ _ _JulyAugustSeptember

Monthly average, Janu-ary through September

192919301931

Factory em-ploymentF. R. B.

Ad-justed i Unad-justed

F.R.B.factory

payrolls,

unad-justed

Monthly average,1923-1925=100

102.4

83.482.281.180.178.377.877.978.077.876.075.174.172.8

105.486.484.381.078.876.477.378.177.977.175.073.874.274.6

101.889.976.0

111.9

83.080.875.173.768.473.274.973.672.167.664.464.361.7

108.991.168.9

Bituminouscoal mining

Em-ploy-ment

Payrolls

Anthracitemining

Em-ploy-ment rolls

Power, light,and water

Em-ploy-ment

Payrolls

Telephoneand telegraph

Em-ploy-ment

Payrolls

Retail trade

Em-ploy-ment

Payrolls

Monthly average, 1929=100

97.290.591.892.592.593.991.588.885.982.478.476.477.080.4

99.993.883.9

98.674.979.479.177.7

73.368.365.258.654.452.450.450.653.6

97.782.258.5

101.993.899.097.299.190.689.582.085.280.376.165.167.380.0

98.191.879.6

103.8

91.6117.298.0

100.089.3

101.971.375.276.166.753.756.464.9

92.192.072.8

105.5105.2104.8103.4103.299.297.896.797.197.697.296.795.994.7

98.6102.797.0

106.6106.1105.6103.7106.398.699.7

102.497.698.798.397.496.294.3

98.3104.198.1

102.596.894.593.091.690.589.288.688.187.486.986.685.985.0

99.499.587.6

100.4

102.2100.997.9

101.3

96.394.897.995.094.195.093.392.392.1

98.9103.894.5

97.692.095.598.4

115.190.087.187.890.189.989.183.981.886.6

96.193.587.4

99.2

92.495.196.807.789.486.7 i87.588.388.087.683.380.383.5

96.894.986.1

Employ-ment

agencies,appli-

cants per100 jobs

Number

114

170193227218

224202179177181205209217

134182

Employ-ment,trade-unionmem-bers

Per centof total

members

90.079.079.078.077.073.073.074.075.075.075.074.074.074.0

88.479.074.1

Wages,com-mon

labor inroad

build-ing

Centsper hour

4140393837363637353737363634

394036

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

November, 1931 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS 9

Domestic TradeDEPAKTMENT store sales increased somewhatless than the estimated seasonal amount duringSeptember, according to the seasonally adjusted indexof the Federal Reserve Board. Sales during Septemberwere 15 per cent less than in the same month last year,measured by dollar volume, while the cumulativetotal for the first nine months of the year was 10 percent less than in the corresponding period in 1930.The total value of stocks of goods in departmentstores, represented by seasonally adjusted index ofthe Federal Reserve Board has shown little changeduring the past three months, but was 11 per centsmaller at the end of September than a year ago.

Car loadings of merchandise freight in less thancarload lots showed an increase in September over thepreceding month, but slightly less than the usual sea-sonal gain, according to the adjusted index. The de-cline from September, 1930, amounted to 11.1 per cent.

Sales of 5-and-10 cent stores registered somewhatless than the usual seasonal increase during September,but the dollar volume of sales was less than 1 per centsmaller than a year ago.

Mail-order sales, based on the reports of two of thistype of outlets, showed a seasonal increase duringSeptember, but were 16 per cent less than in the cor-responding month last year. Postal receipts recorded

a seasonal increase during September, while the totalwas 8.5 per cent less than a year ago.

Commercial failures in September numbered 1,936,compared with 1,944 in the preceding month and 1,963in the corresponding month last year; it was thefourth consecutive month in which the number offailures was below the 2,000 mark. The number offailures was less than in September, 1930, for bothtrading establishments and the group of agents andbrokers, while manufacturers showed a small increase.The total of liabilities in September was less than ineither the preceding month or the same month last year.Agents and brokers and manufacturers each recordeda smaller total of liabilities in September than in thecorresponding month last year, but traders showedincreased indebtedness. There were 74 large firmswhich failed in September, compared with 64 in thesame month last year, but the total of liabilities wasless.

Magazine advertising recorded a seasonal increase inlineage during September, but was about 25 per centless than in the corresponding month last year. Ad-vertising in newspapers also increased seasonally fromAugust, while the September total was only 15 per centless than a year ago. Radio advertising was 29 percent greater than a year ago.

DOMESTIC TRADE STATISTICS

Year and month


SeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember . _ . . _

1S31:January __FebruaryMarch..April _.May.June . . . .JulyAugustSeptember

Monthly average, January throughSeptember:

J92919301931 ... . _ .

Departmentstore sales

Unad-just-ed i

Ad-just-

ed >

Departmentstore stocks

Unad-just-

ed 3Ad-just-ed'

Freight carloadings, mer-chandise, 1. c. I.

Unad-just-ed

Ad-just-ed

Five-and-tencent-store

sales

Unad-just-ed

Ad-Just-ed*

Monthly average, 1923-1925=100

117

103112113165798092

101979065f-787

999384

114

991029894979897

1069795918884

10495

101104| 8578

! 8187

! 85I 85! 80

7576| 84

979481

10091929291888684838382817981

11099979486838789919289878688

1059888

10595939292908989888989888fi85

147

147168159298

124127144160155147139142141

145142142

168

156151158153

1611631591681671611471 59155

Mail-order

sales, 3houses

Postalreceipts,

50 se-lectedcities

Thousands ofdollars

63, 07854, 43968, 87855, 71372, 48641,45939, 42243, 00852, 07850, 07049, 48045, 09343. 00445, 955

54, 66851,73645, 508

30, 54928, 76432, 27928,37938, 57229, 17226, 40530, 17829, 25727, 84426, 44224, 57823. 38926, 335

30, 99229, 72227, 067

Commercialfailures

Fail-ures

Num-ber

1,5681,9632,1242,0312,525

3,3162,5632, 6042,3862,2481,9931,9831 , 9441,936

1,9172,1862,330

Liabil-ities

Thou-sands

of dolls.

34, 12546, 94756, 29755, 28183, 68394, 60859, 60860, 38750, 86853, 37151, 65660, 99853. 02540, 256

36, 93652, 56058, 309

Advertisinglineage

Maga-zine

Thou-sands

of lines

2,536

2,1462,4902,4882,265

1,5851,9922,2032,4212,3752,1911,6131,3161,603

2,6342,4451,922

News-paper

Mil-lions of

lines

10689988982767290898880676777

1008878

Moneyordervalue,paid

Thou-sands

of dolls.

86, 97479, 17490,64779, 93491, 92378, 27370, 93581, 74790, 64681, 95679.31176, 36571, 622

87, 17583, 600

1 Corrected to average daily sales.

8329331 2

1 Adjusted for seasonal variation. 1

End of month figures.



Foreign TradeU NITED STATES exports during Septembershowed an expansion slightly less than seasonal.The increase in value over the total for August was 10per cent, while the normal seasonal upswing is about14 per cent. Imports showed a gain of 2/ per cent.On a daily average basis, exports and imports forSeptember amounted to $6,000,000 and $5,700,000,respectively.

Merchandise exports exceeded merchandise importsto the amount of $10,000,000, a comparatively smallfavorable balance for September. Gold exports,totaling $28,700,000, were larger than in any monthsince August, 1930, while the net amount of goldplaced under earmark for foreign account amountedto $279,000,000. Imports of this metal of $49,200,000dropped about 14 per cent below the imports in August.Gold was exported largely to France and the Nether-lands.

Comparatively small shipments of raw cotton, leaftobacco, and wheat account in large part for the lessthan normal seasonal increase in total exports. Ship-ments of wheat in September amounting to 8,897,000bushels were slightly smaller than in August, whilethe respective exports of cotton and tobacco, amount-ing to 298,300,000 pounds and 44,800,000 pounds,showed a substantial increase. As compared with the

corresponding periods of other recent years, however,exports of these three items in both August and Sep-tember were relatively low. Shipments of applesand dried and evaporated fruit were riot only largerthan in August, but were also greater than in thecorresponding period of 1930. Among our finishedmanufactures, exports of electrical apparatus andindustrial machinery increased in comparison withAugust; the latter fell only 6 per cent below the valueof this group in September, 1930. On the other hand,exports of agricultural implements, gasoline, andcopper showed a reduction as compared with themonth immediately preceding, as well as with thecorresponding period of 1930.

In import trade a considerable share of the drop intotal value, as compared with the correspondingperiod of 1930, was due to the low level of prices. Ourquantity purchases of hides and skins, raw silk, cruderubber, cotton cloth, unmanufactured wool and meatproducts during September, 1931, were either approxi-mately as large or greater than in September, 1930.Coffee and cane-sugar imports in September, 1931,fell below the quantity imported in September, 1930,but for the period, January to September, 1931, weresubstantially larger than in the corresponding periodof 1930.

EXPORTS AND IMPORTS

j CrudeEx- ; materials

ports, ||includH

Year and month reex-ports J

i Total

1929: September 437.2 ! 112.31930:

September 312.2 93.7October 326.9 104.8November 289.0 II 90.9December 274.9 1 76.7

1931:January.. 249.6February. _ 224.3March _. . 1 235.9April. . 215.1

58.647.756. 540.0

May 204.0 i 38.5June 187.1 I 29.1July _ . 180.7August 164 8September.. 180.2

Cumulative, January throughSeptember:

1929 3, 843. 71930 2, 952. 41931 . . 1, 841. 7

28.325.544.4

697.3556.6366. 7

1

Hawcot-ton

76. 462.864.959.347.2

31.225.436.022.918.913. 513.59.9

23.5

444.5325. 4194.8

Exports of United States merchandise

/ rFoodstuffs 1 Finished manufactures

! j | Semi- :: 1 Fruits! ;fS5?" '

IWheatMeats! and [> JV^ i Ma-Total and and i prep- i Total cliin-

fiour fats ara- ! erytions!' i

Millions of dollars

70.9 24.2 \ 13.3 11.4 57.7

i 46. 0 1 18. 4 9. 9; 47.3 ; 11.4 9.8! 45.6 I 7.8 11.0

40.5 i 6.3 9 8

9.2 37.117.1 ' 38.017. 5 33. 11 5. 1 33. fi

35. 5 i 4. 9 12. 2 i 10. 7 34. 529.5 i 3.2 10.6 8.9 27.533. 0 i 3. 9 10. i28. 2 1 5.7 8. 529. 4 ! 7. 4 : 7 828. 7 i S. 8 7. 132. 3 ! 1 1. 6 6 828. 1 i 7. 0 6. 428.' 4 | 6.' 7 6^3

10. 7 31. 46. 4 SO. 66.5 29.95.7 , 24.5

1 190. 9

' 130. 6i 132.71 115.8| 119.7! 117. 1i 116. 1! 110.3 111.1! 103. 5i 97.7

7.6 28.0 i 88.38. 0 23. 9 ; 84 19^2 21.' 4 ; 8,12

; . j 1557. 0 i 137. 8 i 153. 1407. 9 i 132. 1 i 122. 9273. 0 59. 3 : 75. 7

90.7 ' 558.259.9 i 407.973.8 : ! 255.0

1 1,966. 111,530.7

910.7

48.7

33.630.833.236. 1

37.744.029.431. 126.628.322.720. 424^7

461.4417! 9264 8

i i

Auto-

parts, i *^"and : s

Genera! imports

1 Totalj

acces-sories ;

33.416. 414.514.115.314.416.118.518.014.212.811.510.78.7

455. 4233^5124.7

18.916.521.912.413.7

13.810.68.4

10.712.57.29.08 87.2

197.5202.787.9

351.3226.4247.4203. 6208.6

183.1174.9210. 2185.7179.7173.5174.5166.7170.4

3, 360. 02, 401. 31, 618. 6

i Crude| tm^Js fluffs! " i

;

122.1 : 73.0

75.4 i 48.277.5 ! 56.159.2 i 48.469.1 52.359.4 42.156.4 ! 46.164.0 i 56.654.7 i 51.954.7 i 49.652.4 i 47.250.0 ! 47.147 7 i 45.452.9 i 35.1

!

1, 195. 0 ! 745. 0796.3 j 537.0492. 2 i 420. 7

Semi-iii ami -

fac-tures

70.641.045.538.338. 1

36.931.539.833.430.429.830.028.330.3

678.8486.2290.2

Fin-ished

manu-fac-tures

85. 661.869.257.849.2

44.841.249.245.745.544.247.545 352.0

741.2581.8415.5

1 Reexports of foreign merchandise during September, 1931 ,were $2,845,000.



Transportation|ISTRIBUTION of commodities during Septem-

ber, as reflected by the average weekly totalfreight car loadings, was of greater proportions than dur-ing August, but the increase was not as large as wouldnormally be expected at this season of the year. TheFederal Reserve Board's adjusted index of total carsloaded decreased from 72 in August to 69 in Septem-ber, the lowest figure registered since this series wasstarted in 1919. Loadings in September were 21 percent under September, 1930, and 36 per cent under1929. The average monthly car loadings during thefirst three-quarters of the year were 19 per centunder the same period in 1930 and 29 per cent under1929.

The movement of merchandise in less-than-carloadlots during September was slightly under August, afteradjustments are made for the number of business daysand seasonal variation. The average monthly mer-chandise movement by the railroads during the firstnine months of the year was about 10 per cent underthe same period in 1930 and 16 per cent under 1929.During the first nine months of the year the averagemonthly loadings of all of the individual commoditygroups were under those for the same period in 1930,

the greatest decrease in freight-car loadings being re-corded by the ore and forest products groups with de-creases of 47 per cent and 37 per cent, respectively.

The number of idle freight cars has gradually de-creased since February. The September surplus wasthe same as Julythe lowest of the year so far, and20 pe1' cent under the high of December, 1930. Never-theless the mu.iber of idle cars was 43 per cent largerthan in Peptember, 1930, and almost four times asgreat PS in the srane month of 1929. The average{reio'hi-e-iir ruiphis during the first three-quarters of theyoai* \vtr- "0 pci cent greater than for the same periodin 1030 mid. 185 per cent over 1929.

Dividend pc.yinerts of sttam railways during thef i r s t nine months of the year averaged $39,122,000monthly compared with $43,189,000 during the sameperiod in 1930 and.$38,256,000 in 1929.

A seasonal decrease in traffic was reported as pass-ing through the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, and the Sep-tember tonnage was only about two-thirds that' re-ported during September last year and slightly morethan one-half the 1929 tonnage. Freight traffic on theMississippi River, as indicated by tonnage carried byGovernment-owned barges, was the highest this year.

RAIL AND WATER TRAFFIC

Year andmonth

1929: September..1930:

SeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember

1931:JanuaryFebruaryMarchApril _ - -May.JuneJuly . .AugustSeptember

Monthly average,January throughSeptember:

192919301931

Freight-car loadings

F. B. 15. index

Ad- Unad-justed justed0) j ()

Monthlyaverage,

1923-1925=100

106 i 121

87 ! 9986 9784 i 8684 ; 74

82 7480 ! 7480 j 7580 i 7779 i 7977 7776 : 7872 7669 78

j

' ! 107i 94

1 1 76

oH

! 4, 542

3, 7261 3,818'< 4,127j 2,784

' 3,491i 2,836i 2,940

2,9863,7362,9912,931

! 3,747i 2,908i

4,4363,9063,174

Mer

cb a

n di

sc,

1. c.

i.

1, 049

944966

1,133820

997842886899

1,097876830

1,069841

i 1,1041,031

926i

0Hw

H&K

O

199

189163190143

196i 165

153151180140220228149

207! 197i 176i

I>3

V

1SJfi

1 For

est

prod

ucts

Thousands of cars 8

12410812914094

124887985

1067571

10696

11210392

799

638733852638

817584555486611465452617516

786688567

252

162169174121

156138138130165125106138104

282213134

2O

275

1951549222

2622232980

119139175121

20715582

Mis

cella

neou

s

1, 844

1,4901,5141,546

946

1,175997

1, 1051, 2061,4961,1921,1131,4131,081

1,7381, 5201, 198

Frei

ght-

car

surp

lus

119

394403580707

6476516226036165995645745CA

212435604

3

ll&!1ll !2^ i

Thous. of|dollars

31, 10032,70044, 10038, 50039, 000 i

55,60044, 90045, 50038, 10032, 50034, 00041, 50033, 50026, 500

i 38, 256! 43, 189

39, 122

Canal and river traffic

Canals

Sault New iSte. York

Mane State

Thousands

13,350 ; 38910,347 ! 4589,094 1 0085,130 i 390

312 j 0

0 l 00 00 ! 0

922 i 3494,335 ' 4576,645 ! 3857,611 i 5068,385 ' 4257,120 587

8,219 i 2286,485 i 2903,892 ! 301

CapeCod

of short,

200245230225225

234166163203217203211186198

171202198

River

Missis-sippi(Govt.

ownedbarges)

tons

9111410383

108

76708382

10086

104104107

1099590

Pan

ama C

anal

tr

affic

,

both

di

rect

ions

1 1!O

cean

tr

affic

cle

ar-

ances,

A

mer

ican

po

rts|

Thous. of Thous. oflong tons | net tons

1,1941,0401,1331,009

953

958i 864

910929937828820859884

1, 223l!l23

888

2,833

3,0602, 6512, 5011,991

1,8431,6951,7732, 0922, 5252,2412, 7422, 734

2,6452, 756

i Daily average basis.* Data for January, May, August, and November are for 5 weeks; other months, 4 weeks.


12 SUEVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS November, 1931

ConstructionCONSTRUCTION contracts awarded in Septem-^>* ber recorded a gain in value over those in August,although the total number of square feet showed littlechange. Residential building declined both in volumeand value, but there was a marked increase in thevalue of contracts awarded for public works andutilities, owing mainly to large engineering projects.This expansion and the increase in nonresidentialbuilding undertakings were the contributing factorsin the sharp rise in bookings of fabricated structuralsteel, which were the highest since April, 1931. Theproduction and shipment of most building materialsdeclined seasonally from August to September. Theindex of construction costs (composed of the pricesof structural steel shapes, cement, lumber, and therates paid common labor) remained unchanged.

The number of square feet of all types of buildingcontracts awarded declined 1.6 per cent from August,while the value increased 8 per cent. As comparedwith a year ago, both volume and value droppedabout 25 per cent. For the first nine months of 1931construction has been 30 per cent less than during thesame period of 1930.

Residential building activity, following the seasonaltrend, declined 8 per cent in volume and 9 per centin value; a comparison of the first nine months ofthis year with the same period of 1930 shows a de-crease of 10 per cent in volume and 21 per cent invalue. The construction of public works and utilitiesrose 17 per cent in value, although the number ofsquare feet was below that of the previous month.

New orders for fabricated structural steel were 59per cent higher than in August and 26 per cent abovethose of September, 1930. The production of Port-land cement was seasonally curtailed, and was 11 percent below that in August, and 25 per cent less thanin September, 1930. The shipments of maple floor-ing decreased 7 per cent, and those of oak flooringfell off 9 per cent.

Building-material prices for frame and brick housesfell 1.3 and 1.2 per cent, respectively, below the levelsof the previous month.

The number of miles of Federal-aid highway com-pleted in September was more than three times aslarge as in the same month of 1930. The total num-ber of miles under construction at the end of Septem-ber was 10,659 or 26 per cent more than a year ago.

BUILDING MATERIALS, CONSTRUCTION, AND REAL ESTATE

Year and_month


September .October _ _ _ ..NovemberDecember

1931:JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMay-June _-JulyAugustSeptember

Monthly average, Jan-uary through Sep-tember:

192919301931

Building contracts awarded

P. R. B.index (3monthsmovingaverage

of valuesunad-justed)

Monthlyaverage

1923-1925=100

11282756859586877827874686356

12510069

AH types ofconstruction

Mil-lions oisquare

feet

59.9

41.239.533.129.1

24.628.338.039.438.935.033.830.630.1

70.145.433.2

Mil-lions ofdollars

444

332337254249

2282353703373063322S6233252

511409287

Eesidcntialbuilding

Mil-lions ofsquare

feet

25.619.722.318.814.712.216.622.122.621.916.915.914.113.0

35.519.317.3

Mil-lions ofdollars

117.498.5

104.780.870.954.477.9

100.995.988.972.763.960.254.6

172. 393.974.4

Public worksand utilities

Thou-sands ofsquare

feet

1, 4061,484

339468697393246522785387

2,3671,233

737353

9651,423

780

Mil-lions ofdollars

141.0109.1113.076.478.695.278.6

151. 7133.0108.9154.5116.373.085.1

136. 1153.7110.7

Building materials

1 I

Maplefloor-ing

Ship-ments

Thou-sands of

feet,boardmeas-ure

6,1603,3312,8862,5541,8112,3512,676

^ 3,0173,226

! 3,315! 3,778

3,4473,3973,144

6,2513,9943,150

Oakfloor-ing

35, 23319, 89820, 64915, 84417, 152

18, 36521, 71326, 24328, 15528, 20123, 37325, 69121, 46419, 486

40, 57727, 35323, 632

Ce-ment

Pro-duc-tion

Thou-sands ofbarrels

17, 22316, 12414, 41011,0988,4806,5955, 9208,245

11,24514, 01014,11813, 89913, 54912, 092

14, 24414, 10211, 075

Fabri-cated istruc-tural !steel

New iorders i

Thou-sands of

shorttons

298156209151153162158184293153177159124197

308242179

Buildingmaterial

prices

Frame! Brickhouse house

Con-struc-tioncost,Eng.NewsEec.

First of month, month-ly average 1913=100

176168171165168163165163157160158155156154

176174159

182174176172174170171170167167166164163161

182179167

207.6199.6198.7198.5196.9194.5196.6194.5191.6189. 3187.4174.4171.4171.4

206. 7204.5185.7

Real-estatemar-

ket ac-tivity-deeds

record-ed

Month-ly av-erage1926=- i

100 i

79.866.8 i74.0 i64.668.966.066.761.762.061.358.461.159.8

85.071.0

Long-termreal-estate

bonds

Total

To fi-nancenewcon-

struc-tion

Thousands ofdollars

5,33813, 8906,6359,965

29, 8774,5203,5902,0157,2359,4853,425

7752,100

66, 785

33, 18713, 84411, 103

9501,4751,2101,595

5302,8501,5001,0001,700

01,000

600565395

12,6115,8691,068



AgricultureMARKETINGS of animal products through whole-sale channels showed a seasonal decline duringSeptember, as represented by the combined index ofthe physical volume of these products; the total wasslightly above that of a year ago, but 6 per cent lessthan in September, 1929.

Receipts of wool and of dairy products declined sea-sonally during September, while livestock recorded aseasonable increase in volume. Poultry and eggsmoved in smaller quantities than in August, while land-ings of fresh salt-water fish increased over the pre-ceding month.

Crop marketings registered a seasonal increase dur-ing September, although the volume was 33 per centless than in the corresponding month of last year,according to the combined index for that group.Vegetables and cotton increased seasonally duringSeptember, while receipts of fruits declined in volume,instead of recording the usual seasonal increase.

Total wheat production in the United States wasestimated by the Department of Agriculture, as ofOctober 1, to be 884,000,000 bushels, which is about21,000,000 bushels larger than the 1930 crop and about62,000,000 bushels above the 5-year average. Winter-wheat production is indicated to be 775,000,000 bush-els compared with 612,000,000 bushels last year; the

estimate for spring wheat indicates a total of 109,000,-000 bushels, which compares with 251,000,000 bushelsin 1930. The reports from 35 wheat countries, at theend of September, indicate that the total world pro-duction in 1931 will be 4.6 per cent less than last year.The corn-crop estimate, as of October, indicates a totalwhich would be 29 per cent larger than the short croplast year, and only slightly under the 5-year average.The cotton crop was estimated as of October 1 asamounting to 16,284,000 bales, which would be thelargest crop since 1926. There is a shortage of hay,principally in the West. A rather light productionof feed grains is being offset by the feeding of wheatand by the increased production of cottonseed.

The visible supply of wrheat at the end of Septemberas represented by the total at terminals, elevators,warehouses, docks, afloat, and on lakes and canals,east of the Rocky Mountains showed a decline com-pared with the month previous, instead of registeringthe usual seasonal increase. Meats in cold storagedeclined seasonally in September, while stocks of cot-ton in mills and in warehouses recorded a seasonalincrease. The monthly average of stocks of each ofthese three groups of products, from January throughSeptember, has been higher than in the correspondingperiod in 1930.

INDEXES OF AGRICULTURAL MARKETING AND STOCKS

Year and month


SeptemberOctoberNovember _ _ _December

1931:JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJuly .August .September .. -

M onthly average, Jan-uary through Sep-tember:

192919301931

Indexes of marketing

Animal products

Com-binedindex

Wool Live-stockPoultryand eggs

Dairyproducts Fish

Crops

Com-binedindex

Grains Vege-tables Fruits Cotton

Indexes of stocks, end ofmonth

Wheat,visible

supply,UnitedStates

Meats,cold-

storageCotton,UnitedStates

Monthly average, 1923-1925-100

98.791.296.788.597.894.785.594.0

101.2106.7118.0105.294.392.7

99.999.799.1

127.930.979.134.557.125.350.861.978.2

197.1405.4573.2259.6125.1

151.9187.2197.4

95.793.9

108.088.093.996.279.879.682.680.277.972.682.588.3

84.583.482.3

82.878.279.2

121.6137.895.094.0

121.8137.0125.6115.688.688.088.4

101.6102.9106.0

94.086.382.277.892.796.491.3

102.9113.1130.9156.6123.696.390.5

113.0109.0111.2

283.1229.1172.0146.298.9

103.4116.2169.4174.3138.5144.5161.2189.3211.2

184.3195.1156.4

168.4175.5212.1148.8105.874.366.864.453.162.055.2

103.083.9

117.9

91.182.575.6

117.1139.082.672.379.881.084.680.063.969.068.6

182.9130.079.8

107.999.193.3

144.8138.8168.489.679.498.091.1

104.393.3

135.6165.8103.464.1

103.2

118.1111.3106.5

173.1164.3249.0109.067.170.268.175.170.6

102.288.8

139.3154.6129.2

100.285.499.8

218.0219.3327.5240.6144.964.045.138.629.828.39.1

22.629.2

152.1

67.560.446.5

338.8364.1349.8344.8333.3335.8343.7352.7339.8336.4324.7370.4413.5407.7

231.5268.5358. 3

92.568.155.762.376.9

100.1114.0111.8114.8110.8105.898.783.366.6

121.197.0

100.7

106.4165.2234.8264.9266.8254.2235. 8216.4196.9179.5162.3146.8140.1188.1

104.1145.6191.1



Iron and Steel IndustryPRODUCTION in the iron and steel industry wasfurther reduced in September, and activity has notexpanded to any extent in October. The adjustedindex of production last month was 10 per cent belowAugust and 46 per cent below a year ago. During thefirst nine months of 1931 the index was one-thirdbelow the 1923-1925 average and in September wasdown to 46 per cent of the average for the same period.

Employment was curtailed further in September,and the adjusted index was 4,2 per cent below Augustand 18 per cent below September, 1930. Widespread.wage reductions were announced in the industry inSeptember, but the pay-roll decline was the result ofthe decreased activity, as the cuts were not effectiveuntil October 1. Pay rolls have declined steadily sinceMarch and in September were but 45 per cent of the1923-1925 average. During the first nine months of1931 pay rolls averaged 33 per cent below the sameperiod last year and 44 per cent below 1929.

Steel ingot production in September was 10 per centbelow August and 45 per cent below a year ago. Thirdquarter production was about 42 per cent below thesame quarter of last year, compared with a decline of37 per cent for the nine months. Operations in the

industry were at the rate of 28 per cent of capacity,and the rate has been about the same so far in October.Unfilled orders of the United States Steel Corporationdeclined for the sixth consecutive month, and, whilethe drop was small, an increase is usual for the month.

Pig iron production was 8.7 per cent lower in Sep-tember than in the previous month. Daily output wasthe smallest since the same month of 1921. For thefirst nine months of the current year production aver-aged 42 per cent below a year ago.

Fabricated structural steel orders improved inSeptember and were the largest since last April.Shipments were lower than in the preceding month,reflecting the decline in orders in August. Foreigntrade remains inactive, with exports in Septemberfalling to the lowest point reached during the currentdepression. Exports in the first nine months of theyear were only about half those of the same months of1930 and one-third those of a like period of 1929.

Prices of finished products have held fairly steady,and the composite iron and steel price is only slightlylower. Scrap prices have again weakened, followingthe temporary gain in mid-September, and the com-posite scrap price has receded to a new low.

IRON AND STEEL STATISTICS

General operations Iron andFabricated

Steel ingots structural Pricessteel

United

| F. R. B.Year and indexmonth (ad-justed) i

1929: September..1930:

SeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember..-.

1931:January _FebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugust _September

Mont hi y aver-age, J a n u a r ythrough Sep-tember:

192919301931

Hate ofopera-tions,

electricenergycon-

sump-tion

Monthly average,

14085746559647378757264595146

13910365

152.3110.3126.0106. 5110.2103.4116.5119 4108. 1106 886 683.178.078.3

156. 1127.197.8

Vploy- JJJ7^unad-

*

1923-1925=100

100. 2 ; 108. 981. 7 ! 75. 481.3 75.880. 2 ! 68. 979. 1 j 66. 777.5 ' 62.4

Ex-ports

Im-ports

i

Pig- iironpro-duc-tion Pro- cent Newdue- !of ca- or-

tioii ! pac- ders! Hrv l

\

Thousands of long tons!

222

131132

i 112i 102

9375. 9 i 67. 5 9176 6 i 70. 0 : 11076.5 ! 69. 1 .! 10174 8 i 64 9 1 9172 6 ! 57.6 i 7672.1 i 52.4 ! 8470. 3 j 50. 6 7367.4 ! 45.2 70

; :i ' i

99.6 j 107.9 25989.4 j 89.0 18273.7 1 60.0 88

4630303524

342233413031 i28221

25

1 48 1

37 !30 \

3,498 4,5282,2772,1651,8671, 6661,7141,7072, 0322,020 !1 994 '1,639 j1,4631,281

2,8402, 6932,2121,9802,4592,5022, 9942,7222 5052,0761,8861.719

1,169 1,548;

:|:

3,6312, 8561, 669

4,8173,6002,268

StatesSteel

Corpo-ration,

Ship-ments

unfilledordersend ofmonth

p : Thousandst ., of short

92 29855 15650 20944 15138 15343 i 16249 , 15854 ; ! 18449 : ' 29345 15338 ; ! 17734 ! 15931 12428 ; 197

95 i 30870 ! i 24241 i j 179

293243239195168172166151

Manga-nese (ore

con- i Steel |tent),

Importsbillets,Besse-

! meri (Pitts-

Iron andsteel

compos-ite

burgh)

Thousands of longtons

3,9033,4243, 4823, 6403,9444,1323,9653. 995

158 i 3,898148 3,620162 3. 479182 3.405169 3,169

1 150 3, 145

! 275 4,145265 4.103

! 162 i 3, 645

132218102917

Dolls, per long ton

35.0031. 00

36. 5032.67

31. 00 32. 3131. 00 31.9530. 60 31. 76

1 30. 00

10 30. 002 ' 30.00

33 30.0021 : . 29 503 7 ; 29.0038 ' 29.0022 ! 29.0027 ! 29.00

29 i 34.5925 ! 32.17

31.7031.6531.6631.6131.3931.0231.0531. 0531.03

36.6234.07

23 29.50 31.35

Struc-turalsteel

beams

Com-posite

finishedsteel

Dolls, per 100pounds

1.951.601.601.601.601.631.651.651.651.651.651.651.601.60

1.931.741.64

2.542.242.222.202.192.222.222.232.222.212.192.202.192.20

2.552.352.21

1 Adjusted for seasonal variation.


November, 1931 SUKVEY OF CURKENT BUSINESS 15

Chemical IndustriesINCREASED operation in the chemical industryduring the month of September was in accord withthe usual seasonal tendencies. Production of rosinand turpentine registered sharp gains, but these werepartially due to the abnormally low output duringAugust. Ethyl alcohol continued its gain of the lasttwo months but the September total was 9 per centunder the same month a year ago. By-product cokeproduction, which declined from the sixth consecutivemonth, was 5 per cent less than in August. Averagemonthly production for the first nine months wasapproximately 28 per cent lower than in the same periodlast year. The volume of explosives produced duringAugust was 2 per cent below the output for July.

Employment throughout the chemical industry re-corded a 2 per cent gain for September as comparedwith August, according to the unadjusted index of theFederal Reserve Board. A fractional gain in payrolls took place during the same period and was thefirst advance recorded since April of this year. Theseasonally adjusted index of employment continued itsdecline of the past three months, but the recessionwas approximately 1 per cent, compared with a 3 percent reduction for the previous month.

Stocks of chemical raw materials increased 19 percent during September, the first gain recorded since

October, 1930. Manufactured goods in stock also in-creased by 7 per cent. Despite the above gains, themonthly averages for January through September werebelow the same months in 1930. Compared withSeptember, 1930, manufactured stocks were 4.5 precent higher and raw materials stocks approximately16 per cent lower.

The sharp gain in fertilizer consumption duringSeptember was not significant because of the extremelylow figures reported for July and August. Themonth's total was one-third less than in September,1930, and slightly more than half the figure for Septem-ber, 1929. The monthly average consumption duringthe first nine months of 1931 was 26 per cent belowthe identical averages of 1929 and 1930. Imports ofpotash salts were approximately the same in Septemberas in July and August. Muriate of potash importswere 39 per cent of the total and sulphate of potash 11per cent. Imports of kainite totaled 2 per cent withthe remainder divided among the other salts. Nitrateof soda imports in September gained 37 per cent ascompared with August. The figure was approxima-tely 54 per cent above that of September, 1929, andraised the monthly average for the first nine monthsof 1931 to within 1 per cent of the same average for1930.

CHEMICALS STATISTICS

General operations

Year audjoionth

1929: September.--.1930:

September..OctoberNovemberDecember

1931:JanuaryFebruary..MarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember

Monthly average, January throughSeptember:1929.1930 ._.1931

EmploymentF. R. B. Indexes Stocks

Ad-justedI Pay-

Unad-| rolls,justed ! unad-!justed

Monthly average, 11

114.0102.3101.198.397.9

94.589.891.793.089.689.486.685.7

23-1925=100

101.498.697.896.295.693.396.791.486.786.284.486.0

101.399.996 194.790.492.989.892.088.484.182.980.4

111.8 I 112.6106.3 | 106.390.7 ! 86.9

121.3125.1124.2123.9128.8130.7132.0129.0129.3123.3119.2118.5126.7

120.6130.3126.4

115.0120.0132. 7128.3 !124.2

107.7103.2 !96.591.588.487.986.785.3

101.2

104.4103.994.3

Ethylalcohol

Explo-

14,299 !18,455 I20,861 j17,770 I11,869 j8,859

11,929 !11,16213,120

"II," 975"12, 36312, 952

35, 68834,11330, 24824,02424,05628, 75125,41427, 64726, 96025,98125,06824,548

16,00812, 231

i 11, 779

36,61432, 642

Eosin, ! pen-wood tine,

wood

Production

phos-phates

By-prod-uct

coke

Thous. | Thous.of gals, i of Ibs.

20,739 | 42,019

Ar-senic,

refinedFerti- | Potash! Nitratelizer | salts j of soda

; Con-;sump-tion

Imports

Barrels

36,905 6,69538, 29334, 81838, 93134, 332

24, 48832, 33233, 54435, 58533, 59334, 74728, 49517, 07425, 058

36, 81440, 66729, 435

6,5735,8176,5846,2004,7575,6345,7406,3445, 9965, 6754,3702,6073,797

6,8067,1954,991

T^of short Sbjr, jSJjgjS

253283336303336326249226195162146143162

290337

4,408 868 1 1743, 376 1, 101 1363, 408 1, 265 953, 114 1, 508 613, 055 1, 439 743, 092 1, 5702, 898 1, 4093, 256 1, 5063,1463,1262,7152, 5692,4432,310

4,4803,9582,839

9641,0441,024

9971,2381,252

870964

1,223

343640

1,3521, 132

19574254091

582582432

Long tons

83,374 ! 31,539103, 11373, 94519, 70625, 324

41, 66333, 82260, 39430, 20617, 70614, 65067, 95865, 04366, 440

62, 11079, 43444, 209

19,36227, 20735, 47435, 512

45, 89068, 421

120, 16467,00834, 00829,71118, 80935, 36748, 590

85, 22552, 18951, 996

1 Average of 8 months.Digitized for FRASER

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


Automobile and RubberEMPLOYMENT during September in the automo-bile industry did not decrease in the same propor-tion as production. This was due to an effort on thepart of producers to spread available labor among asmany employees as possible upon a shorter time basis.The unadjusted pay-roll index of the Federal EeserveBoard declined 17.5 per cent, while the unadjustedemployment index receded only 2.3 per cent.

Activity in the industry reached a low point duringthe month. The decline was greater than is usuallyexperienced at this period of the year and the season-ally adjusted index of production of the FederalReserve Board was 37 per cent below September, 1930.The decrease for the month was confined almostentirely to passenger cars, with truck and taxicab out-put receding approximately 1 per cent. For the firstnine months of the current year production was 27per cent below the same months in 1930 and 55 percent below the high level of 1929. Canadian produc-tion also experienced a sharp decline, the total unitsproduced during September being less than one-thirdof the output a year ago.

September exports were 8.6 per cent greater thanrecorded for August, but the entire gain was due to an

increase in truck shipments. Passenger-car exportsdeclined 20 per cent while trucks gained 77 per cent.This is the first gain in truck exports since March andthe monthly average for January through Septemberis 44 per cent below the same period in 1930.

Domestic shipments of pneumatic tires during Aug-ust exceeded production for the second consecutivemonth. Production declined 21 per cent comparedwith the July output while shipments receded only 9per cent. Compared with August of last year, outputin the industry declined 6 per cent. Domestic ship-ments also decreased with the August, 1930, total 3per cent above the present year.

The Federal Reserve Board adjusted index of em-ployment in the rubber industry declined 1 per centduring September. The unadjusted index of pay rollswas 12 per cent lower. The usual seasonal trend isupward at this period of the year.

World stocks of crude rubber increased during Sep-tember for the third consecutive month, with importsremaining practically the same. The monthly averageimports for the first nine months of the current yearwere 3 per cent below a similar period a year ago.

AUTOMOBILE AND RUBBER STATISTICS

Tear and month


September ._ __ _October .NovemberDecember - -

1931:JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMay.JuneJulyAugustSeptember


192919301931

Automobile production

F.B.B.Index,

ad-justed

Month-ly av-erages,1923-1925=

100

122

62497485

636867777865605239

1408863

United States

TotalPas-sen-gercars

Thousands

416

221154137156

172220276337317251218187141

516323235

363

175113101121

138180231286271210184155109

444271196

Taxi-cabs Trucks

Canada

Totalpro-duc-tion

Automobileexports

Passen-ger cars Trucks

Number

865

930582609

1,425

512529410665340360180104141

1, 510702360

51, 576

44, 22340, 59335, 61333, 443

33,53139, 52145, 16150, 02245, 68840, 24434, 31731, 77231, 338

70, 52751, 28839, 066

13,817

7,9574,5415,4075,622

6,4969,871

12, 99317, 15912, 7386.8354,2204,5442,646

25, 98415, 4028,611

I 20, 934

8,1257, 1366,0399,096

8,3049,187

11,52611,2288,4685,8436,4785,6994,577

32, 41714, 5357,923

12, 985

5,3124,0796,0395,102

4,5344,1876,0025,4994,4984,3403,5182,3564,171

18, 0507,7474,345

Auto-mobileacces-sorics,ship-ments

Janu-ary.

1925=100

84

76796355

465365666161576666

857160

Automobilefinancing

Bywhole-

saledeal-ers

Bycon-sum-

ers

Millions ofdollars

60

45363036

405063717358494436

616254

129

90816066

626692

113109105968068

14611188

Pneumatictires

Pro-duc-tion

Do-mesticship-ments

Thousands

3,5682,6922,8662,1232,2512,9403,1883,7303,9554,5434,5383,9413,125

5,1273,726

4,330

3,3602,6132,1192,550

2,8552,5803,1433,8044,1974,3204,2443,845

4,9683,727

Crude rubber

Im-ports

Worldstocks,end ofmonth

Long tons

34, 81435, 78345, 37529,73337, 37036, 59834, 37440, 78844,90835, 84446, 93944, 05239, 03338, 933

48, 69241, 44940, 163

277, 151

425, 619425, 423427, 427439, 728

460, 479471, 285487, 716487, 696497, 707496, 23809, 139511, 750512, 774

256, 836384, 383492, 754



Textile IndustryHpEXTILE production in September recordedA slightly less than the usual seasonal increase,

according to the adjusted index of the Federal ReserveBoard, but the increase over the same month lastyear amounted to 12.5 per cent.

Raw cotton consumption in September was thehighest since May, and was 18 per cent above a yearago. Cotton textiles produced during Septemberattained a volume larger than in the preceding monthand 49 per cent greater than in the correspondingmonth in 1930. The average weekly production ofcotton piece goods, accounting for about half of totalcloth output, amounted to 54,000,000 yards in Sep-tember compared with 52,000,000 yards in the pre-ceding month; the sales of these goods were 6 percent above current production during Septembercompared with a ratio of 20 per cent under productionduring August. Shipments of cotton textiles inSeptember were 19 per cent larger than a year ago.Stocks of these textiles declined slightly duringSeptember and receded to a volume which was 38per cent smaller than at the corresponding period

last year. Unfilled orders increased somewhat inSeptember, but were 20 per cent less than at the endof the same month last year.

Receipts of wool at Boston recorded a seasonaldecline during September, but the total was 164 percent larger than for the corresponding month in1930. The price at Boston of the territory type offine staple scoured wool averaged 18 per cent less inSeptember than in the same month last year.

Woolen and worsted goods spinning in Septemberdeclined slightly from the preceding month, but theproportion of active spindles in woolens was 14 percent greater than a year ago, while the increase inactivity in the worsted goods industry amounted to17 per cent. The index of employment for woolensand worsteds combined during September continuedto show that it was one of the few manufacturingindustries which operated at a slightly higher levelthan in the same month in 1930.

Deliveries of raw silk to American mills were 16per cent larger in September than in the precedingmonth, although a slight decline was recorded, com-pared with a year ago.

TEXTILE STATISTICS

Year and month

1929: September .1930:

SeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember _ _ _ _ _ _

1931:JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJune _ _ _Julv....AugustSeptember

Monthly a v e r a g e , J a n u a r ythrough September:

1929...1930 . . .-1931

F. R

. B

. in

dex,

adju

sted

Month-ly av-erage,1923-1925=

100

11688919387869397989897

10210099

1189197

Cotton, raw

Mill

co

nsu

mp-

tion

Bales

545, 834393, 390443, 284415, 315405, 518450, 117433, 376490, 509508, 691465, 363453, 901450, 884425,819463, 704

601,810457, 075460, 263

Stoc

ks, m

ills

and

wa

re

ho

use

s,en

d o

f mo

nth

Thou-sands of

bales

3,9996,2128,8299, 962

10, 0319, 5578,8648,1367,4046,7486,1025,5205,2667,072

3, 9155, 4747,185

Cotton manufactures l

Spin

dle ac

tivity

,

tota

l

Mil-lions ofspindlehours

7,8735,6626,2435,8255,9246,3656,1227,0007, 1256, 7336,6306,5286, 1936,540

8,4786,5216, 582

Cotton textiles (23 groups oftextile constructions)

Pro

duc-

tion ft

:'.( rt" Otst*zaoc

88*83STS-SO|sss

Thousands of yards

268, 611182, 385228, 866206, 633234, 052202, 149212, 168271, 638225, 955225, 392260, 163192, 545209, 050272, 118

295, 049238, 908230, 131

287, 628

232, 975270, 383200, 661226, 951

210, 597248, 354317, 185217, 582205, 603273, 871211,331227, 644278, 049

300, 237246, 531243, 357

345, 043392, 406 350, 889356, 861363, 962355, 514319,328273, 781282, 154301, 943288, 235269, 449250, 855244, 924

368, 908443, 479287, 354

438, 952285, 427350, 845333, 251288, 956317, 465395, 802373, 951294, 118248, 544330, 575277, 597217, 508227, 167

416, 900302, 487298, 081

Who

lesa

le pr

ice,

Fail-

child

com

-

posi

te

Month-ly av-erage,1911-1913=

100

16012412412412212011912111911511211110095

162137112

Wool

kf tgSVfid

Thou-sands ofpounds

19, 4447,074

12, 7396,240

11, 57410, 79513, 26913, 27917, 77530, 34156, 74379, 38136, 85018, 707

29, 37431, 34630, 793

III1% i

tiltg O D ^ i

Dol-lars pei-pound 1

.92 i

.76

.75

.72

.72 j

.68 i

.66

.66

.65

.63

.62

.62 !

.63

.62 ;

1.01 !.77.64

Wool manu- i .,factures Sllk

Spinspin

aVI

ningdies

Wor

sted

Per cent of ac-tive hours tototal reported

77

55535245486657556061646663

815760

70

60625252

525457576673837870

575466

Del

iver

ies

to m

ills

Bales

53, 27455. 64961, 93757, 33355, 42455, 91054, 24255, 38341, 35645, 07342, 16144, 74646, 45453, 819

51, 94945, 28148, 794

Ray

on, w

hole

sale

pr

ice,

A gr

ade,

bl

each

ed

Dol-lars perpound

1.15.95.95.95.95.75.75.75.75.75.75

1 .75.75.75

1.261.08

1 Months do not contain same number of weeks.

8329331 3


18 SURVEY OF CUEEENT BUSINESS November, 1931

Food IndustriesPKOCESSING of food products during Septemberincreased slightly over the preceding month, ac-cording to the seasonally adjusted index of the FederalReserve Board; the total was about 7 per cent less thanin the corresponding month of last year. The season-ally adjusted index of employment declined slightly inSeptember, and was 6 per cent below a year ago.

Wholesale food prices recorded a small decline inSeptember after two consecutive monthly increases,while the average for the month was about 18 per centbelow that of the same month of last year.

Receipts of wheat in the primary markets showed aseasonal decline during September, and the total was38 per cent less than in the corresponding month lastyear. Exports of wheat, including flour during Sep-tember, were 37 per cent less than in the correspondingmonth last year, while there was no change from thepreceding month. The number of barrels of flour pro-duced in September was 16.5 per cent less than a yearago, while the total for the first nine months of theyear was 10 per cent less than in the correspondingperiod in 1930.

Corn receipts in the principal markets were onlyhalf as large in September as in the same month last

year; the visible supply in the United States at the endof September was 20 per cent larger than for the cor-responding period in 1930. The price of corn, as rep-resented by No. 3 yellow at Chicago, has continuedto decline during the past year, so that the averageprice in September was only 42 cents a bushel, com-pared with 94 cents a year ago.

Cattle receipts in the principal markets declinedduring September, and were 15 per cent less than inthe corresponding month last year. Hog receipts in-creased seasonally during September, wiiile the totalvolume was only slightly under that for the corre-sponding month in 1930. Meats in cold storage con-tinued the seasonal decline, which began in the springmonths, and which usually continues until Novemberor December of each year.

Raw sugar imports decreased in September from thelevel of the preceding month; the total was 16 per centless than in the corresponding month in 1930. Coffeeimports were less during September than in the pre-ceding month or the same month last year, while themonthly average of the first nine months of this yearwas 14 per cent larger than in the correspondingperiod in 1930.

FOODSTUFFS STATISTICS

ITear and month


SeptemberOctober.-.- _.-NovemberDecember

1931:JanuaryFebruary _ ._ .March ,April - .May. _. _June ._July... .._AugustSeptember _

Monthly average, Jan-uary through Septem-ber:

192919301931 .

Food products in-dustry

F. . B.

S35-e*a W

rsIfa-

+dII%%HHSa*w

Monthlyaverage,

1923-1925=100

9896949489939287969183888889

999490

99.992.990.991.490.891.290.389.990.690,888.788.188. 187.5

99.896.189.5

i3i"3g

>*iO T-S-i0ft

'WX!- enc a~&0Q

1.01

.94

.82

.71

.69

.65

.61

.60

.58

.56

.58

.57

.46

.42

.94

.85

.56

3 1 -2v ft

5 i ! i I

2*8t3~a

iss_ 5 s j" S o !-w*5 a :O aa H !H |

*0 |-3

Thousands ! a! ^ \

2, 105

2,1082,3771,6961,736

1,5081,3031, 5351,6171,5511, 5401,4881, 8211,797

1,6151,5951,573

3,0892,7993,4413, 4394,0024, 6523,7043,2073,0672,9382,8542,5112,4542, 727

3,5793,3213,124

886 !

652 i534 i597 i737 ;959

1,0921,0721, 100 ;1,062 !1,014

946 i798 '638 ;

1,161929965

Tot

al ra

w su

gar

impo

rts

*0

11Is1r2

E"1

413

392360344312

204364515415313382413532330

536391385

Coffe

e im

port

s"o

f a1J

925

9911,159

9571,098

1,0941,2891,4071,1261,4151,0371,100

884794

939988

1,127



Forest ProductsALTHOUGH industrial lumber consumption de-

jf\. creased substantially in September and car load-ings of forest products were the lowest recorded inmany years, lumber production has, in general, con-tinued below the level of sales, and stocks in the handsof lumber manufacturers have been reduced about 10per cent below a year ago.

The estimated lumber cut in September, accordingto the Federal Reserve Board index, reached a newpostwar low point about 5 per cent below the Augustcut and a third below the same month a year ago.Current lumber production is about 40 per cent of the1923-1925 average and about 35 per cent of normalas computed by the National Lumber Manufacturers7Association.

Employment and pay rolls declined slightly in Sep-tember to new low points. Employment is at a level20 per cent lower than a year ago and about 50 percent under the 1923-1925 average, while pay rolls havedeclined somewhat more.

Marketings of forest products, which declined sea-sonally in September, continued at a rate slightlygreater than that of a year ago, the present being,however, about 40 per cent below the 1923-1925 aver-age rate. Naval stores marketings, which vary widely

from month to month due to seasonal influences, werein September about 16 per cent less than a year ago,but slightly greater than at this season in the 1923-1925period.

Southern pine production and orders were at a newlow point in September. Production continued at alower rate than the volume of new orders received, andduring the first nine months of this year amounted toonly a little over half of the production during thesame period a year ago.

Douglas fir production increased slightly in Septem-ber as compared with the two preceding months (Aug-ust figures include an extra week), while new ordersincreased as compared with August but declined fromJuly. Present production is 23 per cent below a yearago. Unfilled orders at the end of the month showedthe usual seasonal increase over August and are about33 per cent below orders a year ago. Production thusfar this year has been maintained below the rate ofincoming orders, whereas on the average in this perioda year ago production was running in excess of orders.

Car loadings of forest products after the sharp sea-sonal rise in August declined to the lowest point yetrecorded, 36 per cent below September a year ago andalmost 60 per cent below this month two years ago.

FOREST PRODUCTS STATISTICS

Year and month


September _ _OctoberNovemberDecember _ _ _

1931:JanuaryFebruary . . _ .MarchApril _ _ . _MayJuneJulyAugustSeptember


1929 -- .19301931__

General operations

Lum-berpro-duc-tionad>justed

F.B.B.

SCB_111931

Documents

Transcript of SCB_111931