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FEDERAL R E S E R V E BOARD STATEMENT FOR THE PRESS. X-3757 For r e l e a . s e i n A f t e r n o o n P a p e r s , Wednesday, June 2 7 , 1923The f o l l o w i n g i s a summary of g e n e r a l b u s i n e s s and f i n a n c i a l c o n d i t i o n s t h r o u g h o u t t h e s e v e r a l F e d e r a l R e s e r v e D i s t r i c t s , b a s e d upon s t a t i s t i c s f o r the months of May and J u n e , as c o n t a i n e d i n t h e f o r t h c o m i n g i s s u e of t h e F e d e r a l R e s e r v e Bulletin. P r o d u c t i o n and shipment of goods c o n t i n u e d i n h e a v y volume d u r i n g May; t h e volume of employment was s u s t a i n e d and many wage a d v a n c e s were r e p o r t e d . Wholesale commodity p r i c e s d e c l i n e d d u r i n g May and t h e e a r l y weeks of J u n e . PRODUCTION; P r o d u c t i o n of i r o n and s t e e l , cement, and p e t r o l e u m was l a r g e r i n May t h a n i n any p r e v i o u s month, and m i l l consumption of c o t t o n was c l o s e t o maximum. The h i g h l e v e l of p r o d u c t i o n i n t h e s e i n d u s t r i e s , together with i n c r e a s e s in p r a c t i c a l l y a l l o t h e r r e p o r t ing l i n e s , is r e f l e c t e d i n an advance of 2 p e r c e n t i n May i n t h e F e d e r a l R e s e r v e B o a r d ' s i n d e x of p r o d u c t i o n i n b a s i c i n d u s t r i e s . I n t h e b u i l d i n g i n d u s t r y t h e r e was a f u r t h e r d e c l i n e i n p r i n c i p a l c i t i e s i n t h e v a l u e of p e r m i t s g r a n t e d which r e p r e s e n t buiXdiag.-operations. prospective C o n t r a c t awards, however-, which r e p r e s e n t a c t u a l c u r r e n t u n d e r t a k i n g s , c o n t i n u e d t o i n c r e a s e , though d e c l i n e s a r e r e p o r t e d i n t h e New York and Chicago d i s t r i c t s . - 2 - X-3757 This i n d u s t r i a l a c t i v i t y has been accompanied, by a. s l i g h t i n crease of employment a t i n d u s t r i a l e s t a b l i s h m e n t s . The demand f o r labor was a l s o r e f l e c t e d in a. l a r g e r number of wage advances d u r i n g the 30day p e r i o d ending May 15 than i n any e a r l i e r month t h i s year and average weekly earnings i n a l l 3-8 per c e n t . r e p o r t i n g i n d u s t r i e s i n c r e a s e d by The advances were most g e n e r a l i n the cotton., s t e e l , meat packing, and sugar r e f i n i n g i n d u s t r i e s . In a g r i c u l t u r e the c o n d i t i o n of b o t h winter and s p r i n g wheat i s r e p o r t e d l e s s f a v o r a b l e than a year ago, while the c o n d i t i o n of the c o t t o n crop i s s l i g h t l y b e t t e r than l a s t y e a r , owing e n t i r e l y to more f a v o r a b l e growing c o n d i t i o n s i n Texas. A shortage of f a r m l a b o r i s r e p o r t e d from most s e c t i o n s of the c o u n t r y . TRADE: Active d i s t r i b u t i o n of commodities i s i n d i c a t e d by heavy movement of merchandise and miscellaneous f r e i g h t , and car continued to exceed a l l p r e v i o u s r e c o r d s f o r t h i s s e a s o n . loadings In c e r t a i n l i n e s of t r a d e a d e c l i n e i n the volume of m a n u f a c t u r e r s ' o r d e r s f o r future delivery is reported. The volume of both wholesale and r e t a i l t r a d e was l a r g e r i n May than in A p r i l . Among the wholesale l i n e s s a l e s of meat, hardware, and shoes showed p a r t i c u l a r l y l a r g e i n c r e a s e s , while s a l e s of c l o t h i n g and dry goods d e c r e a s e d . The Federal Reserve Board's index of wholesale t r a d e , which makes no allowance f o r s e a s o n a l changes, was 5 p e r cent h i g h e r than in April and 14 per cent h i g h e r than a year a,go. Sales of department s t o r e s increased about 9 per cent in May, and a l l r e p o r t i n g l i n e s of cha,in - 3 store business reported increases. X-3757 Mail o r d e r s a l e s were 6 p e r cent l e s s t h a n i n A p r i l , b u t were l a r g e r t h a n i n any p r e v i o u s May. WHOLESALE P R I C E S . P r i c e d e c l i n e s were r e p o r t e d d u r i n g May and t h e f i r s t t h r e e weeks of June f o r a l a r g e number of commodities. A l l of t h e n i n e groups i n t h e Bureau of Labor S t a t i s t i c s i n d e x , e x c e p t f o o d and h o u s e f u r n i s h i n g s , show d e c r e a s e s f o r May and t h e a v e r a g e f o r a l l commodities, d e c l i n e d by 2 p e r c e n t . BANK CREDIT: Loans of r e p o r t i n g member banks i n p r i n c i p a l c i t i e s , which h a d been i n c r e a s i n g s i n c e t h e e a r l y p a r t of t h e y e a r , d e c l i n e d by $115,000,000 between May 16 and June 13. Bank h o l d i n g s of Government s e c u r i t i e s , which i n c r e a s e d by over $ 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 i n c o n n e c t i o n w i t h t h e T r e a s u r y t r a n s a c t i o n s of May 15, l a t e r d e c l i n e d as t h e s e c u r i t i e s were d i s t r i b u t e d by t h e b a n k s . These d e c r e a s e s i n l o a n s of member banks and t h e r e c e i p t d u r i n g May of $ 4 ^ , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 of gold from abroad were accompanied by a decrease in the earning a s s e t s of F e d e r a l Reserve Banks of $120,000,000 f o r the f o u r weeks e n d i n g June 2 1 . At t h a t time t h e volume of F e d e r a l Reserve Bank c r e d i t i n u s e r e a d i e d t h e l o w e s t p o i n t s i n c e t h e Opening of t h e y e a r and approached t h e low 1922. p o i n t reached i n August, R e s e r v e bank h o l d i n g s of b a n k e r s ' a c c e p t a n c e s and Government o b l i g a t i o n s a r e now lower t h a n a t any time s i n c e e a r l y i n 1922. The t o t a l volume of money i n c i r c u l a t i o n i n c r e a s e d by $38,000,000 b e t w e e n May 1 and June 1 , t h e i n c r e a s e b e i n g c h i e f l y i n - % - gold and s i l v e r c e r t i f i c a t e s , r a t h e r than • X-3757 in Federal reserve notes * Money r a t e s continued t o show a s l i g h t l y e a s i e r t e n d e n c y . The June 15 i s s u e of $1-50,000,000 6~months T r e a s u r y c e r t i f i c a t e s c a r r i e d a r a t e of i n t e r e s t of 4 per c e n t , compared w i t h on a s i m i l a r i s s u e sold i n March# per cent
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