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FEDERAL B 3 S 2 S V E 3 0 1 X4594. BOARD STATEMENT FOR THE PRESS For Release in Morning P a p e r s , Tuesday, A p r i l 27, 1926. The f o l l o w i n g i s a summary of g e n e r a l "business and f i n a n c i a l c o n d i t i o n s throughout the 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 , based upon s t a t i s t i c s f o r t h e months of March and A p r i l , a s 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 the F e d e r a l Reserve Bulletin. I n d u s t r i a l o u t p u t i n c r e a s e d in March and the d i s t r i b u t i o n of commodities continued i n l a r g e volume owing to s e a s o n a l i n f l u e n c e s . The l e v e l of whole- s a l e p r i c e s d e c l i n e d f o r t h e f o u r t h c o n s e c u t i v e month. Production ' The F e d e r a l Reserve B o a r d ' s index of p r o d u c t i o n in b a s i c i n d u s t r i e s i n c r e a s e d i n March t o the h i g h e s t l e v e l f o r more than a y e a r . Larger output was shown f o r s t e e l i n g o t s , p i g i r o n , a n t h r a c i t e , c o p p e r , lumber, and newsp r i n t , and t h e r e were a l s o i n c r e a s e s in t h e a c t i v i t y of t e x t i l e m i l l s . The output of a u t o m o b i l e s i n c r e a s e d f u r t h e r and was l a r g e r than i n any p r e v i o u s month, w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n of l a s t O c t o b e r . B u i l d i n g c o n t r a c t s awarded a l s o i n c r e a s e d i n March, a s i s u s u a l a t t h i s s e a s o n , and t h e t o t a l was n e a r t h e h i g h f i g u r e of l a s t summer, 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 in b u i l d i n g a c t i v i t y a s compared w i t h a y e a r ago occurred i n the Eew Y o r k , A t l a n t a , and Dallas Federal r e s e r v e d i s t r i c t s . C o n t r a c t s awarded continued l a r g e r d u r i n g t h e f i r s t h a l f of A p r i l than in t h e sane p e r i o d of l a s t y e a r . Condition of t h e w i n t e r wheat c r o p has improved s i n c e t h e t u r n of the y e a r and on A p r i l 1 was e s t i m a t e d by t h e Department of A g r i c u l t u r e t o be 84 p e r cent of normal, compared w i t h 68.7 p e r cent l a s t y e a r and an average of 7 9 . 2 p e r cent f o r t h e same d a t e i n t h e p a s t t e n y e a r s . Trade Wholesale t r a d e showed a s e a s o n a l i n c r e a s e in llarch and t h e volume of s a l e s was l a r g e r than a y e a r ago in a l l l e a d i n g l i n o s except dry goods and hardware. S a l e s of department s t o r e s and mail order houses i n c r e a s e d l e s s than i s u s u a l i n March. Compared w i t h I'arch a y e a r ago s a l e s of department s t o r e s were 7 p e r c e n t and s a l e s of mail order houses 9 p e r cent l a r g e r . Stocks of p r i n c i p a l l i n e s of merchandise c a r r i e d by w h o l e s a l e d e a l e r s , except g r o c e r i e s and shoes >• ^ • '• were l o n g e r a t the end of Eai'ch than a month e a r l i e r , but f o r most l i n e s they were s m a l l e r than a y e a r age» Stocks a t department s t o r e s showed s l i g h t l y more than the u s u a l i n c r e a s e in March and were about 3 p e r cent l a r g e r than l a s t y e a r . F r e i g h t car l o a d i n g s d u r i n g March c o n t i n u e d a t h i g h e r l e v e l s than in the c o r r e s p o n d i n g p e r i o d of previous y e a r s . Shipments of m i s c e l l a n e o u s commodities and merchandise i n l e s s - t h a n - c a r l o a d l o t s were e s p e c i a l l y l a r g o . Loadings of c o a l , owing to the l a r g e p r o d u c t i o n of a n t h r a c i t e , wore a l s o l a r g e , w h i l e shipments of coke d e c r e a s e d c o n s i d e r a b l y from tho h i g h l e v e l s of p r e c e d i n g months. Prices W h o l e s a l e p r i c e s , a c c o r d i n g t o t h e Bureau of Labor S t a t i s t i c s i n d e x , d e c l i n e d by more than 2 p e r cent i n March to t h e l o w e s t * l e v e l s i n c e September, 1924. The d e c l i n e was g e n e r a l f o r n e a r l y a l l groups of commodities and t h e l a r g e s t d e c r e a s e s wore n o t e d in g r a i n s r c o t t o n , w o o l , s i l k , coke, and r u b b e r . In t h e f i r s t two weeks of A p r i l p r i c e s of b a s i c c o n n o d i t i c s were s t e a d i e r t h a n i n March. P r i c e s of g r a i n s , f l o u r , and p o t a t o e s i n c r e a s e d , w h i l e p r i c e s of c o t t o n goods, w o o l , s i l k , bituminous c o a l , p i g i r o n , and r u b b e r d e c l i n e d . Bank c r e d i t . Commercial l o a n s of member banks i n l o a d i n g c i t i e s were r e l a t i v e l y con- - 3 - 3 0 $200,000,OOO h i g h e r than a t tho end of J a n u a r y and a p p r o x i m a t e l y equal t o tho high p o i n t r e a c h e d l a s t autumn. Continued l i q u i d a t i o n of l o a n s t o b r o k e r s and d e a l e r s w?.s r e f l e c t e d in a f u r t h e r d e c l i n e in the t o t a l of loans on se^ c u r i t i e s , which on A p r i l 14 were more than ^500,000,000 below t h e h i g h p o i n t reached a t t h e end of l a s t y e a r . At tho r e s e r v e banks an i n c r e a s e in t h e volume of member bank borrowing d u r i n g the l a s t two weeks of March was f o l l o w e d by a narked d e c l i n e i n the f i r s t t h r e e weeks of A p r i l , which of the y e a r . brought t h e t o t a l n e a r t h e lowest l e v e l s Holdings of United S t a t e s s e c u r i t i e s i n c r e a s e d c o n t i n u o u s l y d u r i n g the month, w h i l e a c c e p t a n c e s d e c l i n e d s e a s o n a l l y . T o t a l b i l l s and s e c u r i t i e s were i n s m a l l e r volume a t the end Of t h e p e r i o d t h a n a t any o t h e r time d u r i n g t h e y e a r and only s l i g h t l y l a r g e r than a y e a r a g o . Open market r a t e s on commercial paper d e c l i n e d in A p r i l from 4 l / 4 4 l / 2 p e r cent t o 4 - 4 l / 4 p e r c e n t and r a t e s on a c c e p t a n c e s and on s e c u r i t y loans wore a l s o lower i n A p r i l than in March. On A p r i l 23 t h e d i s c o u n t r a t e a t tho F e d e r a l Reserve Bank of ITew York was reduced from 4' t o 3 l / 2 p e r c e n t .
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