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L X-6C27 FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD STAIEME17T FOR THE PRESS For r e l e a s e i n Morning P a p e r s , Saturday, A p r i l 28, 1928. 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 Reserve D i s t r i c t s , "based upon s t a t i s t i c s f o r the months of March and A p r i l , a s c o n t a i n e d i n the f o r t h coming i s s u e of the Federal Reserve B u l l e tin. I n d u s t r i a l p r o d u c t i o n during March was i n about the same volume as i n Febr u a r y and t h e r e was a seasonal i n c r e a s e i n the d i s t r i b u t i o n of commodities. Wholesale p r i c e s remained p r a c t i c a l l y unchanged. During the p a s t month t h e r e have "been i n c r e a s e s i n "bank c r e d i t i n use and i n member "bank "borrowing a t the r e s e r v e "banks, and open market money r a t e s have shown f u r t h e r advances. Production—'Production of manufactures was m a i n t a i n e d during March a t the high l e v e l reached i n February, and the output of m i n e r a l s a l s o showed l i t t l e change. P r o d u c t i o n of passenger automobiles and t r u c k s during March t o t a l e d 413,000, the l a r g e s t output recorded f o r any month s i n c e August 1926, and p r o duction schedules i n automobile p l a n t s continued l a r g e d u r i n g A p r i l . Activity i n the i r o n and s t e e l i n d u s t r y was a l s o maintained a t a h i g h l e v e l during March and A p r i l , and lumber p r o d u c t i o n was i n l a r g e r volume than a year ago. Cotton and wool consumption d e c l i n e d i n March, but s i l k d e l i v e r i e s were the l a r g e s t on r e c o r d . There was some d e c l i n e i n meat-packing and i n the produc- t i o n of s o l e l e a t h e r , and the output of boots and shoes i n March showed l e s s than the u s u a l s e a s o n a l i n c r e a s e . Mining of bituminous coal decreased during X-6027 - 2 - March by l e s s t h a z u t h e usual,seasonal,,.amount, but as the r e s u l t of a s t r i k e i n c e r t a i n Middle Western mines, p r o d u c t i o n i n the e a r l y weeks of A p r i l was considerably c u r t a i l e d . B u i l d i n g c o n t r a c t s awarded were s m a l l e r i n March t h a n a year ago, while t h o s e f o r the f i r s t t h r e e weeks i n A p r i l were i n about the "S same volume a s i n t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g p e r i o d of l a s t y e a r . As a r e s u l t of l a r g e c o n t r a c t s d u r i n g the f i r s t two months of t h i s y e a r , t o t a l awards f o r the y e a r to A p r i l 20 exceeded t h o s e f o r the same p e r i o d of 1927. Contracts f o r r e - s i d e n t i a l b u i l d i n g s and f o r p u b l i c works have been e s p e c i a l l y l a r g e . Trade—Sales of w h o l e s a l e f i r m s i n c r e a s e d l e s s than u s u a l i n March and were somewhat s m a l l e r than i n t h e same month of l a s t y e a r . S a l e s of D e p a r t - ment s t o r e s , on t h e o t h e r hand, a f t e r allowance i s made f o r customary s e a s o n a l changes and the e a r l y d a t e of E a s t e r , were about the same i n March a s i n t h e p r e c e d i n g month and i n March 1927. Stocks of merchandise c a r r i e d i n March by wholesale f i r m s were l a r g e r , while those of department s t o r e s were s m a l l e r , than a t t h i s time l a s t y e a r . The volume of f r e i g h t - c a r l o a d i n g s showed more t h a n the u s u a l s e a s o n a l i n c r e a s e i n March, b u t d e c l i n e d i n the f i r s t two weeks of A p r i l . Loadings c o n t i n u e d s m a l l e r than a y e a r ago f o r a l l c l a s s e s of commodities except g r a i n s and l i v e s t o c k . P r i c e s — T h e g e n e r a l l e v e l of w h o l e s a l e commodity p r i c e s showed l i t t l e change i n March, t h e index of t h e Bureau of Labor S t a t i s t i c s d e c l i n i n g s l i g h t l y from 9 6 . 4 t o 96 p e r c e n t of t h e 1926 a v e r a g e . There were d e c r e a s e s i n t h e p r i c e s of l i v e s t o c k , d a i r y p r o d u c t s , meats, c o a l , and r u b b e r ; p r i c e s of g r a i n s , c a t t l e f e e d , c o t t o n , and s t e e l , on t h e o t h e r hand, advanced. During the f i r s t t h r e e weeks i n A p r i l , t h e r e were f u r t h e r s u b s t a n t i a l i n c r e a s e s i n t h e p r i c e s L 41C X-6037 of g r a i n s and more moderate advances i n f l o u r , hogs, c o t t o n , and lumber, while p r i c e s of c a t t l e and rubber d e c l i n e d . Bank Credit—Between March 21 and A p r i l 18 t o t a l l o a n s and i n v e s t m e n t s of member "banks i n l e a d i n g c i t i e s i n c r e a s e d by about $410,COO,COO, r e a c h i n g the h i g h e s t l e v e l on r e c o r d . The advance was l a r g e l y i n l o a n s on s e c u r i t i e s which showed an i n c r e a s e of n e a r l y $380,000,000 and i n A p r i l were c l o s e t o the h i g h p o i n t of the- f i r s t of the y e a r . Loans f o r commercial p u r p o s e s c o n t i n u e d the i n c r e a s e which began i n February and n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g a small d e c l i n e d u r i n g t h e l a s t week of t h e p e r i o d were n e a r l y $350,000,000 l a r g e r on A p r i l 18 t h a n a t t h e end of J a n u a r y . The volume of r e s e r v e bank c r e d i t i n u s e i n c r e a s e d by $180,000,000 d u r i n g the f i v e weeks ending A p r i l 35, r e f l e c t i n g i n c r e a s e d r e s e r v e r e q u i r e m e n t s of and member banks / a f u r t h e r n e t o u t f l o w of g o l d amounting t o more t h a n $50,000,000. Reserve bank h o l d i n g s of s e c u r i t i e s were reduced by about $80,O00,000 d u r i n g the p e r i o d , w h i l e d i s c o u n t s f o r member banks i n c r e a s e d by $230,000,000. Acceptance h o l d i n g s a l s o showed a small i n c r e a s e . A f i r m e r tendency i n the money market was e v i d e n c e d a t t h e end of March and d u r i n g A p r i l by f u r t h e r i n c r e a s e s i n r a t e s on c a l l and time l o a n s on s e c u r i t i e s , and by i n c r e a s e s of from 4 - 4 ^ p e r cent to 4^- p e r c e n t i n the r a t e s on commercial p a p e r and from 34- p e r cent t o 3 7 / 8 p e r c e n t i n the r a t e on 90-day b a n k e r s a c c e p t a n c e s . Between A p r i l 20 and A p r i l 25 d i s c o u n t r a t e s were r a i s e d from 4 t o 4 | p e r c e n t a t t h e Boston, Chicago, S t . Louis, Richmond, and Minneapolis F e d e r a l r e s e r v e banks.
@FedFRASER