The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
5 3 5 2-7183 1 1 1 BRAL HE S E R V E BOARD STATEMENT FOR THE PRESS For r e l e a s e in Morning Papers, Friday, June 24, 1932. The following summary of general trusiness and f i n a n c i a l c o n d i t i o n s in the United S t a t e s , based upon s t a t i s t i c s f o r the months of May and June, w i l l appear i n the forthcoming issue of the Federal Reserve B u l l e t i n and in the monthly reviews of the Federal reserve "banks. Volume of production i n "basic i n d u s t r i e s and employment a t f a c t o r i e s decreased f u r t h e r in May, and wholesale p r i c e s d e c l i n e d . Foreign withdrawals of gold, which had "been in l a r g e volume in May and the f i r s t h a l f of June, p r a c t i c a l l y stopped a f t e r the middle of the month. Production and employment - Production a t mines and f a c t o r i e s declined f u r t h e r in May, and the Board's seasonally a d j u s t e d index of i n d u s t r i a l production showed a reduction from 64 p e r cent of the 1923-1925 average i n April to 61 p e r cent i n May* Output of coal was s u b s t a n t i a l l y reduced, p a r t i c u l a r l y i n the a n t h r a c i t e f i e l d s ; shipments of iron ore showed l e s s than the u s u a l seasonal i n c r e a s e , production of i r o n and s t e e l d e c l i n e d , and a c t i v i t y a t t e x t i l e m i l l s and shoe f a c t o r i e s was f u r t h e r c u r t a i l e d . In the automobile i n d u s t r y output i n c r e ased c o n s i d e r a b l y . In the f i r s t jpart of June a c t i v i t y in the s t e e l and c o t t o n i n d u s t r i e s was r e p o r t e d to have d e c l i n e d f u r t h e r , while output of automobiles continued a t about the same r a t e as i n the l a t t e r p a r t of May. Further r e d u c t i o n s in employment and e a r n i n g s of f a c t o r y workers accompanied the smaller volume of manufacturing output in May, p a r t i c u l a r l y in the s t e e l and machinery i n d u s t r i e s , and i n the t e x t i l e and c l o t h i n g t r a d e s . Employment a t automobile p l a n t s and in the s e a s o n a l l y a c t i v e food i n d u s t r i e s showed an i n c r e a s e . X-7183 -2- Value of "building c o n t r a c t s awarded, according to r e p o r t s t o the P. IT, Dodge Corporation, a f t e r i n c r e a s i n g somewhat in A p r i l and May, declined s l i g h t l y i n the f i r s t h a l f of June, r e f l e c t i n g c h i e f l y smaller awards f o r p u b l i c works and o t h e r n o n - r e s i d e n t i a l b u i l d i n g . D i s t r i b u t i o n - Railroad f r e i g h t t r a f f i c decreased f u r t h e r i n May, the l a r g e s t r e d u c t i o n being in shipments of coal and miscellaneous f r e i g h t . Sales of department s t o r e s i n leading c i t i e s , which had increased s u b s t a n t i a l l y during .April, were smaller in May. Wholesale p r i c e s - P r i c e s of commodities a t wholesale were 1 . 7 p e r cent lower in May than in A p r i l , according to the Bureau of Labor S t a t i s t i c s . There were l a r g e decreases in p r i c e s of many domestic a g r i c u l t u r a l products and of hides and t e x t i l e s . P r i c e s of petroleum products advanced. Daring the f i r s t three weeks of June, market quotations f o r a number of n o n - a g r i c u l t u r a l commodities were r e l a t i v e l y steady, and p r i c e s of sugar, meats, and l i v e s t o c k i n c r e a s e d . P r i c e s of wheat, a f t e r considerable f l u c t u - a t i o n s , were a t unusually low l e v e l s a t the beginning of the t h i r d week i n June. Bank c r e d i t - Withdrawals of gold from the United S t a t e s continued through May and the f i r s t h a l f of June, and the c o u n t r y ' s s t o c k of monetary gold declined by $435,000,000 between May 4 and June 15. A f t e r t h a t date there was no f u r t h e r d e c l i n e in the t o t a l stock of monetary gold, continued gold exports r e p r e s e n t i n g gold p r e v i o u s l y earmarked by f o r e i g n c e n t r a l banks. During the f i r s t p a r t of May continued purchases of United S t a t e s Government s e c u r i t i e s by the r e s e r v e banks enabled member banks f u r t h e r to reduce t h e i r d i s c o u n t s ; in l a t e r weeks, however, funds r e l e a s e d through these purchases 5 3 7 X-7183 -3were absorbed "by the demand f o r gold f o r e x p o r t , and t h e r e was a l s o a decrease in member bank reserve b a l a n c e s . Loans and investments of r e p o r t i n g member banks i n l e a d i n g c i t i e s , which had declined sharply e a r l i e r in the y e a r , showed wide f l u c t u a t i o n s a f t e r the middle of May. In the middle of June t o t a l loans and investments were l a r g e r than a month e a r l i e r , the i n c r e a s e in holdings of United S t a t e s s e c u r i t i e s being more than s u f f i c i e n t to o f f s e t d e c l i n e s in o t h e r investments and in loans. Money r a t e s i n the open market remained a t low l e v e l s . Bates on prime commercial paper were reduced to a range of 2 1 / 2 - 2 3/4 p e r cent in the second week of J u n e .
@FedFRASER