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;.·•. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD STATEMENT FOR THE PRESS For release in Morning Papers, Wednesday, November l, 1922. Tt.e following is a sunmary of general business and financial conditions throughout the several Federal Reserve Districts during the month of October, as contained in the forthcoming issue of the Federal Reserve Bulletin. Difficulties in handling the increased freight traffic due to car shortage have becoce an important factor in the current industrial situation. The total number of cars loaded increased during September chiefly because of heavy loadings of coal and live stock, and during the last week oi' the month the car loadings were greater than for any week since October, 1920. The pro- duction of bituminous and anthracite coal was cheCked in the latter part of September by the general shortage of coal cars, a shorta 6 e of over 40,000 coal cars Qeveloping in less than a month after the settlement of the strike. A shortage of box cars appeared in the first week in August, and by October amounted to 71,063 cars. 7 The difficulty in securin5 cars for shipment has led to some curtailment of production in lumber and finished steel products. The output of pi~ iron and steel in6ots, however, has expanded steadily since Au 0ust. Cotton and woolen mills continue to operate at close to capacity and shoe factories have a large volume of business. Agricultural receipts, particularly those of live stock, continue to be heavy. - 2 The chief reporting lines of wholesale trade showed improYement during September. Increases in sales of hardware and ~urniture 1S22 · as co~ared with August/and September, 1921, ref~ect the large volume of residential building during recent months. Seasonal declines occurred in sales of farm irr:plements and autor.:obile supplies, but sales were much-larger than a year ago. Retail trade continued to improve during September and department store sales were larger in all Districts than in September~1921. ' The wholesale price index of th~ Bureau of Labor Statistics declined from 155 in August to 153 in Sep,tember. This drop was cniefly due to the decline in coal priczs after the opening of the mines. Prices of b_uilding materials and metais continued to rise as a result of the prolonged building activity and the scarcity caused by traffic embargoes and the car shortage. Bank debits to individual accounts in 140 cities excluding New York, were 4 per cent larger in September than in August, 1922, and 9 per cent larger than in September, lS21. In New Ycrk City debits in September were 5 per cent larger than a month earlier and 19 per cent larger than in 1921. Loans of reporting banks in leading cities show an increase of $366,000,000 for the four v•-eeLs ended October lS, and their demand deposits show an advance of $24f>,OOO,OOO. Investments of these banks, in United. States securitias, Nhicl: showed sorr.e decline during the early part of the period, increased by ~:144,000 ,000 during the last week when the Government floated its first post-war long-term bond issue. Federal •. , . ,. - 3 - X-3545 Reserve Bank discounts· for the four weaks ended 0ctober 25 show a.'Yl increase of $49,0CO,OOO,their holdings of acceptances increasea. by $20,000,000, while by $43,000,000. Government ssc-..uities hdd by th::Jse b;;;:nks aeclined Federal reserve note cj_rculation expanded by $55,00o;ooo during the period. from 78.4 to 77.6 per cent. The reserve ratio shows a decrease This change in the ratio resulted from the increase in note liabilities, only partially offset by an increase of $9,000,000 in cash reserves.
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