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FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD For r e l e a s e i n evening papers Monday, January 12. January 9, 1931 r&s r t p - 73 . DEPARTMENT STORE SALES IN DECEMBER 1930 Preliminary r e p o r t Department s t o r e s a l e s showed an i n c r e a s e of ^0 per cent from November to December, when allowance i s made f o r the number of t r a d i n g days, according to p r e l i m i n a r y f i g u r e s r e p o r t e d to t h e Federal Reserve Board. This i n c r e a s e i s somewhat l e s s than t h e estimated seasonal i n c r e a s e f o r t h a t p e r i o d , and the Board's index of department s t o r e s a l e s , which i s a d j u s t e d f o r number of t r a d ing days and f o r seasonal v a r i a t i o n , declined by 2 per cent f o r t h e month. As compared with l a s t y e a r , t h e aggregate value of s a l e s in December according to the p r e l i m i n a r y f i g u r e s , was 8 per cent smaller, and when allowance i s made f o r t h e f a c t t h a t t h e r e was one more t r a d i n g day t h i s year than l a s t , t h e decrease from l a s t year i s about 12 per c e n t . For the year 1930 as a whole department s t o r e s a l e s were 8 per cent smaller than i n 1929. PERCENTAGE INCREASE OR DECREASE FROM A YEAR AGO December* 12 months ending December y t Number of reporting stores Number of cities —8 — 8 503 247 Boston New York Philadelphia Cleveland - 7 - 5 100 -10 -12 - 6 - 3 - 8 - 10 34 30 33 23 18 15 Richmond Atlanta. Chicago S t . Louis - 4 - 10 - 10 - 14 - 4 - 9 - 13 - 12 70 28 55 18 4o 17 35 10 Minneapolis Kansas City Dallas San Francisco - 7 - 4 - 12 - 9 - 19 21 17 68 9 17 7 23 Total Federal r e s e r v e d i s t r i c t : 6 5 7 6 * December f i g u r e s preliminary; the month had 26 business days t h i s year and 25 l a s t y e a r .