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Business Conditions in the Philadelphia Federal Reserve District FEDERAL OF RESERVE BANK PHILADELPHIA November, 1 9 1 8 EN ERAL prosperous conditions have continued throughout the district. There is a steady demand for all kinds of staple merchandise, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to replenish supplies and many concerns find it impossible to meet the full requirements of their customers. G Efforts to increase the output of the iron and steel plants and other industries which have large Government contracts are pro ducing results, an improvement being shown in both the number of hands employed and in the quantity of production. Retail trade shows a large increase during the month up to the beginning of the influenza epidemic. Since that time, however, the number of customers daily visiting the stores has decreased about one-third and the volume of sales from thirty to fifty per cent, and working forces of all business establishments too, have been affected very much; at times, as many as one-third of the employees have been unfit for duty. Jobbers of dry goods and notions report that business is very satisfactory, although it also is being affected by the epidemic. There is a feeling, however, on the part of some that this may be beneficial as there had been very vigorous buying and the present serious condition may cause conservative reaction. The influenza epidemic has greatly affected the coal output. Conservative estimates show that it has caused a decline in the production of anthracite coal of from 250,000 to 300,000 tons per week, some of the collieries being compelled to close. The ship ments of anthracite for September, as furnished to the Anthracite Bureau of Information, amounted to 6,234,395 tons as compared with 6,372,756 tons for September of last year and 7,180,923 tons for August of this year. The small production in September, how ever, was due principally to the fewer number of working days, there being only twenty-four that month, whereas there were twenty-seven in August. The average daily shipments in Septem ber of this year amounted to 259,766 tons, which is a record figure. Bituminous production has been increasing and has reached a weekly production of more than 13,000,000 tons. The requirements for steel for direct war purposes are increas ing rapidly and it has become necessary to seek additional means for conserving it. The scarcity of pig iron is growing more acute, there not being enough of any grade to take care of the demand. Stocks in furnace yards are becoming very low and many con sumers have but a few days’ supply. Results of the efforts to speed up pig iron production are reflected in the figures for September which show a daily average of 113,942 tons, the highest in the history of the industry, compared with 109,341 tons in August. Building conditions continue very quiet; high cost of construc tion and the government’s control of materials are holding back a number of proposed improvements and preventing all but abso lutely necessary work from being started. The cotton yarn trade has been very good, due to the large Government orders for fabrics, which have been taking about 50 per cent of the production of the textile mills. Labor is still very scarce, the average mill running only about 75 per cent of normal. Prices continue high on account of the very short cotton crop. Most of the underwear mills have enough Government work to keep them busy until the first of the year. As the Government has sufficient lightweight goods for the spring and summer of 1919, it is not expected that any contracts will be given for this line until next summer. Silk mills are not attempting to proceed ahead of January and February supplies. Production is estimated between 50 and 60 per cent of normal. Financial transactions have been overshadowed by the Liberty Loan campaign. The minimum rate for commercial paper has remained at 6 per cent. Commercial failures continue at an extremely low level. During the month of September, Bradstreet’s report 32 failures in this district, of which 28 consisted of concerns having capital of $5,000 or less. During the month of September discount operations of the Federal Reserve Bank amounted to $167,231,191 of which 81 per cent was secured by obligations of the United States Government. The average daily amount of earning assets held by the bank during that month was $114,640,100. Total loan and investment operations for the first nine months of the year amounted to $875,701,864, compared with $329,743,478 for the entire year 1917. STATEMENT OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF PHILADELPHIA I O c to b e r RESO U R C E S in v a u l t ..................... G old settlem ent fu n d . 18, 19 If i P revious M onth Y ear a g o $ 1 5 2 ,6 6 0 6 9 ,1 7 1 ,4 9 0 4 0 8 ,0 2 1 $ 1 8 5 ,7 6 0 6 9 ,6 0 4 ,5 8 5 4 0 8 ,0 2 ! $ 1 8 ,9 5 5 ,8 7 5 2 7 ,3 4 7 ,0 0 0 3 ,6 7 5 ,0 0 0 6 9 ,7 3 2 ,1 7 1 7 0 ,1 9 8 ,3 6 6 4 9 ,9 7 7 ,8 7 5 A g e n t .......................... G old redenfption fu n d. 1 1 0 ,2 4 7 ,7 0 0 6 ,4 5 5 ,4 5 0 1 1 1,1 10,950 5 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 4 1 ,3 0 2 ,8 8 5 9 5 0 ,0 0 0 T ota l go ld res e rv e . . 1 8 6 ,4 3 5 ,3 2 ! 1 8 6 ,3 0 9 ,3 1 6 9 2 ,2 3 0 ,7 6 0 7 7 1 ,0 8 0 8 7 3 ,1 8 7 7 1 6 ,6 3 2 1 8 7 ,2 0 6 ,4 0 ! 1 8 7 ,1 8 2 ,5 0 3 9 2 ,9 4 7 ,3 9 2 Bills discou n ted — M em b S ecu red b y G ov. w ar o b liga tion s ................................ A ll o t h e r .............................. Bills b o u g h t in op en m arket 9 1 ,6 4 8 ,3 7 3 1 4 ,7 3 9 ,1 3 0 2 6 ,0 8 1 ,6 7 8 1 0 1 ,6 3 9 ,4 6 7 9 ,0 4 3 ,8 2 4 1 0 ,0 9 8 ,5 4 4 1 4 ,3 0 0 ,4 5 4 T o ta l bills on h a n d . .. 1 3 2 ,4 6 9 ,1 8 1 1 1 0 ,683,291 2 4 ,3 9 8 ,9 9 8 L egal ten der notes, silver, e tc .................................. T o ta l reserve U. S. term U. S. term G overn m en t lo n g securities ................ G overn m en t sh ort securities . . . . 1 ,3 4 7 ,5 5 0 1 ,3 4 7 ,5 5 0 5 5 0 ,4 0 0 4 ,2 5 2 ,0 0 0 3 ,2 2 0 ,5 0 0 3 ,0 7 5 ,0 0 0 T ota l U. S. securities. 5 ,5 9 9 ,5 5 0 4 ,5 6 8 ,0 5 0 3 ,6 2 5 ,4 0 0 1 3 6 ,0 6 8 ,7 3 1 1 1 5 ,251,341 2 8 ,0 3 4 ,3 9 9 D ue fro m oth er Federal re serve banks— net . . . U n co lle cte d i t e m s ........... 7 3 ,6 5 6 ,8 1 3 4 2 ,5 3 2 ,3 2 1 7 ,0 8 7 ,7 2 6 4 1 ,2 6 9 ,8 1 3 Deductions from gross de p o s it3 .................................... 7 3 ,6 5 6 ,8 1 3 4 2 ,5 3 2 ,3 2 1 4 8 ,3 5 7 ,5 4 0 D ue fro m T reasu rer o f U. S. 5 % fu n d Federal reserve ba n k n o t e s ................... A ll oth er re s o u r ce s . . . . 2 0 0 ,0 0 0 1 ,8 2 3 ,9 1 2 1 5 0 ,0 0 0 1 ,4 5 2 ,5 9 5 2 2 4 ,7 1 0 4 0 0 ,9 5 5 ,8 5 7 3 4 6 ,5 6 8 ,7 6 1 $ 7 ,3 6 2 ,3 0 0 $ 7 ,3 5 1 ,4 5 0 $ 5 ,2 7 3 ,4 0 0 1 9 ,5 3 2 ,6 4 8 ; 1 5 ,6 8 1 ,8 8 4 1,622,101 8 1 ,5 9 4 ,8 2 4 6 6 ,3 8 2 ,8 5 5 8 9 ,0 4 7 ,3 2 7 3 4 ,9 5 1 ,2 3 8 7 1 ,1 8 8 ,0 7 9 3 2 ,6 6 3 ,1 6 6 M u nicip al w arrants . . . T o ta l ea rn in g assets . . T o ta l resou rces LIABILITIES C apital pa id i n ..................... G overn m en t dep osits . . . . D ue to m em bers— reserve a cco u n t ................................ C o lle ctio n i t e m s .............. . . D ue to o th e r Federal re serve banks---- n e t........... T o ta l gross d e p o s its . Federal reserve bank n otes in actual c ir c u la tio n .. . . Federal reserve n otes in actual c i r c u l a t i o n ........... A ll o th er lia b ilit ie s ............. T ota l li a b i l i t i e s ........... 10,000 4 ,9 3 7 ,4 7 4 1 j 1 6 9 ,5 6 4 ,0 4 1 125,3 8 5 1 7 2 ,4 4 7 ,8 0 1 1 3 9 ,8 0 5 ,8 3 4 2 ,9 5 2 ,7 0 4 1 ,6 3 9 ,6 9 8 2 1 6 ,0 7 4 ,6 9 8 2 ,1 7 8 ,3 5 4 1 9 6 ,0 2 8 ,2 8 0 1 ,7 4 3 ,4 9 8 5 8 ,1 8 4 ,1 0 0 6 3 3 ,1 9 3 4 0 0 ,9 5 5 ,8 5 7 3 4 6 ,5 6 8 ,7 6 1 1 6 9 ,5 6 4 ,0 4 ! 1 0 5 ,4 7 3 ,3 4 8 S T A T E M E N T SH O W IN G T H E P R IN C IP A L R E SO U R C E A N D L IA B IL IT Y ITEM S O F MEMBER BAN K S IN P H IL A D E L P H IA , S C R A N T O N , C A M D E N A N D W IL M IN G TO N At the close of business Oct. 18, 1918 Sept. 20, 1918 (0 0 0 ’ s omitted) Number of banks reporting....................................... 52 52 United States bonds to secure circulation......... 11,492 11,492 32,652 30,392 91,746 73,664 Other United States bonds, including Liberty bonds ............................................................. United States certificates of indebtedness........... Total United States securities owned......... Loans secured by United States bonds and cer tificates ..................................................................... All other loans and investments................................ 135,890 1 15,548 56,675 47,043 610.567 618,000 Reserve with Federal Reserve Bank........................ 59,962 57,542 Cash in vault................................................................... 22,435 20,904 Net demand deposits on which reserve is com puted ......................................................................... 621,904 616,738 Time deposits ................................................................. 16,094 16,579 Government d ep osits.................................................... 26,793 37,897 B U SIN E S S IN D IC A T O R S Percentage increase or decrease compared with O ctober 19, 1918 Philadelphia ba n k s: L oan s ................................... D eposits ............................. R a t i o ..................................... P reviou s m on th Y ea r a g o $644,287,000 651,833,000 99 % + 3 + 2 (A ctu a l) 98% + 12 — 3 (A ctu a l) 86% 107,566,000 57% + 20 — 7 (A ctual) 4 % + 1103 — 27 (A ctu a l) 4% (A ctu a l) (A ctu a l) 5 }^ % Federal R eserve B ank: D iscoun ts and collateral 1 loans— m em bers . . . . Cash r e s e r v e ..................... 9 0 -d a y d iscou n t ra te. . . C o m m e rcia l p a p e r . . . . . . . 6% Septem ber, 1918 6% Percentage increase or decrease compared with P reviou s m on th Y ea r a g o Bank clea rin gs: In P h ila d e lp h ia ................ E lsew here in d istrict. . . T o ta l ................................ P ort o f P h ila delp h ia : E x p o r t s ................................ I m p o r t s ................................ B uilding perm its — Philadelphia ................................ P ost O ffice r e c e i p t s— Ph iladelphia ..................... C o m m e rcia l failures in district ( p e r B radstreet’ s ) . C o m m o d ity p r ice s : Annalist, O ctober 19, . . . D un ’ s, O ctober 1 . ............ B radstreet’ s, O ctober 1 . $1,610,611,000 104,638,000 — — 7 3 + 20 + H $1,715,249,000 — 7 + 20 54,356,000 9,567,000 + 38 + 126 + 14 + 15 $1,062,000 — 45 — 53 3 + 18 32 (A ctual) 40 968,000 32 282.245 233.227 19.0167 + (A ctual) — 4.5 + 0.5 — 0.2 Compiled October 22, 1918 T he purpose o f this report is to provide m em ber banks and the business com m unity in general with a brief monthly review of prevailing business conditions in this particular Federal reserve district. + 0.8 + 6.1 + 12.4
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