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MONTHLY REVI EW o f Financial and Business Conditions F ifth Federal ...... *4, Reserve D istrict Federal Reserve Bank, Richmond, Va. Buy W ar B onds April 30,1942 Buy S a v in g s St a m p s INVEST FOR VICTORY NOW MONTHLY REVIEW 2 March Business in the Fifth District A R work is dominating business and industry in the Fifth district to such an extent that comparisons of current developments with those of earlier years have very largely lost their significance. Industrial activity has never before been as great as at present, and the volume of work under way is the greatest on record. J"he cotton textile industry, striving to meet the need for hundreds of millions of yards of cloth by the Army and Navy superimposed upon increased demands from civilian sources, is operating at capacity and every few months sets a new record for cotton consumption. The rayon industry, in which the Fifth district is important, is also working continuously, trying to fill ordinary calls for rayon and in addition to furnish substitutes for silk. Lumber mills in all sections of the district, both large and small, are trying to keep up with the heavy demands, and skilled men in the construction field are in great demand. Developments in some great industries in the district cannot be outlined for obvious reasons concerned with defense, but it may be said that workers as a whole are probably making the biggest incomes on record, a fact which is clearly attested by such figures as are available on consumer purchases. Retail trade, as reflected in department store sales, was 35 per cent greater in March this year than in the cor responding month of 1941, and sales in the first quarter were 37 per cent higher this year. The weather preceding W Easter was favorable for spring trade, and in addition there was fear of rationing or shortages in some lines in the near future; these influences, coupled with large pur chasing power, stimulated a record volume of retail sales. Figures on furniture sales tell the same story—increases of 27 per cent in March and 23 per cent in the first quarter over sales in the corresponding periods last year having been reported. Wholesale sales by 196 firms representing many lines gained 31 per cent in March over March 1941 sales. Debits to individual accounts figures, showing the total of check payments in 25 leading Fifth district cities, amounted to more than $2,000,000,000 in March 1942, the highest figure ever reported for that month of the year. Debits figures were increased on March 15 this year by the highest income tax payments ever levied in the United States, but these increased tax payments ac count for only a part of the rise in debits relative to earlier years. Another evidence of greatly increased business activity in the Fifth district this year is the rise in Federal Reserve note circulation, which increased from $298,853,000 on April 15, 1941, to $456,727,000 on April 15, 1942, an increase of $157,874,000 or 53 per cent, during the year. Elsewhere in this Reviczu we present a study of Caslj Farm Income and Government Payments, by States, for 1941 and 1940. BUSINESS STATISTICS— FIFTH FEDERAL RESERVE DISTRICT March 1942 Debits to individual accounts (25 cities)---- ----- Sales, 78 department stores, 5th district................ . Sales, 40 furniture stores, 5th district.................... Sales, 196 wholesale firms, 5th district....... .......... Registrations, new autos, 5th district.................... $2,025,239,000 $ 18,499,932 $ 1,552,159 $ 17,078,000 2,044 Number of business failures, 5th district............... Liabilities in failures, 5th district............................. Value of building permits, 29 cities........................ Value of contracts awarded, 5th district.................. Cotton consumption, 5th district (Bales)............... 39 $ 307,000 $ 8,858,12:6 $ 130,688,000 454,485 Cotton price, cents per lb., end of month..... ... ....... ............ Print cloths, 39 in., 80x80s, end of month............... ............. Rayon yarn shipments, U. S. (Pounds)................ ............. Rayon yarn stocks, U. S. (Pounds)........................ Bituminous coal mined, U. S. (T on s).................... . * Ceiling price tied to spot cotton 20.25 12.00 * 39,900,000 4,000,000 47,400,000 March 1941 February 1942 $1,757,982,000 13,629,042 1,432,196 $ 15,999,000 1,088 $ $ $ $ $ 31 275,000 7,849,950 80,772,000 422,029 $1,674,663,000 13,716,669 1,225,564 13,082,000 30,742 $ $ $ $ $ $ 35 547,000 12,172,328 57,017,000 385,352 11.11 19.41 11.625* 36,000,000 4,400,000 9.25 35,400,000 10,200,000 43,840,000 47,996,000 % Change Year Month 21 + 15 + 36 + 8 + 7 + 88 + + + + — + + + + + 13 62 + 11 — 44 — 27 +129 8 + 13 4 + 82 + 30 + 13 + 26 12 + 3 + 11 — 9 + 8 35 27 31 93 — 61 — 1 3 MONTHLY REVIEW BANKING STATISTICS RESERVE BANK STATEMENT ITEMS Fifth District ' 000 omitted ITEMS Apr. 15 Mar. 15 1942 1942 Discounts held ......................................... $ 200 $ 0 724 746 Industrial advances ............................... Government securities ........................... 139,902 134,679 140,826 135,425 Total earning assets........................... Circulation of Fed. Res. notes.............. 456,727 447,398 Members’ reserve deposits................... 457,561 471,650 Cash reserves ............................................. 837,552 816,964 Reserve ratio ...................................... 85.90 85.59 Apr. 15 1941 210 848 121,486 122,544 298,853 400,802 650,872 85.03 $ SELECTED MEMBERS— 41 REPORTING. MEMBER BANKS Fifth District 000 omitted ITEMS Apr. 15 Mar. 11 Apr. 16 1942 1942 1941 Loans to business & agriculture........ $168,552 $167,301 $147,540 All other loans ....................................... 170,982 172,892 160,706 Investments in securities..................... 601,605 581,252 415,688 Reserve bal. with F. R. bank.............. 292,117 299,751 281,825 Cash in vaults ....................................... 28,330 30,131 25,390 Demand deposits ....................... ............. 813,304 790,774 671,457 Time deposits .......................................... 199,299 198,704 207,408 0 0 0 Money borrowed .................................... MUTUAL SAVINGS BANK DEPOSITS 9 Baltimore Banks Mar. 31, 1942 $219,072,180 Total deposits ................... Feb. 28, 1942 $219,747,815 DEBITS TO INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS Fifth District 000 omitted Mar. Feb. Mar. 1942 1942 1941 CITIES Dist. of Col. Washington ... Maryland Baltimore ............ Cumberland ........ Hagerstown ........ North Carolina Asheville .............. Charlotte ............ Durham .............. Greensboro .......... Raleigh ............... Wilmington .......... Winston-Salem . . South Carolina Charleston ......... Columbia ............ Greenville .......... Spartanburg Virginia Danville .............. Lynchburg .......... Newport News . . Norfolk ............... Portsmouth Richmond ............ Roanoke .............. West Virginia Charleston .......... Huntington .......... Parkersburg District Totals .. % of Change Month Year $ 373,988 $ 342,396 + 16 + 26 516,211 8,645 12,764 481,724 8,694 11,074 + 10 + 21 + 24 + 18 + 21 + 43 19,019 121,140 32,164 29,700 72,346 26,778 53,519 15,611 89,523 29,945 26,559 56,915 21,513 49,488 15,798 99,621 32,350 24,986 57,714 15,455 48,231 + + + + + + + 22 35 7 12 27 24 8 + 20 + 22 - 1 + 19 + 25 + 73 + 11 33,379 46,611 35,601 17,920 28,446 37,526 30,415 15,369 26,077 41,821 24,834 17,852 + + + + 17 24 17 17 + 28 + 11 + 43 + o 11,925 19,298 17,038 93,231 9,876 216,739 36,733 10,067 16,521 13,402 76,901 8,417 198,115 30,037 8,938 16,759 16,5156 72,632 6,494 184,219 33,511 + + + + + + + 18 17 27 21 17 9 22 [-33 -15 - 3 -28 -52 1-18 + 10 69,082 22,974 13,077 $2,025,239 60,431 20,206 10,967 $1,757,982 56,502 19,559 10,866 $1,674,663 + + + + 14 14 19 15 + + + + 22 17 20 21 COMMERCIAL FAILURES 3 Months, 1942..................... 3 Months, 1941................... . 107 127 2,926 3,464 Total Liabilities District U. S. $ 307,000 $ 12,011,000 275,000 9,631,000 547,000 13,444,000 893,000 1,819,000 ................. ................. ................. West Virginia ................................. ................. .................. South Carolina................................. .................. District Average ....................... .................. Percentage change from Feb. 1942 to Mar. 1942 In number In amount on payroll of payroll + 4.3 + 2.4 + 2.5 +2.8 +0.2 0.0 — 0.7 — 0.4 — 0.4 — 0.5 +0.7 + 0.2 +0.7 + 1.1 AUTOMOBILE REGISTRATIONS Under the rationing system in operation since January 567,808 10,485 15,800 Number of Failures District U. S. 39 1,048 31 916 35 1,211 STATES Mar. 31, 1941 $224,654,536 $ 432,996 PERIODS March 1942..................... February 1942..................... March 1941..................... war contracts are using all the labor they can secure, and skilled mechanics and structural workers are in great de mand. The textile industry is setting new records in cot ton consumption, and is operating at the highest rate in history. Ship yards are working around the clock, and are expanding facilities still further. Construction, chiefly for the war program, is under way in very large volume in the district, and is also expanding. The demand for workers in industry and construction has drained labor from rural areas, and farmers are facing a serious short age of help for planting, working and harvesting 1942 crops. The following figures, compiled for the most part by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, show the trends of employment and payrolls in the Fifth district from Feb ruary to March: 31,558,000 38,815,000 1 , sales of new passenger automobiles have become merely nominal, and R. L. Polk & Co., of Detroit, from whom monthly figures have been obtained in the past, have de cided to discontinue collection of registration figures until such time as a free market for cars can again be allowed. For the duration of the war, therefore, we shall be com pelled to omit the registration figures from the Monthly Review after publishing herein the statistics for March and the first quarter of 1942. REGISTRATION OF NEW PASSENGER CARS— NUMBER Mar. Mar. % Change 1942 1941 STATES Maryland .......... Dist. of Col. .. . West Virginia . . No. Carolina . . . So. Carolina District ........ 643 85 438 217 461 200 2,044 7,052 3,896 6,357 2,740 6,727 3,970 30,742 — — — — — — — 91 98 93 92 93 95 93 3 Months 1942 2,148 647 2,652 1,076 1,738 1,047 9,308 3 Months % 1941 Change 15,421 8,311 18,694 7,274 17,586 10,357 77,643 — 86 — 92 — 86 — 85 — 90 — 90 -8 8 BITUMINOUS COAL PRODUCTION The total amount of bituminous coal mined in the United States in March 1942 exceeded that of February, but March was a longer month and on a daily basis production in the later month declined slightly. March production of 47,400,000 net tons compared with 43,840,000 tons mined in February. For the first month since January 1941, production in March this year was lower than production in the corresponding month last year, but output in the first quarter of 1942 of 139,780,000 tons was 4 per cent above 133,761,000 tons mined in the first quarter of 1941. Source: Dun & Bradstreet EMPLOYMENT Labor in the Fifth Reserve district may be said to be almost fully employed, and shifts from civilian to war work by industrial plants in the district have not caused any appreciable unemployment. Industries working on SOFT COAL PRODUCTION IN TONS REGIONS West Virginia ..................... Virginia ............................... Maryland ............................. 5th District ....................... United States .................. % in District..................... Mar. 1942 12,699,000 1,524,000 174,000 14,397,000 47,400,000 30 Feb. 1942 11,108,000 1,500,000 158,000 12,766,000 43,840,000 29 Mar. 1941 12,741,000 1,566,000 172,000 14,479,000 47,996,000 30 MONTHLY REVIEW 4 BUILDING PERMITS AND CONTRACT AWARDS Building permits issued in March 1942 in 29 Fifth district cities totaled $8,858,126, a seasonal increase of 13 per cent over permits totaling $7,849,950 issued in Feb ruary this year but 27 per cent below $12,172,000 in per mits issued in March 1941. Permits in the first quarter of 1942 totaling $23,448,007 were 28 per cent less than $32,570,726 in the first quarter of 1941, the decrease being in large part due to difficulty in obtaining construction materials for civilian use this year. Washington led in March 1942 permits with $2,706,338, Baltimore was second with $2,277,822, Norfolk third with $977,860, Portsmouth fourth with $584,305, and Richmond fifth with $419,947. Contracts actually awarded in March for construction work in the Fifth district totaled $130,688,000, an increase of 62 per cent over $80,772,000 in February and a gain of 129 per cent above $57,017,000 in March last year. Total awards in the district in the first quarter of 1942 amounted to $263,490,000, the highest total for any first quarter since records began in 1921 and 98 per cent above $132,907,000 in the first quarter of 1941. A very large part of the contract awards is for war work, either directly or indirectly, and is to a large extent paid for with public funds. Figures by states for February 1942 contract awards, which were not available when the March 31 Review went to press, were reported by the F. W. Dodge Corporation as follows: CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS AWARDED STATES Feb. 1942 Feb. 1941 % Change $14,314,000 $ 5,687,000 +152 Maryland ............................. Dist. of Col.......................... 21,653,000 5,880,000 +268 Virginia ............................. 27,849,000 10,693,000 +160 West Virginia .................. 4,179,000 2,046,000 +104 North Carolina .................. 4,486,000 6,360,000 — 29 South Carolina ..................................8,291,000________ 2,657,000______ +212 Fifth District ............... $80,772,000 $33,323,000 +142 COTTON TEXTILES The Journal of Commerce, surveying the cotton textile goods market for March, stated that mills ran at a high rate during the month, with production by regular cloth manufacturers being supplemented by a gradual shift of carpet and upholstery mills to the manufacture of ducks and other heavy goods wanted for war purposes. Govern ment demands continued to increase during March, and it was estimated that above 60 per cent of cotton textile production was for war or other Government use. Further orders for ducks were placed, and extensive sales of osnaburgs were made to the Defense Supplies Corporation. Both the Army and Navy also placed orders for sheeting. At the end of the month contracts were signed or nego tiated for about 18 million yards of print cloths and combed goods for Army underwear. On the final day of the month, the Quartermaster Depot opened bids on a call for 351 million yards of cotton goods, twills and drills being the most important items. Business for civilian purposes was restricted in March. During the first three weeks of the month prices were stabilized and mills turned down all but priority orders, but when cotton advanced sharply in the closing week and lifted textile prices to the best levels in many years, mills increased sales to ci vilians for near deliveries. Cotton consumption in the Fifth district in March set a new monthly record, and was as follows: COTTON CONSUMPTION— FIFTH DISTRICT In bales MONTHSNo.-Carolina So. Carolina Virginia District March, 1942..................... February 1942..................... March 1941..................... 246,932 226,405 210,198 184,428 175,248 158,442 23,125 ‘ 20,376 16,712 454.485 422,029 385,352 3 Months 1942..................... 3 Months 1941..................... % Increase .................... 711,284 616,739 15 543,821 466,684 17 65,577 49,179 33 1,320,682 1,132,602 17 RAYON YARN SHIPMENTS AND STOCKS March deliveries of rayon yarn to domestic mills amounted to 39,900,000 pounds as compared with 36,000,000 pounds in February and 35,400,000 pounds in March last year, according to Rayon Organon for April. Cumu lative deliveries of rayon yarn for the first quarter of the current year amounted to 117,100,000 'pounds, an increase of 15 per cent over shipments totaling 102,000,000 pounds in the first quarter of 1941. Shipments exceeded produc tion of yarn last month, and reserve stocks in producers’ hands declined from 4,400,000 pounds on April 30 to 4,000,000 pounds on March 31. In addition to filament yarn, domestic mills delivered 12,600,000 pounds of rayon staple fiber in March, compared with 9,000,000 pounds delivered in March last year. Production of staple fiber has risen substantially during the past year, and in the first quarter of 1942 deliveries were 60 per cent greater than in the like period last year. Staple fiber is better suited than filament yarn for mixing with wool, and on March 16 the War Production Board ordered producers of rayon staple fiber to set aside and make available to the worsted industry a specific part of their monthly produc tion. This action was taken to enable the worsted industry to experiment in the production of blended materials in order to obtain the greatest possible yardage from the new wool allocated for civilian use under Wool Conservation Order M-73. COTTON STATISTICS Spot cotton prices on 10 Southern markets were fairly stable through the first three weeks of March, but ad vanced steadily after the twentieth from 19.38 cents to 20.37 cents on the thirtieth, but declined again to 20.24 cents on April 17, the latest date for which an official figure is available. On April 18 last year the average base price on the same markets was 11.08 cents. The Government has requested that cotton farmers plant their full national acreage allotment of about 27,400,000 acres this year. Tremendous war and civilian demands for cotton goods make a full crop desirable, and in addition there is a great need for cotton seed to supply oil and cook ing compounds. Cotton consumption set a new record in the United States in March, and the rate was sustained during the first half of April. COTTON CONSUMPTION AND ON HAND— BALES Mar. 1942 Fifth district states: Cotton consumed .................... 454,485 Aug. 1 to Mar. 31 1941 This Year Last Year Mar. 385,352 3,398,389 2,784,891 Cotton growing states: Cotton consumed .................. 822,602 723,177 Cotton on hand March 31 in Consuming establishments . . 2,140,567 1,556,609 Storage & compresses......... 10,965,300 12,885,287 6,157,520 5,181,462 ......... ......... ......... ......... United States: Cotton consumed .................. 966,631 854,767 7,246,739 6,071,641 Cotton on hand March 31 in Consuming establishments .2,651,614 1,912,750 .............. ......... Storage & compresses ....... 11,352,96713,244,740 ........... ......... Spindles active.......................... 23,096,47922,806,104 ............................. MONTHLY REVIEW TOBACCO MANUFACTURING Tobacco manufacturing increased seasonally in March from February output and was above the level of March 1941 in all lines except chewing and smoking tobacco. Production figures released by the Bureau of Internal Revenue are as follows: Mar. 1942 Smoking & chewing tobacco, pounds .............. Cigarettes, number .............. Cigars, number ..................... Snuff, pounds ..................... 24,013,59>9 17,015,736,280 489,726,665 3,905,636 Feb. 1942 21,178,375 16,628,297,300 441,805,010 3,247,346 Mar. 1941 ____ 24,993,372 15,52.8,629,200 430,326,200 3,260,069 DEPARTMENT STORE TRADE Percentage increase or decrease in sales, stocks, outstanding orders and outstanding receivables in March 1942 in comparison with March 1941: Receivables Stocks Orders Sales (+ 2 7 ) ( + 40) ( + 41) ( + 30) ( + 37) Richmond (5) ......................... + 2 6 Baltimore (10) ..................... + 4 0 Washington (7) ..................... + 3 8 Other Cities (12) ................. + 2 6 Fifth District ( 7 8 ) * .... +35 Same stores by states, including stores reporting sales only: Maryland (13) ..................... + 31 Virginia (16) ......................... + 3 0 West Virginia (15) . . . . + 21 North Carolina (16)............... +15 South Carolina (11) ............. + 3 8 + + + + + 43 51 56 34 50 + 111 + 20 + 18 + 20 + 247 + 174 + 99 + 179 + 13 + 19 ( + 40) ( + 32) (+ 2 7 ) ( + 18) (+ 4 1 ) RETAIL FURNITURE SALES Maryland (9) ................................... Dist. of Columbia (7 )..................... Virginia (13) ................................... North Carolina (5) ......................... South Carolina (6 )......................... District (40) ................................. +38 +36 +31 — 1 — 19 +27 + 28 + 37 +24 — 9 — 12 + 23 Individual Cities: Baltimore (9) ................................... Richmond (5) ................................. Washington (7) ................................. +38 +42 +36 + 28 + 29 + 37 + + + + + + + — + + + + 18 26 18 45 40 24 41 1 43 32 30 31 — 1 + 7 + 14 + 15 0 + 4 + 8 + 13 + 6 + 16 + 8 + 7 North Carolina 1941 ................. 1940 ................. Percentage + 26 — 17 + 75 + 25 + 20 — 9 + 13 + 11 + *4 + 9 + 1 — 4 — 2 + 1 71 49 126 50 63 97 61 81 74 + 3!2 + 23 — 2 2 72 71 (Compiled April 21, 1942) Fifth District 1941 ............... 1940 ............... Percentage United States 1941 ............... . 1940 ............... . Percentage 46,314 38,765 89,421 71,045 1,588 2,783 91,009 73,828 + 33.5 + 19.5 + 25.9 — 42.9 + 23.3 77,821 62,696 73,915 59,031 151,736 121,727 6.524 4,724 158,260 126,451 + 24.1 + 25.2 + 24.7 + 38.1 + 25.2 13,938 11,970 35,612 28,480 49,550 40,450 2,523 1,920 52,073 42,370 + 16.4 + 25.0 + 22.5 + 31.4 + 22.9 240,481 164,721 48,182 36,684 288,663 201,405 14,474 14,876 303,13)7 216,281 + 46.0 + 31.3 + 43.3 - 2.7 + 40.2 76,468 82,949 24,455 18,732 100,923 101,681 15,218 16,787 116,141 118,468 - 7.8 + 30.6 - 0.7 - 9.3 - 2,0 451,815 354,616 228,478 181,692 680,293 536,308 40,327 41,090 720,620 577,398 + 27.4 + 25.8 + 2:6.8 — 1.9 + 24.8 4,794,323 3,509,525 - 6,391,107 11,185,430 4,821,657 8,331,182 + 32.6 + 34.3 585,672 11,771,102 765,799 9,096,981 — 23,5 + 29.4 Source: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Agricultural Economics. Cash Farm Income and Government Payments in 1941, February 26, 1942. b. Cash income and Government payments to farmers in the Fifth Federal Reserve District increased 24.8 per cent, or 4.6 per cent less than for the country as a whole, while Government payments declined 1.9 per cent as against a decline of 23.5 per cent for the country as a whole. Ratio Mar. Stocks collections Mar. 31, 1942 to accounts compared with Mar. 31 Feb. 28 outstanding 1941 1942 Mar. 1 Source: Bureau of the Census. West Virginia 1941.................... 1940 ................. Percentage 43,1047 32,280 a. Cash income and Government payments of farmers in the country as a whole were 29.4 per cent greater in 1941 than in 1940, notwithstanding the fact that Government payments de clined 23.5 per cent in the same period. WHOLESALE TRADE, 196 FIRMS Automobile supplies (7) Shoes (4) ..................... Drugs & sundries (6) Dry goods (8) ............. Electrical goods (18) Groceries (56) .............. Hardware (13) .............. Industrial supplies (6) Paper & products (11) . . Tobacco & products (4 ).. Miscellaneous (63) . . . . Maryland 1941 ............... 1940 ............... Percentage Income from crops Total Income from Cash cash income livestock income from and and farm Gov’m’n’t Gov’m’n’t livestock products marketings payments payments From the foregoing table it appears that: Note: Number of reporting stores in parentheses. LINES STATE + 36.6 % Changes in Sales, Mar. and 3 months 1942 compared with compared with Mar. 1941 3 Months 1941 Net Sales March 1942 compared with Feb. Mar. 1941 1942 (Amounts in thousands of dollars) South Carolina 1941 ................. 1940 ............... Percentage * Includes stores reporting sales only. Note: Second figure in parentheses under Sales compares combined in 3 months of i942 with sales in first 3 months of 1941. STATES CASH FARM INCOME AND GOVERNMENT PAYMENTS, BY STATES, FIFTH FEDERAL RESERVE DISTRICT YEARS 1941 AND 1940 Virginia 1941 ................ 1940 ............... Percentage RETAIL AND WHOLESALE TRADE 5 c. Every state in the Fifth District experienced an increase of cash income and Government payments, except South Caro lina, for which there was a decline of 2.0 per cent. At the other extreme, North Carolina experienced an increase of 40.2 per cent. d. The amount of Government subsidies received by farmers in the Fifth District in 1941 was $40.3 million as against $585.7 million for the country as a whole. The proportion going to farmers in the Fifth District was therefore 6.9 per cent. e. Attention is called to the fact that in both Maryland and Virginia farm income is about equallly attributable to income from crops and income from livestock and livestock products. In West Virginia income from the latter much exceeds that from the former, for West Virginia is, relatively speaking, de ficient in arable land. In the Carolinas income from farm crops is much more important than income from livestock and live stock products, but it should be said much progress has been made over a period of years in North Carolina, and of late years there has been a growing interest in the stimulation of the livestock industry. 6 MONTHLY REVIEW SUMMARY OF NATIONAL BUSINESS CONDITIONS (Compiled by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System) IN D U S T R IA L Industrial activity continued at a high rate in March and the first half of April. Distribution of commodities to consumers was maintained in large volume and commodity prices advanced further. P R O D U C T IO N PRODUCTION Federal Reserve monthly index of physical volume of production, adjusted for seasonal varia tion, 1935-39 average = 100. Latest figures shown are for March, 1942. DE P A R T M E N T ST O R E SALES AND STO C KS Federal Reserve monthly indexes of value of sales and stocks, adjusted for seasonal variation, 1923-1925 average = 100. Latest figures shown are for March 1942. M E M B E R B A N K S IN 101 LEADIN G C IT IE S Volume of industrial production increased seasonally in March and the Board’s adjusted index remained at 172 per cent of the 1935-39 average. Out put of durable manufactured products, now mostly war materials, continued to advance, reflecting mainly increased activity in the iron and steel, machinery, aviation, and shipbuilding industries. Production of lumber and cement, which had been maintained at unusually high levels during the winter months, in creased less than seasonally in March. In most industries manufacturing nondurable goods activity was sustained at earlier high levels. In some, however, notably wool textiles and petroleum refining, there were declines owing to restrictions on production for civilian use and, in the case of petroleum products, to transportation difficulties. Mineral production declined in March and the first half of April, reflecting sharp cur tailment in output of crude petroleum. Coal production, which usually declines at this season, was maintained in large volume. The Great Lakes shipping season opened j n the latter part of March and the first boatload of iron ore reached lower Lake ports 12 days earlier than the record set last year. Ship ments during the coming season are expected to exceed considerably the total of 80 million gross tons brought down the Lakes last year. Value of construction contract awards continued to increase in March, according to figures of the F. W. Dodge Corporation, and the level of the first quarter of 1942 was the highest in recent years, being some 30 per cent above that of the corresponding period last year. Awards for public work amounted to close to 80 per cent of the total and in the residential field accounted for 52 per cent of the value of all projects. Publicly-financed contracts for factory construction showed a sharp increase, partly offset in the total by a decline in private factory construction. On April 9 the War Production Board issued an order which required ex plicit permission of the Government for initiation of all new private construc tion involving expenditures in excess of specified small amounts and not covered by specific priority ratings. DISTRIBUTION Value of retail trade in March continued at the high level of other recent months, making allowance for customary seasonal changes. Sales at department and variety stores increased by somewhat less than the usual seasonal amount while sales by mail-order houses rose more than seasonally. On the railroads total loadings of revenue freight were maintained in large volume in March and the first half of April. Shipments of coal and coke de clined less than seasonally and ore loadings increased sharply, while grain ship ments declined further from the peak reached in January. Loadings of mis cellaneous merchandise, which had been unusually large in the preceding three months, increased less than seasonally. COMMODITY PRICES include industrial and agricultural loans, repre sent prior to May 19, 1937 so-called “ Other loans” as then reported. Latest figures shown are for April 8, 1942. MEM BER BANK R E SE R V E S The general level of wholesale commodity prices advanced IV2 per cent further from the middle of March to the middle of April. Among manufactured products, finished consumers’ goods, such as foods, clothing, and shoes, continued to show the largest price increases. Prices of most raw materials were unchanged or showed increases, which in a number of cases reflected the raising of Federal maximum price levels. There were declines in prices o f wheat and of a few other commodities, including gasoline at Gulf ports and turpentine. In retail markets maximum prices were fixed in this period for a number of electrical products, most of which will no longer be produced for civilian use after May 31. Prices of many other commodities and services advanced further. BANK CREDIT During the four weeks ending April 15 holdings of Government securities at banks in leading cities increased by nearly 700 million dollars, while com mercial loans declined somewhat, following a rise in previous weeks. Changes in member bank reserves and deposits reflected principally the temporary effects of Treasury operations in connection with income tax collection and the sale of certificates of indebtedness. Money in circulation continued to increase. UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT SECURITY PRICES Following an advance from the mid-February low, prices of U. S. Govern ment bonds remained relatively steady in the first half of April. Wednesday figures. Required and excess re serves, but not the total, are partly estimated. Latest figures shown are for April 8, 1942.
@FedFRASER