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IN THIS ISSUE: • The U.S. Balance of Payments: Policies and Results • The Mobile Story of Consumer Instalment Lending R E V I E W • District Business Conditions FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF A T L A N T A A p ril 1 9 6 7 T h e U. S . B a la n c e o f P a y m e n t s : P o lic ie s a n d R e s u l t s In 1966, the U.S. balance of payments, calculated on the liquidity basis, registered another substan tial deficit. On the official settlements basis, tem porary large inflows of foreign liquid funds led to a small surplus for the first time in nine years. The existence of two official measures of pay ments balance reflects disagreement among econo mists as to what type of measure most meaning fully summarizes the varied and complex forces that determine our international payments posi tion. But neither these measures nor others some times used adequately describe all the important aspects of balance of payments performance in a given year, although over a longer period they offer a general idea of trends and progress. Thus, despite their differences, both measures indicate that our balance of payments improved consider ably in 1966 over the years prior to 1965. Let us now see what factors were most responsible. Payments’ Performance In recent years, U. S. private capital outflows (e.g., investment by U. S. residents in foreign stocks and bonds, U. S. corporate investments in overseas branches and subsidiaries, and loans of American banks to foreigners) have gained con Digitized 46 for FRASER siderable attention as a large adverse element in our payments balance. The vast amount of sav ings generated in this country, which underlies our position as a world financial center, and the consequent low cost of obtaining capital here have contributed to expanding capital outflows. In addition, the significant growth of the European Common Market, combined with the erection of common tariff barriers to nonmember nations, ha s encouraged many U. S. corporations to build new plants or buy existing firms in countries that be long to the market. Many restrictions on interna tional capital movements and heavy reliance on credit restraint to check inflation in most indus trial countries have also helped maintain the higher interest rates that have attracted U. S. capital. Owing to a persistent payments deficit and the artificial stimulus to U. S. capital outflows result ing from trade barriers and other nations’ restric tions on capital movements, our government has felt justified in constraining these flows until our payments balance can achieve equilibrium. These constraints are applied through the Interest Equalization Tax (TET) and the Voluntary Co operation Program (VCP). The IET has inM O N TH LY R E V IE W Definitions: Liquidity Balance Official Settlements Balance The liq u id ity and official settlem ents methods of c a lcu la tin g international payments balance rep resent two essentially d iffe re n t view points as to what types of payments most adequately sum marize overall movements in the balance of pay ments, and, therefore, c o n stitu te the best mea sure of surplus or d e ficit. The liq u id ity balance, the more com m only used, includes changes in official reserve assets and in both foreign o f fic ia l and private holdings of short-term U. S. lia b ilitie s . A ll other changes are counted as reg ular flows. The official settlem ents balance also includes changes in reserve assets and in foreign official holdings of short-term U. S. lia b ilitie s , but counts changes in foreign private holdings of U. S. lia b ilitie s as regular cap ital flows. In addition, the official settlem ents balance in cludes as part of the balance changes in certain no n liq u id U. S. lia b ilitie s to foreign official agencies. creased the cost of foreign borrowing in the United States without raising domestic interest rates. Under the VCP, the Department of Com merce has supplied guidelines for business to reduce their flows of capital abroad and the Fed eral Reserve has given guidelines for banks and other financial institutions. Yet outward flows of capital also yield con siderable long-run benefits to our balance of pay ments. For instance, by helping to develop foreign markets, they create new investment and con sumer demand for our exports as well as yield interest, royalties, and dividends which flow back to the United States. In the interest of world eco nomic growth and efficiency, substantial amounts of capital should flow from wealthy countries like the United States to less developed countries. For such reasons, our government has only tried to moderate capital outflows, not eliminate them. Reductions in the amount of foreign securities purchased by American residents and in U. S. bank loans to foreigners illustrate the success of balance of payments measures. The net outflow of capital from purchases of foreign securities, the equivalent of foreign borrowing in the U. S., has fallen off considerably since the Interest Equali zation Tax took effect in 1963. These purchases dropped even further last year, despite the flota tion of $150 million in Canadian securities de ferred from 1965 by special agreement. In 1966, the net repatriation of bank funds ex ceeded the previous year’s results, as banks re duced the amount of their loans abroad under the Digitized A P R I L for 1 9 FRASER 67 U. S. Balance of Payments BillionsofDollars BillionsofDollars 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 Voluntary Program and in response to tight do mestic credit conditions. Prior to the program’s initiation in 1965, bank loans had constituted a large net outflow of capital. The net outflow of funds into the overseas operations of U. S. corporations also contracted slightly from the all-time high reached in 1965. However, the overall improvement was greater, because U. S. companies, prodded by the Volun tary Program since 1965, financed part of their overseas investments by stepping up their bor rowings of funds abroad. In sum, 1966 represents a modest reduction in private capital flows abroad over 1965, which recorded a considerable im provement over previous years. Massive flows of foreign capital into the U. S. also contributed to better results in our balance of payments. These inflows, attracted by high interest rates and tight monetary and credit conLong-Term Interest Rates Selected Countries P Aenrncueanlt P Aenrncueanlt 47 ditions in the U. S., constituted one of the notable developments of 1966. The huge increase in pri vate short-term capital inflows, reflected in a large rise in the amount of liquid liabilities to private foreigners, consisted largely of borrow ings of U. S. banks from their foreign branches. The inflow of these private liquid funds primarily accounted for the surplus on the official settle ments basis. The large negative figure in 1966 for the other short-term capital account, liquid liabilities to foreign official agencies, reflects a shift of these funds into longer-term investments, consisting of time certificates of deposit and certain U. S. Gov ernment agency securities, which had become at tractive because of high interest rates and low risk. The shift shows up as the sharp increase over previous years in the inflow of nonliquid foreign capital, i.e., nonliquid liabilities to for eigners. Besides the improvement on net U. S. private capital flows, net U. S. Government capital out flows also fell off in 1966. Although government claims on foreigners rose, they were more than offset by a greater gain in advance debt prepay ments and other debt payments to the government. In contrast to the favorable changes in capital flows in 1966, however, our trade surplus shrank rapidly, as in 1965. Since our trade surplus has provided the one consistently bright spot in our balance of payments, this deterioration last year was rather discouraging. The worsened trade bal ance stemmed primarily from a sharp rise in mer chandise imports. Stimulated by the added de mands of the Vietnam War superimposed upon a strong domestic investment boom, merchandise imports shot up from a 12-percent annual rate of growth of the early sixties to 20 percent for 1966. This rapid rise overwhelmed a 10-percent ex pansion of merchandise exports. In addition to the shrinking trade balance, other goods and services also slumped. Net in come from investments, royalties, and services increased by about $200 million, as net payments on travel and transportation advanced slightly. The main change, however, resulted from a jump in military expenditures overseas of about $800 million, also stemming from the war in Vietnam. The overall balance on goods and services con tracted about $1.7 billion from the previous year. Digitized 48 for FRASER The large inflow of private short-term funds in 1966, although it did not reduce the deficit as defined on the liquidity basis, had the salutary effect of moderating the loss of official reserve assets;. The outflow of gold, the largest and most carefully watched of these assets, fell to about one-third of the preceding year’s rate and signifi cantly below the 1960-65 average. In addition, our holdings of convertible foreign currencies, consisting in large part of sterling, rose consider ably through increased activity in central bank currency swaps, especially in connection with the midyear crisis of the British pound. However, in creased drawings from the International Mone tary Fund almost exactly offset the gain in re serve assets from larger holdings of convertible currencies. A significant portion of these drawings were technical drawings which the United States made so that other nations could meet certain obligations to the IMF. Related Policies Accompanying policies and forces which directly affected specific components of the balance of payments in 1966 were other developments cf significant direct influence. These developments, relating to the stabilization of currency exchange rates and gold movements, affected confidence in the dollar, so necessary for our own economic stability and that of the world monetary system. In 1966, the Federal Reserve took an eventful step in foreign exchange stabilization by expand ing its currency swap network with other central banks from $2.8 to $4.5 billion. These arrange ments provide an important source of short-term credit to any member of the network whose cur rency may suffer as a result of large temporary outflows of funds for reasons such as speculation or transient seasonal disturbances. Thus, the in crease in this swap network has provided par ticipating members with an extra margin of pro tection against sharp temporary movements in their balance of payments. These swap arrangements proved very effective in allowing the Federal Reserve and other cen tral banks to provide much-needed aid to the Bank of England, struggling to maintain the ex change value of the pound last July. This tempo rary assistance provided the English Government with time to enact a program that would result M O N TH LY R E V IE W U. S. Balance of Payments (M illions of D ollars) + R e c e ip ts by U. S. R e s id e n ts — P a y m e n ts by U. S. R e s id e n ts B a la n c e on G oods a n d S e rv ic e s N et M e rc h a n d is e E x p o rts N et E xports of O th e r G oods a n d S e rv ic e s U. S. In v e s tm e n ts A broad D irect In v e s tm e n t A broad N et P u rc h a s e of Fo reig n S e c u ritie s U. S. B an k L o an s to F o reig n e rs O th e r U. S. C la im s on F o reig n e rs Foreign In v e s tm e n t in th e U. S. N onliq u id L iab ilitie s to F o reig n e rs L iquid L ia b ilitie s to P riv a te F o re ig n e rs L iquid L iab ilitie s to Foreign Official A g e n cie s U. S. G o v e rn m e n t A sse ts C la im s on F o re ig n e rs R e p a y m e n ts fro m F o reig n e rs U. S. Official R ese rv e A ssets* Gold C o n v ertib le C u rre n c ie s IMF G old T ra n c h P o sitio n 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 4,046 4,757 -7 1 1 5,621 5,444 177 5,130 4,417 713 5,897 5,079 818 8,490 6,676 1,814 6,957 4,788 2,169 5,296 3,700 1,596 - 3 ,8 8 5 -1 ,6 7 4 -6 6 3 - 1 ,1 5 0 -3 9 8 - 4 ,1 8 0 -1 ,5 9 9 -7 6 2 - 1 ,2 6 1 -5 5 8 - 3 ,4 2 5 -1 ,6 5 4 -9 6 9 -4 5 1 -3 5 1 - 4 ,4 5 6 - 1 ,9 7 6 -1 ,1 0 4 - 1 ,5 3 5 159 - 6 ,5 2 3 - 2 ,4 1 6 -6 7 7 - 2 ,4 6 4 -9 6 6 - 3 ,6 9 0 - 3 ,3 7 1 -7 5 8 94 345 - 3 ,9 1 1 - 3 ,3 6 3 -4 2 6 261 -3 8 3 2 ,104 366 289 2,471 707 1,083 1,691 1,021 213 2,981 689 619 3,312 685 1,554 309 176 150 3,024 2,168 2,430 1,449 681 457 1,673 1,073 -1 7 -1 ,5 7 4 - 1 ,1 0 5 - 1 ,7 4 1 636 -9 2 6 - 2 ,2 0 0 1,274 -1 ,0 9 4 -2 ,3 7 4 1,280 -1 ,6 6 4 - 2 ,6 3 4 970 - 1 ,6 7 4 - 2 ,3 7 7 703 - 1 ,5 7 5 - 2 ,4 7 7 902 - 1 ,4 8 1 - 2 ,7 0 8 1,227 2,143 1,702 441 606 857 -1 1 6 -1 3 5 1,533 890 17 626 378 461 -1 1 3 30 171 125 -2 2 0 266 1,222 1,665 -3 4 9 -9 4 568 571 -5 4 0 537 O th e r T ra n s a c tio n s - 3 ,3 0 3 - 3 ,5 9 2 - 3 ,8 3 5 -3 ,1 3 6 - 3 ,7 7 6 - 3 ,2 2 3 - 3 ,4 9 6 B a la n c e on L iq u id ity B asis - 3 ,8 8 1 - 2 ,3 7 0 - 2 ,2 0 3 - 2 ,6 7 0 - 2 ,7 9 8 - 1 ,3 5 5 - 1 ,4 2 4 B a la n c e on Official S e ttle m e n ts B asis - 3 ,4 0 2 - 1 ,3 4 7 - 2 ,7 0 6 - 2 ,0 4 4 - 1 ,5 4 6 - 1 ,3 0 2 271 * (+ lo ss of a s s e ts ; — g ain of a s s e ts ) S o u rce : S u rv ey of C u rre n t B u sin e s s, J u n e 1966 a n d M arch 19 6 7 . in more permanent improvement in its payments balance. The benefits of this action also re dounded to the United States, for a collapse of the pound, the only other currency which shares with the dollar the role of a key currency, would drastically affect the position of the dollar. In an effort to preserve our gold stock, the Treasury engaged in a number of “technical” drawings on the International Monetary Fund. As the Fund’s holdings of dollars exceeded 75 percent of the U. S. quota, it could no longer ac cept payments in dollars from other countries under existing rules. Consequently, the United States made drawings of other convertible cur rencies from the IMF and sold them for dollars to several countries with IMF payment needs. Otherwise, these countries would have demanded gold for their dollar holdings to make payments. Policy Effects The conjunct of official policies certainly had an especially favorable effect on private capital A P R I L 19 67 flows. Not only did the outflow of U. S. capital to other countries fall to a lower level than in 1965, but inflows of foreign capital into this country accelerated considerably above the level of recent years. However, these capital flows possess several facets, each of which merits dis tinct consideration. Restrictive monetary policy and historically high interest rates helped achieve the outstanding upswing in foreign capital inflows. The shifts by international agencies and foreign official institu tions from liquid claims on this country to long term CD’s and U.S. agency issues statistically re duced the liquidity deficit, but the near-liquid nature of these claims implies that these funds could easily return abroad. The huge inflow of pri vate short-term capital, consisting mainly of Euro dollars, reduced the flow of dollars to foreign offi cial institutions. When held by such institutions, dollar liabilities represent potential claims upon our gold stock. Nevertheless, the reverse flows of some of these funds since the end of last year, 49 when stringent credit conditions began to ease, indicates the temporary nature of their benefit to the balance of payments. The further moderation in the outflow of pri vate U. S. capital in 1966 can be attributed to the Interest Equalization Tax and the Voluntary Cooperation Program in concert with restrictive monetary policy. These two programs also had important side effects in stimulating the develop ment of larger and more efficient European capi tal markets. Not only did the rapid growth of these capital markets reduce some of the foreign demands on our capital markets, but it permitted a very rapid increase in borrowings abroad of U. S. corporations. These borrowings allowed U. S. companies to continue their foreign invest ments with less pressure on our payments bal ance. Although capital flows were favorable in 1966, the accelerated war in Vietnam exacted its price on the balance of payments in the form of a de terioration on current account. The rapid rise in military expenditures abroad reflected the direct costs of the war effort. Furthermore, the demands of Vietnam added to a nearly full utilization of resources, created inflationary pressures resulting in an indirect cost of a very high level of imports. Thus, monetary policy, partly counteracting these inflationary pressures, also aided our balance of payments by indirectly curbing an even larger rise in imports. In sum, monetary policy played an important role in 1966 by preventing greater inflationary strains that would have worsened our trade bal ance even more. At the same time policy encour aged the very favorable inflows of capital that tended to offset temporarily the unfavorable movements that did occur. In the light of the buildup in Vietnam, monetary policy, together with the Interest Equalization Tax and the Vol untary Cooperation Program, can modestly be said to have made some reasonable accomplish ments in holding the balance of payments liquid ity deficit to the reduced level achieved in 1965 and in cutting back the gold flow from that year’s level. However, the passing to monetary ease and the nonrepetitive nature of certain debt payments to the U. S. Government indicate that the favor able capital flows of last year may not remain a permanent feature in our balance of payments. 50 Future Prospects On current account, the cooling of the domestic economy has already led to a slackened pace of imports, while exports have continued to climb. Unless a rapid resurgence of the domestic econ omy occurs, imports should continue at a more subdued rate for the remainder of the year. How ever, slower economic growth in some of our major trading partners and a relatively more rapid rise in domestic retail and wholesale prices in 1966 create a mixed outlook for exports. Nevertheless, slack economic conditions abroad and the increasing availability of funds in the European capital market suggest that U. S. cor porations’ demands for funds in this country for overseas investment may ease somewhat. In addi tion, a tightened Voluntary Cooperation Program and proposed legislation to increase the rate of the Interest Equalization Tax are designed to off set potential incentives for increased capital flows. Such incentives could arise from increasing in ternational interest rate differentials unfavorable to the United States. For the longer run, our government is engag ing in some newer efforts that should yield future benefits. Among these are attempts to spur our merchandise exports through expanding the role of the Export-Import Bank and through further steps to insure that our AID-financed exports are not substituted for regular commercial exports. A special task force has also been set up to stud}/ how we can best stimulate foreign travel in the United States to narrow our so-called “touristgap.” On capital account, passage of the Foreign Investors Tax Act and attempts to publicize its advantages have been designed to step up the inflow of foreign capital to this country. Thus, with the exception of tied aid, these newer policies emphasize efforts to spur the fa vorable elements in our balance of payments in contrast with the Interest Equalization Tax and Voluntary Cooperation Program which are essen tially temporary programs to curb the adverse elements in our payments balance until equilib rium can be achieved. However, the ultimate suc cess of these policies can only be realized if basic conditions of steady economic growth, rising pro ductivity, and stable prices can be maintained. J ohn E. L e im o n e M O N T H L Y R E V IE W The M o b ile S t o r y of C o n s u m e r In s ta lm e n t L e n d in g L ... . “Let us all be happy and live within our means, even if we have to borrow the money to do it,” was Artemus Ward’s philosophy, and it might just as well be ours today. Buying a home, for ex ample, almost always requires the purchaser to go into debt. In recent years, more and more con sumers have borrowed to purchase automobiles and household appliances, make house repairs, take vacations, and for many other personal ex penses. Consequently, the volume of consumer in stalment indebtedness has expanded sharply. Perhaps more significant, however, is that over the last 20 years American consumers have in creased their indebtedness at a faster rate than their disposable income. Does this mean that more and more submarginal borrowers have been coaxed into the market by a lowering of lending standards? Has the quality of the na tion’s outstanding consumer loans deteriorated? Alternatively, could this rising volume of per sonal debt merely indicate that today’s borrowers are more creditworthy? Aggregate information such as the volume and level of personal debt and the ratio of consumer debt to disposable income does not reveal basic changes in attitudes and trends in consumer borrowing. Hence, the first step in answering questions concerning the quality of credit is to find out more about individual borrowers. For example, what age groups are most likely to use instalment credit, and for what purposes? Do persons with above-average incomes also borrow for instalment purchases? And what about the distribution of borrowers by occupation? A P R I L 1 9 67 ... j In order to answer such questions and to throw additional light on the characteristics of indi vidual borrowers, we have made a special study of instalment customers at Mobile, Alabama, banks. In connection with a longer-run project1 specific information related to individual bor rower characteristics has been collected from these banks. Mobile Borrowers Almost everyone that lives in Mobile and is old enough to work is a prospective candidate for a bank loan. Not everyone wants a loan nor does everyone who applies for a loan get it. Even if the bank has an ample availability of funds, the loan is granted on the basis of its probability of repayment. We can get some idea of the import ance assigned to such characteristics as age, in come, occupation, etc., by looking at the collective consumer lending experience of Mobile banks since mid-1965. If a bank’s instalment loan cus tomers can be identified from the distribution of certain characteristics of the population, then significant shifts over time in the profile of an area’s economy would have important conse quences for the demand for consumer credit. A comparison of Mobile borrowers and residents should reveal what segments of the population banks serve. Our study of the characteristics of bank bor rowers and Mobile residents revealed that about inquiry into Consumer Instalment Lending, a sup plementary study containing tables and articles, is available upon request to the Research Depart ment of this bank. 51 T he a g e s of c u s to m e r s re c e iv in g c o n s u m e r lo a n s a t M obile b a n k s c lo se ly p a ra lle l th o s e of all re s id e n ts in th e a re a , Percent 0 10 ! ( " J........... 20 | 30 | AGE All Residents 19 or Less J Borrowers 30-39 | | 1 1 50-59 1 1 60 and Over ........ 1 I I . ................ 1 ............... 1 ....... . . . b u t w h ile b a n k s s e rv e c u s to m e r s in all in c o m e b ra c k e ts , th e y d e fin ite ly fa v o r b o rro w e rs w ith h ig h e r in c o m e s, Percent 0 10 20 30 40 50 i-------1-------r FAMILY INCOME All Residents $1,999 or Less $2,000 - 5,999 $6,000 - 9,999 $10,000 • 14,999 $15,000 and Over . . . w h ic h p ro b a b ly e x p la in s th e h e a v ie r c o n c e n tr a tio n b o rro w e rs in th e p ro fe s sio n a l-m a n a g e ria l g ro u p . OCCUPATION .... andM anagerial | 1 1 1 1 j AllResidents Borrowers Retired, Unemployed,or NotinLaborForce ___1 1 1 1 Characteristics Vary With Loan Type Some differences in borrower and loan charac teristics were noted between those borrowing to 2These com parisons m a y be distorted som ewhat since the data on M o b ile ’s income distribution are based on 1960 inform ation, while the loan figures are for 1965-66. A n y changes that have occurred over this, period, however, w ould probably have resulted in a shift toward a heavier concentration in the upper income groups, w hich would not m aterially affect, the results presented. Craftsmen,Foremen, ServiceW orkers, andLaborers ........................... IllHHiihll 52 of half of the age 18 or over population is under 40, with nearly one-fourth of the total concentrated in the 30-39 age bracket. At the banks nearly one-fourth of the borrowers are also from 30-3!? and slightly over half of the customers are less than 40. In general, these banks seemed to prefer lending to borrowers in the productive work years from 20 to 60. Loans to persons under 20 and over 60 are proportionally less than the number of residents in these age groupings. In 1960, nine out of ten families in Mobile had annual household incomes of $10,000 or less. Similarly, over 85 percent of the borrowers at Mobile banks also had household incomes of less than $10,000 annually. But while close to onehalf of all families had incomes between $2,000 and $6,000, only about two-fifths of the borrowers were in this range. Conversely, nearly 38 percent of the borrowers and 24 percent of the residents had incomes ranging between $6,000 to $10,000 annually. About 15 percent of Mobile’s families had incomes of $2,000 or less, but borrowers re porting incomes this low held only 3.5 percent of the total number of consumer loans at banks.11 Family income is one of the important gauges banks use in evaluating loans, and the chances of receiving a loan, other things constant, improves with the borrower’s income. And, of course, in come depends largely upon one’s occupation. Approximately one-third of Mobile’s workers are craftsmen, foremen, service workers, and laborers. Next in importance in terms of numbers employed are clerical and sales people, followed closely by the professional and managerial group. Close to one-fifth of the population is retired, not in the labor force, or unemployed. Mobile; banks granted most loans to the professional managerial group who received nearly twice as many loans as would be expected if the banks allocated their loans on the basis of area job distribution alone. Others actively employed re ceived about their proportionate share of loans, while those not commonly considered in the labor market received only a small share. 1 M O N T H L Y R E V IE W purchase automobiles and those obtaining funds for other purposes. Individuals negotiating loans to purchase automobiles tended to be younger, with about one-third in the 20-29 age bracket. Over 55 percent of all auto loans were granted to those under 40. The largest proportion of auto loans were made to borrowers who had lived in the community and worked at the same firm less than five years. Because the population has become increasingly mobile in general, perhaps age and future job prospects or previous recommendations are used more often in judging loan applicants than years of residence or employment. Mobile residents that financed auto purchases recorded average loans of $1,750, with monthly payments of nearly $70 extending over a twoyear period. The amount of auto loans was fairly evenly distributed among all size categories, about 50 percent below $1,500 and 50 percent above that amount. Nearly three-fourths of all borrowers had monthly payments ranging be tween $30 and $89. Only one-fifth of the loans were for less than one year; the remaining loans were divided equally between 13-24 and 25-36 months each. Only a fraction of one percent of the loans exceeded 36 months. Mobile banks appear to be following the char acteristic trend of most banks to make more new car loans than used ones. Borrowers, however, have held their monthly payments below $90 by extending the repayment period. Consumer loans for other purposes averaged over $1,000 less per loan than auto loans. Threefifths of these loans were less than $500, and 80 percent were for $1,000 or less. Similarly, three out of five loans were to be repaid in 12 months or less. Monthly payments for about one-half of the “nonauto” loans averaged less than $30. The average “nonauto” borrower was slightly older, had worked for his present employer longer, but had fairly low household income. This group was comprised of relatively fewer young persons and more borrowers 60 years old and over. They seemed to be longer-term residents and em ployees. One-half had annual household incomes of less than $6,000. Hence, the “nonauto” borrower, although in a lower income bracket than the auto borrower, appears to be more mature and perhaps a better credit risk, as measured by job tenure and years residing in the area. Furthermore, his charac teristics seem to match more closely those of all Mobile residents. Banks Meet Needs Based on the tentative conclusions of the Mobile study, banks’ instalment lending activity appears to be serving most segments of the population. However, it is doubtful if an economic profile of the area itself could be used to accurately de scribe the structure of a bank’s instalment loan market. While the characteristics of Mobile’s population and banks’ instalment loan borrowers are similar, certain income, occupation, age groups, and variation among borrowers limit the scope of comparison. Individuals who borrow from banks may not be typical of instalment borrowers at all lending institutions. Nevertheless, banks are the most im portant instalment lenders, accounting for more than two-fifths of the nation’s outstanding con sumer credit. Consequently, the characteristics of those consumers who use bank instalment credit provide a clue to lending in an important part of the market. R obert E. S w e e n e y and J oe W. M c L eary B a n k A n n o u n c e m e n ts The M ercantile Bank and Trust Company, Gretna, Louisiana, a newly organized nonmember bank, opened on March 18 and began to rem it at par fo r checks drawn on it when received from the Federal Reserve Bank. Officers are Francis J. Henry, presi dent and chairm an of the board; John A. Churella, vice president; and Harold C. Boutte, vice president and cashier. Capital is $450,000; surplus and other cap ital funds, $300,000. On March 24, the First N ational Bank of Brooksville , Brooksville, Florida, a new member bank, opened and began to rem it at par. W. E. Patterson A P R I L for 19 67 Digitized FRASER is president; Ellwood Johnson, vice president; and Harold R. Hjort, cashier. C apital is $200,000; sur plus and other capital funds, $200,000. Another new member bank, the Capital City Second N ational Bank of Tallahassee, Tallahassee, Florida, opened on March 27 and began to rem it at par. Officers are Godfrey Sm ith, chairm an and president; John Y. Humphress, executive vice president; and Rodney L. Scarboro, cashier. Capi tal is $280,000; surplus and other cap ital funds, $224,000. 53 S i x t h D is t r ic t S t a t is t ic s Seasonally Adjusted (All data are indexes, 1957-59 = 100, unless indicated otherwise.) La te st M o n th (1 9 6 7 ) S IX T H One M o n th Ago Two M on th s Ago O ne Year Ago D IS T R IC T IN C O M E A N D S P E N D IN G P e r s o n a l In c o m e , (M il. $ A n n . R a te ) M a n u f a c t u r in g P a y r o l l s ................... F a rm C a s h R e c e i p t s ....................... C r o p s .......................................... L i v e s t o c k ...................................... In s t a lm e n t C re d it a t B a n k s , * ( M il. $) R e p a y m e n t s ............................... P R O D U C T IO N A N D 5 4 ,3 3 4 r 193 5 0 ,3 2 7 Jan. Feb. Jan . Jan . Jan . 5 4 ,7 8 2 196 131 116 148 5 4 ,3 3 2 r 196r . Feb. . Feb. 261 258 256r 253 286 249 273 . Feb. . Feb. . Feb. 136 13 7 168 136 137 170r 132r 154 116 108r 116 129 107r 179 134 136 166 131 129 13 0 15 9 . . . . . 12 0 108 152 138 134 1 45 1 81 14 4 1 43 14 0 222 . Lbr., W o o d P rod ., F u r n . & Fix. . . Paper ...................................... . P r im a r y M e t a l s ....................... . T e x t ile s .................................. T r a n s p o r t a t io n E q u ip m e n t . . . N o n m a n u f a c t u r i n g ....................... . C o n s t r u c t i o n .......................... . F a rm E m p l o y m e n t ........................... . U n e m p lo y m e n t R a te ( P e r c e n t o f W o r k F o rc e ) . . . . . In s u r e d U n e m p lo y m e n t (P e r c e n t o f C o v. E m p . ) ............... A v g . W e e k ly H rs. in M fg., (H rs.) . . . C o n s t r u c t io n C o n t r a c t s * ............... . R e s i d e n t i a l .................................. A ll O t h e r ...................................... . E le c t ric P o w e r P r o d u c t i o n * * . . . . . C o t to n C o n s u m p t i o n * * ................... . Pe tro l. P ro d , in C o a s t a l La. a n d M i s s . * * Feb. Feb. Feb. 1 31 155 1 15 1 06 116 129 106 176 1 35 132 Feb. 70 13 5 135 71 J an. 3 .4 3.5 3.5 2 .1 2 .1 Feb. Feb. 4 0 .9 142 4 1 .4 156 150 160 145 1.9 4 1.3 146 116 171 Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. 121 Feb. J an. Feb. 159 146 117 Feb. 2 20 12 0 217 1 51 113 106 1 15 128 106 179 134 13 2 74r 146 117 214 1 23 14 2 113 105 112 113 1 03 166 12 9 132 71r 3.3 2 .2 4 2 .0 141 145 137 136 115 200 M em ber B ank Loans* A ll B a n k s ...................................... . M a r. L e a d in g C i t i e s ........................... M e m b e r B a n k D e p o sits * A ll B a n k s ...................................... . M a r. L e a d i n g C i t i e s .......................... B a n k D e b i t s * / * * .............................. 247 245 244 229 223 222 222 2 11 185 1 67 190 1 83 167 186 1 83 167 178 173 1 55 178 ALABAM A S P E N D IN G P e r s o n a l In c o m e , ( M il. $ A n n . R a te ) . J an. M a n u f a c t u r in g P a y r o l l s ................... . Feb. F a r m C a s h R e c e i p t s ....................... 7 ,2 6 5 179 140 7 ,2 7 1 r 1 77 112 7 ,1 8 7 r 174 116 6 ,7 6 3 169 154 EM PLOYM ENT N o n fa r m E m p l o y m e n t ................... M a n u f a c t u r i n g .............................. N o n m a n u f a c t u r i n g ....................... C o n s t r u c t i o n .......................... F a r m E m p l o y m e n t .......................... U n e m p lo y m e n t R a te (P e r c e n t o f W o r k Fo rc e ) . . . . A v g . W e e k ly H r s. in M fg ., (H rs.) . . F IN A N C E A N D . F eb. . Feb. . Feb. . Feb. . Feb. 126 124 125 124 126 126 80 73 4. 5 4 1 .2 4. 0 234 184 186 125 124 124 123 125 129 67 r 12 0 12 0 121 126 75r 4. 0 4 1.5 4. 3 4 1 .4 4 2.3 231 1 81 1 91 229 180 179 218 1 73 176 B A N K IN G M e m b e r B a n k L o a n s ....................... . M a r. . Feb. F L O R ID A IN C O M E A N D S P E N D IN G P e r s o n a l In c o m e , ( M il. $ A n n . R a te ) . J an. M a n u f a c t u r in g P a y r o l l s ................... F a rm C a s h R e c e i p t s ....................... One Year Ago . Feb. . Feb. . Feb. 145 145 144 111 110 96 112 10 0 . Jan . . . Feb. 2.7 4 1 .5 2 .5 4 2 .4 2.3 4 2 .7 2.7 4 2.6 . M a r. . M a r. . Feb. 256 189 184 252 184 1 81 250 187 228 P e r s o n a l In c o m e , (M il. $ A n n . R a te ) . Jan . M a n u f a c t u r in g P a y r o l l s ................... . Feb. F a rm C a s h R e c e i p t s ....................... . Ja n . 1 0 ,6 4 6 197 1 41 N o n m a n u f a c t u r i n g ....................... C o n s t r u c t i o n ........................... F a rm E m p l o y m e n t ........................... U n e m p lo y m e n t R a te ( P e rc e n t of W o r k F o rc e ) . . . . A v g . W e e k ly H rs. in M fg., (H rs.) . 95 r 139r 109 94r F IN A N C E A N D B A N K IN G M e m b e r B a n k L o a n s ....................... M e m b e r B a n k D e p o s i t s ................... B a n k D e b i t s * * .................................. 169 173 175 IN C O M E A N D S P E N D IN G P R O D U C T IO N A N D 1 0 ,6 2 0 r 1 97 134 1 0 ,3 4 9 r 196 114 9 ,8 3 5 183 153 133 130 134 130 63 r 129 127 130 EM PLOYM ENT N o n fa r m E m p l o y m e n t ................... M a n u f a c t u r i n g .............................. N o n m a n u f a c t u r i n g ....................... C o n s t r u c t i o n ........................... Feb. F eb. Feb. Feb. 134 130 136 129 134 13 1 1 37 132 F a rm E m p l o y m e n t ........................... . Feb. U n e m p lo y m e n t R a te ( P e rc e n t o f W o r k Fo rc e ) . . . . . Feb. A v g . W e e k ly H rs. in M fg., (H rs.) . . . Feb. 59 66 3.2 4 0 .8 3.0 4 1 .2 3.2 4 1 .0 3.1 4 1 .4 . . . . 258 204 207 257 253 . M a r. . Feb. 204 196 20 2 25 1 188 193 P e r s o n a l In c o m e , (M il. $ A n n . R a te) . Jan. M a n u f a c t u r i n g P a y r o l l s ................... . Feb. F a rm C a s h R e c e i p t s ....................... . J an. 8 ,2 9 7 176 133 8 ,1 5 4 r 173 8 ,0 4 6 r 167 132 164 127 128 12 1 12 1 129 153 64 129 159 61 125 117 127 1 51 69r 4.2 4 2 .5 4 .0 4 2.3 4.5 4 0 .7 4.6 4 3.5 2 20 221 222 158 156 168 158 158 205 150 152 4 ,0 0 4 r 3 ,8 9 2 r 212 10 2 215 132 139 149 134 148 63r 145 58r F IN A N C E A N D B A N K IN G M e m b e r B a n k L o a n s ....................... M e m b e r B a n k D e p o s i t s ................... B a n k D e b i t s * * .................................. . M a r. 193 L O U IS IA N A 1 5 ,6 8 2 234 116 1 5 ,6 8 6 r 236 126 1 5 ,8 8 2 r 232 175 1 4 ,3 8 4 209 119 P R O D U C T IO N A N D F IN A N C E A N D EM PLOYM ENT N o n f a r m E m p l o y m e n t ................... M a n u f a c t u r i n g .............................. Digitized 54 for FRASER 14 7 155 146 154 145 154 I4 0 r 144r 7 ,5 5 7 162 144 EM PLOYM ENT N o n f a r m E m p l o y m e n t ................... . Feb. M a n u f a c t u r i n g .............................. N o n m a n u f a c t u r i n g ....................... . F eb. C o n s t r u c t i o n ........................... . F eb. F a r m E m p l o y m e n t ........................... . Feb. U n e m p lo y m e n t R a te (P e rc e n t o f W o r k F o rc e ) . . . . . Feb. A v g . W e e k ly H rs. in M fg ., (H rs.) . . . Feb. 119 112 12 1 138 62r B A N K IN G M e m b e r B a n k L o a n s * ................... M e m b e r B a n k D e p o s i t s * ............... B a n k D e b i t s * / * * .............................. . F eb. 1 61 P e r s o n a l In c o m e , (M il. $ A n n . R a te ) . J a n . M a n u f a c t u r in g P a y r o l l s ................... . Feb. F a rm C a s h R e c e i p t s ....................... . J a n . 4 ,1 3 4 M IS S IS S IP P I IN C O M E A N D S P E N D IN G P R O D U C T IO N AND 212 140 3 ,8 3 3 197 170 EM PLOYM ENT N o n f a r m E m p l o y m e n t ................... M a n u f a c t u r i n g ............................... N o n m a n u f a c t u r i n g ....................... C o n s t r u c t i o n ........................... F a r m E m p l o y m e n t ........................... U n e m p lo y m e n t R a te (P e rc e n t of W o r k F o rc e ) . . . . A vg . W e e k ly H rs. in M fg ., (H rs.) . . F IN A N C E A N D P R O D U C T IO N A N D Tw o M onths Ago IN C O M E A N D S P E N D IN G F IN A N C E A N D B A N K IN G P R O D U C T IO N A N D One M on th Ago EM PLOYM ENT N o n f a r m E m p l o y m e n t .................... M a n u fa c tu rin g .......................... A p p a re l .................................. IN C O M E A N D La te st M o n th (1 9 6 7 ) 139 . Feb. 148 135 144 . Feb. 62 13 9 149 135 1 51 60 . Feb. . Feb. 4.1 4 0 .7 4.3 4 1.1 294 224 209 130 143 125 141 64r 4.6 4 1 .6 4.0 41.6 298 296 268 222 2 20 2 10 194 192 186 B A N K IN G M e m b e r B a n k L o a n s * ................... M e m b e r B a n k D e p o s i t s * ............... B a n k D e b i t s * / * * ............................... M O N T H L Y R E V IE W La te st M o n th (1 9 6 7 ) One M o n th Ago Two M onths Ago O ne Year Ago T EN N ESSEE IN C O M E A N D S P E N D IN G J an. . Feb. 8 ,7 5 8 1 93 12 0 F a rm C a s h R e c e i p t s ....................... 8 ,5 9 7 r 19 3 r 110 8 ,9 7 8 r 190 12 5 r 7 ,9 5 5 177 129r L a t e st M o n t h (1 9 6 7 ) N o n m a n u f a c t u r i n g ................... . . C o n s t r u c t i o n ....................... F a rm E m p l o y m e n t ....................... . . U n e m p lo y m e n t R a te (P e rc e n t of W o r k Fo rc e ) . . . . . A vg . W e e k ly H rs. in M fg., (H rs.) . . . One M o n th Ago Two M on th s Ago O ne Year Ago Feb. 13 4 172 70 134 177 75 132 170 90 127 164 81 Jan. Feb. 3.2 3 9.8 3.5 4 0 .6 r 3.4 4 0.8 3.2 4 1 .4 240 173 208 238 173 193 238 173 189 225 168 Feb. Feb. F IN A N C E A N D B A N K IN G P R O D U C T IO N A N D EM PLOYM ENT N o n fa r m E m p l o y m e n t ................... M a n u f a c t u r i n g .............................. . Feb. Feb. 138 1 47 139r 148r 136 130 137 14 5 * F o r S ix t h D is t r ic t a re a o n ly . O th e r t o t a ls fo r e n t ire s i x sta te s. * * D a i l y a v e ra g e b a s is, M e m b e r B a n k L o a n s * ............... M e m b e r B a n k D e p o sits * . . . . B a n k D e b i t s * / * * .......................... 185 r-R e v ise d . S o u r c e s : P e r s o n a l in c o m e e s tim a t e d b y t h is B a n k ; n o n fa rm , m fg. a n d n o n m f g . e m p., m fg. p a y r o lls a n d h o u rs, a n d u n e m p ., U. S . D ept, of L a b o r a n d c o o p e r a t in g sta te a g e n c ie s ; c o t to n c o n s u m p t io n , U. S. B u r e a u of C e n s u s ; c o n s t r u c t io n c o n t ra c ts , F. W . D o d g e C orp.; petrol, prod., U. S. B u r e a u of M in e s ; in d u s t r ia l u s e o f elec. pow er, Fed. P o w e r C o m m .; fa r m c a s h re c e ip ts a n d fa rm em p., U .S .D .A . O th e r i n d e x e s b a s e d o n d a ta c o lle c te d b y t h is B a n k . A ll in d e x e s c a lc u la t e d b y t h is B a n k . D e b its t o D e m a n d D e p o s it A c c o u n t s Insured Commercial Banks in the Sixth District (In T h o u s a n d s o f D o lla rs) Feb. 1967 ST A N D A R D Jan. 1967 P e rc e n t C h a n g e P e rc e n t C h a n g e Y e a r-to -D a te 2 m on th s Feb. 1 9 6 7 fro m 1 9 6 7 Ye a r-to -D a te 2 m on th s F eb. 1 9 6 7 fro m 1 9 6 7 fro m Feb. J an. Feb. 1966 1967 1966 1966 Feb. 1966 Jan. 1967 M E T R O P O L IT A N S T A T IS T I C A L A R E A S t B irm in g h a m . . . . G adsden ............... H u n t s v i l l e ............... M o b ile ................... M on tgom e ry . . . . T u s c a lo o s a . . . . 1 ,3 1 8 ,1 7 6 5 4 ,0 9 0 1 5 9 ,4 3 5 4 1 8 ,8 1 9 2 7 2 ,0 7 7 8 8 ,0 7 7 1,6 2 1 ,5 4 9 62 ,5 6 5 1 9 2 ,2 7 0 5 1 9 ,1 6 7 3 0 6 ,5 5 8 9 9 ,7 6 7 l,2 2 2 ,5 8 4 r - 1 9 5 5 ,3 0 1 r - 1 4 1 6 0 ,6 4 2 r - 1 7 4 0 5 ,1 4 3 r - 1 9 2 8 5 ,3 5 0 r - 1 1 7 8 ,7 5 0 -1 2 5 9 8 ,6 9 0 1 ,4 0 4 ,2 5 9 7 7 2 ,7 3 0 1,52 4,861 2 ,3 7 6 ,1 5 3 r 6 2 3 ,3 5 8 1 9 4 ,2 8 7 1 3 7 ,9 2 9 l, 4 8 6 ,3 3 6 r 5 6 5 ,5 6 5 r - 2 3 l,3 3 0 , 7 3 8 r -8 1 ,9 2 1 ,4 7 9 -1 3 4 9 1 ,5 5 0 r - 2 2 1 5 6 ,9 2 4 r -6 1 1 4 ,5 3 0 + 1 1 ,1 1 2 ,1 4 0 r - 1 9 4 0 3 ,7 3 3 r - 1 4 Ft. L a u d e r d a le H o lly w o o d . . . . J a c k s o n v ille . . . . M i a m i ....................... O r l a n d o ................... P e n s a c o l a ............... 2 ,0 6 3 ,3 1 5 4 8 4 ,2 2 1 1 8 2 ,7 6 4 T a lla h a s s e e . . . . T a m p a -S t . P e t e r s b u r g W. P a lm B e a c h . . . 1 3 8 ,8 1 5 1,2 0 0 ,7 1 0 4 1 5 ,8 3 9 A lb a n y ................... A t la n ta ................... A u g u s t a ................... C o l u m b u s ............... M a c o n ....................... ............... Savannah 7 7 ,5 5 0 3 ,9 2 8 ,4 6 4 2 5 7 ,7 9 4 1 9 0 ,1 5 3 2 1 1 ,1 0 7 2 3 5 ,0 2 2 B aton R o u ge . . . . L a fa y e t te ............... L a k e C h a r le s . . . . N e w O r le a n s . . . . Jackson ................... C h attan oo ga . . . . K n o x v ille ............... N a s h v ille ............... 4 9 4 ,9 6 2 1 1 1 ,0 0 2 13 1 ,7 8 0 2,0 3 5 ,3 7 6 5 8 9 ,3 5 5 5 0 9 ,5 8 1 4 1 1 ,4 1 0 1 ,4 4 4 ,2 6 0 4 8 2 ,1 6 5 4 7 6 ,3 1 9 r 3 7 2 ,4 5 7 r l,2 3 4 , 2 0 1 r +6 +6 +6 + 12 +6 +6 +7 -1 + 10 +7 + 10 +6 + 16 +14 +21 +8 +20 +8 +4 +2 -1 1 +7 + 13 +9 + 15 + 13 4 4 2 ,0 5 2 r - 1 2 -1 7 1 0 2 ,0 7 2 1 0 9 ,0 8 4 -1 9 2 ,0 3 5 ,0 1 9 r - 2 1 6 3 4 ,9 8 5 4 7 0 ,3 8 2 1 ,4 8 2 ,4 4 6 +3 -5 -6 5 6 2 ,5 0 5 r 13 4 ,4 8 8 1 6 6 ,4 7 0 2 ,5 9 1 ,8 3 6 4 9 6 ,6 4 7 r + 13 -5 +4 +3 8 2 ,1 8 8 3 ,6 7 1 ,5 3 1 r 2 2 8 ,4 1 9 r 1 7 1 ,7 7 4 r 1 9 6 ,4 5 9 r 2 1 6 ,8 2 5 r 5 9 8 ,2 6 1 +8 -2 -1 -1 8 9 4 ,8 5 9 4 ,4 0 4 ,2 1 2 2 9 6 ,1 3 7 2 2 2 ,6 7 3 2 4 2 ,9 9 5 2 7 8 ,5 1 5 -1 3 -1 5 -1 3 -1 6 -1 -2 0 -1 3 -3 Feb. 1967 J an. 1967 L a k e la n d . . . . M o n ro e C o u n ty . . O c a l a ................... 1 1 6 ,4 0 3 3 2 ,0 5 8 5 7 ,0 7 9 St. A u g u s t in e . . . St. P e t e r s b u r g . . 17,3 7 0 2 9 1 ,3 9 1 9 2 ,6 3 1 6 1 2 ,0 6 0 5 9 ,2 2 8 1 3 8 ,4 0 3 3 9 ,9 6 9 6 1 ,9 3 4 24 ,6 3 2 3 4 4 ,5 4 9 r Feb. fro m 1966 1966 + 11 +7 +8 +8 +8 + 12 +9 + 11 +21 +0 +24 +7 + 19 +7 + 10 + 17 +8 + 12 +8 + 12 + 17 S a r a s o t a ............... Tam pa ............... W in te r H a v e n . . 1 2 1 ,4 4 5 7 6 6 ,7 9 6 7 8 ,8 1 0 1 1 1 ,6 7 0 3 3 ,6 6 1 5 2 ,2 2 4 16,4 4 6 2 5 8 ,5 5 9 9 2 ,1 3 3 5 8 9 ,1 1 4 5 9 ,5 9 9 -1 6 +4 -2 0 -8 -5 +9 +10 -2 9 -1 5 -2 4 +6 +15 +13 +1 -2 0 +4 +8 -2 5 -1 + 10 -1 7 -1 9 -1 3 -1 9 + 12 + 15 +5 +1 +9 +5 +3 6 5 ,6 6 0 2 9 ,1 5 7 2 0 ,2 8 0 2 2 ,4 6 6 6 3 ,6 5 0 4 7 ,4 1 9 8 0 ,6 4 4 4 3 ,0 1 0 8 2 ,0 1 0 14,7 07 7 5 ,0 0 4 3 8 ,8 9 2 2 3 ,7 9 6 2 6 ,8 8 5 7 3 ,0 7 3 5 7 ,4 7 3 59,7 9 3 34 ,5 3 0 7 3 ,9 5 2 1 2 ,5 1 6 6 1 ,1 2 4 2 9 ,3 5 6 A b b e v ille . . . . A le x a n d r ia . . . . B u n k ie ............... H am m ond . . . . N e w Ib e ria . . . . P la q u e m in e . . . T h ib o d a u x . . . . 10,0 1 5 1 3 2 ,6 0 4 5 ,7 2 7 3 4 ,6 0 8 3 0 ,8 4 3 11,6 3 4 1 9 ,5 0 8 12,7 7 2 146 ,9 0 1 7,27 2 3 7,7 3 0 4 0 ,6 3 0 1 2 ,6 4 9 2 9 ,6 9 2 9 ,8 6 6 10 1 ,6 2 8 4 ,9 3 9 2 6 ,9 4 2 3 2 ,0 5 5 -2 2 -1 0 -2 1 -8 8 ,2 10 -8 18,6 8 7 -3 4 +30 + 16 +28 -4 +42 +4 B ilo x i-G u lfp o rt . . H a t t ie s b u r g . . . L a u r e l ................... M e r i d i a n ............... N a t c h e z ............... P a s c a g o u la — M o s s P o in t . . . V ic k s b u rg . . . . Y a z o o C it y . . . . 9 0 ,4 4 5 4 9 ,3 9 3 3 1 ,5 4 6 5 8 ,6 1 6 3 3 ,4 9 6 1 0 0 ,5 0 3 5 7 ,1 9 9 3 4 ,1 2 6 7 0 ,9 1 5 3 9 ,6 3 2 8 5 ,8 7 0 4 8 ,3 3 0 3 0 ,3 7 0 5 6 ,5 4 6 2 9 ,9 1 4 -1 0 +5 -1 4 +2 +9 +5 -8 -1 7 -1 5 +4 +4 + 12 +13 5 0 ,1 7 7 38 ,4 4 2 2 3 ,8 0 9 5 8 ,2 8 8 4 4 ,3 0 2 2 7 ,9 2 4 4 7 ,6 0 4 3 5 ,2 3 7 2 0 ,7 4 8 -1 4 -1 3 -1 5 +15 B r is t o l ............... J o h n s o n C it y . . . K in g s p o r t . . . . 5 5 ,3 4 5 6 8 ,6 1 1 1 3 5 ,1 7 2 7 3 ,2 3 5 7 8 ,0 0 4 1 4 4 ,8 5 3 5 6 ,3 4 7 5 9 ,3 2 6 1 1 6 ,1 2 2 -2 4 -2 -1 2 -7 + 16 +16 + 1 +13 +15 -1 4 +7 +9 +6 + 10 +7 A th e n s ............... B r u n s w ic k . . . . D a l t o n ................... E l b e r t o n ............... G a in e s v ille . . . . G r i f f i n ................... L aG ran ge . . . . N ew nan ............... R o m e ................... V a l d o s t a ............... 6 6 ,7 0 0 3 4 ,7 2 5 7 1 ,6 6 9 1 1 ,9 4 9 2 1 ,4 0 0 2 0 ,4 4 5 5 9 ,8 1 9 4 1 ,8 8 8 -1 2 -2 5 -1 5 -1 6 -1 3 -1 7 -2 4 +1 -3 -5 +7 -1 -2 +8 +7 + 14 +6 +2 + 12 +6 + 13 + 15 +2 +7 +27 -5 + 10 +5 +9 +21 +27 -1 +29 +2 +1 +8 +17 + 14 + 10 3THER C E N T E R S +6 A n n i s t o n ................... D otha n ................... S e l m a ....................... 54 ,5 9 0 53 ,6 1 0 4 0 ,0 7 1 6 4 ,4 9 9 6 2 ,6 8 8 4 1 ,8 9 5 5 1 ,9 3 3 4 7 ,5 4 5 3 6 ,5 9 5 -1 5 -1 4 -4 +5 + 13 +9 +8 B a rt o w ................... B r a d e n t o n ............... B revard C o u n ty . . . D aytona B e a ch . . . Ft. M y e r s — N . Ft. M y e r s . . . G a i n e s v i l l e ............... 3 6 ,7 9 3 61 ,0 5 2 1 9 2 ,3 9 6 7 3,9 0 1 49,3 4 1 8 7 ,3 3 6 2 4 8 ,6 1 6 9 1 ,5 5 3 3 4 ,1 7 2 4 9 ,8 5 7 +8 + 22 1 8 0 ,111 7 3 ,7 0 5 -2 5 -3 0 -2 3 -1 9 +7 + 12 +25 +3 +0 + 1 7 0 ,8 3 6 7 4 ,5 0 8 9 2 ,9 0 5 8 6 ,7 6 6 6 9 ,0 7 0 7 0 ,6 3 0 -2 4 -1 4 +3 +5 +7 + 15 S IX T H In c lu d e s o n ly b a n k s in th e S ix t h D is t r ic t p o rtio n of th e state. Digitized FRASER A P R I L for 1 9 67 +8 f P a r t ia lly e s tim a te d . D IS T R IC T , T o ta l Alabam a:): . . . . F l o r i d a ^ ............... G e o r g i a ^ ............... L o u is ia n a *t M is s is s ip p i* t T e n n e sse e *! ^ E s t im a t e d . . . . . . • . . . 2 6 ,7 7 7 ,1 6 3 3 ,5 0 1 ,5 6 0 8 ,3 6 4 ,5 1 7 6 ,5 4 2 ,1 3 1 3 ,5 5 8 ,0 0 6 1,2 6 5 ,8 2 2 3 ,5 4 5 ,1 2 7 3 1 ,1 2 7 ,9 5 3 r 4 ,1 9 6 ,8 2 2 9 ,8 4 4 ,8 0 9 7 ,4 1 4 ,4 1 6 4 ,3 4 2 ,3 6 2 r 1,3 7 5 ,4 7 3 3 ,9 5 4 ,0 7 1 2 4 ,9 9 1 ,9 9 5 r 3 ,3 1 0 ,7 3 1 r - 1 7 7 ,9 3 7 ,5 2 0 r - 1 5 6 ,0 9 8 ,4 6 5 r - 1 2 3 ,3 7 2 ,4 7 8 r - 1 8 l , 1 2 8 ,6 1 2 r -8 3 ,1 4 4 ,1 8 9 r - 1 0 +5 +7 + 10 +6 +9 + 12 +13 + 11 + 12 r-R e v ise d . 55 D is t ric t B u s in e s s C o n d it io n s With the arrival of spring, some segments of the District’s economy find themselves dampened, while others are starting to bud again or are continuing their growth. In February personal income advanced further, as spending remained subdued. Housing is still weak, compared with early 1966, but signs of an improving trend are evident. Spring field work is well underway in much of the District, whereas some slippage occurred in manufacturing activity during February. Bank investments continued to expand rapidly last month. District consumers earned more in January, as evidenced by a strong gain in personal income. Total retail sales declined, as did loan extensions at commercial banks for purchases of consumer goods. In February consumers as a group were not overly anxious to spend, as indicated by the con tinued decreases in consumer loan volume and automobile sales. Preliminary data indicate that February’s dollar volume of District residential construction con tracts was considerably below January’s. Com bined volume for the first two months of the year suggests that the recuperation in housing will have to endure the normal lags associated with reassembling housing production facilities, al though cost and availability of mortgage money are now more favorable for substantial housing recovery than in many months. The pace of activity is increasing in the agricul tural sector, with seedbed preparations in full swing in most areas and some corn acreages al ready planted in the southern-most producing re gions. The index of prices received for all farm products declined further in February, reflecting lower milk, hog, and egg prices. Broiler prices 56 continued to improve markedly, but lesser gains were listed for cattle, calves, cotton, and com. Less buoyant markets for their goods led some District manufacturers to trim their payrolls and shorten the workweek in February. Turning to par ticular sectors, one finds textile producers are not too happy with reduced sales, while cutbacks in auto assemblies in the Atlanta area are reducing employment in this category. In February Dis trict construction employment slipped for the first time since last August, but petroleum pro duction expanded because of the strong demand from civilian and defense sources. Investment portfolios continued to swell at Dis trict banks in March, as holdings of both U. S. Government and tax-exempt state and local gov ernment obligations increased substantially. Lend ing activity was again relatively quiet except for a moderate rise in business borrowing related to mid-month payments of taxes and dividends. The second reduction in the prime rate this year— from 5% to 5 y 2 percent—occurred at several large District banks late in the month. NOTE: D ata on w h ic h s ta t e m e n ts a re b a se d h av e b e e n a d ju s te d w h e n e v e r p o s s ib le to e lim in a te s e a s o n a l in flu e n c e s. M O N T H L Y R E V IE W
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