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A M 1I0Review ATLANTA, GEORGIA, JUNE, 1957 JnJhisIssue-. From Pine to Pulp to Paper Managing Other People's Money Demand Deposits of Individuals, Partnerships, and Corporations District Business Highlights StxthDiStridStatistics: Condition of 27 Member Banks in Leading Cities Debits to Individual Demand Deposit Accounts Department Store Sales and Inventories Instalment Cash Loans Retail Furniture Store Operations Wholesale Sales and Inventories SM ViftridIndexes: Construction Contracts Cotton Consumption Department Store Sales and Stocks Electric Power Production Furniture Store Sales and Stocks Manufacturing Employment Manufacturing Payrolls Nonfarm Employment Petroleum Production Turnover of Demand Deposits DISTRICT BUSINESS HIGHLIGHTS Consumers are spending freely despite rising prices for most goods. Nonfarm employment continues at an all-time high, although weakness is evident in some industrial sectors. Improved production and rising prices characterize agriculture. Bank loans are rising principally as a result of increases at banks in small cities. Reserve positions at member banks tightened in May, and borrowings from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta increased. Consumer prices moved upward in April for the eighth consecutive month with all major categories except apparel showing gains. Department store sales in May, after seasonal adjustment, were unchanged from the preceding month. Furniture store sales, seasonally adjusted, showed no change in April from March. Consumer credit outstanding at commercial banks in April registered the largest month-to-month gain of the year, as automobile and personal loans expanded. Cash sales continue to account for a slightly higher percentage of department store and furniture store sales this year than last year. Savings, as measured by time deposits at commercial banks and ordinary life insurance sales, increased more than seasonally during April. Loans to trade concerns, after some declines late in April, began to edge upward during May. Nonfarm employment in April continued at the record level of the preceding three months; manufacturing employment rose slightly, while practically no change occurred in nonmanufacturing. Factory payrolls increased in April, but were still below December’s record. Textile activity, as measured by cotton consumption, declined further in April from the preceding month’s low rate. Construction contracts awarded in the first four months of this year were substantially above the same period last year, reflecting gains in both residential and nonresidential building. Crude oil output in Coastal Louisiana and Mississippi was reduced to the lowest volume since last November, reflecting cutbacks in allowable production. Steel operations in the South continue to hold at near-capacity levels. Farm prices rose in April as prices of beef cattle, broilers, rice, vegetables, and cotton improved; prices of broilers, cotton, and eggs, however, were below those last April. Vegetable shipments from Florida in April were substantially below last April as a result of weather damage to maturing crops. Livestock output continued to expand in February despite a slight decline in hog production; meat output in the nation, however, declined. Broiler marketings will continue to expand through the early summer, as chick placements through April were above placements last year. Farm employment in April was below last April, continuing a downward trend of several years. Farm land values in March were higher in all states than the previous March; increases were sharpest in Florida and Louisiana. Loans at banks in smaller District cities continued to expand during April, thereby pushing total loans somewhat higher. De|fosits at member banks, seasonally adjusted, rose sharply in April, but declined at banks in leading cities during May. Total spending, as measured by seasonally adjusted bank debits, rose consider ably in April after declining in March. Reserve positions of member banks during May tightened. Borrowings from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta in May averaged more than in any other month this year and were greater than excess reserves. • 2 • From Pine to Pulp to Paper Natural Resources for Expanding Industry in District States The matting of many small fibers together to form a sheet of paper is a fundamentally simple process, but in the United States and more recently in the Sixth District, a vast industry involving the primary tasks of producing the fibers and forming them into paper has been built on it. These closely related tasks, together with the manufacture of a variety of paper products, such as bags, boxes, envelopes, and coated paper, compose the pulp and paper industry. Since the Chinese first made paper, over 1800 years ago, by beating fibers of the inner bark of the mulberry tree and matting the resulting pulp into a sheet, various ma terials have provided the essential raw material for paper. In the early part of the nineteenth century, rags were the most important source of fiber, but as methods of making paper improved, demand outran supply and new sources of fiber had to be found. Once practical means of pulping wood were developed, paper makers turned to this source. Almost 70 percent of the fibrous material used in the manufacture of paper in the United States in 1956 was produced directly from wood, and an additional 27 per cent came from re-processing waste paper, also essentially woodpulp. The remaining small share was obtained from a variety of materials such as rags, cotton, straw, and flax. Pulping Processes Make Investments Heavy Wood can be pulped— that is, reduced to a fibrous state — by mechanical means, chemical means, or a combina tion of the two. Since the different methods yield pulps with different characteristics and since they are not equally adaptable to all types of wood, the particular method used depends upon the type of wood available and the type of pulp desired. In mechanical pulping, logs are reduced to fibers by grinding them against huge stones. Appropriately called the groundwood process, this method has the highest yield, since the entire log is reduced to fiber, that is, the basic cellulose fibers, which account for about half the bulk of an average tree, and the woody substance holding them together are utilized. Because it does contain the woody substance, or lignin, groundwood pulp tends to discolor with age and can be used only when coloring is not an important consideration. It is used mostly in the manufacture of newsprint. In the chemical process, wood chips are cooked under pressure to dissolve the woody substance, leaving only the basic cellulose fibers. The main chemicals used— sulphate, sulphite, or caustic soda— act differently on fibers to produce pulp with varying characteristics. Because huge quantities of logs are handled, pulping processes require a great deal of heavy, expensive equip ment. Large revolving drums are used to remove bark by a tumbling action. In the chemical processes, blades mounted on large revolving discs are required to reduce logs to chips for cooking. Screening facilities assure that chips going on to the cooking process are the proper size. Immense storage bins are employed to facilitate a continuous flow of wood chips. The “digesters,” where the woody substance is “digested” by the cooking chemi cals, are towering pressure cookers capable of handling tons of wood chips at one time. Fumes from this stage of pulp-making, incidentally, are the source of the pulp mill’s characteristic odor. The mechanical process requires huge grindstones for pulping logs. Both processes use additional machinery for beating pulp in various ways before delivery to the paper-making machine. The typical pulp mill must make additional large investments to provide the power and water used in these processes. Paper Making Adds More Investment In 1956 the nation’s paper industry utilized over 22 mil lion tons of woodpulp, which it made from 36 million cords of wood, besides a small amount of imported pulp and about 10 million tons of pulp made from waste paper and other fibers, bringing the total pulp used to over 33 million tons. While these figures are impressive, the paper-making machines consuming the large amounts of pulp are even more impressive. The ones most commonly used are called “Fourdriniers,” after the English brothers who perfected the first one in the early 1800’s. Stretching for as long as 100 yards, the machines receive a watery mixture of pulp at one end and turn out, at the other end, continuous sheets of paper up to 20 feet in width at speeds often exceeding 20 miles an hour. In between, the excess water is drawn off as the pulp is carried along a fastmoving screen to a series of rollers that press it into paper. From the paper-making section, the paper continues on through the drying section for further removal of moisture and as it comes out of the machine is wound into large rolls. The finished paper is then rewound into smaller rolls of desired widths. Paper machines such as these may cost several million dollars, which is only part of the heavy investment required by the industry. For conversion into paper bags, boxes, or other products, the paper may be shipped to converting facilities at the site of the paper mill or to plants located elsewhere. District Resources Meet Expanding Demand Expansion of paper output has enabled this country to increase its consumption from an average of 145 pounds per person in 1920 to about 436 pounds per person in 1956. Between the two dates, population increased from less than 106 million to over 167 million. The everwidening demand, stemming from both increasing popu lation and new, more intensive uses, has led to a search for raw materials. Even after the pulping of wood became practical, it soon became necessary to branch out from the use of spruce trees, preferred in the industry’s early development in this country. To do this, existing pulping processes had to be adapted to other types of trees. • 3 • Location and Number of Pulp and Paper Mills Sixth District, 1956 The Southeast has millions of trees that provide a rich source of pulpwood. In early 1953, the Sixth District states contained nearly 113 million acres of forest land, representing nearly 60 percent of the region’s total land area. Nearly two-thirds of the forest land, moreover, con tained softwoods, which are the main source of pulpwood. The sulphate process, adaptable to the pulping of resinous woods, made possible the use of the large acreage of Southern pine. Yielding a pulp of great strength, this process was first developed in Sweden and is known as the “kraft” process, from the Swedish word for strength. Pulp produced from Southern pine is used primarily for the manufacture of wrapping paper, bag paper, and paperboard, where its strength is an assest and its characteristic brownish color is no drawback. A rapid increase in the demand for paper as a packaging and shipping material, therefore, acted as a stimulus to the pulp and paper industry in the Sixth District. Techniques developed for bleaching sulphate pulp broadened its uses. Also, the adaptation of the groundwood process to South ern pine has led to the production of newsprint in this region. Nevertheless, the sulphate process remains the predominant one, accounting for over three-fourths of the District’s pulp production in 1955. In addition to plentiful supplies of wood, the District has the large amounts of water required to manufacture pulp. Since pine tree growth is so dispersed in the District, the location of the water supply has probably been a determining factor in locating particular plants. Without both trees and water, the recent expansion of the pulp and paper industry in the Sixth District surely would not have taken place. It represents, therefore, an increased utilization of the region’s natural resources. Twenty-five Years of Rapid Growth With the necessary raw materials available in large quantities and stimulated by strong economic forces, the District’s pulp and paper industry has grown phe nomenally in the last twenty-five years. In 1930, the District’s production of woodpulp, then concentrated in Louisiana, accounted for roughly 6 or 7 percent of total United States production. Output in the other District states was too small to be shown separately in published estimates. By 1943, when figures for each District state were available, this region accounted for 28 percent of total United States production of woodpulp. By 1955, District production accounted for 38 percent of the United States total, which was nearly five times larger than in 1930. District output rose from roughly 300,000 tons in 1930 to nearly 7.9 million tons in 1955. Since large amounts of pulp and paper are shipped out of the District for processing elsewhere, value added by the District’s industry— the difference between value of shipments and cost of materials used in manufacture— accounts for less of the United States total than is indicated by the figures shown on pulp production. But it, too, reflects the District industry’s rapid growth. In 1935, value added by the District’s pulp and paper industry accounted for less than 6 percent of the national industry’s total. Its proportion rose to more than 11 per cent in 1947 and nearly 15 percent in 1954. In the latter year, the pulp and paper industry, with value added amounting to 685 million dollars, ranked fourth among all types of manufacturing in the District, only slightly behind the important textile industry. Its payrolls totaled 272 million dollars in 1954, accounting for nearly 8 percent of the total paid by all manufacturing in the District. Subsequent expansion of the pulp and paper industry probably has increased its importance even more. With the industry’s expansion in the District exceeding that in the nation, an increasing proportion of new capital expenditures occurred here. In 1947, for example, ex penditures in the District, amounting to over 58 million dollars accounted for over 14 percent of the total for the nation. In 1954, District expenditures of 149 million dollars accounted for about 28 percent of total new capital expenditures by the nation’s pulp and paper industry. By the latter part of 1956, there were 51 pulp mills and 52 paper mills in the District. The accompanying map shows the largest concentration in Georgia, where 13 mills of each type were located. Florida, with 10 pulp mills and 13 paper mills, was second, but Alabama and the District portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Ten nessee also had from 11 to 18 mills, with about as many pulp as paper operations in each state. More recently, newspaper announcements tell of additional mills as well as large expansions of existing facilities. W here There's Pulp, There's Usually Paper The nearly equal number of pulp and paper mills re flects the industry’s high degree of economic integration which brings a pulp mill together with a paper mill at the same location under the same management. In some cases, the economic integration is carried a step further to include at the same site facilities for converting paper into the many end products used today. • 4 • Whether such a close dove-tailing of operations is de sirable depends, of course, on the economics of a particu lar firm’s operations. Large quantities of uniform grades of paper, such as newsprint or kraft, are more economical to manufacture near the pulp mill. In making some other types of paper, it may be more economical to manufacture the pulp at one site for shipment to other locations. Some small paper mills have specialized operations and find it more economical to purchase their pulp from mills located elsewhere. Also, about 10 percent of the District’s pulp output goes for non-paper uses. Output in some lines of paper has apparently caught up with demand in the United States, with the result that production has eased somewhat since about the middle of 1956. For the long-term view, however, industry ob servers see further increases in the demand for paper and paper products, stemming from future increases in population and in development of new uses for paper. Investment in new facilities for manufacturing pulp and paper in the Sixth District indicates that this area will share in the benefits of the expected expansion. P h ilip M. W ebster Bank Announcements On May 6, the Florida National Bank at Vero Beach, Florida, opened for business as a member of the Federal Reserve System. Ernest J. C. Doll is President; J. L. McKinney, Vice President; and George Elms, Vice President and Cashier. Capital stock totals $150,000 and surplus $75,000. On May 10, The State Bank, Griffin, Georgia, was admitted to membership in the Federal Reserve System. S. T. Martin is President; L. E. Abbott, Vice President; Seaton G. Bailey, Vice President; F. Westmoreland, Cashier; and J. M. Whiddon, Assistant Cashier. Capital totals $300,000 and surplus $450,000. On June 3, the Citizens Bank of Broward County, Hollywood, Florida, opened for business as a non member bank and began to remit at par for checks drawn on it when received from the Federal Reserve Bank. Lawrence G. Nusbaum is Chairman of the Board; Henry D. Perry, President; Charles W. Lantz, Executive Vice President; A . Herbert Bluestone, Vice President; Anthony C. Galluccio, Secretary-Treasurer; and Randolph F. Busby, Cashier. The bank has capital of $400,000 and surplus and undivided profits of $185,000. Managing Other People’s Money Trust Department Operations a Big Business at District Banks Most persons are familiar with the principal services that commercial banks offer, that is, handling checking and savings account balances and making loans. Few are aware that many banks offer an important service through their trust powers— that of investing funds entrusted to them and of performing specific services for individuals and corporations such as settling estates and acting as agents for corporations in business dealings. On December 31, 1956, the carrying value of trust assets of 35 largest trust departments in the District alone amounted to 2.4 billion dollars, almost half as much as their total assets of 4.2 billion. Trust assets at all member banks in the District probably amount to 3.2 billion dollars, about a third of the amount of total assets. Trust departments contribute a substantial share of total bank earnings at many banks. In 1956, income of trust departments accounted for more than 5 percent of total income at 18 of the 129 banks reporting trust income. At five banks, it amounted to over 10 percent of the total. These figures reveal something of how important trust de partments are to bank management, even though trust earnings contribute a relatively small share of total earn ings for all banks— 2.6 percent in 1956. Such data are available for the first time because of a special survey covering the operations of trust depart ments of 35 member banks during 1956. Twenty-seven of the participating banks submitted comparable break downs of earnings and expenses. The results of the survey provide information on the character of the trust business in the District and also on the profitability of trust depart ments. They also make it possible for an individual bank to compare its own trust operations with those of repre sentative groups of banks. Fees from the management of estates provided a third of total commissions and fees at the 27 banks reporting detailed income and expense items. Almost as large a pro portion, 30.8 percent, came from handling personal trusts. Personal agency functions, including the acting of executor of estates and custodian of assets of individuals, con tributed 18.0 percent. The remaining 17.9 percent was about equally divided among corporate trusts, corporate agencies, and pension and profit-sharing trusts. Trust business in this District is more concentrated in the handling of personal estates than that in New York and New England, for which comparable data are available. As would be expected, New England banks do consider ably more personal trust business, whereas New York banks outweigh District banks in the relative importance of corporate trust and agency operations. After total expenses were deducted, including an esti mate of bank overhead allocable to the trust department, net earnings from trust operations in this District amounted to 8.4 percent of total commissions and fees in 1956. Net earnings after taxes came to 3.5 percent. Trust depart ments are customarily given credit for deposits with the commercial banking department. After this allowance • 5 • (1.92 percent), net earnings for the 27 banks amounted to 14.1 percent of total commissions and fees. Slightly over one-half of the trust departments (14 out of the 27) reported a net profit for 1956 before adjust ment for deposit credit. In general, losses were concen trated in the smallest departments, measured according to either income or trust assets, indicating that there is per haps a minimum size for profitable operations: 8 of the 13 smallest trust departments reported losses, whereas only 4 of the 12 largest had losses. Similarly 10 departments of the 13 with smallest income reported losses, compared with only 2 of the 12 with largest income. Earnings and Expenses of Trust Departments, 1956 Sixth District Member Banks Banks with Total Income of ($000) Under Over Under 100- Over Total 100 Item 100 100 200 200 Losses Profits 7 6 Number of banks 27 4 4 6 Percent of total commissions and fees Commissions and fees from: 33.3 38.7 34.6 60.3 27.3 30.9 E s t a t e s ......................................... Pension and profit-sharing trusts . 5.3 1.6 5.0 1.1 3.0 6.8 30.8 33.8 27.1 29.5 41.8 29.5 Personal t r u s t s ............................... 18.0 12.3 18.7 7.7 17.2 19.6 Personal a g e n c ie s .......................... 7.0 4.8 1.0 Corporate t r u s t s .......................... 6.3 5.6 4.2 7.8 6.6 8.3 .4 5.1 9.0 Corporate a g e n c i e s ..................... T otal i n c o m e ................................. 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Total e x p e n s e .................................... Net earnings before income taxes Income tax charges (— ) or credits ( + ) .......................... Trust department net earnings Allowed credits for deposits . . Trust department net earnings (adjusted for deposit credits) . Direct expense: Salaries and wages: Officers .................................... E m p l o y e e s ............................... Pensions and retirements . . . Personnel i n s u r a n c e ..................... Other expense related to salaries . Total expense related to salaries Occupancy of quarters . . . . Furniture and equipment Stationery, supplies, and postage . Telephone and telegraph . . . A d v e r tis in g .................................... Directors’ and trust committee fees Legal and professional fees . . Periodicals and investment services E x a m in a tio n s ............................... Other direct e x p e n s e ..................... T otal d irec t e x p e n s e . . . . O v e r h e a d .................................... T otal e x p e n s e ................................. 91.6 120.6 128.2 8.4 —20.6 —28.2 —4.9 71.0 29.0 79.0 21.0 78.6 21.4 + 4.2 +13.0 —11.7 — 11.3 — 11.0 3.5 — 16.4 — 15.2 10.6 18.9 17.5 17.3 .0 9.7 21.2 10.4 5.1 14.1 17.3 30.9 15.5 Percent of total expense 38.0 33.8 34.9 33.5 21.5 26.5 19.3 24.4 2.5 3.4 5.3 4.4 1.6 1.0 1.0 1.4 1.2 1.6 .8 1.3 63.9 62.8 65.9 64.8 27.1 31.8 3.0 1.0 .9 63.8 31.1 26.8 3.7 1.1 1.1 63.8 4.5 2.3 3.8 1.0 2.6 1.0 1.2 1.3 .9 2.9 85.3 14.7 100.0 2.5 5.1 1.9 2.9 1.0 2.6 1.3 .7 2.4 .9 1.7 84.4 15.6 100.0 2.3 4.8 9.2 1.7 2.4 3.9 2.5 1.2 .9 3.3 1.6 .5 .8 1.8 1.2 4.0 1.0 1.8 3.6 2.5 85.8 91.6 14.2 8.4 100.0 100.0 6.7 1.5 3.0 1.1 3.1 1.2 .7 1.6 1.5 2.7 87.9 12.1 100.0 3.3 3.0 4.2 1.0 2.1 1.4 1.1 .8 .6 2.7 84.0 16.0 100.0 All ratios were derived from dollar aggregates for each group rather than from individual bank ratios. Ratios to net profits and net losses were com puted before adjustment for deposit credits. Ratios not shown for groups with less than three banks. In using the survey results as a yardstick for measuring profitability, however, it is important to note two excep tions to its accuracy. First, to some degree, the variation in profitability from bank to bank reflects different ac counting procedures. More importantly, in an era of “department store banking” it is not always true that the profit-loss position of a particular department is an accu rate measure of its worth to the bank. By engendering goodwill among its customers, the trust department may bring business to other departments and thereby add a fillip to total income even though it itself is showing a loss. W. M. D avis DEMAND DEPOSITS OF INDIVIDUALS, PARTNERSHIPS, AND CORPORATIONS All Commercial Banks, United States Ja n u ary 31, 1955, and Ja n u ary 30, 1957 Type o f H older U nited States 1957 1955 Sixth D istrict 1957 1955 Percentage Distribution of A m ount of Deposits Domestic business Corporate Noncorporate Nonprofit organizations Farm operators Individuals—personal All other All holders Amount of deposits (millions of dollars) 100 51 35 17 5 5 38 1 100 59 46 13 4 5 30 3 100 58 44 13 4 5 31 2 100 6,623 5,761 104,400 102,300 57 43 13 4 5 33 2 Individuals now hold a somewhat smaller proportion of total balances of personal and business checking accounts at District commercial banks than they did two years ago. Businesses, however, have a larger share to their credit. Data on deposit ownership were revealed by the annual survey of ownership of demand deposits taken as of Janu ary 30, 1957. One hundred and forty-one banks, including members and nonmembers, participated by supplying in formation on over 80,000 individual accounts. Although the main objective of the survey was to obtain information to be used in the making of policy decisions on a national level, the results often prove useful to individual bankers in assessing the composition of their own accounts. According to the survey, individuals own three out of every four checking accounts at commercial banks, but they account for 33 percent of the dollar volume of total demand deposits of individuals and businesses. Busi nesses hold 57 percent of total deposits, but less than 10 percent of the total number of checking accounts. On January 30, 1955, the date of the preceding survey, individuals owned 38 percent of total individual and business deposits in their personal checking accounts. What individuals lost between the two survey dates was gained by business firms whose share of the total in 1955 was 51 percent. The share of demand deposits held by corporations increased somewhat, whereas that held by other types of businesses declined slightly. The share held by farmers remained steady between the two dates. Some observers may see in these changes signs of weak ening consumer demand. This is not necessarily the case, since other factors also have a bearing on spending ability. For example, individuals, as well as other groups, have larger total deposit balances now than they had in 1955. This growth came about as District banks both expanded credit and gained funds from other areas. Furthermore, individuals and businesses are using their checking ac counts more extensively than they did in 1955, judging by the increase in the rate of turnover of demand deposits. Finally, individuals hold record amounts of sav ings, mostly in forms other than demand deposits. W. M. D avis • 6 • Sixth District Statistics Wholesale Sales and Inventories4 Instalment Cash Loans Percent Change No. of Lenders Lender Federal credit unions . . . . H State credit unions . . . . . 14 5 Industrial b a n k s ....................... . Industrial loan companies . . . 11 Small loan companies . . . . I I Commercial banks . . . . . 40 April 1957 March 1957 +7 + 16 +8 —2 + 17 +1 Outstandings April 1957 from April March 1957 1956 + 16 +1 + 22 +3 —1 +3 +3 +1 +16 +1 + 15 +1 from April 1956 + 18 +56 —0 +11 + 18 + 18 Condition of 27 Member Banks in Leading Cities (In Thousands of Dollars) Item Loans and investments— T o t a l .................................. Loans— N e t ............................. Loans— G r o s s ....................... Commercial, industrial, and agricultural loans . Loans to brokers and dealers in securities. . Other loans for purchasing or carrying securities . Real estate loans . . . Loans to banks . . . . Other loans ....................... Investments— Total . . . Bills, certificates, and notes ....................... U. S. bonds ....................... Other securities . . . Reserve with F. R. Bank . . Cash in v a u l t ....................... Balances with domestic banks .................................. Demand deposits adjusted . Time d e p o sits....................... U. S. Gov't deposits . . . Deposits of domestic banks . Borrowings............................. Percent Change May 15, 1957, from April 17, May 16, 195 1956 May 15, 1957 April 17, 195/ May 16, 195b 3,379,328 1,879,724 1,913,588 3,407,015 1,879,459 1,913,832 3,334,460 1,756,342 1,799,740 —0 1,035,363 1,035,560 974,613 —0 +6 38,116 36,482 38,257 +4 —0 51,120 173,299 17,486 598,204 1,499,604 49,941 172,655 24,374 594,820 1,527,556 48,297 158,211 15,230 565,132 1,578,118 440,884 758,167 300,553 499,348 49,098 482,979 746,070 298,507 507,796 50,465 529,777 737,614 310,727 505,471 49,878 275,372 2,254,668 750,716 86,795 722,499 48,250 301,139 2,318,269 738,131 83,036 775,844 15,500 245,780 2,414,440 630,353 87,068 697,127 30,000 —1 +0 + 2 +0 —2 —9 +2 +1 —2 —3 — 17 +3 —3 —1 —2 —9 —3 +2 +5 —7 % + 12 —7 + 19 —0 +4 +61 *100 percent or over. Department Store Sales and Inventories * Percent Change Sales Apr. 1957 from Mar. Apr. Place 1957 1956 ALABAMA............................ + 4 +10 Birmingham.................... +1 -j-10 M obile............................. +1 +19 Montgomery.................... - j- 8 — 1 FLO R ID A ............................. + 0 + 12 Jacksonville.................... + 20 +17 Miami Area ................ — 2 + 13 Miami ........................ — 1 +4 O rlan d o .......................... +2 + 20 St.Ptrsbg-TampaArea . — 0 +8 St. Petersburg . . . — 7 +12 T a m p a ......................... + 7 +4 G EO RG IA ............................. + 9 +12 A tla n ta * *........................ + 6 +13 Augusta............................ +9 + 14 Columbus.........................+19 +3 Macon................................+20 +20 R om e**............................+37 +21 Savannah.........................+15 +9 LO UISIANA.........................+17 +12 Baton Rouge................ + 1 8 _j-32 New Orleans................... + 16 +11 M IS S IS S IP P I.....................+18 +10 Jackson............................ +9 +2 M erid ian**....................+ 33 +13 TEN N ESSEE........................+19 +23 Bristol (Tenn. &Va.)** +22 +23 Bristol-KingsportJohnson City** . . . +23 +23 Chattanooga....................+ 15 +19 Knoxville.........................+ 24 +16 Nashville.........................+17 +32 D IS T R IC T ........................ ... + 9 +13 4 |\/|onths 1957 from 1956 +1 —0 + 10 —7 Inventories Apr. 30, 1957 from Mar. 31, Apr. 30, 1957 1956 —1 +0 —3 + 11 +1 +0 +2 +2 +6 —2 + 12 —0 +4 +3 —i — lb —l +9 + 37 +4 +6 —1 +2 +4 +3 —1 +2 —6 —11 +0 —7 —4 —2 + 16 —5 —3 —4 —5 +4 +3 +2 +1 —1 +11 +2 +6 +6 +0 +3 +2 —2 —1 +7 +9 +6 +1 —1 —4 —3 +6 +3 i2 —2 — +4 ♦Reporting stores account for over 90 percent of total District department store sales. "In order to permit publication of figures for this city, a special sample has been constructed that is not confined exclusively to department stores. Figures for non department stores, however, are not used in computing the District percent changes. +1 No. of Type of Wholesaler Firms Grocery, confectionery, meats 23 Edible farm products . . 11 Drugs, chems., allied prods. 6 Inventories April 1957 from April March 1956 1957 —12 —7 — 10 —4 —2 +6 +23 Dry goods, apparel . . . 9 +8 —I A utom otive......................... 13 +4 Electrical, electronic and 11 —3 appliance goods . . . 12 + 12 + 10 +7 —6 15 H a rd w a re .............................15 +2 +5 +1 —4 — 11 Plumbing & heating goods . 10 10 +6 +1 Lumber, construction +17 16 materials............................17 +4 +8 +3 Machinery: equip. &supplies 28 —1 +0 +8 In d u s tria l........................ 34 +/ ♦Based on information submitted by wholesalers participating in the Monthly Wholesale Trade Report issued by the Bureau of the Census. Retail Furniture Store Operations +1 +7 +6 +10 +15 +6 —5 — 28 +1 Percent Change Sales April 1957 from April March No. of Firms 1956 1957 21 +3 +2 10 +7 +2 + 21 —2 i6 +11 — 14 7 +1 13 +3 +4 Percent Change April, 1957, from March 1957 April 1956 +2 +0 —6 +4 +2 +1 —1 +3 —9 +1 Item Total s a l e s .............................................. Cash sales .............................................. Instalment and other credit sales . . Accounts receivable, end of month Collections during month . . . . Debits to Individual Demand Deposit Accounts (In Thousands of Dollars) Percent Change ALABAMA Anniston . Birmingham Dothan . Gadsden . Mobile . Montgomery Tuscaloosa* FLORIDA Jacksonville April 1957 from 4 Months April March April 1957 from 1956 1957 1956 1956 April 1957 March 1957 . . . . . . . 32,422 652,306 24,707 30,392 277,624 126,440 38,922 35,091 702,283 25,802 31,262 296,171 131,428 40,242 34,462 628,720 22,475 26,767 247,890 120,345 40,012 —8 —7 —4 —3 —6 —4 —3 —6 +4 + 10 + 14 + 12 +5 —3 —5 +8 +6 +10 +23 +8 —0 . . 617,037 748,783 1,173,801 161,364 80,908 157,511 309,594 106,787 638,540 712,146 1,126,112 160,752 84,342 169,625 324,600 104,024 621,500 616,873 975,885 125,484 70,071 133,032 259,931 93,551 —3 +5 +4 +0 —4 —7 —5 +3 —1 + 21 + 20 + 29 + 15 + 18 +19 + 14 +5 +18 + 18 +23 + 13 +19 + 16 +11 54,892 1,627,646 83,918 18,508 93,818 8,261 45,484 15,122 99,147 14,472 39,561 177,476 22,040 52,689 1,553,551 83,657 18,530 92,707 7,224 43,215 15,263 105,939 14,978 35,728 177,233 27,565 48,373 +4 1,483,870 + 5 86,628 + 0 16,035 — 0 92,499 + 1 6,735 + 14 41,898 + 5 14,335 — 1 100,599 —6 12,943 — 3 37,562 +11 134,911 + 0 21,861 — 20 + 13 + 10 —3 + 15 +1 + 23 +9 +5 —1 + 12 +5 + 32 +1 +6 +4 —5 +9 —3 +21 +7 —0 —2 +9 —1 +22 +6 62,695 180,363 75,319 1,272,165 65,388 173,925 80,857 1,241,701 55,394 158,895 68,351 1,081,001 —4 +4 —7 +2 + 13 + 14 + 10 + 18 +13 +14 +9 +11 29 036 198,826 33,641 18,653 30,489 193,317 35,544 16,489 26,926 — 5 186,839 + 3 32,379 — 5 16,422 + 13 +8 +6 +4 + 14 +9 —0 +4 +8 43,867 277,660 35,927 67,932 161,652 580,265 39,207 269,296 36,850 77,418 153,407 560,765 32,633 + 12 267,700 + 3 34,206 — 3 61,509 — 12 153,478 + 5 526,814 + 3 + 34 +4 +5 + 10 +5 +10 + 18 +4 +3 +7 —0 +7 8,246,846 8,201,905 . . . . . . . Greater Miami*. Orlando . . . Pensacola. . . St. Petersburg . West Palm Beach* GEORGIA Albany . . . Atlanta . . . Augusta . . . Brunswick . . Columbus. . . Elberton . . . Gainesville* . . Griffin* . . . Newnan . . . Rome* . . . Savannah . . . Valdosta . . . LOUISIANA Alexandria* . . Baton Rouge. . Lake Charles. . New Orleans. . MISSISSIPPI Hattiesburg . . Jackson . . . Meridian . . . Vicksburg. . . TENNESSEE Bristol ♦ . . Chattanooga . . Johnson City* Kingsport♦ . . Knoxville. . . Nashville . . . SIXTH DISTRICT 32 Cities . . . UNITED STATES 344 Cities . . 7,430,809 +1 +11 +9 192,492.000 197,024,000 176,760,000 *Not included in Sixth District totals. —2 +9 +8 • 7 • Sixth District Indexes 1 9 4 7 -4 9 = Nonfarm Employment SEASONALLY ADJUSTED District Total....................... A la b a m a ....................... Flo rid a ............................. Georgia............................. Louisiana....................... Mississippi....................... Tennessee....................... UNADJUSTED District Total....................... A la b a m a ....................... F lo rid a ............................. Georgia............................. Lou isian a....................... Mississippi....................... Tennessee....................... Manufacturing Employment Mar. 1957 Feb. 1957 Mar. 1956 Mar. 1957 Feb. 1957 134 122 170 130 130 125 120 134 122 169 131 131 126 120 130r 119r 158r 128r 124r 126r 120 119 110 169 122 102 124 118 121 109 167 122 103 126 117 134 122 178 129 129 123 119 134 122 178 .129 129 124 119 130r 119r 165 r 128r 123 r 123r 119 121 111 177 122 100 123 118 121 111 178r 122 100 124 118 100 Manufacturing Payrolls Mar. 1957 Feb. 1957 Mar. 1956 119r 109r 156r 123r lO lr 124r 119r 191 178 257 193 173 210 188 191r 177 267 193 175r 212r 188 182r 168r 230r 186 167r 204r 183r 120r lllr 163r 123r 99 r 124r 120r 193 178 275 193 168 204 188 193r 177 286 195 ]68r 207r 186 184r 168r 246r 186 162r 198r 183r Mar. 1956 Apr. 1957 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Mar. 1957 320 372 348 332 453 226 Furniture Store S a le s*/** Apr. 1956 265 353 243 469 170 154 Mar. 1957 Apr. 1956 lllp 108p 121p 106p 130p 92p 91p lllr 118r 132r 102r 141r 89 83 113r 109 119 118r 120r 104 90 98p lOOp 105p 94p 118p 83p 82p 98r 102r 117r 90r 120r 77 70 99r 101 104 105r 109 93 81 Apr. 1957 Other District Indexes Department Store Sales and Stocks** Unadjusted Adjusted April March April March April April 1957 1957 1956 1957 1957 1956 138r 137 147r 149p 149 DISTRICT SALES* . . . . 132 134 154 143 153 A tlantal.................................. . 144 112 142 120 137 121 Baton Rouge ....................... . 132 123 116 138 129 123 B irm in g h am ....................... . 121 117 118 134 133 126 Chattanooga....................... . 130 lllr 118r 109p 100 110 Jackson .................................. . 105p lllr 104 121r 125 116 Ja c k s o n v ille ....................... . 124 122 135 141 151 140 K n o x v ille ............................. . 142 126r 155r 144 120 145 M a c o n .................................. . 140 224 220 203 222 211 ....................... . 211 Miami Area 117 121 127 149 131 N a s h v ille ............................. . 142 126 132 115 127 133 New O r le a n s ....................... . 125 152 157 150 152 156 St. Ptrsbg-Tampa Area . . . 151 124 116 124 120 127 Tampa C ity ............................. . 123 174r 170r 167r 179r 180 . 173 DISTRICT STOCKS* . . . iTo permit publication of figures for this city, a special sample has been constructed that is not confined exclusively to department stores. Figures for non-department stores, however, are not used in computing the District index. *For Sixth District area only. Other totals for entire six states. **Daily average basis. Sources: Nonfarm and mfg. emp. and payrolls, state depts. of labor; cotton consumption, U. S. Bureau Census; construction contracts, F. W. Dodge Corp.; furn. sales, dept, store sales, turnover of dem. dep., FRB Atlanta; petrol, prod., U. S. Bureau of Mines; elec. power prod., Fed. Power Comm. All indexes calculated by this Bank. Construction Contracts Apr. 1957 Adjusted Mar. 1957 Apr. 1956 Apr. 1957 n.a. n.a. n.a. Unadjusted Mar. 1957 342 299 375 Apr. 1956 316 328 306 208 86 165r 98 196 n.a. 208 91 168r 100 Construction contracts* . . . Residential................................... Petrol, prod, in Coastal Louisiana and Mississippi** . . 192 Cotton consumption** . . . . Furniture store stocks*. . . . Turnover of demand deposits* . 22.5 25.1 10 leading c itie s....................... Outside 10 leading cities . . . 18.0 Mar. 1957 22.7 23.9 19.2 21.1 23.3 17.4 Feb. 1957 Mar. 1956 172 132 Chem icals................................... . 131 . 166 164r Fabricated metals . . . . 117 . 116 . 80 83 Lbr., wood prod., furn. & fix. Paper and allied prod. . . . . 161 161 107 Primary m e t a ls ....................... . 106 91 . 89 206 Trans, equip.................................. . 206 r Revised p Preliminary n.a. Not Available 169r 131 155r 112 85r 160r 104 94 188r Elec. power prod., total** Mfg. emp. by type . . 22.7 24.5 18.0 22.9 24.5 18.8 21.3 22.7 17.4 Feb. 1957 Mar. 1956 298 294 280 172 135 170 114 81 161 107 90 214 171 133 166r 116 82 162 108 91 212 169r 134 159r lllr 86 r 160r 105 95 196r Mar. 1957
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