The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
MONTHLY REVIEW O f F in a n c ia l, A g r ic u ltu r a l, T r a d e a n d I n d u s tr ia l C o n d itio n s in th e S ix th F e d ra l R e s e r v e D is tr ic t F E D E R A L R E S E R V E BA N K O F A TLA N TA VOL. 15, No. 6 ATLANTA, GA., June 30, 1930. NATIONAL SUMMARY OF BUSINESS CONDITIONS Prepared by the Federal Reserve Board The volume of industrial production declined in May by about the same amount as it increased in April. Factory employment decreased more than is usual at this season and the downward movement of prices continued. Money rates eased further, to the lowest level in more than five years. The Board's Index of Industrial Production, adjusted for usual seasonal variations, de clined about 2 per cent in May. In 1930 industrial production has fluctuated between 4 to 7 per cent above the 1923-1925 average and the preliminary estimate for May is 4 per cent above the average for those years. Production at steel and automobile plants declined, cotton mills curtailed output, and activity at woolen and silk mills continued at low levels. Cement production increased sharply, while output of petroleum and of copper showed little change. In the first half of June, output at steel plants declined further. The decrease in factory employment in May was larger than usual and there was also a decline in factory payrolls. The number employed in the* cotton and silk goods industries decreased further, while in the woolen goods industry there was an increase from the extreme low point of April. Employment in the agricultural implement and elec trical machinery industries decreased from April but remained large relative to earlier years. Employment in the cement industry increased, but in the lumber industry continued at an unusually low level. Build ing contract awards in May, as reported by the F. W. Dodge Corpora tion, continued to be in substantially smaller volume than in any other year since 1924. Industrial Production and Employment Distribution Freight earloadings increased by less than the usual seasonal amount during May and continued to be in somewhat smaller volume than in the corresponding period of 1928 and substantially below the unusually active period of 1929. Depart ment store sales in May were approximately the same as those of a year ago. Wholesale Prices A further decline in the wholesale prices of commodities occurred in May and the first half of June. The downward movement was interrupted in the last half of May by substantial increases in the prices of grains, meats, and live stock, but became pronounced about the middle of June when the prices of cotton, silk, rubber, copper, and silver reached exceptionally low levels. Wheat, meats, live stock and cotton textiles also declined in price at that time, while prices of wool and woolen goods, pig iron and steel showed little change. Bank credit Loans and investment of reporting member banks in creased further by $265,000,000 in the four weeks ending June 11, to a level considerably higher than a year ago. The increase was entirely in investments and in loans on securities, of which a large part represented loans made by New York City Banks to brokers and dealers in securities in replacement of loans withdrawn by other tenders. “All Other” loans continued to decline and at $8,400,000,000 on June 11, were the smallest since 1926. Expansion of member bank credit during this period was reflected in larger demand deposits and an increase of $30,000,000 in member bank reserves at the reserve banks. The volume of money in circulation showed a net increase of $13,000,000. Funds for these uses were obtained largely from further addi tions of $24,000,000 to the stock of monetary gold and from an in crease of $22,000,000, in the volume of reserve bank credit outstanding. Reserve bank holdings of United States securities increased by about $50,000,000, and their holdings of acceptances declined by about half this amount. For the week ending June 18, the total volume of re serve bank credit declined somewhat, and there was a decline in the volume of money in circulation. This review released for publication in Sunday papers of June 29. Money rates in the open market continued to decline during the latter half of May and the first half of June, and at the middle of the month commercial paper at 3J-3J per cent and acceptances at 2 1/8 per cent were at the lowest level since 1924 and early 1925. Bond yields moved slightly lower in June. In the first week of June the rediscount rate at Cleveland was reduced from 4 to 3 | per cent; in the third week the rate at New York was reduced from 3 to 2J per cent and the rate at Chicago from 4 to 3 | per cent. SIXTH DISTRICT SUMMARY Most of the available series of business statistics for the sixth dis trict indicate decreases in May compared with the preceding month and with the corresponding month a year ago. The volume of retail trade declined 2.7 per cent in May compared with April and averaged 5.7 per cent less than in May 1929. For the five months of 1930, January through May, sales at retail have averaged 8.1 per cent smaller than during that period of 1929. Sales by whole sale firms in the district in May averaged 4.1 per cent smaller than in April and 13.9 per cent less than in May last year. The May total of sales by reporting wholesale firms was the smallest for any month in about eight years. Debits to individual accounts at 26 reporting clearing house cities of the district were 2.8 per cent smaller in May than in April, and 12.2 per cent less than for May 1929. Savings deposits reported by 73 banks in the district were approximately the same as a month earlier, or a year ago, and loans and investments of weekly reporting member banks declined 10.5 millions between May 14 and June 11, and were substantially less than a year ago. Discounts for member banks by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta on June 11 were less than half as large as at the same time a year ago, but holdings of bills bought in the open market and of United States securities were somewhat larger. Building permits reported from 20 cities in the district increased 8.5 per cent in May over April, but were 44.2 per cent less than in May last year. Contracts awarded in this district, however, increased 74.4 per cent in May over April, and were 12.9 per cent greater than in May 1929. Production of cotton cloth by mills in this district was less than one per cent smaller than in April, and output of yarn decreased 6.1 per cent, and production of cloth and yarn were 16.8 per cent, and 12.5 per cent, respectively, smaller than in May last year. Production of coal in Alabama was smaller than in May 1929, but in Tennessee the output was somewhat larger. Pig iron production in Alabama increased slightly in May over April, but was smaller than in May last year. Receipts of turpentine and rosin at the three naval stores markets of the district increased seasonally in May, and were greater than for May of most of the other recent years. Weather conditions throughout the district have not been entirely favorable, but reports of the United States Department of Agriculture indicate better prospects than a year ago for potatoes, citrus fruits and peaches. FINANCE Comparative Condition of Following an irregular decline which Federal Reserve Bank extended from early November to April 9, the total volume of bills and securities held by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta increased during the remainder of April, but was somewhat less for each of the four weeks ending in May, and declined from 54.6 millions on June 4 to 44.1 mil lions a week later. This decrease for the week ending June 11 was due partly to the smaller holdings of discounts, but principally to the de cline in holdings of bills purchased in the open market, 2 M O N T H L Y R E V IE W Holdings of discounts secured by United States Government ob ligations increased from the low point at $614,000 on March 26 to $2,002,000 on June 4, and a week later were $1,294,000, less than one-tenth as large as for the corresponding report date of last year. Other discounts increased from the low for the year at $13,920,000 on March 26 to $30,786,000 on June 4, and on June 11 totaled $28,895,000, compared with $23,498,000 on May 14 and with $55,058,000 on June 12 last year. Total discounts on June 11 were greater by 5} millions than on May 14, but were less than half the amount on the corresponding report date a year ago. Holdings of bills purchased in the open market have declined each week from the high point for the year at 24.7 millions on April 23, and on June 11 amounted to 10.5 millions, approximately 5.9 millions less than on May 14, but 2 millions greater than a year ago. Holdings of United States securities decreased from $9,928,000, the high point for the year on June 4, to $3,433,000 on June 11, and were then slightly larger than a year ago. Total holdings of discounted and purchased bills and of United States securities on June 11 amounted to $44,142,000, a decrease of about 6 millions compared with May 14, and smaller by 37 millions than on the same report date of last year. Federal Reserve Notes in actual circulation on June 11 were greater than four weeks, or a year earlier, but deposits were slightly smaller, and cash reserves were greater than on either of those comparative report dates. Principal items in the weekly statement are shown in the table. (000 Omitted) June 11, Bills Discounted: 1930 Secured by Govt. Obligations..............- $ 1,294 All Others................................................... 28,895 Total Discounts-................................ 30,189 Bills Bought in open market....................... 10,520 U. S, Securities............................................... 3,433 Total Bills and Securities................ 44,142 Cash Reserves................................................... 155,206 Member Bank Reserve Deposits................... 62,368 Total Deposits................................................. 64,972 F. R. Notes in actual circulation................ 134,092 Reserve Ratio................................................... 78.0 May 14, 1930 $ 1,437 23,498 24,935 16,405 8,833 50,173 148,662 64,465 65,815 125,851 77.6 June 12, 1929 $14,526 55,058 69,584 8,464 3,272 81,321 119,966 64,480 66,380 128,978 61.4 Volume of Operations The volume of bills discounted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta has been much smaller each month this year than in corresponding months of last year, reflecting the smaller demand for credit accommodations by member banks in the district. Purchases of bills in the open market, however, have been greater for each of these months than at the same time last year. The table which follows shows a comparison of the volume of discounts and purchases by months this year with amounts handled during the same months of 1929. (000 Omitted) Bills DiscountedBills Purchased 1930 1929 1930 1929 January.............................................. $70,117 $132,901 $13,778 $9,503 February............................................. 46,045 114,067 17,426 6,261 March.................................................. 39,796 124,833 9,993 7,009 April..................................................... 34,531 135,725 21,715 6,351 May...................................................... 53,196 141,162 7,871 7,671 Condition of Member Banks in Selected Cities The volume of member bank credit outstanding in the Sixth Federal Reserve District, as reflected in weekly condition reports rendered to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta by 28 mem ber banks located in principal cities of the district, has declined since early April to the lowest level in nearly three years. Total loans and investments of these weekly reporting member banks on June 11 amounted to $596,868,000; or a decline of $10,591,000 since May 14; the figures shown in the preceding issue of this Review; it was smaller by $31,379,000 than at the high level for this year on March 19, and smaller than on any other weekly report date since August 24, 1927. Loans on securities on June 11 had declined $5,450,000 since May 14, and were the smallest for any report date since December 11, but were $3,243,000 greater than on the corresponding report date last year. All Other Loans declined approximately 6 millions between May 14 and June 11 to a level about 50 millions less than a year ago, and lower than for any weeklyjreport date intrecent years. Investments of these banks in United States Government and other securities have been somewhat larger since the middle of March than they had been earlier in this year or during the last four months of 1929, but on June 11 were in slightly smaller volume than a year ago. Demand deposits of these banks were at the lowest level on May 28 since August 11 last year, but had increased about 5 millions by June 11. Time deposits on that date were slightly larger than on May 14 or on June 12 of last year. Borrowings of these banks from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta increased from the lowest level in a number of years at 2.4 millions on April 9 to approximately 14 millions on June 4, and a week later amounted to $11,272,000 compared with $42,296,000 on the same report date last year. Principal items in the weekly report are shown comparatively in the table. (000 Omitted) June 11, May 14, June 12, Loans: 1930 1930 1929 On Securities.............................................$149,765 $155,215 $146,522 AllOther..................................................... 316,218 322,456 366,652 Total Loans......................................... 465,983 477,671 513,174 U. S. Securities-.............................................. 62,985 62,239 61,028 Other Stocks and Bonds............................... 67,900 67,549 70,271 Total Investments............................. 130,885 129,788 131,299 Total Loans and Investments................ 596,868 607,459 644,473 Time Deposits----........................................... 244,306 243,484 239,364 Demand Deposits............................................ 317,473 325,529 322,152 Due to Banks................................................... 98,245 103,052 93,597 Due from Banks.............................................. 70,395 71,990 70,643 Borrowings from F. R . Bank........................ 11,272 7,769 42,296 Savings Deposits After showing unfavorable comparisons with the corresponding month a year earlier for sixteen consecutive months, savings deposits of 73 reporting banks in the sixth district in February were 1.3 per cent larger than for February 1929, and increases of less than one per cent have also been shown for March, April and May. Savings deposits held by these banks at the end of May were about the same as a month earlier, showing an increase of only one-tenth of one per cent, and were three-tenths of one per cent larger than for May a year ago. Increases over April were reported from Atlanta, Birmingham and New Orleans, but decreases occurred at Jacksonville, Nashville and Other Cities. Decreases compared with May 1929 at Atlanta, Birmingham and Jacksonville were a little more than outweighed in the district average by increases at Nashville, New Orleans and Other Cities. Total for Atlanta, and for cities in which branches of the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank are located, are shown in the table, and reports from banks located else where in the district are grouped under Other Cities. (000 Omitted) *. ComComparison parison May AprilMay-April May May 1930 1930 1930 1929 ’30-’29 Atlanta (4 banks)....................$ 43,123 $ 42,380 +1.8 $ 43,534 - 0.9 Birmingham (4 banks)-......... 24,490 24,411 +0.3 25,182 — 2.7 Jacksonville (4 banks).......... - 18,620 19,078 - 2 .4 25,464 -26.9 Nashville (8 banks)................. 27,829 28,235 —1.4 25,556 + 8.9 New Orleans (7 banks).......... 52,036 50,247 +3.6 46,582 +11.7 Other Cities (46 banks).......... 105,690 107,174 —1.4 104,524 + 1.1 Total (73 banks)...................... 271,788 271,525 +0.1 270,842 + 0.3 Deposits of All Member Banks There were further small decreases shown in demand and time deposits of all member banks in the sixth district in April compared with earlier months of the year. The daily average of demand deposits of all member banks decreased 1.0 per cent in April compared with March, and was 3.6 per cent less than the daily average for April of last year. The daily average of time deposits, which include savings deposits, declined seven-tenths of one per cent in April compared with March, and was 2.1 per cent smaller than for April 1929. Changes in these daily averages over the past year are shown in the table. Demand Time 1930: Deposits Deposits April..................................................................$563,762,000 $439,980,000 March............................................................... 569,662,000 442,987,000 February.......................................................... 574,809,000 443,184,000 January........................................................... 570,622,000 433,737,000 1929: December......................................................... 550,424,000 427,978,000 November........................................................ 545,348,000 432,559,000 436,286,000 October........-.................................................. 543,043,000 September........................................................ 536,858,000 443,086,000 August............................................................. 523,695,000 445,299,000 July.................................................................. 538,609,000 461,653,000 June................................................................. 548,639,000 466,233,000 May................................................................... 568,686,000 458,520,000 April.................................................................. 584,913,000 449,462,000 Debits to individual Accounts Total debits to individual accounts by banks in twentysix clearing house centers of the sixth district have shown unfavorable comparisons for each the past seven months as compared with corresponding months a year earlier. Figures for May show an average decrease of 2.8 per cent compared with April, and a decline of 12.2 per cent compared with May 1929. Increases over April were reported for sixteen of these twenty-six cities, but were more than offset by the decreases at the other ten, and the comparison with May of last year discloses the fact that Nashville reported the only increase over that month. Monthly figures shown in the table are derived from weekly reports by pro rating figures for those weeks which do not fall entirely within a single calendar month. M O N T H L Y R E V IE W Alabama May 1930 Birmingham..... .......... ...................$ 124,694 Dothan.— ......................................2,601 38,261 Mobile............................................... Montgomery................— ................ 22,566 Florida: Jacksonville..................................... 70,900 36,432 Miami_________ _____ ________ Pensacola......................................... 6,685 Tampa............................................... 30,533 Georgia: Albany.............................................. 3,789 Atlanta............................................. 169,134 Augusta..-....................................... 22,289 Brunswick...................................... 3,352 Columbus.................... -................... 13,526 952 Elbert on....................-.............. ........ Macon............. -................................ 17,395 Newnan....................... -................. 1,536 38,318 Savannah— -------------------------Valdosta-............ - ........— -........... 3,845 Louisiana: New Orleans.................................... 293,566 Mississippi: Hattiesburg-.................................... 6,384 24,836 Jackson.......................... -................ Meridian . ........................................13,645 Vicksburg....................... -................ 5,584 Tennessee: Chattanooga.................................... 48,794 Knoxville.......................................... 31,698 Nashville......................................... 105,701 Total 26 Cities........................................ $1,137,016 April 1930 $ 124,013 2,505 37,648 26,081 78,468 43,546 7,097 32,599 3,494 163,497 24,690 3,338 14,108 999 16,801 1,508 37,833 3,662 326,225 5,961 24,479 13,510 6,191 48,471 31,536 92,693 $1,169,953 May 1929 $ 148,938 3,527 40,034 27,837 78,426 38,942 7,561 39,249 3,944 229,917 26,132 4,452 18,141 1,063 19,722 1,852 40,954 3,937 316,888 6,825 25,971 15,358 6,408 50,665 36,792 101,982 $1,295,517 AGRICULTURE There were rains in some sections of the district during May but crops generally still show the effects of the dry weather earlier in the season, according to reports of the United States Department of Agri culture. Rains over the northern half of Georgia interfered in some counties with cultivation of crops. There was some rain in portions of southern Georgia, but in much of the southern part of the State rains were badly needed on June 1. Tobacco was beginning to “button out” prematurely, watermelons were shedding some of the small melons, and feed crops making poor growth. Early June, however, brought some general rains over the State. In Florida most of May was dry, but there were general rains over the citrus territory late in the month. Excessive rainfall in the extreme southern part of the state has damaged truck crops remaining for harvest. Western Flor ida, however, was still in need of rain on June 1. The reported condition of citrus fruits shows a decided drop since May 1, but is still materially higher than on June 1 last year. Prospects for Florida peaches and pears are lower than a month ago and indicated production is under that of last year. By June 1 the Florida commercial potato crop had been harvested and shipment of other truck from Central and South Florida was about over except for watermelons. Crop conditions gen erally in Mississippi have been unfavorable. Dry weather in April and early May was followed by unusually heavy rains over much of the state which flooded bottom lands and washed some hill lands badly, resulting in many fields having to be replanted. Drought in early May, although relieved partially by rains the latter half of the month, caused a further decline in the condition of early potatoes in 10 southern states. A table which follows shows the June 1 estimate of the commercial early Irish potato crop in the six states of this district. These figures indicate a commercial crop approx imately 17 per cent greater than was produced in these states in 1929. Potato Crop Prospects June 1 (Bushels) 1929 1930 2,596,000 2.480.000 763.000 1.181.000 305.000 150.000 966.000 1,340,000 151.000 136.000 135.000 165.000 5,592,000 4,776,000 Florida___ Alabama__ Georgia---Louisiana-. MississippiTennessee.. Total. -. Cotton Prices In the following tabulation are shown the weekly quotations of the average of spot cotton prices in May and early June at ten designated spot cotton markets, contained in the weekly statement issued by the Division of Cotton Marketing of the United States Bureau of Agricultural Economics. (Cents per pound) May 23- 1930 - 15.32 15.24 15.17 . 15.07 14.99 . 14.59 - 13.28 1929 18.25 18.02 18.32 18.28 17.92 18.57 18.50 3 MOVEMENT OF COTTON-UNITED STATES (Bales) August 1 to May 31 (303 days) 1930 Receipts at all U. S. Ports.................... 8,435,041 Overland across Mississippi, Ohio and Potomac Rivers to Nor. Mills and Canada............. -......................-........ 1,137,003 Interior stocks in excess of those held 729,053 at close of commercial year............ 4,487,000 Southern Mills takings, net................. 4,487,000 14,788,097 Total for 303 days.................................... 14,788,097 Foreign exports....................................... 6,294,601 ♦American Mills N. & S. and Canada. 6,555,717 Takings American cotton thus far— 12,681,000 1929 9,347,431 1928 8,281,493 1,406,679 99,451 4,414,570 15,268,131 7,400,449 7,199,991 14,510,000 1,129,185 253,982 4,232,303 13,896,963 1376637600 *Of which 1,682,274 by Northern spinners against 1,998,555 last year and 4,873,433 by Southern spinners against 5,201,436 last year. Sugar Cane The final report for the year 1929 issued by the United and Sugar States Department of Agriculture indicates the produc tion in Louisiana in that year of 199,609 short tons of sugar. Comparative figures taken from this report are shown below: 1929 Factories making sugar.................. 65 Sugar made, short tons.................... 199,609 Cane used for sugar, tons................ 2,917,925 Molasses made, gallons..................... 19,619,018 1928 55 132,053 1,860,251 13,534,589 1927 46 70,792 961,847 6,624,075 The present cane crop in Louisiana is not up to conditions at this time last year, because of less favorable weather. Recent cool spells have, however, been of short duration, and the crop is making progress in spite of them. SUGAR MOVEMENT (Pounds) RAW SUGAR Receipts: May 1930 April 1930 New Orleans— ..................... 190,161,058 195,267,302 Savannah.......... ..................... 73,257,888 53,204,312 Meltings: New Orleans ...................... 144,734,773 166,066,916 Savannah.......... .................... 36,299,681 50,242,489 Stocks: New Orleans..... .................... 151,243,014 105,988,479 Savannah.......... .................... 61,412,857 24,454,650 REFINED SUGAR (Pounds) May 1930 Shipments: April 1930 New Orleans. ....................... 144,947,495 135,428,004 Savannah.......... .................... 36,092,912 26,107,926 Stocks: New Orleans— .................... 107,388,640 112,047,948 Savannah......... ..................... 30,530,799 29,870,992 May 1929 137,718,802 9,963,950 167,797,976 7,482,091 157,175,161 79,807,383 May 1929 140,088,966 25,441,871 86,665,658 18,967,403 RICE MOVEMENT—New Orleans Rough Rice (Barrels): Mayl930 April 1930 14,263 Receipts............................................... 5,162 27,455 Shipments........................................... 10,773 Stocks.................................................. 12,819 26,011 Clean Rice (Pockets) 105,362 Receipts-.-.......... ............................... 61,762 107,430 Shipments........................................... 63,189 116,604 Stocks.......... ....................................... 118,972 RICE MILLERS’ ASSOCIATION STATISTICS (Barrels) Receipts of Rough Rice: May Season 1929-30............................ ...................................................... 182,598 Season 1928-29.................................................................................... 231,893 Distribution of Milled Rice: Season 1929-30................... -.............................................................. 652,662 Season 1928-29................... .................... ........................................... 714,677 Stocks of Rough and Milled Rice: June 1, 1930............................... ......................................................... 949,561 June 1, 1929........................................................................................ 1,311,568 19,235 39,229 2,838 133,187 125,528 162,392 Aug. 1 to May 31 8,958,305 8,846,730 9,092,035 8,716,354 TRADE Retail Trade The volume of retail trade in the sixth district during May declined in comparison with the preceding month, and with the corresponding month of 1929, but was larger than for other months of the present year. Stocks on hand at the end of May also declined compared with those for April, and for May last year. Aggregate sales in May by 43 reporting department stores located in 23 cities of the district averaged 2.7 per cent less than in April, and were 5.7 per cent smaller than in May 1929. There were increases at Birmingham, and Nashville, in May over April, but decreases compared with May a year ago are shown for all reporting cities. Total sales by these firms for the first five months of 1930 average 8.1 per cent smaller than for the same period of last year, the decreases for individual cities ranging from 4.1 per cent for Nashville to 11.5 per cent for Bir mingham. Stocks of merchandise on hand at the end of Mdy declined at all reporting cities compared with the month before, and averaged 8.5 per cent less than at the end of May last year. The decrease in stocks was somewhat greater than the decline in sales, and the average stock turnover for May, and for the first five months of the year, was slightly higher than for the same periods last year. M O N T H L Y R E V IE W 4 Accounts receivable at the end of May were 0.5 per cent larger than for April, but 0.03 per cent smaller than for May last year, and May collections increased 0.2 per cent over those in April but were 0.4 per cent less than in May 1929. The ratio of collections during May to accounts receivable and due at the beginning of the month for 33 firms was 31.4 per cent; for April this ratio was 31.8 per cent, and for May last year, 32.7 per cent. For May the ratio of collections against regular accounts outstanding for 33 firms was 33.5 per cent, and the ratio of collections against installment accounts for 9 firms was 16.2 per cent. Detailed comparisons of reported figures are shown in the table. RETAIL TRADE IN THE SIXTH DISTRICT DURING MAY 1930 BASED ON CONFIDENTIAL REPORTS FROM 43 DEPARTMENT STORES Comparison of Net Sales Comparison of Stocks May 31, 1930, May 1930 May 1930 Jan. 1 to May 31, May 31, 1930. with with with 1930, with same with May 31, 1929 May 1929 April 1930 period in 1929 April 30,1930 — 9.4 —12.9 - 4.7 -3 .1 -6 .4 Atlanta (5)—....... -11.5 + 8.5 — 3.6 - 4 .4 —9.9 Birmingham (4)._. — 6.0 — 0.2 — 0.6 - 5 .4 —2.6 Chattanooga (6). — 4.1 + 9.1 —1.4 + 3.0 —8.6 Nashville (4)___ —10.0 —12.5 —3.0 — 1.8 —3.4 New Orleans (4).. — 9.6 -14.0 — 0.3 -4 .1 -4 .0 Other Cities (20).. — 8.5 — 8.1 — 2.7 -3 .4 —5.7 DISTRICT (43). Note: The rate of stock turnover is the ratio of sales during given period to average stocks on hand. Rate of Stock Turnover May 1929 .28 .22 .19 .29 .17 .19 .21 May Jan. 1 to May 31, 1930 1929 1930 .30 1.43 1.55 1.01 .21 1.00 .19 .92 .89 .25 1.28 1.10 .21 .88 .89 .20 .92 .92 .23 1.03 1.04 Percentage change The volume of wholesale trade in the sixth district May 1930 compared with: declined further in May and was at the lowest level Line, item and area No. of firms April 1930 . May 1929 in about eight years. There were declines, compared Drugs: with the preceding month and with the corresponding month last Sales................................................... 8 — 3.6 —10.1 year, not only in sales, but in stocks, accounts receivable and collections. Accounts receivable........................ 4 — 0.2 +17.2 Collections........................................ 5 — 2.0 + 2.7 May sales by 119 reporting firms averaged 4.0 per cent smaller than in Shoes: April, and were 13.9 per cent less than in May 1929. There were in Sales................................................... 3 —16.1 -29.8 creases of 1.1 per cent in hardware and 8.7 per cent in electrical sup Stationery: Sales................................................... 4 —6.0 -16.9 plies, over April, and of 12.3 per cent in electrical supplies over May (a) Based upon confidential reports from 119 firms. a year ago, but decreases were shown in the other lines as indicated in the table following. The index number of combined sales by re Commercial Statistics compiled by R. G. Dun & Company indicate a porting wholesale firms for May is lower than for any other month Failures decline in the number of failures in the United States, since April 1922. and in the sixth district, during May as compared with Stocks of wholesale firms at the end of May averaged 3.5 per cent April, but an increase in liabilities. For the country as a whole in smaller than a month earlier and 6.2 per cent smaller than for May creases are shown in both number and liabilities over May last year, 1929. Accounts receivable averaged 2.9 per cent less than for April, while in the sixth district liabilities show an increaase but the number and 1.7 per cent less than for May last year, and collections during of failures was smaller. May were 4.6 per cent less than in April and 10.3 per cent smaller than There were 2,179 failures in the United States during May, com in May 1929. pared with 2,198 in April, and with 1,897 in May 1929, and liabilities Percentage comparisons of reported figures are shown in detail in the for May totaled $55,541,462, an increase of 13.2 per cent over the total table, and index numbers by lines of trade appear on the last page of of $49,059,308 for April, and 34.8 per cent greater than the total of this Review. $41,215,865 for May last year. WHOLESALE TRADE IN MAY 1930 In the sixth district there were 58 failures in May compared with 96 SIXTH FEDERAL RESERVE DISTRICT (a) in April, and with 82 in May last year, and May liabilities totaled Percentage change May 1930 compared with: $2,338,007, compared with $1,955,822 for April, an increase of 19.5 Line, item and area No. of firms April 1930 May 1929 per cent, and with $1,823,300 for May 1929, an increase of 28.2 per cent. All Lines: For the first five months of 1930 there have been 575 failures in the Sales... . 119 — 4.0 —13.9 sixth district, compared with 514 during the same period last year, 31 — 3.5 - 6.2 . 54 — 2.9 - 1.7 and liabilities have amounted to $12,384,000, a decrease of 3 per cent Collections.......... . 60 - 4.6 —10.3 compared with the total of $12,765,000 for the first five months of Groceries: 1929. Sales.......... ........... . 28 — 6.0 —12.6 Atlanta.......... 3 —16.3 —13.8 Imports and Exports There were increases shown in the value of merJacksonville4 — 4.4 —11.3 5 New Orleans— 3.1 -17.8 New Orleans chandise imported and exported, through the Vicksburg---3 —14.7 — 6.9 port of New Orleans during March, as com Other Cities. 13 — 3.3 -11.7 pared with the preceding month, but decreases occurred in both in Stocks on hand5 — 6.0 — 5.1 - 10 — 3.7 — 6.1 stances compared with March last year. Imports in March increased - 11 - 7.5 - 4.0 24.2 per cent over February, but were 17.6 per cent smaller than for Dry Goods: March 1929, and exports increased 21.6 per cent over those in Feb . 24 Sales..................... -13.1 -19.2 Atlanta........... . 3 —14.8 — 2.7 ruary, but were 12.9 per cent less than in March last year. For the Nashville....... 3 —13.9 - 1.3 first quarter of 1930 imports through the port of New Orleans have 3 New Orleans-22.9 -24.8 totaled $45,604,021, a decrease of 25.2 per cent compared with the 15 - 9.7 -26.5 11 - 3.7 -10.6 total of $60,955,294 for the same period of last year, and exports have - 13 - 4.0 - 8.8 totaled $87,613,930, a decline of 18.9 per cent compared with the total 15 - 5.3 -16.1 of $108,092,455 for the first quarter of 1929. Monthly totals for the Hardware: . 29 Sales-....... ........... past year are shown in the table. -16.6 + 1.1 3 Atlanta.......... — 4.8 - 7.6 1930: Imports Exports Nashville....... 4 + 2.1 —10.2 March..................................................................$16,891,996 $28,150,276 5 + 2.9 New Orleans. —24.0 February............................................................. 13,600,232 23,156,407 - 17 Other Cities+ 0.6 -14.3 36,307,247 January................................. ............................ 15,111,793 8 Stocks on hand- 3.5 - 3.9 15 + 0.5 — 2.5 1929: - 17 — 3.8 —19.4 December.............. :........................................... ..12,698,342 40,777,277 Furniture: November..............................................................11,461,169 34,380,175 12 —14.6 -26.8 October.................................................................15,584,478 37,066,274 5 Atlanta................. — 9.0 —19.0 September.............................................................12,542,333 27,304,613 7 Other Oities......... —16.0 —28.7 August................................................................ ..22,211,411 19,990,922 Stocks on hand........ 3 - 3.8 - 1.2 July..................................................................... ..13,094,502 25,659,069 Accounts receivable.. 7 -12.9 + 0.8 June.......................................................................15,470,126 32,778,678 Collections................. 6 - 2.1 — 3.6 May.......................................................................22,775,064 25,130,855 Electrical Supplies: April.................................................................... ..21,731,823 31,546,288 . 11 Sales.......... ................. + 8.7 +12.3 March.................................................................. ..20,487,805 32,334,987 .. 4 New Orleans....... +15.4 +18.5 .. 7 Other Oities........ + 3.5 + 7.4 Grain Exports Exports of grain through the port of New Orleans Digitized forStocks FRASER .. 4 on hand......... + 0.3 - 9.9 New Orleans during May were greater than in May 1929 because 5 Accounts receivable. + 1.2 + 5.7 http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 6 - 2.5 Collections................. of a large increase in the movement of wheat. Other 2.7 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Wholesale Trade 5 M O N T H L Y R E V IE W grains continue to show decreases, both for the month and for the season. The total movement since July 1. has been less than half as large as in the corresponding part of the preceding season. May 1930 Wheat, bu.—.......-...........- 935,288 Com, bu_____ _______ 12,428 Oats, bu...... ...................... - 30,034 Barley, bu...... ...................- ........... Rye, bu............................................. 977,750 Total, bu.. Mayl929 234,315 240,988 75,603 29,648 42,039 622,593 July 1 to May 31 1928-29 1929-30 5,570,011 8,577,423 11,586,517 469,340 630,515 545,159 3,871,788 68,336 298,070 26,393 21,956,901 9,686,651 INDUSTRY Building Statistics of building permits reported regularly to this bank from twenty cities in the sixth district show an increase in May as compared with April, but continued much smaller than for the cor responding month of last year. Building contracts awarded, however, not only showed a substantial increase for this district over April, but were greater than for May 1929. Total building permits issued at twenty regularly reporting cities in May amounted to $4,342,161, an increase of 8.5 per cent over the April total, but 44.2 per cent smaller than for May 1929. The large total reported for Nashville includes a permit for $1,500,000 covering a hos pital, nurses home, school and heating plant. There were increases over May last year at only four of the regularly reporting cities, Nash ville, Chattanooga, Mobile, and Macon, the other sixteen cities report ing decreases, most of them of rather large proportions. Cumulative totals for 1930 through May amount to $21,628,022 for these twenty cities, compared with $37,860,041 for the first five months of 1929, a decrease for the period of 42.9 per cent. Contract awards in the sixth district as a whole, compiled by the F. W. Dodge Corporation, amounted in May to $37,923,178, an increase of 74.4 per cent over the total for April, and 12.9 per cent greater than for May last year. The May total this year is larger than for any month since August last year. It was exceeded only twice during 1929, in August and June, it was larger than for any month in 1928, and was exceeded only twice, in November and March, during 1927. Figures for the different states of the district show increases in May over April in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi, but a decrease in Tennessee. Compared with May 1929, increases were shown for Florida and Mississippi, but decreases for the other states, as shown in the following table. These state totals are compiled by the F. W. Dodge Corporation. Parts of the Louisiana and Mississippi figures apply to other Federal Reserve Districts. May 1930 Alabama--..............$ 7,157,400 Florida....................- 13,248,900 Georgia.___ ____ 6,788,700 Louisiana-............... 4,836,100 Mississippi--.......... - 5,505,90 0 Tennessee (6th dist.) 4,528,400 April Percentage 1930 Change $2,714,300 +163.7 3,871,200 +242.2 3,943,000 + 72.2 2,154,000 +124.5 3,267,600 + 68.5 8,079,900 — 44.0 May Percentage 1929 Change $7,204,900 - 0.7 5,400,600 +145.3 8,516,600 — 20.3 8,017,500 - 39.7 3,245,800 + 69.6 6,364,900 — 28.9 These Dodge statistics also contain figures for ten individual cities of the sixth district, and six of these, Atlanta, Birmingham, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Tampa and Miami showed increases in May over April, the remaining four, Nashville, Knoxville, St. Petersburg and Palm Beach reporting decreases. Only two, however, Nashville and Knox ville, reported increases over May 1929. Cumulative totals for the first five months of 1930 show a total of $121,525,862 for the period, a decline of 15.9 per cent compared with the total of $144,471,780 for the same period of 1929. Total contract awards in the 37 states east of the Rocky Mountains during May amounted to $457,416,000, a decrease of 5 per cent com pared with the total for April and 22 per cent less than for May last year. For the year to date total awards have amounted to $2,037,439,900, a decline of 18 per cent compared with the same period of 1929. For the fifth consecutive month public works and utilities were the most important of all classes. Of the May total, $134,913,100, or 29 per cent, was for public works and utilities; $116,568,500, or 25 per cent, was for residential construction; $73,340,200, or 16 per cent was for commercial buildings, and $54,566,400, or 12 per cent, was for in dustrial structures. In the table are shown building statistics for reporting cities of the sixth district. -LU- Alabama: Anniston.............. Birmingham......... Mobile----- ------Montgomery____ Florida: Jacksonville-........ Miami....... ............ Orlando................. May 1930 May 1929 Number Value Number Value 15 $ 16,900 34 $ 45,550 364 345,225 528 601,101 65 241,275 74 133,169 118 84,435 216 382,499 298 155,190 354 538,345 332 210,503 375 700,361 58 80,215 46,790 86 change in value - 62.9 — 42.6 + 81.2 — 77.9 - 71.2 — 69.9 — 41.7 Percentage May 1930 May 1929 change Number Value Number Value in value Florida: 28,025 134 13 40,476 - 30.8 Pensacola-....... 238 81,343 255 337,054 — 75.9 Tampa.............. 9 9,650 8 4,000 +141.3 ♦Lakeland........ 717,175 75 1,085,200 — 33.9 77 ♦Miami Beach.. Georgia: 290 460,606 313 1,518,637 - 69.7 Atlanta............ 94 48,717 192 132,655 — 63.3 Augusta.......... 36 57,930 54 104,915 - 44.8 Columbus........ 253 103,304 121 62,438 + 65.5 Macon............... 11 82,900 29 Savannah........ 97,350 - 14.8 Louisiana: 117 239,199 206 New Orleans... 860,401 — 72.2 60 42,901 57 112,925 — 62.0 Alexandria___ Tennessee: 325 346 209,563 Chattanooga.. 184,427 + 13.6 10 20,110 20 Johnson City. 58,800 — 65.8 81 207,807 128 Knoxville........ 623,952 — 66.7 .. 229 1,659,438 180 1,160,482 + 43.0 Nashville......... 3,007 $4,342,161 3,702 $7,775,752 - 44.2 Total 20 Cities___ 38.6 Index No............... 9.1 *Not included in totals or index numbers. Lumber Weekly statistical reports compiled by the Southern Pine Association continue to indicate unfavorable comparisons in the lumber industry with conditions prevailing a year ago. The volume of orders booked by reporting members of that Association during the five weeks ending in May and the first week in June has been from 5.7 per cent to 18.7 per cent smaller than their production, and shipments have been from 5.2 per cent to 14.5 per cent less than pro duction. Actual output has ranged from 11.5 per cent to 22 per cent below the three-year average production of reporting mills. Press reports indicate that because of the small current volume of residential construction retailers are confining their orders to actual needs. Weekly figures reported to the Southern Pine Association by sub scribing mills are shown in the table. Number Week Ended: of Mills May 3, 1930 ............... 141 Mfay 10, 1930 ............... 140 May 17, 1930 ............... 143 May 24, 1930..______ 143 May 31, 1930 ............... 132 June 7, 1930. ................ 136 June 8, 1929 ................ 150 (In thousands of feet) Unfilled Orders Shipments ProductionOrders 57,939 58,884 62,130 180,012 50,421 54,201 59,142 175,497 50,106 53,067 59,277 172,389 51,933 50,883 55,085 176,022 49,476 57,225 53,480 160,062 44,541 46,851 54,801 158,067 54,428 62,646 65,916 231,443 Consumption of Cotton Statistics compiled by the United States Census Bureau indicate that there was a decline in the consumption of cotton by mills throughout the United States in May, compared with the month before, and with the same month of last year. Stocks of cotton declined seasonally compared with earlier months of the season, but were greater than a year ago, and the number of active spindles also showed declines in both comparisons. Consumption of cotton in the United States during May amounted to 473,917 bales, a decrease of 11 per cent compared with consump tion during April, and a decrease of 29.1 per cent compared with May of last year. May consumption was smaller this year than in May of any other year since 1921. Stocks of cotton in consuming establishments at the end of May exhibited a seasonal decline compared with those a month earlier, but were 3.8 per cent larger than a year ago. Stocks in public storage and at compresses also declined seasonally compared with those at the end of April, but were 80.8 per cent greater than for May 1929. Exports of cotton from the United States during May declined 40.3 per cent compared with April, were smaller by 33.3 per cent than in May last year, and smaller than for May of any year since 1923. The number of cotton spindles active in May was smaller by 485,948 than for April, and shows a decline of 2,562,748 compared with the number active in May 1929. Cumulative figures for the cotton season to date, August through May, show that consumption during this period has totaled 6,329,322 bales, a decrease of 15.7 per cent compared with consumption during the corresponding part of the preceding season, and exports during this period have totaled 5,329,916 bales, a decrease of 10.2 per cent compared with exports during the same part of last season. UNITED STATES (Bales) Cotton Consumed: May 1930 April 1930 Lint.............................................. 473,917 532,382 Linters......................................... 68,779 66,951 Stocks in Consuming Establishments: Lint.............................................. 1,531,346 1,667,394 Linters----------- ---------------237,505 238,509 Stocks in Public Storage and at Compresses: Lint....................... ..................... 3,337,360 3,636,296 Linters......................................... 89,173 238,509 Exports........ ...................................... 208,796 349,762 Imports................................... .......... 53,328 67,397 Active Spindles................................. 28,374,434 28,860,382 May 1929 668,650 79,911 1,475,837 232,249 1,845,771 77,406 313,003 42,486 30,937,182 M O N T H L Y R E V IE W Cotton Cloth Production and other figures for May were reported to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta by cotton cloth mills in the sixth district which produced during May 22, 580,000 yards of cloth, an output fractionally smaller than their production in April, and 16.8 per cent smaller than their output in May 1929. Decreases compared with April are also shown in orders, unfilled orders and in the number of workers, but shipments and stocks on hand were somewhat larger. Compared with May last year all reported items show decreases except stocks on hand and unfilled orders. Percentage change May 1930 compared with: April 1930 May 1929 —16.8 Production....................................-................................ — 0.7 Shipments...................................................................... + 3.8 —16.3 Orders booked.............................................................. —41.0 —38.5 Unfilled orders--........................................................- —6.2 + 1.7 +10.6 Stocks on hand—............. ......... ................................. + 1 .0 Number on payroll........ .......... — ...........-................ —0.6 —11.6 Cotton Yarn May figures were also reported to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta by cotton yarn mills whose output during that month was 6,651,000 pounds of yam, a decrease of 6.1 per cent com pared with April, and 12.5 per cent smaller than their production in May 1929. Stocks, shipments and number of workers increased somewhat over April, but orders and unfilled orders show decreases, and compared with May last year unfilled orders and stocks show increases but other reported items show decreases as indicated in the table. Percentage change May 1930 compared with: April 1930 May 1929 Production........... -..................................................— — 6.1 — 12.5 — 16.6 Shipments......................-............................................. + 1 .0 Orders booked............. —........................... ................. —13.1 — 6.4 Unfilled orders................-.......... ................................. —9.2 + 22.8 Stocks on hand-..-....................................................... + 8.2 +115.2 — 9.0 Number on payroll..................... ................................. + 1.1 Cottonseed Products Statistics compiled by the United States Census Bureau covering the period August 1 through May continue to show decreases, compared with the corresponding period of the preceding season, in the amount of cottonseed received at mills in the United States, and the amount crushed, and in the pro duction of most cottonseed products. Increases are shown in stocks of cotton seed on hand at the end of May, in stocks of linters, and a small gain is shown in output of hulls. Figures for this district, how ever, show increases in most of these comparisons, excepting in stocks of cake and meal and hulls on hand May 31. Receipts of cotton seed at mills throughout the country during the ten months of the present cotton season were 1.7 per cent, and the amount crushed 1.6 per cent, smaller than during the same part of the preceding season. Stocks of cotton seed on hand May 31, however, were 16.3 per cent larger than a year ago. Production of crude oil * during this period was 2.6 per cent, cake and meal 2.9 per cent, and linters 4.9 per cent, smaller than for the same period a year ago while output of hulls was 0.6 per cent larger. Stocks of linters on hand at mills May 31 were 43.8 per cent larger than a year ago, and supplies of crude oil, cake and meal, and hulls show decreases of 34.5 per cent, 47.8 per cent, and 50.9 per cent, respectively. Combined figures for Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, reflecting the larger cotton crop produced in 1929, show increases of 23.8 per cent in receipts of cotton seed at mills, 24.2 per cent in the amount crushed, and 23.0 per cent in stocks of cotton seed on hand. Increases are also shown in production of crude oil, amounting to 20.5 per cent, cake and meal 23.5 per cent, hulls 28.6 per cent, and linters 14.2 per cent, over output during the first ten months of the preceding season. Stocks of crude oil on hand at mills in these four states on May 31 were 13.6 per cent greater than a year ago, and stocks of linters were 56.2 per cent greater, but stocks of cake and meal were 61.8 per cent, and stocks of hulls 26.4 per cent, less than at the end of May 1929. Cumulative totals are shown in the table. COTTON SEED AND COTTON SEED PRODUCTS (1) Sixth District United States Aug. 1 to May 31, Aug. 1 to May 31, 1929-1930 1928-1929 1929-1930 1928-1929 Cotton Seed, Tons: 1,848,939 1,494,033 4,944,734 5,028,404 Received at mills— 4,867,245 4,945,881 Crushed— .............. 1,800,256 1,449,341 49,395 60,769 116,980 100,556 On Hand, May 3 1 Production: Crude Oil, lbs......... 580,427,411 481,660,483 1,522,840,472 1,563,813,722 773,695 628,508 2,163,276 Cake and Meal, tons 2,226,860 396,885 510,575 Hulls,tons---------1,343,073 1,335,074 314,973 1,005,037 Linters, bales......... 359,735 1,057,357 Stocks at Mills, May 31: 6,273,781 5,521,637 21,557,461 32,910,985 Crude Oil, lbs.......... 66,852 25,513 99,580 190,884 Cake and Meal, tons 16,353 22,211 51,487 104,898 Hulls, tons............... 54,554 34,924 187,174 Linters, bales------130,139 (1) Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. Bituminous Coal Mining Statistics compiled by the United States Bureau of Mines show that there was a decline in the average daily production of bituminous coal in the United States during May, as compared with -April, and with May last year, although the total output in May, because of the longer month, showed a fractional increase over April. Total production of bituminous coal in the United States during May amounted to 35,954,000 tons, three-tenths of one per cent larger than output in April, but smaller by 11.7 per cent than in May 1929. The average daily output in May was 2 per cent smaller than in April. The number of working days in May of both years was 26.4, while in April there were 25.8 working days. Weekly figures show that there was a decrease shown for each of the weeks in May, and also the first week in June, compared with corres ponding weeks of last year. Output for the last week in May was lower in both years than for other weeks because of the observance of the Memorial Day holiday in many fields. The weekly figures for Alabama output also were smaller than for those weeks of last year, but in Tennessee increases were shown for all of these weeks excepting that ending May 24, when output was slightly smaller than a year ago. These figures are shown comparatively in the table. (In thousands of tons) United States Alabama 1930 1929 Week Ending: ___ 1930 1929 8,335 May 3..............................8,335 8,898 313 342 May 10.......................... 8,285 9,264 289 335 May 17..................................... 8,169 9,058 274 330 May 24.................... 8,272 9,286 271 330 7,590 8,547 May 31.................... 266 329 June 7.............................8,154 8,154 9,278 — Tennessee 1930 1929 104 96 126 103 96 94 93 94 101 93 — Cumulative output for the year through June 7, approximately 135 working days, has continued smaller than for the same period of other recent years, as indicated by the following comparative totals for that period: 1930......................................................................................................... 1929.......................................................................................................... 1928..................................................... -.................................................. 1927.......................................................... ............................................. 1926........................................................ —........................................... Tons 205,073,000 226,455,000 208,771,000 246,080,000 237,404,000 Production of Pig Iron According to statistics compiled and published by the Iron Age, there was a small increase in the total production of pig iron by furnaces in the United States during the month of May, over output in the shorter month of April, but the daily average output declined, and production for the month shows a substantial decline compared with May last year. Output in Alabama was fractionally larger in May than in April, but the daily average declined, and a small decrease is shown compared with May 1929. The number of active furnaces remained the same in Alabama, but declined for the country as a whole. Total production of pig iron in the United States during May amounted to 3,232,760 tons, an increase of 1.6 per cent over output during the 30-day month of April, but 17.1 per cent smaller than in May 1929. The daily average rate of output in May, however, was 1.7 per cent less than for April. There was a loss of 3 in the number of furnaces active on June 1 as compared with a month earlier, and a decrease of 39 as compared with the number active on June 1, 1929. Output in Alabama during May totaled 234,289 tons, an increase of only one-tenth of one per cent over production in April, and four-tenths of one per cent smaller than output in May last year. Daily average production in May was, however, 3.1 per cent smaller than in April. The number of furnaces active on June 1 remained at 17, as for the three preceding months, and was the same as for that date last year. Press reports indicate that orders continue small. Those who placed con tracts at the beginning of the quarter still have unshipped tonnages sufficent for their requirements, and those who have not covered are buying only for requirements of actual orders booked. Stocks at furnaces are reported lower than at any other time in the past year and a half. The base price for district shipments in June continued at $14, and books had not opened for third quarter business. Production figures are shown in tabular form for convenience of comparison: United States: Production (tons)-----Index Number----------Average per day (tons).. *Active furnaces............ Alabama: Production (tons)......... Index Number................. Average per day (tons). ♦Active furnaces............ May 1930 3,232,760 108.2 104,283 180 234,289 100.9 7,558 17 April 1930 3,181,868 106.5 106,062 183 233,972 100.7 7,799 17 May 1929 3,898,082 130.5 125,745 219 235,117 101.2 7,584 17 7 M O N T H L Y R E V IE W Cumulative production of pig iron in the United States during the first five months of 1930 has amounted to 15,327,183 tons, a decline of 14.5 per cent compared with the total of 17,923,735 for the same part of last year, and output during this period in Alabama has totaled 1,150,916 tons, a decrease of 2.8 per cent compared with the total of 1,183,512 for the first five months of 1929. Unfilled Orders of the U. S. Steel Corporation According to press reports total unfilled orders of the United States Steel Corpora tion at the end of May amounted to 4,059,227 tons, a decrease of 294,993 tons compared with the total a month earlier, and smaller by 244,940 tons than for the corresponding time last year. Naval Stores Because of favorable weather conditions in the naval stores territory, and due in part to the fact operators are moving their products to market more rapidly than in former seasons, receipts of both turpentine and rosin in May were larger than in that month of most other recent years. According to press reports demand has been less than might be expected for the season, and stocks at the close of May were somewhat larger than a month earlier, although the increase in stocks was small as compared with the larger receipts. May receipts of turpentine at the three principal naval stores markets of the district increased 74.3 per cent over those in April, were 11.6 per cent greater than in May 1929, and were greater than for May of any other recent year. Receipts of rosin in May increased 73.1 per cent over those in April, and were 9.5 per cent larger than in May 1929. Rosin receipts in May this year were smaller by 11 barrels than in May 1927, but with this exception were the largest for that month of any other recent year. Stocks of turpentine at the end of May show an increase of 34.5 per cent over those for April; they were smaller than for May 1929, but were larger than for May of other recent years. Sup plies of rosin on hand at the close of May were 5.7 per cent larger than for April, and 19.1 per cent greater than for May last year. They were also larger than for May 1928, 1926, and 1920, but were smaller than for May of 1927, and the years 1921 through 1925. According to statis tics published in the Naval Stores Review, the prices of turpentine and all grades of rosin on June 13 were lower than at any time during the past five seasons. Turpentine, in fact, was at the lowest level for twelve years. Buying has been principally in small lots and press reports attribute this largely to the lack of strength in prices due to the larger receipts from producers. Receipts—Turpentine (1): Savannah............................... ........... Jacksonville..-................................. Pensacola............................ -............ Total....... ......................... ........... Receipts—Rosin (2): Savannah........................................... Jacksonville....................................... Pensacola......................................... Total................................................. Stocks—Turpentine (1): Savannah................... ..................... Jacksonville....................................... Pensacola........................................... Total............................................ Stocks—Rosin (2): Savannah.................. ............. -........ Jacksonville....................-................. Pensacola........................................... Total....... ..................................... (1) Barrels of 50 gallons. (2) Barrels of 500 pounds. May 1930 25,284 17,736 5,783 48,803 April 1930 May 1929 21,225 13,507 16,144 10,700 6,353 3,792 43,722 27,999 77,751 55,279 17,356 150,386 41,122 34,747 11,004 86,873 67,675 52,970 16,739 137,384 14,919 14,136 18,075 47,130 5,288 11,229 18,536 35,053 14,466 18,258 20,812 53,536 74,089 58,017 11,578 143,684 58,761 69,197 8,000 135,958 66,536 41,046 13,083 120,665 8 M O N T H L Y R E V IE W MONTHLY INDEX NUMBERS The following index numbers, except as indicated otherwise, are computed by the Federal Reserve Bank of A tlanta monthly. The index numbers of retail and wholesale trade are based upon sales figures reported confidentially by representative firms in tne lines of trades indicated, and the other series of index numbers are based upon figures reported to the bank or currently available through the daily or trade press. These index numbers, except as indicated in the foot-notes, are based upon the monthly averages for the three year period 1923-25 as represented by 100. RETAIL TRADE 6th DISTRICT (Department Stores) March 1930 April 1930 May 1930 March 1929 April 1929 May 1929 A tla n ta .. .................... ...................... ........................ Birmingham___________________________ Chattanooga_________ _________________ Nashville____________ ______ __________ New Orleans______ ____________________ Other C itie s..________ _________________ D IST R IC T ___________________________ 133.1 9 7 .6 7 3.1 100.0 7 9 .2 8 9.3 9 3 .0 153.2 9 4 .8 8 1 .8 110.1 9 1.3 9 8 .0 104.0 133.4 102.8 8 1.3 113.3 8 9 .7 9 7 .3 101.Op 153.8 119.5 9 0.9 116.6 9 7 .4 113.4 113.0 146.1 9 9.1 8 2 .8 103.9 9 4 .8 9 9 .6 104.0 142.6 114.2 8 3 .6 124.1 9 2 .4 1 02.4 108.6 RETAIL TRADE U. S. (1) Department Stores....... ...................................... 95. 112r 110. 104. 110. WHOLESALE TRADE 6th DISTRICT Groceries___________ ________________ Dry G oods.......... ................................... ............. Hardware............. ................................................. Furniture_______________________ ____ Electrical Supplies................... ........................... Shoes............... ............................... ........................ Stationery....... ................................ ...................... Drugs...................................................... ............... TOTAL................................................................. 8 5 .0 7 3 .0 74.1 9 2.3 91.1 8 2 .3 6 4 .0 101.7 8 1 .4 8 2 .3 6 8 .9 7 3 .7 7 7 .7 8 2.3 7 6 .3 5 6 .3 101.5 7 8 .0 7 7 .4 60.3 7 3 .9 6 6 .4 8 9.3 6 4.0 5 2 .9 9 8.1 '7 4 .6 8 9 .9 8 9 .4 8 6 .5 9 8 .9 8 1.7 102.7 6 8.3 100.3 89.1 8 7 .8 8 3 .6 9 0 .9 9 8 .0 9 5 .4 1 01.4 7 4 .3 108.1 8 9.9 8 7 .8 7 3 .3 9 1 .7 9 0 .6 8 0 .9 9 1 .2 6 3 .6 111.7 8 7 .2 WHOLESALE PRICES U. S. (2) Farm Products............ ........................................ Foods....................................................................... Hides and leather products............................ Textile products................................................ Fuel and lighting....................... ......................... Metals and metal products............................. Building materials__________ ______ _ Chemicals and drugs..................... .................... Housefumishing goods...................................... M iscellaneous................... ........................... ........ ALL COM M ODITIES.................................... 9 4.7 9 3 .9 103.2 8 6 .5 7 7 .4 100.6 9 5 .4 9 1 .2 9 6 .5 7 8 .2 9 0.8 9 5 .8 9 4 .6 102.7 8 5 .5 7 7 .9 9 8 .8 9 4 .7 9 1 .0 9 6 .2 7 8 .5 90.7 9 3 .0 9 2 .0 102.6 8 4 .6 7 8 .0 9 6 .8 9 2 .9 8 9 .9 9 6 .2 7 7 .5 89.1 107.1 9 8.1 108.3 9 6.1 8 0 .6 106.4 9 8.8 9 5 .6 9 6 .5 8 0 .0 9 7 .5 104.9 9 7 .7 107.9 9 5 .5 8 0 .6 1 06.4 9 7 .9 9 4 .9 9 6.7 7 9 .2 9 6 .8 102.2 9 7 .7 106.8 9 4 .2 8 1.1 105.2 9 6 .8 9 4 .2 9 6.7 7 9 .6 9 5 .8 BUILDING PERM ITS 6th DISTRICT A tlanta_____________________________ Birmingham...................... ............................. ...... Jacksonville........................................................... Nashville_____ ____________ - .................... New Orleans_________________________ Other Cities.................... ...................................... D ISTRICT (20 Cities)_______________ 136.8 2 5.8 3 5 .2 7 9 .0 6 5.8 4 3 .8 58.1 5 6 .6 2 1 .9 3 1 .0 7 5 .9 2 2 .0 3 2 .5 3 5 .6 2 9 .8 2 3.3 18.9 2 6 1 .6 1 8.6 2 7.1 3 8 .6 114.6 5 0 .4 5 1 .0 8 0 .3 154.6 4 6 .0 7 0 .7 7 0 .9 223 .0 56.1 8 7 .1 3 8 .5 4 2 .9 7 3 .4 9 8 .2 4 0.5 6 5.4 182.9 6 6.8 5 6 .5 69.1 CONTRACTS AWARDED 6th DISTRICT 5 9 .5 6 2 .0 108.0 7 2 .4 106.7 9 5 .7 COTTON CONSUMED: United States.......................... ............... ............. Cotton-Growing States..................................... All Other States................... ............................... Exports............... .............— .................................... 100.1 113.0 7 1 .5 7 7 .7 104.7 118.2 7 5.1 5 6.9 9 3 .2 3 4 .0 1 2 4 .5 137.5 9 5 .8 9 0 .4 124.3 136.8 9 6 .8 7 3 .8 131.5 144.4 103.1 5 0 .9 PIG IRON PRODUCTION: United States........................................................ Alabama................................................................. UNFILLED ORDERS—U. S. STEEL CORPORATION................................................. 108.7 105.9 106.5 100.7 108.2 100.9 124.3 107.3 123.1 101.5 130.5 101.2 9 5.7 9 1 .2 8 5 .0 9 2 .4 9 2 .7 9 0.1 (1) Compiled by Federal Reserve Board. (2) Compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. p-Preliminary. r-Revised. B ase 1926-100.
@FedFRASER