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MONTHLY BUSINESS REVIEW Covering financial, industrial, and agricultural conditions in the Fourth Federal Reserve District D. C. WILLS, Chairman of the Board and Federal Reserve Agent Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Vol* 7 General Cleveland, Ohio, April 1, 1925 On the whole, business conditions have shown no material change during the month of February. Some disappoint ment is expressed with the situation, but this largely is due to the fact that people expected too much, rather than to any unfavorable turn in the trend of business. Looking at the situation from the viewpoint of what has actually taken place, rather than from the viewpoint of those who expected a “boom,” it is evident that a real improvement has occurred during the past months. Business in many lines is considerably better than it was last summer, and also compares favor ably with a year ago. The improvement above noted, how ever, has been conservative and orderly, rather than spec tacular. In an effort to find out as definitely as possible just how conditions in the Fourth District have compared with last year, this bank recently asked a large number of man ufacturers in the District to state whether their business, particularly orders ahd sales, during the first two months of 1925, was better or worse than during the same period in 1924. Of the replies received, slightly more than onebalf reported conditions as being better in 1925 than in 1924; about one-third stated that business was not so good as last year; while the remaining one-sixth reported prac tically no change. The following gives the comparison of the two-months' period by industries, wherever the data was sufficient to indicate the trend: Iron and Steel: Pig iron and steel ingot production greater by about 8 and per cent, respectively. Coal: Depression both in 1924 and 1925; indications that 1925 has been somewhat below 1924. Tires; Considerably better this year. Building: Value of permits 36 per cent ahead of last year. Lumber: Reports conflicting. General feeling is that 1925 compares unfavorably with 1924. Building Brick: Orders and shipments less in 1925. Textiles: In general, about the same or a little better than last year. Agricultural Implements: Somewhat better in 1925. Paint: Markedly better this year. Paper: Better this year. No* 4 Electrical: Not much change. Stoves: Business less than last year. Glass: Better in 1925. Miscellaneous: Striking a rough average, 1925 on the whole has been slightly better than last year. Retail Trade: Department store sales 4 per cent under last year. Wholesale Trade: Hardware sales slightly ahead of 1924; other lines less, particularly dry goods with a 20 per cent decrease. Financial Conditions The four weeks ending March 11 were marked by an increase in the total earn ing assets of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, which totaled 125 millions on March 11 as compared with 117 mil lions on February 11 . This gain was entirely due to an increase in bills discounted, which rose from 33 mil lions to 51 millions. The latter amount is the highest for 1925 to date, and was 23 per cent above a year ago. Holdings of acceptances and government securities both declined during the period under review, the former from 37 to 31 millions and the latter from 45 to 43 millions. For the Federal Reserve System, bills discounted rose from 332 millions on February 11 to 410 millions on March 11. The latter figure is considerably under a year ago, when discounts totaled 483 millions. Both acceptances and government securities held continued to show a de clining tendency. On March 11, acceptances stood at 301 millions and government securities at 388 millions. Gold reserves also showed a further decline, amounting to 2,875 millions on March 11 as against 2,896 millions on February 11. On February 27 the Federal Reserve Bank of New York raised its rediscount rate on all classes of paper from 3 per cent to 3J4 per cent The Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and San Francisco banks now have a Zl/2 per cent rate, while the other seven banks maintain a 4 per cent rate. Loans and discounts of reporting member banks in the Fourth District stood at 1,192 millions on March 4, a gain of 22 millions for the month. Between Feb ruary 4 and March 4 demand deposits declined from 1,022 millions to 1,000 millions, while time deposits rose THE MO N T H L Y B U S I N E S S REVIEW 2 from 707 millions to 717 millions. For all reporting member banks in the country, loans and discounts amounted to 13,243 millions on March 4 as compared with 13,113 millions on February 4 and 11,935 millions on March 5, 1924. Demand deposits on March 4 were 12,924 millions, a loss of 115 millions for the month but a gain of 1,750 millions for the year. Time deposits rose from 4,900 millions on February 4 to 4,945 millions on March 4, the latter figure being 751 millions greater than a year ago. Savings deposits of 67 banks in the Fourth Federal Reserve District amounted to $821,087,853 on February 28, 1925, a gain of 0.5 per cent over the preceding month and of 7.6 per cent over a year ago. Commercial failures in the Fourth District numbered 120 in February as compared with 135 a year ago, ac cording to R. G. Dun & Company. Liabilities were $2,057,013 as against $2,824,143. For the United States, February failures numbered 1,793 in 1925 and 1,730 in 1924. Liabilities were $40,123,017 in February, 1925, and $35,924,037 in 1924. Iron and Steel Iron and steel production is holding up surprisingly near to a high record basis and a material step-down which it was thought might develop by this time has not yet put in its appearance. Gen eral operations probably are off 5 per cent on the aver age from the peak point reached late in February, but still are maintaining an activity of around 85 to 90 per cent of capacity. The mills have continued to profit from the heavy bookings taken in November and December against estimated first quarter requirements. Monthly quotas under these contracts have been taken out al most to the limit and shipments from producers into distributing channels have been very heavy. These speci fications, plus a considerable amount of new business, have kept plants operating in high gear. New buying at present cannot be described as generally vigorous, and April promises to tell the story as to whether actual consumption has kept pace with production; for by that time first quarter tonnage will have been worked off by the mills. At this time buyers are showing conservatism in making future obligations, due apparently to the fact that prices are considerably higher than in the first quar ter, and there is a disposition to await the definite de velopment of the business situation. The automobile industry has been one of the conserva tive factors, but more liberal releases of tonnage are now coming from that source as production schedules are swinging out. Building requirements have remained large. Railroad buying has been fair and is again expanding, particularly in equipment contracts which are running well ahead of February. Miscellaneous industry which generates the big call for iron and steel appears to be enjoying a fair enlargement. The peak of steel production apparently was reached in February, which showed a gain of only .06 per cent as pom/pared with increases of 13.3 and 9.9 per cent in Jan uary and December, respectively. The annual rate of steel ingot output in February was 48,400,000 tons com pared with a rate of 48,150,000 tons in January. February production represented 96.7 per cent of the high water m ark in steel ingot output for all time attained last March. The February pig iron output as compiled by IRON T R A D E REVIEW was the highest for that month in history both in gross total and in daily average. It ran at the an nual rate of 40,650,000 tons compared with an annual rate of 39,700,000 tons in January. The daily average w as 114,645 tons compared with 108,781 tons in January, a gain of 5.4 per cent. At the close of February the furnaces in blast totaled 256, a gain of five in the month. T he active list represents 62.3 per cent of the total num ber of furnaces in the country. Iron and steel prices have shown some tendency to give ground. Advances of $2 per ton in finished steel products to apply to second quarter which were posted in January on the strength of heavy first quarter bookings have not held. Most of the business being done in the heavier lines is on the basis of $2 per ton lower than the maximum quotations. There is no real weakness to the market, however, except in sheets where, because of the large productive capacity and the delayed automo tive buying, competition has been unusually keen. T he range in going prices on this product has been from $ 4 to $6 per ton. Conservatism in asking price advances has become more marked among steel producers, who count themselves satisfied if they can maintain an even keel cm the present basis. n The pig iron market has eased up, with reductions o? 50 cents to $1 per ton quoted in various centers. H eavier foreign importations have been a factor in softenin* tZ market m the East. Consumers of pig iron are s W ing the same attitude of picking their way in c o n t r ^ / mg for the second quarter that prevails in finished steel IRON TRADE REVIEW composite of fourteen 1 ing iron and steel products definitely reflects the tr*„H and range of recent changes. This index as of M arch lft stood at $40.63. On the corresponding date one m onth previously it was $41.06. The recent high point was $ 4 1 ™ m the first and second weeks in February. Iron and Steel Production PIG IRON STEEL IN G O T S (Iron Trade Review) (American Iro n 6? Mcel Institute) Un thous. of tons) (In thous. of tons) 1925 1924 1925 1924 ^372 January............... February............. 3,210 March.................. April.................... ........ May..................... ........ une..................... uiy ........ .................. August................. ........ September........... ........ October................ ........ November............ ...!! December....................... . Total............................... J 3,015 3,072 3,465 3,226 2,620 2,022 1,783 1,883 2,054 2,462 2,515 2,956 31,077 ;U80 •'.‘40 — 11 3,634 31809 4,188 3,334 2,628 -*056 1,869 2,542 2,815 3,1U 3,107 3*SS2 36.64S THE M O N T HL Y B U S I N E S S REVIEW Coal and Coke There appears to have been practically no improvement in the coal situation in this District during the past month. The depression caused by the exccss of operating capacity over demand still con tinues, and even in the face of a marked decline in pro duction during the past few weeks, demand has been slow and prices unsatisfactory. Some idea of the general condition of the bituminous industry throughout the country may be gained from the fact that of 1,837 mines reporting to the Geological Survey on January 24, 1925, only 396, or 21.6 per cent, were working full time, while 480, or 26.0 per cent, wTcre entirely idle. Efforts are be ing made by operators to improve the situation, an ex ample of which is the pending consolidation of 80 West Virginia mines which was noted in last month’s Review. According to the Geological Survey, production of bi tuminous coal in the United States declined sharply dur ing the seven weeks ending February 28, amounting to 1.5 million tons per day for the week ending February 28 as compared with slightly over 2 million tons for the week ending January 10. There was a similar decline last year, which, although less marked during its earlier stages, continued through the week ending April 12. This year the week ending March 7 showed a slight gain, produc tion amounting to 1,566,000 tons per dav as compared to 1,501,000 tons the preceding week. On February 21, the percentage of full-time output in mines in this District ranged from 36.6 per cent in Northern and Central Ohio to 68.4 per cent in the Westmoreland region of Pennsylvania. As compared with a year ago, the percentage of full-time output was considerably less in the case of mines in Northern and Central Ohio, Cen tral Kentucky, and the Pittsburgh district, while the West moreland and Central fields were operating at greater capacity than a year ago. The price of bituminous coal per net ton (Coal Age average) was $2.04 in February as compared with $2.10 in January and $2.25 in February a year ago. Coke stood at $3.62 per net ton in February as compared with $3.94 last month and $4.08 last year. Exports of bituminous coal from this country amounted to 15,240.000 net tons in 1924, a decrease of 3,912,000 from 1923. With the exception of 1922, exports in 1^24 were the smallest for any year since 1914. Estimated production of anthracite for the four weeks ending March 7 amounted to 6,^22,000 net tons as com pared with 7,303,000 net tons during the corresponding period last year. The total estimated world production of all coal in 1924 was 1,350,000,000 metric tons, of which the United States produced 520,420,000 metric tons, or 38 per cent. Production of beehive coke declined steadily between February 7 and March 7, the principal loss occurring in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The output for 1925 to March 7 amounted to 2,469,000 net tons as against 2,665,000 last year. Pennsylvania and Ohio together produced 1,944.000 tons in 1925 to March 7 as compared with 2.143,000 tons in 1924. 3 Oil The markets for both crude oil and re fined products have been easier the past month, and recent price declines in gaso line raise the question of whether the oil industry is to experience this year a repetition of conditions in the past three years, when price declines were entered into at the time of year when it would naturally be expected that oil markets would be strongest. While crude production has declined consistently this year in practically all fields and is now down to about 1,925,000 barrels a day, as compared with 2,000,000 bar rels in January, according to figures reported to Na tional Petroleum News, gasoline and motor oil is in its period of lowest consumption for the year, and it is very possible that total stocks, both of crude oil and refined products, for the country are being added to rather than drawn upon. Automobiles Production of both passenger cars and trucks during February increased season ally over January, Truck production was also ahead of February, 1924, but passenger car output continued to run far below last year’s figure. For the first two months of 1925, total production amounted to 508,090 cars and trucks, according to figures furnished by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. This total is 25 per cent below 1924 and 3 per cent below 1923. Automobile manufacturers appear to have become more optimistic recently, it being stated that a conservative pro duction program has been followed by most companies for several months, with the result that the overproduc tion which took place in the first quarter of 1924 is not being duplicated this year. Indications are that dealers generally are not overstocked. In the Fourth District, reports from truck manufacturers, though somewhat con flicting. indicate that the 1925 volume of business in gen eral has been satisfactory so far, and automobile parts are also being sold in good volume. Automobile Production 1924-1925 Figures Represent Practically Complete Production and Are Based upon Reports Received by theFederal Reserve Bank of Chicago in Co-operation with the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce from Identical Firms Each Month. 1925 1924 Passenger Passenger Cars Trucks Cars Trucks January................ 203,757 25,650 287,211 28,247 February.............. 246,669 32,014 336,284 30,399 March......................................................... 348,287 33,061 April............................................................ 336,968 34,977 May............................................................ 279,385 32,326 June............................................................ 217,845 27,040 July............................................................. 237,431 24,895 August........................................................ 251,553 26,781 September............ ............................. 260,091 30,154 October....................................................... 257,839 30,597 November................................................... 201,652 26,246 December................................................... 178,570 25,333 Total. 3,193,116 350,056 4 Tires T H E M O N T H L Y B U S I N E S S RJEVI EW Tire manufacturers in this District re port that the first two months of this year brought a considerably greater vol ume of business than January and Feb ruary of 1924. Production is running at higher levels than last year, and demand is said to be very satisfactory, particularly for balloon tires. Stocks of inner tubes in manufacturers’ hands on February 1, however, were rather high for that time of year. As stated in previous Reviews, the price of crude rubber has been the adverse factor in the tire industry for some time. This declined early in February, but rose again toward the end of the month, and on March 6 stood at 39 cents per pound as compared with 25 cents a year ago. The possibility of higher tire prices has been men tioned from time to time, but as yet nothing has oc curred along this line. Earnings of tire companies have improved, however, even under the depressing price sit uation. The latest report of the Rubber Association of America, giving information as of February 1, shows that stocks of inner tubes in manufacturers’ hands continued to climb during January. Although production declined slightly from December, it was still 15 per cent greater than shipments, which also declined. Stocks have been rising since September, and on February 1 were over 15 per cent higher than a year ago. The seasonal rise in stocks began earlier than usual last fall, and on February 1 in ventory was not much below the peak of last year, w h ich was not reached until May 1. Balloon tube shipments took another sharp jump in January, amounting to 538,533 tubes as compared to 427,111 in D ecem b er, a gain of 26 per cent for the month. Production rose from 444,794 tubes in December to 585,243 in January, and inventory rose from 870,383 tubes in December to 920,728 in January. pectations for the first two months of the year. The price of hides has softened, being l2>l/ 2 cents a pound on M arch 13 as compared with 15 cents a month ago, but is still 3 ^ cents a pound higher than a year ago. Leather prices have undergone no change of importance during the past month. Sales of reporting wholesale shoe firms in this D istrict showed an increase of 13.4 per cent in February as com pared to January, but a decrease of 9.6 per cent from February, 1924. Final figures furnished by the Bureau of the Census place the production of boots and shoes of about 1,200 factories in the United States in January at 26,067,930 pairs as compared with 24,602,393 pairs in December. P ro duction in the Fourth District gained 20 per cent from December. Various lines of manufacture in the Fourth District report improvement in business during the past month. T his is particularly true of the paint indus try, in which the unusually good busi ness of recent months still continues, with heavy ord ers and capacity production. The demand for glass has im proved, due in part to a drop in receipts of imported glass and to increased requirements by the automobile indus try. Lead manufacturers report capacity business and a very encouraging outlook. Orders for electrical products have recently increased somewhat. Conditions are al<^ better in the paper trade and in certain lines of m ach in ed manufacture. Several lines such as pottery and cork „ port that there has been little change during the m onth' There are but few spots of depression; perhaps the m ™ noticeable are the stove manufacturing industry, which h ,I been characterized by dullness for some months, and in the boxboard industry, which slumped during the month as a result of overproduction during the w inter Textiles Reports indicate that conditions in the Prices on the whole have shown but little change d „r textile industry in this District are about the same as last month. As compared •ng the month. Employment is somewhat greater in few lines. Buying on the part of customers is still con* with last year, the volume of business servative. to n * being done by some lines, such as worsted goods, is greater; by others, such as knit goods, less. Prices show no great change from a month ago, Tobacco The selling season for burley tobacco but in some cases are considerably under last year. Raw is drawing to a close, and no im portant cotton, for example, stood at 24.70 cents per pound in sales have been announced recently February as compared with 31.88 a year ago. Similarly, Sales at some of the independent w arecotton yarn fell from 49.20 to 42.60 cents per pound; houses have already closed for the sea cotton goods, from 17.15 to 15.66 cents per yard; and son. On March 13 the Burley Tobacco Growers’ A sso silk, from 7.64 to 6.86 dollars per pound. Raw wool, c.ation mailed out checks to members aggregating ^ I on the other hand, has receded only slightly from the ,Q Vburley ^ Se,U'ng final ofPa™ t on crop. tHe This.f°Urth makesand a total $49,389,270 high level attained in December, and in February stood the 1922 paid to members on that crop. According to the at 68.8 cents per pound as against 56.5 cents last year. port of the Commissioner of Agriculture, independent Shoes The approach of spring has brought re warehouses during February sold over 14 million pound, burley tobacco for growers, at an average price o.# newed activity to the boot and shoe of trade, the usual pre-Easter demand about $i).55 per hundred pounds. keeping many factories well supplied Planting in the burley regions of Kentucky Was with orders. In the Fourth District, delayed early m March by cold weather, but farmers w ** the situation appears spotted. Although business in some preparing to burn their tobacco beds and begin planting cases is good, on the whole it has hardly come up to ex upon the arrival of warmer weather. It is as yet too General ^ Manufacturing THE MONTHLY BUSINESS REVIEW early to obtain a clear idea as to what, if any, reductions in acreage will take place. The membership of the Burley Association is now put at 107,875, an increase of 1,310 since the opening of the tobacco delivery season. It is of interest to note that during the years 1913 to 1924, inclusive, estimated production in the United States of burley tobacco increased 76 per cent, while that of all types increased only 30 per cent. During the same period, estimated stocks of burley in the hands of man ufacturers and dealers increased 90 per cent, while stocks of all types rose 48 per cent. Stocks of burley increased rapidly during 1923 and 1924, and on October 1, 1924, stood at 428 million pounds, a point much higher than for any preceding year. The following taUle gives detailed figures: • S t o c k s of •P r o d u c ti o n * P ro d u c tio n ‘ S t o c k s a ll ty p es * • A c r e a g e of of b u r l e y o f all t y p e s o f b u r l e y ( q u a r t e r l y burley (estim ated) (estim ated) (estim ated ) ( O c to b e r) a v e ra g e ) a v e r a g e 2 3 2 ,7S6 2 77,650 315,259 2 20 ,849 275,601 326 ,116 310 ,7 40 1913-1913 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1,4 87 ,12 5 1,4 65 ,48 1 1,S82,225 1 ,069,69 3 1,2 46 ,83 7 1 ,5 15 ,11 0 1,2 42,623 212 ,6 38 229 ,8 91 267,789 324,351 280,856 3 4 2,885 428 ,3 32 1 ,2 5 9 ,3 0 2 1,402,525 1,440,507 1,650,022 1,5 87 ,42 2 1,6 89 ,63 9 1,8 14 ,68 6 258.000 338.000 356.000 2 59 .0 00 321.0 00 369,300 365,500 #I n t h o u s a n d s o f p o u n d s . #* I n number of a cr e s. Building According to Bradstreet’s, building per mits in 166 cities in the United States during February declined 3.6 per cent in value from February a year ago. An analysis of the figures shows that outside of New York city there was a gain, but this was more than offset by a very large decline in the value of permits in New York City. In the Fourth District, a remarkable gain of 62.9 per cent was made over February, 1924. Every city showed an increase except Canton and Wheeling, and increases of more than 100 per cent were shown by Akron, Co lumbus, Dayton, Erie, Lexington and Toledo. For the first two months of 1925, the Fourth District ran 36. 4 per cent ahead of 1924, while the country ran about 7 per cent behind last year. Building Operations February, 1925 No, p er mit* A k r o n .................... £ » a t o n . . . .......... C i n c i n n a ti ... C l e v e l a n d * ......... C o l u m b u . ............ D a y t o n . ............... f rie. ........................ L e x i n g t o n . .......... c • .......... Sp rin g fie ld ..... Z ? l ed? .................. " he e lin * ............. Y oungstow n, . . % change fr o m 338 179 413 U 63 5 05 209 169 61 424 + 77.9 + 7.8 + 7 .8 + 35.7 + 4 7.7 + 56.0 + 213.0 + 79.4 + 0 - 7 4 4 _j_ 2 . 3 298 + 2 6 .8 101 + 3 1 .2 167 + 5 1 . 8 V aluation % change from 1924192 4 *1,0 65,4 65 + 1 5 1 . 6 6 93,3 30 — 1 7 . 0 1 ,354,445 + 3.9 7,455,885 + 3 5 . 9 2,634,300 + 1 6 7 . 9 9 59,9 31 + 2 7 8 . 7 370,290 + 2 5 2 . 4 2 71,195 + 3 5 7 . 9 4 ,0 2 0 .8 0 0 + 8 8 . 4 62,095 + 7 7 .5 1,48 1,68 0 + 1 1 1 . 1 243.178 — 3 3 .6 5 80 ,630 + 8 1 . 2 F i rs t t w o m o n th * 1925-1924 V aluation % c ha n ge fr om 1924 > 2,137,772 + 2 2 1 . 0 1 , 1 9 7 , 9 1 2 4- 1 6 6 2 , 7 0 9 , 4 1 5 + 27 8 12,28 8,893 + 10 6 3 ,6 3 9 ,9 0 0 + 1 2 1 7 1,3 13,732 + 41 3 450,635 + 26 0 334,490 + 1 2 6 . 2 7 ,3 17 ,65 2 + 7 6 . 8 119,9 45 + 3 8 .2 1.854 ,572 + 3 1 . 0 369,0 99 — 5 8 . 7 883,255 + 4 .8 . , 4,071 + 3 3 .7 * 21.193.224 + 6 2 .9 * 3 4 ^ 6 1 7 ,2 7 2 Include* F a i t C l e v e la n d , L a k e w o o d a nd S h a k e r Height*, *1 + 36.4 5 Lumber, Cement Reports indicate that February business in the lumber trade in this District fell below that of January. Some disap pointment is expressed by the lumber manufacturers because orders are not holding up as well as a month or two ago, and because business in most cases has been below that of last year. Collections are reported to be slow. Prices have weak ened somewhat, the composite price of softwood lumber being $31.65 on March 6 as compared with $31.68 a month ago and $32.36 a year ago, and the composite price of hardwood being $44.04 on March 6 as against $44.12 last month and $45.30 last year. Production of lumber in the United States for the first nine weeks of 1925 aggregated 1,939 million feet, as com pared with 1,973 million feet in 1924. During the same period, shipments for 1925 amounted to 1,964 million feet, and for 1924 were 2,077 million feet. Orders show a 10 per cent decrease from last year, aggregating 1,864 mil lion feet in 1925 as against 2,096 million feet in 1924. The Aberthaw index of the cost of industrial building remained unchanged on March 1 at 197. Production of cement in the country declined from 8,916 thousand barrels in January to 8,255 thousand in Feb ruary, the latter figure being 333 thousand below last year. Shipments have been below production for the last four months, but increased from 5,108 thousand barrels in January to 6,015 thousand in February, or 82 thousand more than in February, 1924. Stocks on hand continued to increase during the past month until they reached a new high mark of 19,897 thousand barrels on March 1. This figure compares with 16,815 thousand barrels a year ago. As a rule, cement stocks rise early in the year and de cline in the summer and fall, so that the increase of the past few months may be attributed partly to seasonal fac tors. At the same time, the stock figures attained in the past three months have been unusually high, and a reflection of this is seen in the fact that February showed a considerable falling off from January in production, while last year there was only a slight decline and in 1923 there' was an increase. Ohio, West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania pro duced 59o thousand barrels of cement in February, or about 7 per cent of the total output. Production last year was 708,000 barrels. Shipments for February, 1925, were 404 thousand barrels as against 461 thousand last year, and stocks were 1,977 thousand barrels as compared with 1,735 thousand last year. Retail Trade Department store sales in the Fourth District in February, as shown by sixtytwo reporting firms, were 5.6 per cent below sales of a year ago. All of the reporting cities showed decreases, vary ing from 21.7 per cent in Canton to 1.3 per cent in Co lumbus and 1.4 per cent in Cincinnati. Akron and Colum bus show slight increases over the preceding month, all other reporting cities showing a decrease. This bank’s index number of department store sales in the Fourth 6 THE MO NT HL Y BUSINESS REVIEW D istrict stood at 90 in F eb ru ary , this being the highest F e b ru a ry in years, w ith the ex cep tio n of one year ago w hen it w as 96. F o r the past seven years in d ex n u m b ers for F e b ru a ry were as follow s: (1919-1923, 100); 1919, 61; 1920, 79; 1921, 85; 1922, 69; 1923, 83; 1924, 96; 1925, 90. S eventeen w ea rin g apparel firms in this D istrict show ed a decrease of 3 per cent in sales as co m p ared w ith last year. Retail Trade Sales Percentage Increase or Decrease SALES SALES Feb., 1925 Jan.-Feb., 1925 No. of Com pared wi th Com pared with Reports Feb., 1924 Jan.-Feb., 1924 Departm ent Stores 4 — 3.3 A kron .................. 1,1 C an to n ................ 3 — 21.9 — 15.1 7 — 1.4 Cincinnati......... — 1.5 — 7.4 6 — 3 .4 Cleveland.......... 6 C olum bus.......... — 1.3 6.1 D a y to n ............... — 2.8 5 — 3 .7 New C a s tle .... 3 —2.6 — 5.9 P ittsb u rg h ......... 8 — 5.0 — 4 .9 T oledo................. 5 — 8. 8 — 13.1 W heeling............ 5 — 7.2 — 10.4 Y oungstow n. . . 3 — 8. 0 — 5.9 Other Cities*.. 7 0.6 1.9 D istrict............... 62 — 5.6 3.7 *Includes Erie, Portsm outh, Springfield, and Lima. Wearing Apparel — 1.4 6 C incinnati......... — 7.1 3 C leveland.......... 8 — 7.3 Other Cities**. — 3 .0 17 D istrict............... **Includes Canton, Columbus, D ayton, Pittsburgh, and Toledo. W h o lesale T ra d e Sales of all re p o rtin g wholesale lines, ex c ep t hard w are, decreased during F e b ru ary , as co m p ared w ith the sam e m o nth last year. D r y goods, w ith 17.5 per cent, sho w ed the g re a te st decline. A s co m p ared w ith Ja n u a ry , 1925, sales of dry goods, h ard- w are, an d shoes, increased, while those of g ro ceries a n d d ru g s decreased. Wholesale Trade and Chain Store Sales Percentage Increase or Decrease SALES SALES Feb., 1925, Jan.-Feb., 1925 No. of Compared with C om pared w ith Reports Feb., 1924 Jan .-F eb ., 1924 Groceries A kron ............. —5 0.9 Cincinnati. . . -14 / —10.2 C leveland. . . 4 -1 0 9 —7.9 Colum bus. . . 3 -14 8 —1 1 .0 E rie ................. 4 — 8.7 8.2 L exington. . . 3 -2 0 .9 —16.8 P ittsb u rg h ... 10.6 0.5 T oled o............ 3 -1 6 .2 —11.9 Y oungstow n. 3 -2 7 .8 21.0 Other Cities* 22 11.2 —9.8 D istrict................... 55 12.5 —8.5 Dry Goods—D is.. 19 -1 7 .5 —19.8 D rugs-D is............ 16 — 4. 4 — 1.7 H ardw are-D is.. . 18 2.6 0.8 Shoes-D is............. 6 — 9.6 —1.7 ^Includes Butler, Canton Connellsville, Du aayy to nn,, D o v e rr, G reensburg Ironton L,ma, Mansfield, Massillon, Portsmouth’ Spnngfield, Steubenville, Umontown, W arren, Pa., Wheeling, and — - — - - Chain Stores** D rugs-D istrict. . 3 __ 2 Groceries-Dist... 5 7 *Sales per individual unit operated. A kron ...................... Butler, P a ............. C a n to n ................... C incinnati............. C leveland.............. C olum bus.............. Connellsville, Pa. D a y to n ................... Erie, P a ................. Greensburg, Pa.. Hom estead, Pa. Lexington, Ky. . L im a ........................ L orain ..................... Oil City, P a. . . . P ittsburgh, P a... Springfield............ Steubenville......... T oledo..................... W a rre n ................... Wheeling, W. Va. Y oungstow n ......... Zanesville.............. T o ta l.................. 4 weeks ending M ar. 11, 1925 67,278 9,561 40,923 295,053 559,046 122,109 4,261 67,608 28,955 18,025 3,862 26,852 17,328 5,389 13,230 790,154 19,078 9,977 171,924 9,256 42,615 58,453 9,978 2,390,915 10.0 Index Numbers of Trade in the Fourth Federal Reserve District (Average M o n t h l y S a l e , for the F i v e - Y e a r P er io d 1 9 1 9 - 1 9 1 3 I n c lu s iv e — 100) " ’ D e p a r t m e n t W ho le s a l e W h o le s a l e W h o l e s a l e W h o l e s a l e PK ts s f e , F eb . 1 9 2 5 . . . . Feb . 1 9 2 4 . . . . J a n . 1 92 5 . . . . 90 96 92 Debits to Individual Accounts 1 2.1 8 9 ■ H ^ r - e $*•« 102 107 110 78 94 68 72 83 80 100 93 96 97 98 93 (In thousands of dollars) 4 5 3 6 7 % inc. or % inc. or 1925 to date 1924 to date 4 weeks 4 weeks me, or dec. col. ending dec. col. ending (Jan. 1 to (Jan. 3 to 7o col. 1 over Feb. 11, 1 over M ar. 12, Mar. 1 1 ) Mar. 12) dec.6 over col. 2 1925 col. 3 1924 col. 7 — 7.1 72,398 8.1 62,214 176,568 162,452 8.7 6.9 8,944 8,670 10.3 23,992 22,706 5.7 — 4.7 42,961 42,415 — 3.5 108,725 105,130 3.4 317,459 — 7.1 280,457 5.2 798,529 720,981 10.8 576,612 — 3.0 576,158 — 3.0 1,498,577 1,419,361 5.6 122,495 — 0.3 119,323 2.3 313,744 299,245 4. 8 4,222 4,390 0.9 — 2.9 10,604 11,059 —4.1 60,285 12.1 65,444 3.3 170,581 162,849 4. 7 — 0.1 28,982 27,756 4.3 73,376 70,896 3.5 20,052 — 10. 1 21,461 — 16.0 47,922 54,480 12.0 3,654 5.7 3,561 8.5 9,434 9,136 3.3 32,795 — 18.1 28,619 — 6.2 75,767 72,424 4. 6 16,371 19,179 5.8 — 9.7 42,548 43,698 2.6 6,205 — 13.2 4,981 8.2 14,919 12,806 16.5 12,910 2.5 13,445 — 1.6 32,386 34,509 — 6.2 — 13.4 911,972 758,368 4.2 2,161,855 1,929,286 12.1 19,548 — 2.4 19,922 — 4 .2 49,977 47,594 5.0 2.2 9,762 10,240 —2.6 25,625 25,514 0. 4 4.3 164 ,808 167,080 2.9 443,197 412,265 7.5 — 25.0 12,346 13,929 — 33.5 28,804 33,909 15.1 38,280 11.3 44,401 — 4.0 105,652 111,842 — 5 s —0.2 58,587 53,708 8.8 159,993 143,942 11.2 — 9.0 10,967 11,769 — 15.2 26,687 29,142 8.4 2,552,615 — 6.3 2,357,490 1.4 6,399,462 5,935,226 7 .8 2 — — — — THE MONTHLY B U S IN ES S REVIEW National Summary of Business Conditions PRODUCTION IN BASIC INDUSTRIES Index ofvariation 22 basic(1919—100). commoditiesLatest corrected for seasonal figure— Pebruary, 123.5 WHOLESALE I PRICES Index of U. S. Bureau of Labor Sutistics (1913—100* base adopted by Bureau). Latest figure—February, 161 Weekly figures for member banks in 101 lead' ing cities. Latest figures—March 11. FACTORY EMPLOYMENT m % _ _______ " V i S I • ”—t*M “ • Index *or M manufacturing industries (1919— >00). Latest ficure—February, 9J 7 (By the Federal Reserve Board) Production in basic industries declined in February from the high rate^ of output in January* but continued above the level of a year ago* Notwith standing a decline in prices of agricultural commodities, the average of whole sale prices rose slightly owing to a further advance in prices of certain other commodities. Production The Federal Reserve Board’s index of production in twenty-two basic industries, which is adjusted to allow for differences in the number of work ing days and for seasonal variations, declined 3 per cent in February, but con tinued to be higher than at any time since the peak reached in May, 1923. Average daily output of iron and steel was exceptionally heavy, and copper production per day was the largest since 1918. There was a slight decline in activity in the woolen industry, and more considerable reductions in the output of lumber, cement, bituminous coal and crude petroleum. Production of automobiles increased 19 per cent in February, the largest monthly in crease in nearly two years, but the output was still over 25 per cent smaller than a year ago. Factory employment increased by about 2 per cent in Feb ruary, considerable increases being reported for the automobile, iron and steel, and clothing industries, while the number of workers in the packing and ce ment industries declined. Earnings of industrial workers in February were larger than in January, reflecting in part the resumption of full-time work after the inventory period. Reports to the Department of Agriculture of intentions to plant in 192S indicate that the acreage of practically all grains and of tobacco will be larger, and that of white potatoes smaller than in 1924. Trade Total railroad freight movements continued at approximately the same daily rate in February as in January, and shipments of merchandise increased in recent weeks and were much larger than a year ago. Wholesale and retail sales were smaller during February than a year ago, owing partly to the fact that this year February had one less business day. Department store sales were 1 per cent smaller in February than in the corresponding month of 1924. Wholesale trade in all lines, except meats and hardware, was less than a year ago, and showed in February about the usual seasonal changes. Sales of groceries, meats, and drugs decreased, while sales of dry goods and shoes in creased. Prices The slight rise in the wholesale price index of the Bureau of Labor Sta tistics was due to advances in the fuel and lighting group, largely in petroleum and in building materials, while prices of all the other commodity groups de clined. In the first three weeks of March, prices of hogs, cotton goods, and rubber increased, while prices of many other commodities decreased, the larg est decreases being those for wheat and other grains. Bank Credit Loans of member banks in principal cities continued to increase between the middle of February and the middle of March and on March 11 were larger than at any time in the past four years. The volume of loans for commercial purposes has been at a high and almost constant level since last autumn, and loans on stocks and bonds, which have increased continuously since the sum mer of 1924, reached in March the largest amount on record. Increases in loans were accompanied by further reduction in the holdings of securities, par ticularly at banks in the financial centers. At the reserve banks demand for credit increased between the end of Jan uary and the middle of March, chiefly as the result of the export demand for gold and the growth in domestic currency requirements, with the consequence that earning assets increased. After March 15, however, temporary abundance of funds arising out of Treasury operations resulted in a sharp reduction in member bank borrowings. Somewhat firmer condition in the money market in the latter part of Feb ruary and the early weeks of March were indicated by a rise of the rate on 4-6 months’ prime commercial paper from 3% to 4 per cent Indexes of National Business Conditions The base (100) for all the charts except the first is the monthly average for the 5 years 1919-1923 inclusive. For the first chart, the base is the monthly average for the three years 1921-1923. ^VOLUME OF CHECK PAYMENTS C«M1 R E T A IL T R A D E PC* CINT 250 P !« CCMT W HOLESALE TRADE 2)0 | 200 200 2 00 i •50 CtKT] 130 J LL L / I yV n /1 100 JO •V so I?:? 0 0 192< 1 92 0 1922 1 92 3 192 ♦ 1925 EXPORTS OF MERCHANDISES! 1 i i w j k 1 V * T vs/ 4 \ 1920 19j i 1022 *923 l<>?* 151^ PE* CT.M1 COAL PRODUCTION r« cewt PVR ccm tso 150 PIG IRON PRODUCTION 200 ~ tSO TV — I i t v*\K b i 100 V i/ SO 30 IO 0 o . 1920 1921 1922 023 19 2 + 1923 A AJ i *v V n 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. . i r AJ ft V 30 o 19 2 0 1924 1922 1923 1924 l a t e s t f ig u r e s Member Bank Credit. February Loans 114, Investments 133. Member Bank Deposits. February, Demand 120, Time 166. Check Payments (except N. Y.) January, 127. Commercial Failures. February, 139. Retail Trade. January, 97. Wholesale Trade, January, 88. A PC* CCHT 1325 7. Building Permit*. February, 160. 8. Car Loadings. February, 99. 9. Exports o! Merchandise. February, 78. !0* Bituminous Coal Production. February, 97 H. Pig Iron Production. February, 128 12. Automobile Production. February, 132
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