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MONTHLY BUSINESS REVIEW Covering financial, industrial, and agricultural conditions in the Fourth Federal Reserve District Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Cleveland, Ohio, June 1, 1929 Vol. 11 The middle of the second quarter of the year finds business in the Fourth District on a level comparable with the first quarter of this year and in advance of the same time of 1928. There are a few spots which are weak, such as coal, clothing, and paper, but the general activity is greater than a year ago. This bank’s index of car loadings as shown on the chart below is about 8 points above the general level of last year. Slight declines are noticed for the last three weeks, caused by a falling-off of grain, livestock, miscellaneous, and less than carload lot freight. Heavy automotive demand has kept steel mills and parts manufacturers operating at capacity. Rubber and tire manufacturers are also producing at record levels, and employment in the industry is 14 per cent ahead of last year. Building in this District, while showing a decline in April, was 20 per cent ahead of last year for the first half of May. Agriculture, though somewhat retarded by the excessive rains, is well ahead of last year, particularly the fall-sown crops. Sales of all wholesale lines, except shoes, experienced gains in April. Department store sales increased 3.7 per cent over last year and were 2.7 greater in the first four months than in the corresponding period of 1928. PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION 120] ! i 1 7 ..............~ 1 / 1r - I / 'V /\ MO AfWHi i V ia / \ ] ]/ A i IOO ! J. >926 i 1925 190). t * T V »* n tlil* ‘ in r f» # . J 1925 = l i f t i lW )* Lateat _ 1927 i 1 ! 1928 1929 r . K, B. o f Cleveland (1923We e k end' n* May 11— 110.S. Broken line— Production. Federal Reserve Board. <1923April— 121. Both enrres adjusted for seasonal variation. No. 6 FINANCIAL The month ending May 23 was marked by a slight easing in money rates, a decline in the stock market averages, continued imports of gold and a further strengthening of reserve bank credit. Gold Movements. The inflow of gold from abroad, prompted by the relatively higher level of interest rates prevailing in the United States, remained high during April and early May. Total gold imports in April were $24,687,000, of which about $14,600,000 came from Ger many, $2,500,000 from Canada, and $6,400,000 from Argentina. Exports during the month were $1,594,000, all but $294,000 of which was consigned to China. This excess of imports brought the total gold in the United States on April 30 to $4,260,325,000. Imports at New York for the first three weeks in May were also large, amounting to about $20,059,000, most of which came from Germany and Argentina. Re leases from ear-marked gold brought this total to $30,982,000, and total gold stocks are now slightly higher than they were a year ago, before the heavy withdrawals of early 1928 took place. Money Rates. The past month saw some rather wide fluctuations in the call money market. Starting the month at 11 per cent, the renewal rate rose to 14 on the 7th, remained there for four days, and then declined to 7 per cent on the 13th. The mid-month settlements were accompanied by a rate of 14 per cent on the 16th, but the rate immediately fell, being only 6 per cent on May 23. Time money (90-day) remained rather steady during the early part of the month, with a firming of rates about the 20th. The rate on May 23 was quoted at 9 per cent which was about 3 per cent higher than in 1928. Bankers’ acceptance (90-day), asked, rate averaged hVi per cent for the first 23 days in April, and com mercial paper rates remain unchanged at 5%-6 per cent. Demand is dull for both types of paper. Reserve Bank Credit. The combined statement of the twelve Federal Reserve banks shows them in a stronger position than they were a month ago. Total credit ex tended on May 22 was $1,203,516,000, which was $77,000,000 less than on April 24, and $206,000,000 below the figure for the corresponding date in 1928. Discounts de- 2 THE MONTHLY BUSINESS REVIEW clined 71 millions, and acceptances held were $137,986,000, a decline of about $3,000,000 from a month ago. This decline in acceptances was offset by an increase in gov ernment securities of a like amount. Gold reserves amounted to $2,841,902,000 on May 22, an increase of $43,000,000 for the month. Note circulation fell $13,000,000 and member bank deposits were off $15,000,000 which brought the reserve ratio to 75.9, compared with 74.3 on April 24, and 70.0 a year ago. CORPORATION EARNINGS (Quarterly net earnings o f 170 identical industrials in the United All scales in millions o f dollars. States). At this bank credit extended increased $10,000,000, gold reserves declined $8,000,000, and note circulation was about $5,000,000 less than on the corresponding day last month. Bills discounted rose from 75 to 90 millions, the increase being partly offset by the sale of acceptances amounting to $4,000,000. The Cleveland reserve ratio was 74.1 on May 22 and 71.4 on the same date in 1928. Member Bank Credit. The Federal Reserve Board’s summary of condition of all member banks as of March 27 showed an increase of $1,705,000,000 in total loans and investments for the year, but a decline of $291,000,000 since December 31. Demand deposits decreased 402 millions, offset by an increase in time deposits of 406 millions since February 28, 1928. During the past month total loans and investments of reporting member banks in leading cities declined over 200 million while deposits have remained practically un changed. Member banks in the Fourth District were loaning about 4 million less than last month and had 13 million less in investments. Total deposits have decreased 4 million dollars. *6 FOOD 4 LEATH ER 60 /\ 2D O '25 '26 /\ '27 '28 '29 Brokers loans as reported by New York City member banks were $5,520,000,000 on May 22, an increase of 28 million for the month but a decline of 45 million for the week. Member banks have been consistently de creasing their loans, but loans for the account of others have continued to grow without any serious setback and on May 22 crossed the $3,000,000,000 mark. Stock Prices. The month of May saw some rather wide fluctuations in stock prices. The Dow-Jones average of 30 industrials continued its steady upward climb in late April and reached a new high point of 327.08 on May 4. From early May till the 18th, the price gyrated between that point and 320. On the 20th it declined to 312.70 and on May 22 the average was 300.83, the lowest since January 3, 1929. A marked recovery oc curred on the next day when the average rose to 308.09. Debits, Savings, Failures. Debits to individual accounts in the Fourth District were $3,767,000,000 in April as compared with $3,365,000,000 a year ago, an increase of 11.9 per cent. The usual growth in debits from year to year is about 4 per cent. Savings deposits of 66 banks in Ohio and Pennsylvania on May 1 totaled $1,052,040,305, a decrease o f 0.3 per cent for the month and an increase of 3.1 per cent for the year. Commercial failures in the District, according to R. G. Dun and Company, numbered 158 in April, 194 in March, and 125 in April a year ago. In spite of the increase in the number of failures, liabilities were only $2,539,000 in r 'J V\ A V lA _X AO 15 MOTOF *25 *26 *27 *26 *29 THE MONTHLY BUSINESS REVIEW April as compared with $7,055,000 last year, a decrease o f 64 per cent. Debits to Individual Accounts (In thousands of dollar*) Akron. ............. Butler, P a........... C anton................. Cincinnati........... <?ctve,atn d............ C olum bus............ ConneUsville, . . . g a y to n ................ | rie» ? a .............. Franklin, P a . . . . Greensburg, P a ,. Homestead, P a .. Lexington, K y ... Lim a..................... Lpram .................. M iddletow n........ Oil City, P a . . . . Pittsburgh, P a ... Springfield.......... Steubenville........ T oled o.................. W arren................. Wheeling, W. Va Youngstown........ Zanesville............ T o ta l................ 4 weeks ending M ay IS, 1929 113,075 U i846 47,432 395,004 827,430 167,763 3,479 93,792 37,143 5,584 18,820 4,437 24,788 12,625 5,362 11,222 19,146 1,032,021 21,402 11,728 208,284 13,474 46,490 69,883 12,110 % change from 1929 + 7 .9 + 5.0 + 3.1 — 1.5 + 1 5 .5 + 4 .9 — 12.7 + 1 2 .8 + 1 1 .8 + 3 .2 + 3 .4 — 4 .8 + 1 3 .7 — 11.6 + 2 .2 + 2 .0 + 2 .3 + 1 3 .2 + 7 .4 + 8 .8 — 21.7 + 1 1 .1 — 2 .0 + 1 .9 + 0 .4 3,214,340 + 6 .9 1929 to 1928 to date (Dec. date (Dec. , 26— M ay 28— M ay 15) 16) 591,923 519,658 58,978 52,001 276,533 244,362 2,323,512 2,248.362 4,628,588 4,046,032 945,432 838,981 18,119 19,747 539,624 470,891 187,893 166,407 27,318 25,871 99,264 99,094 22,587 20,500 168,541 134,301 81,476 76,150 29,627 27,991 62,220 62,749 89,445 78,539 5,441,485 4,729,807 127,085 108,402 60,466 54,181 1,203,769 1,329,863 72,822 65,901 259,670 236,338 394,284 341,934 65,415 61,706 17,776,076 16,059,768 % change from 1928 + 1 3 .9 + 1 3 .4 + 1 3 .2 + 3.3 + 1 4 .4 + 1 2 .7 — 8 .2 + 1 4 .6 + 1 2 .9 + 5 .6 + 0 .2 + 1 0 .2 + 2 5 .5 + 7 .0 + 5 .8 — 0 .8 + 1 3 .9 + 1 5 .0 + 1 7 .2 + 1 1 .6 — 9 .5 + 1 0 .5 + 9 .9 + 1 5 .3 + 6 .0 + 1 0 .7 Corporation Eamings Net earnings for 170 industrial concems in the United States for which comparable figures are available back to 1925 established a new first quarter record in 1929. The table below gives detailed figures for several im portant lines, while the chart on page 2 shows this bank’s index of 170 identical industrials. All the industrial groups showed gains from the first quarter of 1928 except leather which experienced rather large losses both in the first quarter of this year and the fourth quarter of 1928. Compared with last year, the largest gains shared by the various groups were as follows: oil +148.3 per cent; miscellaneous, +128.4; iron and steel, +108.2; mining, +101.9; motor accessory, +92.5; and chemicals, +31.4 per cent. The entire group surpassed the first quarter of 1928 by 28.0 per cent. In spite of the heavy production, automobile manufacturers showed a gain of only 0.1 per cent. General motors net earnings were 8.2 per cent behind the corresponding quarter of 1928, but other manufacturers gained 27.4 per cent. 7 6 16 * 13 15 15 -1? « 69 N E T E A R N IN G S B Y Q U A R T E R S (In thousands o f dollars) 1929 1928 1928 1927 1926 1st Quar. 4th Quar. 1st Quar. 1st Quar. 1st Quar. Chem ical .......... 15,688 20,087 11,902 11,112 10,011 Cigars ................ 2,110 8,806 1,709 2,100 1,461 Food .................... 29,451 28,959 26,593 24.945 23,522 ..........1.312* 1,057* 1,448 733 190 M ining .............. 17,«16 16,665 8,725 7,881 7,867 M otor ................ 97,643 64,680 97,508 75,832 69,577 M otor A ccessor........................ 10,908 8,233 5,704 5.662 7,842 g 1* ........................ 18,172 24,043 7,319 19,027 22,276 J tfB ta u n n t ....... 1,305 1,692 1,224 1,598 1,344 ............... 67'250 B0*808 82’ 312 40,999 42,273 A ll Others ........ 65,234 68,187 58,781 48,229 62,476 170 Total ............ 324,024 •Deficit. 285,422 Iron and tee* 253,175 287,618 238,889 1925 1st Quar. 7,078 1,826 22,835 916 7,625 46,110 6,896 20,845 1,179 33,559 87,740 of May with ten consecutive weeks of operations in excess of their full rating behind them. This rate of production, however, beginning late in April was somewhat at the expense of backlogs. Pres sure for immediate steel was no less insistent, but specifications already in the hands of the mills engaged capacity over the remainder of the second quarter, and on account of this delivery situation and seasonal condi tions, incoming business fell slightly short of shipments. Continuing the trend since the turn of the year, steel products entering into the manufacture of automobiles and railroad equipment, plus tin plate for seasonal reasons, have been most in demand. By the middle of May deliveries on the more-wanted sizes and grades of sheets, bars, and strip in the Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Youngs town district were four or more weeks deferred. Despite occasional large placing of line pipe, activity at pipe mills was not commensurate with other lines. Structural steel also lagged. A change in the method of quoting blue annealed sheets, to prevent the entire price structure being weakened by the competition of strip steel with the heavier sizes, has been adopted by most makers. For some gauges this entails an advance of $1 per ton. Semi-finished steel, still scarce, has been advanced $1 to $2 by most makers. Otherwise steel prices are firm but unchanged. Steelmaking iron in the Mahoning valley has been advanced 50 cents a ton, to $18.50, valley, on the strength of large sales. Bessemer and malleable iron also have risen 50 cents. Shipments for second quarter delivery continue seasonally high, but with only moderate interest thus far in third quarter requirements. Iron ore ship ments to June 1 were well ahead of the corresponding period of 1928. Iron and steel production still can only be described by superlatives. At a daily rate of 122,106 gross tons, April pig iron output was a record for the month. It compared with 119,662 tons in March and 106,066 tons last April. April's total was 3,663,167 tons, against 3,709,518 tons in March and 3,181,975 tons last April. Active blast furnace stacks scored a net gain of three in the month, 216 being in blast as of April 30. April's steel ingot rate of 189,924 tons was a new peak for April and was second, for all time, to the 194,548-ton rate of March. In April, 1928, the daily rate was only 172,215 tons, though that established a new high mark. In four months the record-breaking total of 18,812,637 tons of ingots has been produced, compared with 16,846,958 tons in the comparable period of 1928. The average rate of operations thus far in 1929 has been 93.13 per cent. Firmer prices are reflected by the Iron Trade Review composite of fourteen leading iron prices. In the third week of May this index went to $37.13, its highest in 28 months. For April this average was $36.81, for March $36.42, and for last May $35.54. 185,609 Through the first half of May, as durMarch and April, steel plants of the country were operating at practical capacity. Some important concerns came up to the middle 3 Coal Shipments of coal from Lake Erie ports started to move in considerable volume much earlier this year than usual. April shipments were 2,806,000 tons as compared with 829,000 tons in April, 1928. This has acted as an 4 THE MONTHLY BUSINESS REVIEW added stimulus to Ohio mines which have been showing an increase in production for the past few months. Demand for coal by industrial consumers remains high and the unseasonably cool weather has made retail de mand greater than ordinary. Stocks of bituminous coal have declined to the lowest level since May 1, 1926. On April 1, 1929, they amounted to only 36,000,000 tons, a decrease of 29 per cent for the year. This inventory is less than half of the 75,000,000 tons on hand to provide against the shortage expected to accompany the strike in April, 1927—a shortage which never de veloped. In spite of this improvement in inventories, little hope is seen for improvement in actual business. Prices remain at the lowest level since 1916. Production o f soft coal in the United States for April was 36,888,000 tons compared with 32,188,000 tons in April, 1928. Rubber and Tires Production in the rubber and tire industry has progressed to even higher levels than were noted last month. The April employment index of tire and tube manu facturers as compiled by the Ohio State University Bureau of Business Research advanced from 139 to 144 per cent and is 14 per cent higher than in April, 1928. This increase was experienced by 13 of the 18 reporting rubber concerns in the Akron territory. With automobile production continuing at record levels, and replacement demand seasonally high, factories have been taxed to the limit. Tire production for the first three months of 1929 was 10 per cent above the level of a year ago and the preliminary figure for April (including solids) for the United States was 5,921,000 units as compared with 4,676,000 units in April a yeaT ago, an increase of 26.6 per cent. Production has been exceeding shipments recently and stocks in hands of dealers and manufacturers are larger than last year. Imports of rubber into the United States during April were 54,171 tons compared with 37,240 in April, 1928. For the first four months they amounted to 224,838 tons against 153,822 tons for the corresponding period of 1928. Consumption was 47,521 tons in April, 44,730 tons in March and 32,772 tons in April last year. Stocks afloat, showing rubber consigned but not docked, were considerably larger than a year ago, being 55,408 tons in April and only 33,986 tons last year. The Rubber Institute formed less than two years ago “for the purpose of placing the industry on a sounder footing” is dissolving and transferring its activities to the Rubber Association of America, Inc., an older and larger organization. The reason given for the dissolution o f the Institute, an organization representing an annual business of over $1,000,000,000 or 80 per cent of the industry was the over-lapping of functions of the two organizations. Prices of crude rubber declined markedly in April, averaging only 20.76 cents per pound as compared with 24.22 cents in March. A year ago the April price aver aged 17.96 cents, the lowest monthly price for several years. May prices stiffened somewhat, quotations at Akron for first latex (spot) being 21^4 cents on May 8, 24% cents on May 18 and 23M cents on May 23. Raw cotton prices have remained rather steady at about 20 cents a pound even though the demand has been heavy since the first of the year. Automobiles Automobile production records were broken again in April for the third time this year when total production o f passenger cars and trucks in the United States amounted to 620,656 units. This was an increase of 51.3 per cent from last year. For the first four months production amounted to 2,072,941 with an increase o f 50.0 for the year-to-date. The present high level of production is partly in consequence of the resumption of capacity production by Ford factories, which are producing more cars per day now than they were in an entire month early last year. Exports of cars continue to show gains, the total number fbr the first quarter being 202,431 units, an increase o f 48 per cent from last year. It is interesting to note in connection with the high rate of production, that quarterly earnings of 15 auto mobile concerns show a gain of only 0.1 per cent for the first quarter of this year. If we eliminate figures fo r General Motors Corporation, the other 14 firms show a gain of 27.4 per cent and this does not include Ford, the other large small car producer. It is thus seen that the increased production has not been accompanied by any large increase in earnings. Fifteen motor parts and accessory concerns, a great number of which operate in this District, showed a gain in earnings of 92.5 per cent for the first quarter. The demand for parts is insistent but most of the orders are for immediate delivery. The table below compiled from data gathered by the Ohio State University Department of Business Research, shows that in Ohio at least, the demand for cars re mains at a rate comparable with that of production. Registration figures representing 51 Ohio counties or 80 per cent of the entire state population increased 52 per cent over last year. NEW A kron .................. C anton .............. C incinnati ........ Cleveland .......... Columbus ............ Dayton ................ T oledo ................ Y ou ngstow n ...... T otal .................. P A SS E N G E R A p ril, 1929 2,591 1,632 2,904 7,206 2,336 1,434 2,105 1,364 21,471 Clothing Warm weather what is usually be followed by which adversely CAR R E G IST R A T IO N % change fro m J an .-A p r. 192S 1929 + 6 2 .5 5,894 + 6 1 .8 3,623 + 6 0 .0 7,358 + 5 3 .3 18,985 + 6 4 .1 5,792 + 3 9 .2 4,288 + 4 8 .4 6,656 + 6 3 .4 3,161 + 5 4 .6 64,767 Jan.* A p r. 1928 3,408 2,097 5,290 11,659 3,610 2,851 3,621 2,030 34,666 % ch a n g e fr o m 1928 + 7 2 .9 + 7 2 .8 + 8 9 .1 + 6 2 .8 + 6 0 .4 + 5 0 .4 + 5 S .2 + 6 6 .7 + 5 8 .4 Clothing manufacturers in this Dis trict are complaining of the unseasonal cool weather of the past few weeks. in March stimulated spring buying at the close of the winter season, only to cool, wet weather in April and l£ay affected sales of all spring clothing* t THE MONTHLY BUSINESS REVIEW Reserve production is larger than current demands, and a buyer's market continues. Total sales of women’s wearing apparel as reported by 16 stores in the District declined 6.2 per cent in April compared with a year ago. In the department stores, sales were irregular. Gains over last year were shown Ijy women's dresses, 7.0 per cent; misses* dresses, 13.2; knit underwear, 4.0; hosiery, 2.1; and men’s furnishings, 2.7 per cent. Decreases occurred in women’s coats, 5.7; suits, 20.9; juniors’ and girls’ wear, 13.6; men’s clothing, 7J9; and infants' wear, 7.1 per cent. A better showing was made by 13 wholesale dry goods houses, whose April sales were 13.7 per cent larger than a year ago. Skoe* Preliminary figures show that shoe production in the Fourth District ex perienced a gain of about 29 per cent over last April, and a slight increase from March. Shoe manufacturers report little change during the past few weeks. Conditions are said to be “ fairly satisfactory” but production continues well ahead of demand. Whole salers are only buying enough for present orders, due probably to the rapid changes in styles experienced in recent years. Wholesale shoe sales in the District declined 6.9 per cent in April as compared with April, 1928. The unseasonal cool, wet weather has retarded buying of spring stocks to an appreciable extent. Betail shoe sales as reported by 48 department stores in this territory declined in April, the decrease being 1.7 per cent in women’s and children’s shoes and 10.7 in men’s and boys' shoes. The price of hides reacted slightly in April when it averaged 14.95 cents per pound as compared with 14.50 last month and 25.60 in April a year ago. Other Manufactoring Judging from reports received from various manufacturers in this District, conditions are about on a par with last month. Cork. General conditions remain unchanged. is good for cork and linoleum products. Demand Electrical Supplies. Business is practically unchanged from last month, but is ahead of 1928. Rising copper prices early in the year prompted advance orders, so that production is now showing a slight falling-off. Competition is keen. Glass. Activity in the glass industry higher level than in 1928. Usually at the year glass manufacturers begin to tion but so far this year the seasonal been noticed. continues on a this season of curtail produc decline has not Hardware, Machinery. Agricultural machinery produc tion and sales are well ahead of 1928. Manufacture of au tomotive parts continue at record levels but most orders are for immediate delivery. Conditions in most branches of the hardware supply trade are good. Collections are satisfactory. Paint. The situation has changed but little since last month, the unseasonal cool weather somewhat re tarding activity which at this season of the year is usu ally high. Demand for automobile paints and varnishes is showing no let-up as yet. Building, which is slow, has not affected paint production to the extent that it might be expected, much building paint being used for refinishing purposes. Paper. Competition in the paper industry is very keen and though prices have remained steady since the first of the year, they are less than in 1928. Production of newsprint paper in the United States for the first four months of 1929 was 460,731 tons, a slight decline from a year ago. Stoves. A recovery from the slight recession noted last month was experienced in early May, but this is somewhat seasonal. Demand is hand-to-mouth, with com petition keenly felt. Collections are a trifle better. AGRICULTURE The unseasonable cool weather, together with the heavy rains during early May, slowed up the spring pro gram of farmers considerably. Heavy frosts in various localities of the District have materially damaged the fruit crop, the exact extent of which has not yet been determined. The wet weather has had rather an opposite effect on fall-sown crops, benefiting winter wheat, rye, and pastures. The abundant moisture, while retarding spring planting, is a hopeful sign, if warm weather sets in. Winter wheat, one of the most important crops of the District is considerably above the average. In Ohio winter injury was very slight, only one per cent of the planted acreage being abandoned, whereas the av erage abandonment is about 9 per cent. The estimated 1.853.000 acres remaining for harvest compares with 864.000 acres harvested last year and 1,843,000 acres the five-year average. The condition of 90 per cent of nor mal on May 1 compared with 48 a year ago and 81, the ten-year average. Fields are poorest in the north west portion of the State where ice laid on some fields for quite a period and where the rains have been ex cessive this spring. In the central, west-central, and southwestern counties wheat is generally considered very good. Kentucky’s wheat outlook is very promising according to the Division of Crops and Livestock Estimates. The May 1 condition indicates a probable production of about 3.440.000 bushels, compared with 920,000 bushels harvested last year. Rye and pastures are well above normal. The fruit crop of West Virginia was not damaged by frosts to any great degree and a normal condition in dicates average crops of apples, peaches, pears, and grapes. Winter wheat, rye, hay and pasture are all above average and are about two weeks ahead of ordinary years. THE MONfHtiY BUSINESS REVIEW The indications are that this year’s crop of burley tobacco will be rather a large one. Encouraged by the keen competition in the market last year, and high prices, farmers intend to plant 22 per cent more tobacco this year than in 1928, according to the United States De partment of Agriculture. being in Ashtabula, Cleveland Heights, East Cleveland, Lakewood, Dayton, Lima, and Pittsburgh, Pa. For the first four months of 1929, building permits evi denced a loss of 19.9 per cent. The supply of plants this year, judging from the num ber, size and condition of plant beds, is somewhat above normal. Some reports of destruction by cut worms have been received but this is not general. The early season was considerably ahead of ordinary years but because of heavy rains in early May, field work was retarted and the setting of the crop has just been started. (Value o f Permits) Tobacco Canning Canners feel rather optimistic for the coming season, due to the fact that total stocks on hand are appreciably less than they were a year ago, and the demand for canned goods is on the increase. Future sales are larger than they were at this time last year. Prices on tomatoes and peas have advanced, but corn, in spite of the fact that stocks are low, is selling at low levels. BUILDING Total building contracts awarded in the Fourth Dis trict in April were $51,468,617, a decrease of 26.7 per cent from April last year. Residential contracts in April amounted to $18,963,977 or 22.2 per cent less than in 1928. In spite of this large decline, April residential contracts were the highest of any month since last June. In early May total building contracts in the Pitts burgh area, which includes Ohio, Western Pa., and Eastern Ky., showed a decided turn for the better. Daily contracts for the, first 17 days of the month averaged $3,075,200, according to the F. W. Dodge Corporation, compared with $2,556,500, the daily av erage for the entire month of May last year. This was an increase of 20.3 per cent. The daily increase from April was 31.0 per cent, while the country as a whole showed a decline of 17.0 per cent. Residential building shows the greatest falling-off, and might be partly explained by two or three reasons. In the first place, the supply of houses seems to have exceeded the demand in the larger cities which has brought about a gradual decline in house rents. Then, too, building materials have been increasing in price since early 1928. Southern pine averaged $25.16 per thousand feet in April as compared with $21.62 last year. Prices of glass, metals, and crushed stone have ad vanced somewhat, but were partly offset by declines in cement and brick. Thirdly, it is rather costly to finance a building program with money rates at their present levels. The valuation of April building permits was $18,557,494, a decrease of 33.7 per cent from last year. De creases were shown in 21 of the 27 cities, the largest Building Operations A kron................. Ashtabula.......... Barberton.......... C anton............... C incinnati......... Cleveland.......... Cleve. suburbs: Cleve. Heights East Cleveland E uclid.............. Garfield Hghts Lakewood. , . . Parm a.............. R ock y R iv er.. Shaker Heights Columbus.......... Covington, K y . D a yton ............... Erie, P a ............. H am ilton........... Lexington, K y .. L im a................... Newark.............. Pittsburgh, Pa... Springfield......... T o le d o................ Wheeling, W. Va. Youngstown___ T otal............... April, 1929 1,569,825 14,915 105,262 387,290 3,368,415 3,789,925 175,975 76,110 150,322 134,000 244,965 226,494 140,150 604,950 1,291,251 96,425 457,271 686,494 264,063 415,151 18,315 44,645 1,820,860 103,285 1,300,014 259,334 811,789 18,557,494 change from 1928 — 14.3 — 73.2 — 12.7 — 18.3 — 7 .0 — 21.5 change from 1928 +14. S —71.3 + 0.2 —40.8 + 4.7 6,444,455 34,724 275,012 928,295 10,055,790 11,910,100 5,629,878 121,173 274,425 1,568,299 9,603,750 14,896,750 1,773,280 459,373 905,041 751,550 1,403,167 854.210 402,328 2,775,085 5,801,200 533,450 3,455,433 1,106,965 479.210 541,925 164,674 172,665 15,070,692 429,212 7,252,971 603,099 2,605,465 —53.9 +168.6 — 4.7 —48.2 —62,2 —19.3 +54.3 —30.1 —32.4 — 4.S —21.4 +241.3 +32.1 +63.8 +19.0 —36.5 —49.2 —22.1 817,970 1,234,009 862,227 389.000 530,506 689,104 620,980 1,941,120 3,924,300 509,575 2,717*480 3,778,134 632,843 887,665 196.000 109,670 7,652,737 420,155 4,040,397 519,170 1,633,767 -3 3 .7 63,755,185 79,635,270 — 1 9 .9 — 54.8 — — — 5 7.9 34.6 4 7.2 + — — — — + + + — — — — — + 15.3 36.9 2 6.4 5 3.9 71.4 24.5 74.4 80.1 5 4.9 4 3 .8 70.7 33.1 34.1 26.5 —51.0 + 6.1 —20.0 — 2.1 —44.3 —13.9 —37.3 Retail Trade Retail trade, as reflected in sales o f 63 leading department stores in the District, exceeded the volume o f last April by 3.7 per cent. Gains were reported in all cities but Columbus and Wheeling. Sales for the first fou r months were in advance of 1928 by 2.7 per cent. The principal changes in departmental sales from a year ago were: millinery, — 9.1; hosiery, +2.1; Women's coats, — 5.7; women's dresses, +7.0; sports wear, + 37.8; men’s clothing, — 7.9; furniture, +25.9; floor coverings, +15.5; house furnishings, +19.6; and silverware and jewelry, +6.6 per cent. The wearing apparel trade showed a loss of about 6 per cent in April. This was partly caused by the cool weather of the past few weeks which, of course, re tards spring buying. Retail furniture sales as reported by 47 retail furni ture stores in this District were 13 per cent ahead of April, 1928. Sales of all reporting wholesale lines in the Fourth District, except shoes, evidenced more than seasonal gains during April. Hardware sales increased 15.3 per cent over April a year ago and 3.9 per cent for the yearu to-date. Dollar volume of dry goods sales was 13.7 per cent ahead of April, 1928. Drug sales were 2.5 per cent larger than last year. Collections were larger in all lines, but shoes, and the percentage of outstanding ac counts on April 1 collected during the month was higher for all branches of the wholesale trade. Wholesale Trade THE MONTHLY BUSINESS REVIEW 7 Fourth District Business Statistics (All figure* are for Fourth District unless otherwise specified) Bank Debits (24 cities) Millions of dollars Savings Deposits (end of month) Ohio (40 banks) Thousands of dollars Western Pennsylvania (26 banks) Total (66 banks) Commercial Failures— Number Actual Number Thousands of dollars /* “ — Liabilities Postal Receipts— 9 cities Sales — Life Insurance— Ohio and Pa. “ “ “ “ — Dept. Stores— (63 firms) “ “ “ « — Wearing Apparel (18 firms) “ “ “ — Furniture (47 firms) “ “ “ “ — Wholesale Grocery (42 firms) “ “ “ “ ~ “ D ry Goods (12 firms) — ** Hardware (17 firms) “ “ “ “ “ " Drugs (13 firms) Building Permits, Valuation— 27 cities “ “ “ Building Contracts — Total, 4th District “ “ “ ** — Residential, 4th District “ “ “ Production — Pig Iron, U. S. “ “ tons ** — Steel Ingots, U. S. “ “ “ “ — Automobiles, U. S. Passenger Cars Actual Number Trucks “ “ — Bituminous Coal, 4th District Thousands o f tons — Cement: Ohio, W. Va., Wn. Pa. “ “ barrels — Electric Power: Ohitf, Pa., Ky. Millions of k.w. hrs. — Petroleum: Ohio, Pa., Ky. Thousands o f barrels “ — Shoes, 4th]IDi8trict “ “ pairs — Tires, U. S. “ “ casings Bituminous Coal Shipments (from Lake Erie Ports) Thous. of tons Iron Ore Receipts (at Lake Erie Ports) ” “ 'M on th ly Average. 3March 3January-March ♦Figures Confidential. Apr. 1929 3,767 775,547 276,493 1,052,040 158 2,539 3,187 121,383 26,661 1,766 1,252 5,953 2,119 2,339 1,758 18,557 51,469 18,964 3,663 4,938 537,225 81,977 15,516 1,401 1, 202 * 2,022s 4 5,921 2,806 1,191 Retail and Wholesale Trade ............ + 1 2 .5 + 6 .6 + 2.1 — 0 .0 2 + 6 .6 + 1.3 + 17.8 — 2 .3 + 5.1 + 1.7 + 3 .7 + + + + — + + — + + + 4 .1 5 .0 3 .3 0 .6 0 .4 0 .5 13.3 0 .4 2 .2 4 .3 2 .7 — 13.3 — 4 .4 — 0 .8 — 6 .2 — + — — 6 .0 7.3 0 .7 0 .1 . + 1 1 .3 + 7 .1 + 9 .8 + 10.8 + 2 9 .0 + 13.9 + 1 3 .1 + — + — + + + 5 .0 2 .6 2 .8 3 .0 12.7 6 .2 2 .2 . . — 7 .7 + 3.2 — 5 .0 + 4 .5 , . . . . 745,567 274,828 1,020,395 125 7,055 3,091 106,585 25,716 1,883 1,106 5,706 1,864 2,028 1,714 27,990 70,184 24,381 3,182 4,303 + 4 .0 + 0 .6 + 3 .1 + 2 6 .4 — 6 4 .0 + 3 .1 + 1 3 .9 + 3 .7 — 6 .2 + 1 3 .1 + 4 .3 + 1 3 .7 + 1 5 .3 + 2 .6 — 33.7 — 26.7 — 22.2 + 1 5 .1 + 1 4 .8 364,877 45,227 13,398 1,321 1,136* 2,072* 4 4,676 829 0 + 4 7 .2 + 8 1 .3 + 15.8 + 6 .1 + 5 .8 — 2 .4 + 2 9 .4 + 2 6 .6 + 2 3 8 .5 (1923-1925 Percentage Increase or Decrease SALES SALES STOCKS A pr.First Apr.Apr. 4 mos. Apr. . , change + 1 1 .9 14,322 778,983* 275,697* 1,054,6801 714 14,207 12,620 473,009 96,481 6,468 4,045 23,415 7,943 8,249 7,315 63f755 185,587 57,118 14,021 18,797 1,803,581 261,826 67,157 3,956 3.7183 5,7893 4 21,797 2,832 1,191 Janm Ar 12,947 change + 1 0 .6 741,975* 274,413* 1,016,388* 763 26,212 12,636 415,629 93,924 6,474 3,958 23,197 7,736 7,941 6,789 79,635 201,249 73,780 12,136 16,847 + 5 .0 + 0 .5 + 3 .8 — 6 .4 — *5 .8 — 0 .1 + 1 3 .8 + 2 .7 — 0 .1 + 2 .2 + 0 .9 + 2 .7 + 3 .9 + 7 .7 — 19.9 — 7 .8 — 2 2.6 + 1 5 .5 + 1 1 .6 1,233,495 145,447 57,504 3,905 3,4593 5,8273 + 4 6 .2 + 8 0 .0 + 16.8 + 1.3 + 7 .5 — 0 .7 — 3 .8 + 1 5 .9 + 2 0 9 .8 4 18,800 914 0 Fourth District Business Indexes (1929 compared with 1928) D E P A R T M E N T STORES (63) A kron............................................................. Cincinnati...................................................... Cleveland.................. Colum bus.............................................. D a y to n ....... ................................................... Pittsburgh..................................................... T oled o............................................................ W heeling........................................................ Youngstow n.................................................. Other Cities.................................................. D istrict........................................................... W E A R IN G A P P A R E L (18) Cincinnati...................................................... Cleveland....................................................... Other Cities.................................................. D istrict........................................................... F U R N IT U R E (47) Cincinnati...................................................... Cleveland................................................ Colum bus...................................................... D a y ton ......................... T o le d o Other Cities................................................ D istrict.......................................... C H A IN STORE* Drugs— District ( 3 ) .................................... Groceries— District ( 4 ) ................... W H OLE SA LE G R O C E R IE S (42) A kron ......................................................... Cincinnati............................ Cleveland....................... E rie................................... Pittsburgh............................ T o le d o .................................! ! ! ! ! ! [ Other Cities........................ D istrict.........................'. '. ! ! ! ! W H OLESALE D R Y GOODS (12) W H OLE SA LE D R U GS (13) W H OLESALE H A R D W A R E (17)' * W H OLESALE SHOES (5) . . . . .*! ♦Sales per individual unit operated. J a n .- A j, Apr. 1928 3,365 + 18.0 + 5 .2 — 4 .2 + 0 .2 + 0 .3 — 4 .6 — S .8 — 8 .4 — 1 2.4 — 3 .8 — 2 .0 — — — — 0 .3 8 .8 8 .2 7.1 100) Apr. 1929 139 Bank Debits (24 cities)............................ 10S Commercial Failures (N u m ber).............. “ “ (Liabilities).......... 58 123 Postal Receipts (9 c itics)......................... 147 Sales— Life Insurance (Ohio and P a .). . 105 “ — Department Stores (59 firm s)... “ — Wholesale Drugs (13)firm s)... 112 “ — “ Dry Goods (12 firms) 87 “ — “ Groceries (42 firms) 89 “ — “ Hardware (15 firms) 100 93 " — « All (87 fir ms) f . . . . «* — Chain Drugs (3 firm s)**......... 82 108 Building Contracts (T o ta l)....................... “ “ (R esidential)............ 110 Production — Coal (O., Wn. Pa., E. Ky.) 86 “ — Cement (O., Wn. Pa., W. Va.)i 117 143 — Elec. Power (O., Pa., K y .)* “ — Petroleum (O., Pa., K y .). . 109 “ — Shoes..................................... 94 Apr. 1928 124 86 160 119 127 101 109 77 85 86 87 88 147 142 74 110 135 112 73 Apr. 1927 129 103 137 125 129 116 109 78 87 99 91 96 162 179 80 117 141 113 108 Apr. 1926 114 137 75 122 122 102 117 81 91 96 93 100 117 135 88 104 131 102 62 Apr. 1925 108 113 59 114 121 110 104 90 90 100 94 96 176 168 78 106 110 102 no ♦March. . . + 1 3 .7 + 15.3 + + — — + + + + + + + — 1.6 2 .3 3.2 5 .4 3.5 4.1 3.2 0 .9 2 .7 7 .7 3 .9 13.6 **Per individual unit operated, flncludes 4 shoe firms. Banking Operations — 4 .6 — 1.8 + 0 .9 + 4 .9 FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS Federal Reserve Bank o f Cleveland Federal Reserve System (In Millions) (In Millions) May 22 May 28 A pril 24 May 22 May 23 April 24 1929 1928 1929 1928 1929 1929 258 2,634 286 Gold reserves .................... . 279 2,842 2.799 90 70 75 904 847 975 12 30 16 331 141 138 28 35 230 28 153 150 135 120 Total bills and securities 130 1,410 1,204 1,281 Federal Reserve notes in 204 193 209 1,640 1,579 1,653 circulation ................... . 189 188 2,417 2,850 181 2,825 REPORTING MEMBER BANKS Fourth District United States (In Millions)' (In Millions) May IB May 16 April 17 May 15 May 16 April 17 1928 1929 1928 1929 1929 1929 7,106 7,358 700 676 7,228 699 Loans on securities ...... 8,885 9,078 784 823 9,078 818 1,518 1,460 1,522 16,301 15,990 16,481 5,909 6,181 5,855 668 736 676 1,080 1,019 13,139 13,840 13,118 Demand deposits ........... 1,027 6,779 6,898 965 955 6,795 962 Time deposits ................. THE MONTHLY BUSINESS REVIEW 8 Summary of National Business Conditions By the Federal Reserve Board Industrial activity continued at a high level in April and the volume of factory employment and payrolls increased further. Loans and investments of member banks in leading cities continued to decline between the middle of April and the middle of May and were at that time approximately the same level as a year ago. Production Index number of production o f manufactures and minerals combined, adjusted for seasonal variations (1923-1925 average = 100). Latest figure, April, 121. Industrial activity increased in April to the highest level on record. The iron and steel and automobile industries continued exceptionally active during April. Activity in copper refining, lumber, cement, silk and wool textiles, and the meatpacking industry increased and production of cotta* textiles showed a less than seasonal reduction. Factory employment payrolls increased, contrary to the seasonal trend. Output of mines was also larger in April. Copper and anthracite coal production increased and the seasonal decline in output of bituminous com was smaller than usual. Petroleum production declined slightly. Preliminary reports for the first half of May indicate a continued high rate of operations in the iron and steel industry. Output of lumber and bituminous coal was somewhat larger during the first part of May at the end of April. Building contracts awarded during the month of April increased sharply and for the first time in five months approximated the total for the correr sponding month in the preceding year. The increase was not continued, however, in the first part of May when awards averaged 20 per cent below the same period in May, 1928. During April most classes of building showed seasonal increases over March, the largest being in contracts for residential building and public works and utilities. Distribution Index o f United States Bureau o f Labor Sta tistics <1926 — 100, base adopted by B ureau). Latest figure, April, 96.8 Shipments of commodities by rail increased during April and were the largest for this month in any recent year. The increase from Maxdb reflected larger loadings of miscellaneous freight, lumber, livestock, and ore. During the first half of May shipments of freight continued to increase. Sales at wholesale declined seasonally in April, except in the case o f grocery and hardware firms. In comparison with April, 1928, all lines of trade reporting to the Federal Reserve System showed increases. Department store sales were also smaller in April than in March but continued above the level of a year ago. Prices Monthly averages o f daily figures for 12 Fed eral reserve banks. Latest figures are averages o f first 24 days in May. MONEY RATES IN NEW YOftK Wholesale commodity prices averaged slightly lower in April than March, according to the index of the United States Bureau of Labor Stati*. tics, reflecting primarily declines in prices of farm products and theft* manufactures. Prices of mineral and forest products and their manufacture*, on the average, showed little change. There were increases in the prices of iron and steel, and sharp declines in copper, lead, and tin. Seasonal de clines occurred in prices of coal and coke, while gasoline prices advanced. Prices of farm products and their manufactures averaged lower i* April than in March. Prices of grain, especially wheat, moved downward more sharply and wool and cotton continued to decline. Livestock and meat prices continued the upward movement of the previous month, but at a slower rate; hides averaged slightly higher in price, and leather some what lower. Among imported raw materials, rubber, sugar, and coffee showed marked price recession. Early in May cattle, hides, and wheat prices declined sharply and the price of rubber increased. Bank Credit £ / A r i_ ¥ x ro ! P a p fr fla t r H ank D iscount‘ fob met R a te | jF 111 _ — Monthly rates in the open market in New York, commercial paper rate on 4-to-6 month paper and acceptance rate on 90-day bankers' acceptances. Latest figures are averages o f first 24 days in May. During the four weeks ending May 15, loans and investments of member banks in leading cities showed a decrease of nearly $200,000,000 largely fa loans of securities, together with some further decline in investments. Aft other loans, chiefly for commercial and agricultural purposes, remained unchanged at a relatively high level. There was a further reduction in the average volume of reserve bank credit outstanding between the weeks ending April 24 and May 22, owing largely to additions to the country’s monetary stock of gold. The decline was in discounts for member banks; holding of acceptances and of United States securities showed practically no change. Open market rates for commercial paper remained unchanged as did rates on prime bankers* acceptances, except for a temporary decline at the end of April and the first week in May. In the first three weeks of May rates on collateral loans averaged considerably higher than in April. *
@FedFRASER