The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
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, September 1, 1925 Business has been moving along at a satisfactory pace, some lines having ex perienced greater activity than is usual at this time of year. The iron and steel trade appears to have turned the corner, operations having gradually increased during recent weeks. Activity in the great majority of industries con tinues to be well ahead of a year ago at this time. A valuable indicator of the business trend consists of earnings comparisons in various lines of industry. Along this line, an analysis has been made by this bank of the income accounts of forty-two large and representative industrial corporations in the United States, having total resources of $7,262,108,000. The result of this analysis shows that net profits (after all deductions but before dividends) of the forty-two corporations combined for the first half of 1925 amounted to $237,672,332, as com pared with $195,315,110 for the first half of 1924, or a gain of 21.7 per cent. Thirty-two companies showed a gain in earnings over 1924, while only ten showed a de cline. The above statistics bring out forcefully the im provement which has taken place in 1925 as compared with 1924. Manufacturers in this District report that the prac tice of hand-to-mouth buying is still prevalent. There is considerable complaint as to the narrow margin of profits, even when accompanied by a large volume of business, but efforts are being made by the majority of manufacturers to adjust themselves to the situation. Financial Savings deposits of sixty-eight reportConditions ing banks in the larger centers of the Fourth Federal Reserve District amounted to $846,960,987 on July 31, a decrease of 1.0 per cent from June 30, but an increase of 5.4 per cent over July 31, 1924. Commercial failures in this district, according to R. G. Dun and Company, numbered 191 in July, as compared with 155 in July, 1924. For the United States, there were 1685 failures in July of this year as against 1615 in the same month last year. The following table gives the changes in the main items of the balance sheets of Federal reserve and re porting member banks. No. 9 Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Federal Reserve System (in millions) (in millions) Aug. 12. Aug. 15, July 15, Aug. 12, Aug. 13, J*ly l5, 192$ 1924 192$ 1925 1924 1925 Gold Reserves............... £320 £301 £2,778 33,144 $2,791 5298 Discounts....................... 455 266 23 538 73 Acceptances................... 18 231 17 1 214731 212 U. S. Securities.............. 329 540 344 56 31 Total Earning Assets.. 826 1,043 100 1,091 121 80 Federal Reserve Notes in Circulation........... 207 206 1,618 1,752 1,627 211 Total Deposits............. 185 2,236 2,166 2,232 178 194 Reporting Member Banks* Reporting Member BankrSystem Fourth District (in millions) (in millions) Loans Secured by Stocks and Bonds... All Other........................ Total Loans.................. Investments.................. Demand Deposits........ Time Deposits.............. Iron and Steel Au&i- AttU $49S 772 1,267 642 1,014 757 $415 723 1,138 621 965 693 V s A"&S’ $480 $5,062 $4,219 766 8,246 8,129 1,246 13,308 12,348 637 5,483 4,982 1,016 12,834 12,291 739 5,178 4,523 V s $5,092 8,188 13,280 5.498 12,890 5,164 Iron and steel conditions apparently have definitely made their turn toward betterment. Enlargement of buying volume in July over preceding months has been communicated to works op erations and the latter now are increasing in a slow but steady fashion. Steel production in July averaged about 64 per cent of full-rated capacity. During the third week in August it had been raised to slightly above 70 per cent. Though July marked the low point of the retrenchment in production, its output was 65 per cent ahead of that for July, 1924, which also marked the low point of the declining movement of that year. Pig iron production in July as compiled by IRON TRADE REVIEW was only 3.7 per cent below June. The loss of active fur naces for the month had fallen to three. On July 31, 188, or 47.5 per cent of the country’s total number of furnaces, were active. Steel ingot production in July also declined 3.7 per cent from June, but represented 73.4 per cent of the largest single month on record*, or March, 1924. An expanding rate of consumption is clearly reflected by the larger volume of buying, since users have not modified their policies, steadily persisted in for some months, of obligating themselves only for their imme diate needs. The market remains a hand-to-mouth af fair, and with buyers* stocks held unusually low, new THE M O NT HL Y B U S I N E S S REVIEW 2 demands upon producers have been quickly reflected in increased mill operations. In some lines recent bookings have been running ahead of shipments, causing back logs to accumulate. In a few directions prompt deliv eries are not so readily complied with, although there is nothing in the situation, as a whole, in this respect to induce buyers to anticipate their needs. The expansion of production now perceptible has been attained in the face of one conspicuously absent factor in general buying, that of the railroads, which normally are the best customers of the mills and furnaces. Pur chases by transportation systems, particularly of equip ment, have been extremely scant, notwithstanding the heavy freight movement. Prospects in this respect are considered improving and should they develop they prom ise to have a material influence in further lifting the level of activity in the industry. Active building condi tions, the maintenance of the automobile industry on an unprecedented basis for this season, heavy buying of farming implements and other agricultural requirements and a well diversified demand from miscellaneous chan nels are supporting the present situation. Building steel awards in June and July averaged 85 per cent of shop capacity, which is the best showing in several years. Bookings and shipments for the first seven months of the year were more than 300,000 tons ahead of the corre sponding period in 1924. Buying of pig iron has been carried forward in steady volume and the tendency of producers is to ask some addition in prices for the more distant deliveries although the market broadly has not advanced. Due to the fact that producers are quoting higher for 1926 delivery, considerable buying is being done for December. Possi bilities of strike suspensions in the coal industry are be ing watched more closely as the situation develops. Coke prices are advancing due to this cause and sales for early shipment have been made at 25 to 50 cents per ton higher. Finished steel prices are failing to respond to any improvement in buying volume. IRON TRADE REVIEW composite of fourteen leading iron and steel products clearly reflects this situation with an unchanged average of $37.45 for the past eight weeks. Iron and S teel Production PIG IRON (Iron Trade Review) (In thous. of tons) J a n u a ry .. . F eb ru ary.. March. . .. A pril.......... M ay.......... Ju n e.......... J u ly ........... A ugust... . September. October. . . November. December. 1925 3,372 3,214 3,571 3,211 2,934 2,679 2,665 Total. 1924 3,015 3,074 3,465 3,226 2,620 2,023 1,783 1,883 2,054 2,462 2,515 2,956 31,076 STEEL INGOTS (American Iron and Steel Institute) (In thous. of tons) 1925 4.199 3,756 4.199 3,588 3,458 3,207 3,088 1924 3,650 3,826 4,207 3,348 2,640 2,066 1,878 2,553 2,828 3,125 3,121 3,569 36,811 Coal Production of bituminous coal has been on the upgrade since the middle of June, amounting to 1,600,000 tons per day for the week ending August 1 as compared with 1,400,000 for the week ending June 20 and about 1,300,000 a year ago. The in crease appears to be more than seasonal, doubtless due to the fear that the threatened anthracite strike might later involve the bituminous fields and to the fact that dealers stocks, after declining for a considerable time, had reached the point where replenishment was nccessary. In the Fourth District, the situation continues to be aggravated. Dealers report some improvement recently both in volume and prices, but the margin of profits is stated to be still unsatisfactory. Production in Penn sylvania and Ohio, where the union fields are found, continues to run between 60 and 70 per cent of the 1923 average, while West Virginia and Kentucky fields are run ning about 120 per cent of the 1923 average. It is re ported that over half of the mines served by railroads in eastern Ohio are now shut down entirely. Great Lakes Shipments IRON ORE* BITUM INOUS CO AL** 1925 (tons) 1924 1925 (tons) 1924 Jan u a ry ................................................................ 324 18,396 F ebruary.............................................................. M arch................. 45 ................ 132,950 369 A pril.................... 2,120,670 659,387 1,657,524 930,696 0 1 . 1 no, 6,583,815 2,994,043 M a y ..................... 8,313,984 Ju n e ..................... 7,958,486 7,583,926 3,436,923 2,609,593 2,932,793 J u l y . . ................ 8,525,063 7,280,014 3,945,521 3,621,665 Season to date 26,918,248 22,107,142 12,167,285 10,113,512 *Lake Superior Iron Ore Association, Shipped from upper lake ports. **Ore and Coal Exchange. Loaded into vessels at Lake Erie ports. Automobiles Price cuts have furnished the most noteworthy development in the auto, mobile industry during recent weeks. An analysis of the prices of twenty standard makes of passenger cars shows that since July 1, 1925, fourteen have reduced prices on sedan models, and eleven on coupes. Taken in the aggregate, the price decrease in coupes amounted to 4.8 per cent, and in sedans to 6.7 per cent. As com pared with August 1, 1924, the same twenty makes com bined show a 7.7 per cent price decline in coupes, and 11.9 per cent in sedans, the difference being even greater here than in the comparison with July 1 of this year. In all but two cases sedan prices are now lower than a year ago, while for coupes the same holds true in fourteen cases out of twenty. Production of automobiles continued to decline in July, as might naturally be expected after the exceedingly high rate during the second quarter. The loss from June was slight, July output amounting to 385,000 passenger cars and trucks, as compared with 395,000 in June. For the first quarter of the year, the industry did not reach the production figures attained in the same period in 1924, but beginning with April, the output has been running far ahead of last year, with the result that THE M O N T H L Y B U S I N E S S REVIEW the seven months’ total for 1925 amounted to 2,503,000 cars and trucks, an increase of 249,000, or 11 per cent, over 1924. Automobile Production 1924-1925 — Figures Represent Practically Complete Production for the United States and Are Based upon Reports Received by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago in Co-operation with the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce from Identical Firms Each M onth. 1925 Sales of nineteen reporting wholesale dry goods firms during July showed an increase of 2.8 per cent over July, 1924. This is encouraging in view of the fact that since October, 1923, sales of these firms in only one other month have shown an increase over the corresponding month of the previous year. For the first seven months of 1925, sales were 6.8 per cent under the same period in 1924. 1924 General This is the dull season for many lines Manufacturing of manufacture. After allowing for the Cars J a n u a ry .................. 203,757 25,650 287,211 28,247 seasonal factor, however, business of Feb ruary ................ 246,669 32,014 336,284 30,399 manufacturers in general in the Fourth M arch .................... 326,140 42,274 348,287 33,061 District is holding up well. In most A p ril ...................... 384,902 45,534 336,968 34,977 M a y ....................... 374,629 40,950 279,385 32,326 instances there has been considerable improvement over 359,459 35,586 217,845 27,040 J u n e ....................... when conditions were depressed. J u l y ........................ 346,675 38,720 237,431 24,895 lastShoesummer, manufacturers report a good volume of business. ........ 251,553 26,781 A ugust........................................... Septem ber..................................... ........ 260,091 30,154 The glass industry is operating close to capacity. A ................................ 257,839 30,597 O ctober..................... improvement has occurred in some lines of N ovem ber................ ............ ........ 201,652 26,246 noticeable D ecem ber ................................................... 178,570 25,333 machinery manufacture. Makers of electrical supplies report something of a slump except in the case of cer Robber Tire manufacturers in this district are tain specialties. well satisfied with the results of the first half of the year, it being stated Agricultural The August forecasts of the United that profits were better than at any Conditions States Department of Agriculture in time during the post-war period. Buy dicate that the crops in this district ing was unusually heavy during May, June, and July, due compare very favorably with those of in large part to the rapid advance in the price of crude the country at large, particularly in rubber and the four successive increases in tire prices. the case of corn production, which is estimated to be It is felt in some quarters that there was a certain 67.7 per cent greater than 1924 in this district as against amount of overbuying during these months, and this is a country-wide increase of 21.1 per cent. borne out by the statement of manufacturers that the Corn: The Ohio State Department of Agriculture re volume of tire purchases has not been increasing dur ports the outlook for corn as exceptionally good in all ing August, although August is usually a very active parts of the state, present estimates indicating a total month in this regard. The recent fall in the price of yield of 176,800,000 bushels. This exceeds by more crude rubber has reassured buyers; from its high point of than two million bushels the record crop of 1912, when 174 about $1.20 a pound in the middle of July there was a million bushels were produced. There are a few small decline to 74 cents on August 11, although followed by a areas throughout the state where the crop has suffered rise to 87 cents on August 28. That manufacturers are from the drought, and in the more northern counties the watching their production schedules is indicated by the late plantings are not yet free from the danger of dam fact that stocks of high pressure inner tubes on July 1 age by early frosts, but in the southern and central were somewhat lower than usual on that date, and it is counties a record crop is assured. stated that this condition still prevails. The corn crop in Pennsylvania is reported by the Co One evidence of the efforts of American rubber firms to operative Reporting Service to be the best in fif free themselves from dependence on foreign-owned planta teen years,Crop with of 1919. Total produc tions for their supply of crude rubber has been the ne tion is estimated atthe77exception million bushels. gotiations between a large tire manufacturing concern Wheat: The wheat yield in Ohio is now estimated as and the Liberian government, whereby the latter pro averaging 14V& bushels to the acre, or a total yield of poses to lease to the former 1,000,000 acres of rubber some 26,000,000 This is an increase of 18 per plantation land. Reports indicate that these negotiations cent over earlierbushels. estimates, and is about two-thirds of are now practically complete. last year's crop. The Pennsylvania wheat crop is reported by the State Textiles Midsummer dullness prevails in some lines of textile manufacturing in the Department of Agriculture to be the best in the history Fourth District. In knit goods, how of the state, both as regards quality and yield per acre. ever, an improved demand has taken The estimated total yield is 24,600,000 bushels, an in place in August, after a poor July. In crease of about 5,000,000 over last year. Oats: While the Ohio oats crop is estimated at 71,cases where the selling season for the spring of 1926 has been opened, there appears to be some increase in or 000,000, an increase of about 9 per cent over that of year, this is due to an increased acreage, as the yield ders. In fact, although hand-to-mouth buying on the per acre is estimated at five bushels under last year. part of consumers is reported to be still the rule, there Potatoes: The outlook for the potato crop in Ohio is is a tendency to get away from it to some extent. Passenger Cars Trucks Passenger Trucks la s t the 4 monthly business considerably below the average, present indications point ing to a total yield about that of last year. The Penn sylvania crop is estimated to be 12 per cent under that of 1924, due to decreased acreage and unfavorable weather conditions. Fruit: Reports on fruit conditions indicate that both the apple and peach crops in Ohio are about 65 per cent of a full crop, with grapes showing about half of the full production. The condition of all fruits in the lake district appears to be good, the average being reduced by the southern counties. Tobacco Tobacco of all types in the Fourth Dis trict is reported to be in very satis factory condition. Generally speaking, growing conditions have been favor able. Although some small areas have suffered from a lack of rainfall, there have been prac tically no reports of wild fire or other defects. Kentucky reports a decrease in acreage of 4 per cent in all types, fairly well distributed through the various types grown in the state. The stocks in the hands of dealers, however, are sufficient to offset any probability of a shortage. Sales have been fairly active, and at satisfactory prices. Building and Building throughout the country durBuilding Material ing July continued at a seasonally high rate. The value of permits in 168 cities, according to B r a d s t r e e t’s, amounted to $340,065,726, as compared with $229,142,718 in July, 1924. In the Fourth District, eight out of thirteen reporting centers showed a gain over July of last year. Lumber manufacturers in this district report more than usual volume of business at this season, which is ordinarily dull. An improvement has taken place oven the spring months, and business compares favorably with the summer of 1924. Cement production in July for Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia amounted to 1,618,000 barrels, as com pared with 1,503,000 in July, 1924. The percentage of the production of these three states to that of the United States was 10.3 in July, 1925, as compared with 10.7 in the same month last year. review Retail Trade Of eleven cities having three or more reporting firms, seven showed increases in department store sales in July as compared with the same month in 1924. Akron, with 9.2 per cent, and Youngstown, with 8.6 per cent, showed the greatest gains, the increase for the entire Fourth District being 4.4 per cent. This bank's index number of sales of 55 department stores stood at 84 in July, being the highest figure for that month during the last seven years with the exception of 1920. For the first seven months of 1925, sales were 0.06 per cent greater than during the corresponding period in 1924. This increase was due entirely to the good showing made in July, inasmuch as 1925 sales had pre viously run consistently behind those of 1924. Depart ment store stocks at retail on hand at the end of July were 0.2 per cent less than a year ago, and 6.3 per cent less than at the end of June, 1925. Sales of twenty-one wearing apparel firms in the Dis trict in July increased 13.3 per cent over July, 1924, but decreased 29.7 per cent from June, 1925. Sales of 18 retail furniture stores gained 8.2 per cent in July as compared with the same month last year. Sales of reporting wholesale grocery firms in this District in July declined 3.3 per cent from a year ago, and those of shoe firms declined 9.6 per cent. Dry goods, hardware, and drugs firms showed gains of 2.8, 5.4, and 2.3 per cent respec tively. For the first seven months of 1925, hardware and drugs sales increased slightly, while those of gro ceries, shoes, and dry goods decreased. An idea of the depression which has existed in the textile and shoe trades is obtained by a study of this bank’s index numbers of sales for reporting wholesale firms in the Fourth District, the base (100) being the Building Operations average monthly sales, 1919-1923. In the case of dry Ja n .-Ju ly , 1925 1925 July, % change % change % change goods, the monthly index number has been over 100 but fro _ from No. from 1924 1924 Valuation Name of City Permit# 1924 V a lu a tio n once during 1924 and 1925, and during that time has 3949,942 6 5 .6 £9,153,910 109.0 24.9 *|6 Akron............... 80.7 2,208,030 5,917,737 11.3 9.5 averaged only 79, or 21 per cent below the 1919-1923 av Canton................ — 3.1 19,696,380 25.2 0.2 2,327,850 Cincinnati.......... 5.3 56,333,157 7,708,875 14.8 Cleveland........... 1.915 14.5 erage. The index number for reporting shoe firms has 147.8 2,687,800 15,926,550 52.4 Colutnbu*........... 666 —29.6 75.7 1,626,008 7,763,051 29.0 11.7 not been higher than 99 during 1924 and 1925, the av D .y to n ............. \ f 601,129 30,9 5,081,017 53.2 8 .4 Bn*............... J®* 17.0 129,921 — 18.4 1,480,216 30.3 Lexington.......... erage for the period being 69. In comparing these with 2,964,300 13.0 26,517,554 4 .4 29.5 Pittsburgh......... 116,530 —27.7 1,018,695 —2.1 0.0 Springfield......... 11| other wholesale lines, it is found that during the same 3,221,975 190.9 11,434,627 4 .8 2.4 Toledo................. 6'9 —23.0 196,599 —23.4 2,607,004 — 14.9 W heeling............ 97 —21.2 period the index number for hardware has averaged 102; 699,215 — 16.5 5,335,585 —5 .2 Young«town... . for drugs, 107; and for groceries, 85. 7 .7 $25,438,174 33.0 3168,265,483 23.0 T o tal..................... 6,513 o il Wholesale Trade THE M O N T H L Y B U S I N E S S REVIEW The following table shows the ten most important industries from the standpoint of the number of wageearners in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky in 1923 as com pared with 1921. The data was compiled from figures Statistics of Most Important Industries published by the United States Department of Commerce, and is the most recent available. It should be noted that these figures cover a wider territory than that cov ered by the Fourth Federal Reserve District, since they include the entire states of Pennsylvania, Kentucky and West Virginia, whereas only parts of these states are in the Fourth District. No. of Establishm ents 1921 1923 OHIO Steel works and rolling mills............................................... 81 85 Foundry and machine-shop products not elsewhere classified.............................................................................. 877 891 Rubber tire and inner tubes................................................ 58 53 Steam-railroad repair shops................................................. 132 125 Electrical machinery, supplies, etc..................................... 161 195 M otor vehicles (except motorcycles)................................. 46 50 Motor-vehicle bodies and parts. ......................................... 208 178 C lay products (other than pottery) and nonclay refractories.......................................................................... 276 261 P ottery (including porcelain).............................................. 101 93 Boots and shoes other than rubber................................... 60 63 All O ther................................................................................. 9,167 9,514 T otal............................................................................................. 11,196 11,479 PENNSYLVANIA Steel works and rolling mills................................................ Steam-railroad and repair shops......................................... Foundry and machine-shop products not elsewhere classified............................................................................... Silk manufactures.................................................................. K nit goods...... ........................................................................ Electrical machinery supplies, etc...................................... Cigars and cigarettes............................................................. G lass......................................................................................... Bread, bakery products.......... C lay products (other than pottery) and nonclay refractories............................. All O ther................................... T o ta l.............................................................................................. KEN TUCKY Steam-railroad repair shops................................................ Lumber and timber products.............................................. Clothing— men’s (outer garments on ly)........................... Steel works and rolling mills............................................... C ity products (other than pottery) and nonclay refrac tories..................................................................................... Boots and shoes, other than rubber................................... Foundry and machine shop products not elsewhere classified............................................................................... Planing-mill products, not made in planing-milliS connected with sawmills................................................. Tobacco— chewing and smoking snuff.............................. F u rniture................................................................................. All O ther................................................................................. T o ta l......................................................................................... W E ST VIRGINIA Steel works and rolling mills............................................... Steam-railroad repair shops........... G lass.............. ........... ........................ ’ Lumber and timber products.............................................. P ottery, including porcelainware........................................ Stamped and enameled sheet-metal goods....................... Foundry and machine-shop products, not elsewhere classified............................................................................... Clay products (other than pottery) and nonclay refractories.......................................................................... Coke* not including gas-house coke................................... Planing-mill products not made in planing-mills connected with saw-mills................................................. All O ther................................................................................. T otal................................................... 5 Value of Products (In thousands) (Average Nu mber) 1923 1921 1921 1923 $333,562 $709,183 87,032 49,364 338,168 198,645 65,259 40,301 391,317 291,760 42,476 28,822 35,543 24,651 108,329 79,731 102,814 26,300 174,329 14,873 24,787 177,028 15,838 354,873 46,341 7,832 144,178 21,963 16,501 34,095 11,005 57,035 14,401 33,421 11,454 42,716 13,886 13,346 61,904 60,731 350,883 276,802 1,941,392 2,665,645 699,031 494,288 $5,046,504 $3,300,693 186 170 1,017 455 610 159 672 85 2,023 300 13,378 19,055 190 156 1,092 470 614 116 775 89 2,314 277 14,197 20,290 167,662 69,704 64,907 52,269 48,913 35,348 33,170 21,955 20,107 19,084 561,947 1,095,066 29 155 50 201 29 45 5 40 14,805 4,545 3,972 3,577 2,770 2,164 2,116 2,105 2,026 1,889 36,867 76,836 13,217 12,117 11,833 10,505 4,029 1,819 1,674 1,547 1,392 1,344 26,184 85,661 6 38 9 66 69 19 34 1,500 1,975 17 44 76 176 20 6 65 32 34 62 955 1,487 8 55 81 23 30 1,521 2,038 17 41 72 209 19 5 75 30 21 70 991 1,550 108,960 $1,292,222 55,282 245,098 50,127 344,064 51,690 286,073 42,435 221,184 201,118 20,345 119,665 32,299 16,706 99,198 18,413 131,745 65,501 12,072 4,432,741 455,588 863,917 $7,438,609 $645,760 193,711 238,198 224,196 177,150 116,577 119,264 65,675 131,412 31,404 3,115,662 $5,059,009 11,765 4,445 2,846 1,033 1,872 1,354 1,398 1,232 2,798 1,552 28,545 58,840 $37,066 15,374 12,242 26,797 7,481 6,431 10,721 11,227 23,221 6,878 269,652 $427,090 $34,875 13,070 7,960 7,258 4,169 3,918 6,806 6,481 24,879 5,780 187,546 $302,742 6,890 9,416 8,589 7,734 3,464 820 1,507 1,047 451 825 19,793 60,536 $99,151 34,577 50,211 38,727 13,119 8,628 11,696 4,458 14,346 10,980 203,615 $489,508 $39,016 25,816 35,509 20,705 10,908 2,847 9,617 2,840 3,070 8,390 151,705 $310,423 THE MONTHL V B USI NESS REVIEW 6 Retail Trade Sales Percentage Increase or Decrease SALES SALES July, 1925 Jan.-July, 1925 No. of com pared with compared with reports July, 1924 Jan.-July, 1924 D epartm ent Stores A k ro n .................... 5 9.2 6.0 Canton.................... 4 — 1.6 — 12.5 C incinnati.............. 7 8. 3 5.0 C leveland.............. 6 6.5 — 0. 01 6 5.9 9.4 C olum bus.............. D ayton ................... 5 2.7 — 1. 6 New C astle........... 3 — 2.6 — 3.1 P ittsburgh............. 7 2.7 — 1.9 T oledo..................... 5 — 1.4 — 3.1 W heeling................ 5 — 6.3 — 6.9 Y oungstow n.......... 3 8. 6 0.4 Other C itie s * .... 13 5.4 4.1 D istrict................... 69 4.4 0.06 *Includes Erie, Lim a, Mansfield, M arion, Norwalk, Oil City, Portsm outh, Sharon, Springfield and W ashington C. H. W earing Apparel C incinnati.............. 6 27.2 3 11.8 C leveland.............. O ther C ities**.., 12 6. 3 D istrict......... 21 13.3 **Includes Akron, Canton, Columbus, Dayton, Fostoria, Mt. Vernon, Pittsburgh, Sandusky and Toledo. 1921.............. 1922.............. 1923.............. 1924.............. 1925.............. Percentage Increase or Decrease SALES SALES Ju ly. 1925 Jan.-July, 1925 . Groceries A kron...................... C leveland.............. Colum bus.............. E rie.......................... Lexington.............. P ittsburgh............. T oledo..................... Y oungstow n......... O ther C itie s * .... D istrict................... Dry G oods................ D rugs........................... H ardw are................... Shoes............................ Mo. of reports 3 4 3 4 3 7 3 3 23 53 19 16 16 7 compared with compared w ith July, 1924 Jan.-July, 1924 2.9 45 — 8. 6 __ 7 3 — 6.2 __ 7 4 0 .7 — 4*4 — 15.6 __15 9 —0 02 Vn s'A —2 1 — 18.0 __ 71 1 0.2 __ 3*2 — 3. 3 __ 4 '^ 2. 8 __ 6 8 5. 4 0'6 2. 3 2 7 —9 6 __ 4 7 ‘ Includes Butler, Canton, Cincinnati, Connellsville, D ayton Dover, Greensburg Ironton, Lima, Mansfield, Massillon, Ports-’ mouth, Springfield, Steubenville, Uniontown, Warren, Pa Wheeling and Xenia. Chain Stores** D rugs-D ist............... 3 19 Groceries-Dist........... 5 — 1. 5 **Sales per individual unit operated. Index Numbers of Trade in the Fourth Federal Reserve District (Average M onthly Sales for the Five-Year Period 1919-1923, Inclusive— 100 ; ) D epartm ent Wholesale Wholesale Wholesale Wholesale Wholesale Wholesale Stores Drugs D ry Goods Groceries Hardware Shoes , (All) (55 firms) (15 firms) (18 firms) (52 firms) (15 firms) (6 firms) (106 firms) 72 90 84 ............ 70 69 57 79 82 81 90 61 ............ 73 44 77 104 89 81 ............ 82 103 59 90 99 88 104 61 ............ 80 53 84 102 83 109 63 46 ...... 84 83 1 4 weeks ending Aui?.12, 1925 $85,513 10,186 43,038 304,472 643,282 139,968 4,192 73,373 32,609 17,993 4,327 18,272 17,268 5,832 17,892 861,792 20,560 11,141 196,107 12,150 37,981 62,165 11,450 A kron....................... Butler, P a.............. C an ton................... C incinnati............. Cleveland.............. Colum bus.............. Connellsville, P a .. D ayton.................. Erie, P a ................ Greensburg, P a .. . Hom estead, P a .. . Lexington, K y. . . L im a....................... L orain..................... Oil City, P a ......... Pittsburgh, P a ... Springfield............ Steubenville......... Toledo.................... W arren................... Wheeling, W. Va. Youngstow n......... Zanesville.............. T o t a l..................... Wholesale Trade and Chain Store Sales 32 , 631,563 ’ ’’ q ^ 3'7 Chain Drugs (3 firms) 93 99 104 100 102 Debits to Individual Accounts (In thousands of dollars) 4 weeks ending July 15, 1925 385,793 10,089 44,176 323,325 671,382 141,822 4,130 84,760 32,598 18,328 4,706 23,795 16,611 6,551 13,957 894,619 20,466 11,357 200,592 12,089 42,126 65,952 11,660 32,740,884 4 weeks ending Aug. 13, 1924 363,419 9,483 37,358 264,624 544,744 115,115 4,243 57,187 28,210 20,226 3,882 16,535 15,820 6,033 12,090 757,640 16,960 9,117 152,598 12,151 39,705 51,507 11,629 32,250,276 % incr. or deer. 1 over 2 . —0.3 1.0 — 2.6 — 5.8 —4.2 — 1.3 1.5 — 13.4 0.03 — 1. 8 — 8. 1 — 23.2 4 .0 — 11.0 28.2 — 3.7 0.5 — 1.9 — 2.2 0.5 — 9.8 — 5.7 — 1. 8 —4 .0 % incr. or 1925 to date deer. 1 (Jan. 1 to (Jan. 3 to over 3 . Aug. 12) Aug. 13) 34.8 3626,438 3532,969 7.4 81,205 78,063 15.2 358,520 331,006 15.1 2,576,415 2,289,719 18.1 5,079,832 4,632,867 21. 6 1,054,732 974,308 — 1. 2 34,323 35,445 28.3 573,152 509,634 15.6 249,826 230,063 — 11.0 148,270 165,424 11.5 34,209 31,511 10.5 181,844 173,832 9.2 138,057 136,002 — 3.3 50,459 44,001 48.0 111,608 100,350 13.7 6,854,526 21.2 160,330 6,209,549 145,762 2 2. 2 86,687 86,271 28.5 1,518,804 1,324,184 — 0. 002 98,934 90,893 — 4.3 330,912 338,788 20.7 500,265 453,017 — 1.5 91,286 97,187 16.9 320,440,634 $19,010,845 deer. 6 over 7 . 17.5 4.1 8.3 12.5 9 .6 8.3 —3.2 12.5 8. 6 — 10.4 8. 6 4 .6 1.5 14.7 11.2 10.4 10.0 0.5 14.7 8. 8 — 2 .3 10.4 —6.1 7.5 THE M O N T H L Y B U S I N E S S REVI EW National Summary of Business Conditions PRODUCTION IN BASIC INDU5TRCS b its « f 22 taste commodities corrected for 1 variation (1915— 100). Latest figure— July, 112. I b I t t t f U . 8 . Bareaa o f Labor Statistics ( I M S — 1 M , baao adopted by B a re a a ). Latest figure— July, ICO. W i l r t y I f t w i fo r 12 Federal Reserve Banka. L a test i g a m - A s i n i t 19th. a DEPARTMENT STORE sa l e s 1vf'Tjr1W r V aoo V iJ i \bo*t *«• >tores in 117 d t i w m i f - l M ) . Latest figure—July, in . adjnatsd with seasonal correction 128. Hi 7 (By the Federal Reserve Board) Production in basic industries turned upward in July after a continuous decline since January. Wholesale prices advanced further and the distribution of commodities continued in large volume. PRODUCTION The Federal Reserve Board’s index of production In basic industries, which makes allowance for usual seasonal variations, advanced by about 2 per cent in July to a point nearly 20 per cent above the low level of a year ago. Increased output was shown for lumber, coal, and cement. Cotton consumption declined less than usual at this season, while the output of the iron and steel industry and the activity in the wool industry continued to decrease. In nearly all the industries activity was greater than in July of last year. Among industries not represented in the index the production of automobiles, rubber tires and silk continued to be large. Volume of factory employment and earnings of industrial workers declined further in July, sea sonal increases in the clothing, shoe, and meat packing industries being more than offset by decreases in the other industries. Building contracts awarded in July were in only slightly smaller volume than the exceptionally large total reached in June and the total for the first seven months of this year excelled that for any previous corresponding period. Estimates by the department of agriculture indicated a less favorable condition of all crops combined on August 1, than a month earlier. Expected yields of corn, wheat, rye, tobacco, and hay were somewhat smaller than in July, while the indicated production of oats, barley, and white potatoes was larger. According to present indications the yields of all principal crops, except corn and barley, will be smaller than last year. The mid August cot ton crop estimate was 13,990,000 bales as compared with a forecast of 13,566,000 bales on August 1. TRADE Freight car loadings during July were larger than in June and exceeded those of any previous July, and weekly figures for August indicated a con tinued large volume of loadings. Sales of department stores showed less than the usual seasonal decline in July and were 3 per cent larger than a year ago. Mail order sales were considerably above those of July, 1924. Wholesale trade continued at the June level and was 6 per cent above the corresponding period a year ago. PRICES Wholesale prices advanced further by nearly 2 per cent in July, ac cording to the Index of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Prices of farm prod ucts and of miscellaneous commodities rose over 4 per cent, reflecting chiefly increases in live stock and rubber, while in the other commodity groups price changes were relatively small. The general level of prices in July was 9 per cent higher than a year ago, the rise being chiefly in agricultural com modities. In August, raw sugar, potatoes, silk, metals, and fuels advanced, while grain, leather, hogs, and rubber declined. BANK CREDIT Demand for commercial credit at member banks in leading cities increased in August, and the volume of commercial loans on August 12 was larger than at any time since the middle of May, but still considerably below the level at the beginning of the year. Loans on securities increased between mid-July and the middle of August, while the banks* investments showed little change for the period. Discounts for member banks increased at all the reserve banks in recent weeks, and the total on August 19 was the largest in more than a year and a half. The reserve banks* holdings of securities and bills bought in the open market continued to decline, but total earning assets in the middle of August were near the high point for the year. During the latter part of July and the first half of August conditions in the money market were somewhat firmer. The prevailing rate on prime com mercial paper, which had remained at 3% to 4 per cent since early in May, advanced in August 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. Si MEMBER BANK 0EP0SITS ffir SiVOLUM E OF CHECK PAYMENTS "“L W Wv* 1920 1921 1922 1923 >920 <921 )&22 t9Z3 )924 ,9Z5 1 9 2 4 1 9 25 RETA IL TR A D E rt R CENT CEMT 100 200 IOO so A i \n] /L J yv W 150 J 100 IB 0 O 1920 1 1 L ju f vji Iw I BUILDING PERMITS pen CtN T 1 1 /t A 0 1920 \9 2 t 1922 *9 25 »9 2 * 192* t»2 2 1925 CPEH ENTEXPORTS ' Pin ctm is o 200 200 ISO 150 100 too so so 0 0 MW C C H 1. PIG IRON PRODUCTION n * c u t? TW 1 i VA i f VV so 1920 1922 *921 1923 + 1923 . i IM ..... * ISO I k v + 192 t 1022 R e ta il T ra d e , J u ly — 56. 192 3 s/ 19 2 4 V IOO 30 0 * 0 1920 1*21 i» a * I9 Z 3 1924 ,9 2 5 12. A u t o m o b ile 90 1923 A h r bf K a A t 1U 1 \ I }f >oa so O 1--------- *9 2 0 19 21 > 922 LATEST FIGURES 1 . Member Bank Credit Loaiw. July—114. Investments, 6. Wholesale Trade, June—93. .luly*—-135. 7 . Building Permits, July—205. 2. Member Bank Deposits, Demand— July—119. T in*— 8. Car Loadings, July— 120. July— 17 4. Exports of Merchandise, July— 71. 3. Check Payments, except New York* JqnM-124. 10. Bituminous Coal Production, July—.99. 4. Cojnmercinl Failures, Jtflyw 131. U. production. July— 106. 5. f IOO \ AUT OMOBILE PRODUCTION cnt mt ISO AA i [A y\ LV /V 90 0 •9 2 tin TY* too ISO K \V K l CCNT ISO 100 IOO XOO > 920 ft* C*«T ISO OF MERCHANDISE* 1M 192 5 COAL PRODUCTION ft* C tN T I9 2 i P i'o d t f t t l* * , 19 2 3 • 1*24
@FedFRASER