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Monthly

R eview

FEDERAL RESERVE B A N K OF S A N

NOVEM BER

FR A N C ISC O

1948

REVIEW OF BUSINESS CONDITIONS
S e p t e m b e r , the Federal Reserve index of industrial
production in the United States was at a level 192
percent of the 1935-39 average, as compared with 191 in
August. The October figure was 195, which slightly ex­
ceeded the previous postwar peak of 194 reached in Feb­
ruary. United States employment fell only slightly from
September to October, remaining above the 60-million
level and nearly a million higher than last year, although
it was about 5 million below the July peak. In the Twelfth
District, manufacturing employment reached a peak for
the year in October. In California, total manufacturing
employment was at a record peacetime October level,
exceeding October 1947 by 4 percent. By late Novem­
ber the two major strikes in the District— the waterfront
employees and the oil refinery workers— appeared to
have been settled, with most oil refinery workers already
back at work, and the waterfront employees expected to
return by early December. Preliminary estimates indi­
cated that for the first time since 1942, the peak seasonal
employment of farm workers in California occurred in
October rather than in September. This is attributed
mainly to the record cotton harvest, a large tomato crop,
and a late season in other fall crops.
However, over-all employment in California declined
during the month ending October 15. This was partially
explained by the effects of the maritime strikes on such
related industries as transportation, services, and con­
struction. Employment in retail trade also declined as
sales began to fall off.
n

I

Lumber activity slowed

Several factors have affected the Pacific Coast lumber
industry adversely in recent months. The shipping strike
which started early in September has virtually halted all
water shipments, both intercoastal and overseas. Rail
shipments have increased as a result, but they have been
impeded by a shortage of freight cars. In addition, de­
mand for lumber has slackened, causing price declines in
the lower grades. The decline in the number of housing
starts during the past several months is no doubt an im­
portant factor contributing to decreased demand for
lumber.
Production has been declining since the middle of the
summer in the Douglas Fir area and rising somewhat in
the Western Pine area. At the same time, and contrary
to the situation in earlier months this year, shipments and




orders have been running below production since early
June in the Western Pine area and since late July in the
Douglas Fir area. The demand for clear lumber is still
quite strong relative to the supply, but lower grades,
which are more abundant, have been more difficult to sell
and prices on these grades, particularly in Douglas fir,
have dropped significantly. At present, mill stocks of
lumber, although increasing during recent months, are
low as compared with prewar averages. Stocks of lumber
in distribution channels are also reported to be relatively
low, but distribution and retail yards, confronted with
slackening activity, are not ordering to build up their
stocks.
Many mills are reported to have large supplies of logs
on hand. This will tend to sustain production for a limited
period of time in the face of declining demand. The mills
will continue to cut lumber in order to avoid the spoilage
that accompanies too long storage of logs.
Department store sales decline after August peak

The dollar volume of sales (adjusted for seasonal vari­
ation) in Twelfth District department stores dropped
in September from the all-time peak reached in August to
a level lower than in any month since March, 1948. A
preliminary estimate indicates that a further and more
severe slump occurred in October. Weekly sales figures
show a decidedly lower volume of sales made in October
and the first two weeks of November than in the corre­
sponding period of 1947. Although these decreases first
became apparent in the Twelfth District, a similar trend
soon became evident in other western Districts, and in
the first two wreeks in November, all Districts in the coun­
try experienced a smaller volume of department store
sales than in the corresponding period a year ago. Con­
trary to the decrease in sales, stocks held by District
department stores on September 30, after adjustment for
seasonal forces, were 3 percent above those of the previ-

Also in This Issue

Western Power and Fuel Outlook— 1.
Electric Power
Structure of Nonagricultural Employment
in the Twelfth District

98

FEDERAL RESERVE B A N K OF S A N FR A N C ISCO

ous month and 14 percent above those held on September
30, 1947. Orders outstanding increased only slightly from
August to September, and remained considerably below
those of September 1947.

November 1948

had risen to relatively high levels toward the end of Sep­
tember when member banks had to meet increased re­
serve requirements. Many of these loans were paid off
during October, but other major categories of loans con­
tinued to increase.

Consumers’ price index declines slightly in October

The consumers’ price index of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics moved horizontally instead of upwards, for a
change, in September. In October it actually fell very
slightly. This is a reflection of earlier developments in
primary markets. Price declines of wheat and corn have
been more or less steady since the first estimates of the
current record crops were made in late January and early
February. Declining feed prices and the beginning of a
more than seasonal increase in livestock marketings led
to a weakening in hog and steer prices in July and Aug­
ust. Prices of metals, on the contrary, have increased
sharply in recent months, and prices of copper, lead, and
zinc are now at record levels. The increases in metals
and metal products prices did not quite offset the de­
clines in prices of farm products and foods with the re­
sult that the Bureau’s index of wholesale prices declined
nearly 3 percent from August to October.
The leveling off in September and the decline in Octo­
ber of the consumers’ price index are attributable to de­
clines in retail food prices. In the Twelfth District, Los
Angeles was the only major city in which food prices
rose from September to October. This was due mainly
to a 6-percent rise in the price of eggs and a 5-percent
rise in the prices of fruits and vegetables. The index of
all commodities for that city rose by the same amount as
did the index for food prices— 0.5 percent. In the four
other District cities for which the Bureau of Labor Statis­
tics reports price developments, food prices declined from
September to October. In Seattle, Portland, and Salt
Lake City, the food price index fell 1.6 percent, and in
San Francisco it fell 0.5 percent. These declines were due
to price drops in meat, poultry, fish, and dairy products.
In Portland, the only District city in addition to Los
Angeles for which a more complete report was issued for
October, the index for all commodities fell 0.1 percent.
Expansion in bank loans

The marked expansion in Twelfth District bank loans
that occurred in August and September was retarded in
October and early November. In the two weeks which
ended November 17, however, the rate of expansion in­
creased again. Most of the change occurred in commer­
cial, industrial, and agricultural loans. The growth in real
estate loans, which lagged in July and August, picked up
significantly in the following two months, but was still
running at a rate substantially below the average for the
first six months of this year.
In the country as a whole, total loans of weekly report­
ing member banks declined for the first time in six
months during October. The decline was due solely, how­
ever, to a decrease in loans for purchasing and carrying
securities and in loans to banks. Both of these categories




Deposit growth less this year

Member bank deposits have failed to grow as rapidly
relative to loans in the third quarter of this year as they
did in the corresponding period a year ago. This was true
in both the Twelfth District and the United States, as
the following table indicates:
/^-Twelfth District—>
Amount
(in millions) Percent
Third quarter 1947
Deposits in cre ased ...............
Loans in cre a se d ................

$470
340

Third quarter 1948
Deposits in cre ased ...............
Loans increased ...................

110
260

(----- United States-----^

Amount
(in millions)

Percent

3.0
7.3

$2,190
1,640

1.9
5.7

0.7
4.6

890
1,580

0.8
4.7

Some concern has been expressed that the failure of
District deposits to show their usual autumn growth this
year signifies a lack of the normal inflow of deposits from
outside the District. An examination of the situation
reveals, however, that this development may be explained
largely in terms of the impact upon deposits of the retire­
ment of a relatively large amount of bank-held debt in the
third quarter of this year. While figures are not available
for the Twelfth District, estimates prepared by the Board
of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and shown
in the accompanying table, indicate that for the United
States the amount of bank-held public debt retired in the
third quarter of this year was much larger than in the
same quarter of 1947.
t—Third quarter—^
Cash retirement of marketable United
States Government securities held by :

1947

1948
(in billions)

Federal Reserve banks............................................................................
Commercial banks ........................ .............................................
$ .1

$1.1
.5

Total b a n k -h e ld ........................................................................

.1

Other investors .............................................................................

.6

.4

$ .7

$2.0

Total

..............................................................................................

1.6

The retirement of marketable debt during 1948 has
been accomplished through the use of tax receipts and of
funds obtained by the sale of nonmarketable public debt
to nonbank investors rather than through a reduction in
preexisting Treasury balances. The payment of taxes or
the purchase of Government securities by nonbank inves­
tors reduces privately-held bank deposits and increases
Treasury deposits. These deposits are extinguished when
they are used by the Treasury to retire bank-held debt
since, in fact, the Treasury and banking system exchange
liabilities; that is, deposit liabilities of banks are ex­
changed for security liabilities of the Treasury. Conse­
quently, the retirement of bank-held debt out of tax re­
ceipts, or out of funds obtained by the sale of non-marketable securities to nonbank investors, reduces the
amount of bank deposits.

November 1948

99

M O N T H L Y R E V IE W

WESTERN POWER AN D FUEL OUTLOOK— I. ELECTRIC POWER
common with many other parts of the country, the
InTwelfth
District has experienced more or less serious
deficits of electric power during the past two years and
has also found itself somewhat pinched for such indus­
trial fuels as petroleum and natural gas. These shortages
and the consequent necessity to impose restrictions on the
use of electric power and gas, notably in California, have
raised some question as to the adequacy of regional power
and fuel supplies to sustain the industrial growth of the
area. It is proposed to examine this general problem of
the fuel and energy situation in the West in a series of
articles in the M o n th ly Review. An attempt will be made
to appraise the current position and probable future out­
look for each of the three major sources of industrial
energy available in the District— petroleum, natural gas,
and electric power. Because public experience with power
shortages has attracted more general attention, it will be
advantageous to consider the electric powTer situation first.
Changing conditions of fuel and energy supply in the West

Until comparatively recent years it was commonly
taken for granted that the power and fuel resources of the
West were practically inexhaustible. The existence of
numerous undeveloped water power sites, in particular,
has frequently been stressed as one among many argu­
ments for the industrialization of the West. Although
high-grade coal is lacking or is difficult of access in most
states of the Twelfth District except Utah, the availability
of large resources of petroleum and natural gas was con­
fidently counted on to supplement hydro-electric sources
of energy. Cheap power and fuel were definitely reckoned
as among the permanent assets of the Western economy.
Since the war, however, a new situation has arisen and
the aggregate demand for industrial energy and fuels
threatens, at least temporarily, to outrun supply. The ex­
tremely rapid population growth of many District areas
during and since the war, together with the general ex­
pansion and diversification of industry and the increas­
ing mechanization of farm and factory operations, has
caused a large per capita increase in energy requirements
of all kinds. Following a brief recession at the end of the
war, the demand for electric power in most parts of the
District increased much more rapidly in 1946 and 1947
than the expansion of generating and transmission facili­
ties. The phenomenal growth of demand for practically
all types of petroleum products is placing a severe strain
upon the petroleum industry of the West. It seems prob­
able that the traditional export surplus of California’s oil
fields and refineries, which supply the bulk of the petro­
leum products used in the western states and which
formerly shipped large quantities of crude and refined
oils to eastern and foreign markets, may soon give way
to a net import movement. Even the once apparently un­
limited supplies of natural gas in California have proved
inadequate in recent years to meet total demands and
the state is already importing large quantities of this fuel
from western Texas in order to conserve its own reserves
as much as possible.




Recent Power Shortages
Shrinking margins of generating capacity over load
requirements characterized the electric utility industry in
most parts of the District during almost the entire period
from the last quarter of 1945 to the second quarter of
1948. This deterioration in the ability of the industry to
meet its customers’ needs was due in part to the unex­
pectedly rapid growth in demand for power following the
reconversion of war industries and in part to the diffi­
culties encountered in securing new electrical equipment
from the manufacturers. Because of this situation, which
was aggravated by extraordinary weather conditions dur­
ing the past two seasons, some parts of the District ex­
perienced shortages of electric power which necessitated
more or less drastic curtailments in service.
The California situation

In California some restriction of service to industrial
customers supplied with “ surplus” power at low rates
became necessary in the summer of 1947. The 1946-47
season was marked by a serious deficiency in rainfall
which resulted in low stream flow and generally reduced
output of hydro-electric energy. Steam plants were called
upon more heavily in 1947 and provided a much larger
proportion than usual of the total energy output of the
state. Even so, the total power supply proved inadequate
and a group of chemical plants in the San Francisco Bay
area, which were beneficiaries of low rates for power sold
on an interruptible basis, were cut back for several
months to about 50 percent of normal operation.
The power shortage of 1947 in central California con­
tinued into the first quarter of 1948 and was intensified
by a second season of deficient rainfall, which also af­
fected parts of Arizona and Nevada. Arizona, in fact, has
experienced several successive years of water and power
shortage. Up to about the middle of last March, the de­
ficiency in seasonal precipitation over much of this area
was almost the worst on record and resulted in serious
damage to crops and pastures. Coming on top of the
scanty supplies of 1947, the prolonged drought further
reduced the effective generating capacity of many hydro­
electric plants and threw a still heavier burden on steam
plant operations. The demand for power for irrigation
pumping reached levels in the early months of 1948 that
are usually attained only during July or August. This ab­
normal irrigation demand was superimposed upon a
steadily growing industrial and domestic load, the total
effect of which carried the output of electric energy in
California in the first three months of the year to a level
nearly ten percent above that of the same period of 1947.
The 1948 curtailment program

Faced with these extraordinary increases in demand
and hampered by lagging hydro-electric output, the prin­
cipal electric utility concern in Northern California
instituted a voluntary curtailment program in February
among its customers and affiliated distributing companies.
These measures proved ineffective, however, and were

100

FEDERAL RESERVE B A N K OF S A N F R A N C ISCO

superseded in March by orders of the California Public
Utilities Commission designed to enforce a general 20
percent reduction in power consumption in the northern
and central areas of the state. The use of electricity was
drastically curtailed for most classes of users and for
certain non-essential purposes was prohibited ; the instal­
lation of new connections was also greatly restricted.
Southern California, wThile affected by the drought and
consequent reduction of hydro-electric energy, except
from the Colorado River, had a larger margin of steam
plant capacity and did not experience a general power
shortage. Hence no compulsory restrictions were placed
on power use in that area. By act of the legislature, state­
wide daylight saving time was adopted March 14 as a
power conservation measure. This expedient was ex­
pected to save about 235 million kilowatt hours of energy,
or roughly 9 percent of the estimated power deficiency
during the remainder of the year.
Fortunately, a period of heavy precipitation set in late
in March and continued for several weeks, substantially
increasing the snow pack and the volume of water in
storage reservoirs and also reducing the rate of irrigation
pumping. Together with the timely installation of addi­
tional generating capacity in Northern California and
the transfer of some 200,000 kilowatts of power from the
southern part of the state, the ending of the drought per­
mitted the lifting in April of the restrictions on power use
which had been imposed a month earlier. Statewide day­
light-saving was retained, however, as a safeguard
against excessive drains on the still somewhat precarious
power supply.
Reversing the trend of the first quarter of the year,
total electric power consumption in California fell during
the second quarter of 1948 to about the levels of the cor­
responding period of 1947. Beginning with July, how­
ever, new high records were again established. Both
privately- and publicly-owned utility systems have ener­
getically pushed the installation of new generating facili­
ties, transmission lines, and transformer stations. In spite
of continuing growth in total demand, peak loads have so
far been taken care of, though with a scanty margin of
reserve capacity. The situation has been under constant
review by the industry Power Interchange Committee
and by the Public Utilities Commission which have coun­
selled the retention of daylight-saving time until the next
major additions to the area’s generating facilities are
ready for operation, which is expected to be in Decem­
ber and January.
The Pacific Northwest

While perhaps attracting less attention than the Cali­
fornia experience, the Pacific Northwest is facing a prob­
ably more critical power problem than any comparable
area in the West. This situation has arisen primarily from
the rapid development of the electro-metallurgical in­
dustry in that region and from the large prospective
demand on the power supply to be expected from the
requirements for irrigation pumping as the huge acreage
of the Columbia Basin project is gradually brought under
cultivation. The demands of the defense industries during




November 1948

the next year or two will probably also put additional
pressure on the power supplies of the area.
Growing concern is being voiced in the Pacific North­
west over the narrow margin of available power reserves
over demand. In a statement issued in January 1948,
spokesmen for the leading privately-owned electric utili­
ties and city systems of the area pointed out that the
power requirements of the Pacific Northwest already ex­
ceed the safe operating capacity of the generating facili­
ties of the region. This statement emphasized the need
for additional Federally-owned generating capacity if
the future industrial development of the area is not to be
retarded. In fact, plans for the establishment of new fac­
tories in the lower Columbia River basin have had to be
dropped or indefinitely postponed because the available
supply of firm electric power in that region is barely suffi­
cient for the needs of already existing plants.
This situation in the Pacific Northwest was character­
ized by the tenth annual report of the Bonneville Power
Authority, issued in December 1947, as “ a far cry” from
the conditions of ten years ago when the great dams on
the Columbia River with their enormous electric power
potential were regarded by many as “ white elephants” for
whose output no regional market could be developed. The
problem at that time— one of finding markets— has given
way to the problem of developing power output rapidly
enough to keep up with the growth of demand. The
temporary loss of heavy industrial power loads following
shutdowns in the major war industries in the early post­
war period was quickly made up as industry converted to
a peacetime basis. The subsequent increase in demand
from all sources— industrial, commercial, domestic, and
rural— has absorbed the entire regional productive capac­
ity of electric energy. Both the Bonneville Power Admin­
istration and the public and private utility managers agree
that even if presently approved Federal power projects in
the Pacific Northwest are completed as rapidly as is
physically possible, the generating capacity of the region
will not catch up with expected powder requirements until
at least 1954.
Postwar demand for electric power has, if possible,
been even more insistent in the Pacific Northwest than in
California, while the limitations upon expansion of gen­
erating capacity have operated more severely in that area.
Few significant additions to generating facilities have, in
fact, been made in recent years by the privately owned
utility systems of the Northwest. Although the Bonne­
ville Power Authority has added three large generators
to its Grand Coulee plant, it had to relinquish in 1946 the
two 75,000 kilowatt units which had been diverted in
1943 from the Shasta plant of the Central Valley Project.
On balance, the total installed capacity in Washington,
Oregon, and northern Idaho increased about 10 percent
during the period from January 1946 to June 1948 ; ninetenths of the net gain was accounted for by the installa­
tions at Grand Coulee, which has now been developed to
one-half its ultimate capacity.
One of the drawbacks connected with the growing
dependence of the whole northwestern regional power

November 1948

supply upon the facilities of the Bonneville Power Ad­
ministration is the fact that the individual generators of
this system are very large units, ranging in size from
50,000 to 108,000 kilowatts, each. When it is necessary
to make periodic overhaul or emergency repairs to one of
these units the resulting reduction in power output is
correspondingly large.
The aluminum industry and industrial power curtailment

The heavy draft on the power supplies of the Pacific
Northwest made by the war-created metallurgical and
chemical industries is probably not generally realized out­
side that region. The aluminum reduction plants, in par­
ticular, require huge quantities of electric energy, which
the opportune installation of the publicly owned facilities
at Bonneville and Grand Coulee in the early war years
fortunately made available. Except during the fiscal year
1945-46, when some of these plants were closed down,
the aluminum industry has taken well over half the
energy output of the entire Bonneville system and cur­
rently represents from one-quarter-to one-third of the
total power load of the aggregate utility system, public
and private, in Oregon and Washington.
Due to its concentration in a small group of highly
mechanized plants, which employ a relatively small labor
force and hence present only a minor employment prob­
lem, the aluminum reduction industry of the Pacific
Northwest offers a ready opportunity for the adjustment
of industrial power use to seasonal fluctuations in total
demand and output. Seasonal variations in demand are
not so pronounced in the Pacific Northwest as in the Cali­
fornia- Arizona-Nevada area, chiefly because of the lack
of a heavy irrigation load in the summer months. Stream
flow is also generally more uniform and dependable and
much less use is made of auxiliary steam power. Fluctu­
ations in total demand in the Pacific Northwest are asso­
ciated primarily with the varying needs of domestic and
commercial customers for lighting and heating. These
users, generally speaking, pay the highest rates and must
be served first. The large industrial users obtain a sig­
nificant part of their total power requirements at very
low rates for “ surplus” power sold on interruptible sched­
ules which permit their service to be cut to the extent
necessary to assure a firm supply to the high rate users.
Both in 1947 and 1948 the Bonneville Power Admin­
istration has required the aluminum plants to reduce their
power consumption during the hours of peak load in the
winter months, when the maximum demand occurs. Last
year, unusually favorable weather conditions enabled the
power agencies of the area to meet their energy require­
ments with a minimum of curtailment, though with a very
narrow margin of reserve capacity. This year, in spite of
increased generating capacity, the period of shortage has
come earlier than usual; estimates of the extent of curtail­
ment by the Bonneville Power Administration necessary
to insure the maintenance of essential service run to ap­
proximately 150,000 kilowatts, or about 8 percent of the
system’s peak capacity.




101

M O N T H L Y R E V IE W

Generating Capacity vs. Demand
The electric power supply-demand situation in the
Twelfth District is summarized in the following data
reported by the Federal Power Commission. The table
indicates the rated generating capacity of the electric
public utilities, including municipal systems and Federal
projects, atJune 30,1948, and gives the most recent avail­
able figures for peak loads in the various power supply
areas of the District, as defined by the Federal Power
Commission. ( See map.)
Installed
capacity
(kilowatts)
June 30,1948

Power supply area

41— Utah, Southern Idaho, Eastern O r e g o n ...
359,100
42 & 4 4 — Northern Idaho, Eastern & Southern
W ashington, Northern O r e g o n ................... 2,034,000
43— Northwestern W ashington ..................................
802,400
45— Southern Oregon, Northern California..........
150,600
Northwest

Peak loads
(kilowatts)
Aug., 1948
367,800
1,839,100
839,200
228,000

.......................................................... 3,346,100

3,274,100

46— Central California, Northwestern N e v a d a .. 1,808,900
47— Southern California, Eastern & Southern
Nevada, W estern Arizona ............................. 2,922,600
48— Eastern Arizona .......................................................
168,500

2,263,500

Southwest

.......................................................... 4,900,000

A ll District areas

.........................................

8,246,100

2,137,500

300,000
4,701,000
7,975,100

Source: Federal Power Commission, Electric Utility System Loads.

E le c t r i c P o w e r S u p p ly A r e a s — T w e l f t h D is t r i c t

Source: Federal Power Commission.
The Commission also includes Montana in the Northwest region. The
figures in the table, however, exclude Montana, which is not a Twelfth
District State.

Lagging installations in early postwar period

The basic factors underlying recent shortages of elec­
tric power in the West are much the same as those oper­
ating generally throughout the country. Fundamental
in the whole situation was the enforced suspension of all

102

FEDERAL RESERVE B A N K OF S A N FRA N C ISCO

except the most necessary installations of generating
equipment during the war. Only the projects considered
vital to the national defense effort were sanctioned, while
the facilities of the electrical equipment manufacturers
were largely concentrated on supplying the needs of the
armed forces, particularly the construction of generators
for naval and merchant vessels. The West fared consid­
erably better in this respect, however, than the country as
a whole, for it was during this period that most of the
generating capacity of the Columbia River projects and
about one quarter of that at Boulder Canyon were in­
stalled. Largely as a result of these new facilities, the out­
put of electric energy in the District more than doubled
within the five years between 1939 and 1944, the peak
year of the war. Nonetheless, wartime restrictions on
construction of plant and equipment held back much of
the expansion in generating and transmission facilities
that would normally have occurred and some for which
commitments had actually been made. The northern and
central California areas were perhaps more affected by
these delays and postponements than other parts of the
District.
For the first two years following the end of the war
relatively little progress could be made in most parts of
the country, including the Twelfth District, in making
up these war-induced delays in the installation of badly
needed generating capacity. Material and manpower
shortages, together with strikes in the plants of the elec­
trical supply manufacturers, were chiefly responsible for
delaying the delivery dates of new equipment. Because of
the lagging delivery of new equipment, and the removal
from the Grand Coulee power house of two large gen­
erators borrowed from the Shasta plant, there was an
actual loss in total installed generating capacity in the
District in 1946. A small increase occurred in 1947,
amounting to about 330,000 kilowatts, or less than five
percent, most of which was concentrated in the Columbia
River and Southern California areas. Meanwhile the de­
mand for power continued to grow at a phenomenal rate,
especially since about mid-1946, and the margin of re­
serve capacity in most parts of the District was rapidly
reduced. The aggregate peak load of power demand at
the end of 1946 represented about 95 percent of rated
plant capacity for the District as a whole and had in­
creased to over 102 percent by the end of 1947. This over­
load completely wiped out any over-all margin of reserve
capacity to insure against physical breakdowns in gen­
erating of transmission equipment, or other emergencies,
such as the unusual demands arising from the 1948
drought in California and Arizona. Only through exten­
sive interconnection and integration of facilities between
various parts of the District was a more serious situation
averted.
Within the District considerable differences have
marked the various power supply areas with respect to
available reserves and overloads. During the past year
the Southern California-Nevada-Arizona area has en­
joyed the widest margin between installed capacity and
power loads, although here the reserve was none too large




November 1948

— around ten percent at the end of 1947. The Columbia
River and Idaho-Utah areas rated next in order of
reserve facilities, but by very narrow margins. At the
other extreme, peak loads have exceeded rated generating
capacity in the Central and Northern California, South­
ern Oregon, and Puget Sound areas and more recently in
Eastern Arizona. The deficiency areas have become in­
creasingly dependent upon other parts of the District and,
to some extent, upon areas outside the District in meeting
their power requirements.
Outlook for the next few years

Taking a somewhat longer view of the situation, the
outlook for the next few years appears more promising,
although it is admittedly difficult to anticipate the demand-supply situation very far in advance. Reliable fore­
casts of power requirements are not available for the Dis­
trict as a whole, although reasonably comprehensive
estimates for the Pacific Northwest are prepared each
year by the Bonneville Power Administration. On the
supply side somewhat more definite, though still incom­
plete, data are available from the reports made by the
utility systems to the Federal Power Commission indi­
cating their scheduled additions to installed generating
capacity for a period of three or four years in advance.
The most recently published official data on electric
utility generating capacity in the Twelfth District, with
scheduled additions for the years 1948-51, as reported by
the Federal Power Commission, are summarized as fol­
lows :
Twelfth
District
United
areas
States
(thousand kilowatts)
Installed capacity, June 30, 1948 ....................................

8,246

50,933

Scheduled additions:
July-Dee. 1948 ......................................................................
1949
1950
1951

529
782
915
505

3,044
5,158
4,474
2,869

Total, July 1948-Dec. 1951 .......................................

2,731

15,545

Indicated capacity, Dec. 31, 1951 ....................................

10,977

66,478

Percent increase, 1948-1951 ................................................

33.1

30.5

These forecasts, made prior to June 1948, somewhat
understate the probable expansion of electric generating
capacity to be expected in the District during the next
few years, as not all plans are promptly reported. A c­
cording to later information obtained from the San Fran­
cisco regional office of the Federal Power Commission,
the above estimates may be raised by about 880,000 kilo­
watts, or roughly 25 percent, nearly nine-tenths of which
is scheduled for 1950 and 1951. Among these additions
are two more generators of 108,000 kilowatts each for
the Grand Coulee plant to be installed in 1951, in addi­
tion to six included above for installation in 1949-50,
thus leaving only one more unit needed to complete this
power plant by 1952. Also included in this revised esti­
mate is the installation of 225,000 kilowatts capacity at
the new Davis Dam project of the United States Recla­
mation Bureau on the Colorado River, near Kingman,
Arizona, in 1950-51.

November 1948

W ater Power vs. Fuel Plants
As compared with most parts of the country, water
power plays a relatively large part in the electric energy
supply of the West. For the United States as a whole,
from three-fourths to four-fifths of all electric power is
fuel based, while in the Twelfth District the proportions
are normally reversed. In 1946, in fact, hydro-electric
plants supplied over 85 percent of the total District out­
put. Except in California and Utah, fuel is scarce and
relatively costly in most parts of the District. Climatic
and topographic conditions over much of the region
assure fairly dependable stream flow, at least when sup­
plemented by dams and reservoirs, which in some loca­
tions provide extraordinary heads of falling water. A l­
though distances from power sites to centers of industry
and population are sometimes considerable, transmission
losses are not usually excessive and water power has con­
tributed notably to the generally low level of rates for
electric energy prevailing in most parts of the District.
Until within recent years the role of fuel-based power
in the West has largely been to supplement hydro-electric
output by assuring firm supplies of energy at the seasons
of heaviest demand, or in some cases at the period of
relatively low stream flow and uncertain production by
water-driven plants. In certain areas, more especially in
the larger urban centers, steam plants are operated fairly
continuously at somewhere near their full potential; in
other areas they are chiefly in the nature of standby ca­
pacity, to be drawn upon principally at the low stage of
the water power cycle. On the average, the heaviest use
of fuel-operated plants in the District as a whole comes in
the fall and early winter months, the lightest use in late
winter and early spring. They provide the necessary ele­
ment of flexibility which otherwise would be lacking in
the power supply of the District.
California and the Southwest

Indications are beginning to multiply, however, that
fuel-based energy is destined to play an increasingly im­
portant part in the electric power supplies of this region,
especially in California. The better and more accessible
water power sites for single purpose hydro-electric plants
have mostly been put to use and the poorer or more distant
sites will require relatively heavy capital investment to
develop their possibilities and will also involve greater
line losses in long distance transmission. On the other
hand, it may be expected that a relatively large volume of
hydro-electric power will continue to be developed, more
or less as a by-product, in connection with multiple pur­
pose projects for irrigation, municipal water supply, flood
control, etc. A limited number of sites are available on
the lower Colorado River where the development of
hydro-electric energy is economically feasible and which
are within practical transmission distance of power con­
suming centers. Recent estimates by the Federal Power
Commission’s regional office at San Francisco indicate,
for example, that five projects currently being considered
for development by the Federal Government in California
and two others on the Colorado River within economic




103

M O N T H L Y R E V IE W

transmission distance to southern California and Arizona
markets, would provide an initial dependable capacity of
some 1,600,000 to 1,700,000 kilowatts— an amount equal
to about one-third of the existing installed capacity in the
three-state area, California-Arizona-Nevada. Most of
these projects are very large scale affairs, however, and
require correspondingly large financial resources, which
only the Federal Government is able to supply. Their de­
velopment would also require considerable time.
Meanwhile the insistent demand for power is increas­
ingly being supplied in the California-Arizona-Nevada
area by steam plants. The proportion of the total electric
energy produced from fuel by public utilities and indus­
trial establishments in these three states for successive
periods from 1930 to 1947 was as follows:
1930-34 average
1935-39
“
1940-45
“
1946-47
“

23.9 percent
13.7
“
15.1
“
33.3
“

In California, the proportion of fuel-based electric
energy in 1947, a year of deficient water power, rose to
nearly 45 percent of the total electric output. Of the new
utility generating capacity scheduled for installation in
the three-state area in the period 1948-1950, over 60
percent is to be served by fuel plants, less than 40 percent
by hydro-driven plants; in Southern California the pro­
portion for new fuel plants runs close to 75 percent. In­
formed opinion in the industry points to the probability
that in California fuel-based electric energy will within
the next 20 years come to exceed that from hydro-elec­
tric plants.
The Pacific Northwest

Fuel-based electric energy is much less important in
the electric power supply of the Pacific Northwest than in
other parts of the District. Over the period from 1930 to
1947 the proportion of the total electric power supply of
Oregon and Washington produced by fuel plants has
averaged only about 8 percent, declining from about 19
percent in 1930 to 2 percent in 1945. California oil and
small quantities of Utah coal are used by steam plants in
the Northwest, chiefly in the larger cities. The growing
scarcity and rising costs of these fuels have added to the
problems of local power supply during the past two
seasons.
Well over half the total electric power supply of the
Pacific Northwest has in recent years been produced by
the hydro-electric generators of the Government-owned
Columbia River system. The extensive program of
further development of the Columbia River Basin to
which the Federal Government is committed, together
with the surplus power available from new large-scale
irrigation projects in the area, promises to maintain a
relatively high proportion of water power in the total
energy supplies of the region. Presently approved plans
call for the construction of new dams and the installation
of large generating capacities at various points along the
Columbia, Willamette, and Snake Rivers and their trib­

104

FEDERAL RESERVE B A N K OF S A N FRA N C ISCO

utary streams, and for doubling the present capacity of
the Grand Coulee powerhouse to an ultimate capacity of
nearly 2,000,000 kilowatts.
Following a long period of relative quiescence, some of
the privately-owned utilities in the Pacific Northwest are
now making commitments for enlargement of generating
facilities. New installations are also projected by some of
the municipal systems. With one relatively small excep­
tion, all of these call for further water power development
rather than fuel-based plants.
Some idea of the future electric power requirements of
the Northwest visualized by the public power agencies of
the region may be had from the following estimates of the
Bonneville Power Administration covering the period
from 1946 to 1960. These figures are for the area includ­
ing Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Western Montana.
Total energy
requirements
(million
kilowatt hours)
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1955 .........................................................................
1960 .........................................................................

16,378
19,988
22,472
25,106
27,356
45,622
76,476

December
peak
(thousand
kilowatts)
3,157
3,544
4,233
4,628
5,065
8,015
11,840

Source : Review Report on Columbia River and Tributaries, Appendix N ,
Part 1, Power Markets and Developments in the Pacific Northwest, Corps
of Engineers, Department of the Arm y, October 1, 1948, p. 55.

The problem of power costs

Whether water-based or fuel-based, the electric power
supply of the future will probably be produced at higher
unit costs than in the past. This is likely to necessitate the

November 1948

charging of higher rates for electric energy unless a policy
of public subsidization is adopted. Certainly the continu­
ation of the tendency to turn to fuel-based energy as the
major future source of supply in the California-ArizonaNevada area, which is the present outstanding trend in
the privately-owned sector of the utility industry, implies
higher costs, particularly as oil and natural gas become
scarcer and more costly.
Higher cost power in this region will mean a narrow­
ing of the differential in power costs currently enjoyed
by certain western industries as compared with similar
industries in other parts of the country. This is not likely,
however, to involve any marked competitive handicap,
since in the great majority of instances power costs play
a relatively small part in the total cost of production of
western industries. Probably only in such cases as the
electro-metallurgical and electro-chemical industries is
the availability of large blocks of power at very low rates
a vital factor in determining plant location. The depend­
ence of the aluminum industry of the Pacific Northwest
on the cheap power of the Columbia River is a case in
point. Even here, however, in spite of the elaborate expan­
sion program already authorized in that area, prospec­
tive power supplies are limited. It is significant in this
connection that in planning for new plant expansion to
meet anticipated future demands, one of the leading alu­
minum producers in the Northwest will construct its next
plant in Texas, using natural gas to generate the neces­
sary electric power, rather than wait for additional hydro­
power in the Columbia River area.

THE STRUCTURE OF NONAGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT IN THE TWELFTH DISTRICT
Çf\ ï7 " HERE
^ ese pe°ple
jobs if they stay in
tt the West ?” was a common question during the war
years, prompted by the extremely large increase in pop­
ulation and employment over prewar levels. People did
stay and even more came, including many from the armed
services. While many war workers retired from the labor
force, most people looking for work have found jobs.
Nonagricultural employment of wage and salary work­
ers, which today includes more than 4.3 million persons
(in the five District states for which comparable infor­
mation is most readily available, Arizona, California,
Nevada, Utah, and Washington), is virtually as high
today as during the war and is over 70 percent higher
than in 1939.1 Even so, the distribution of workers among
JThe data used in this survey cover the months of October 1939, August
1943, and August 1948. October 1939 is the only prewar month for which
figures covering both manufacturing and all nonagricultural employment
are available, and August 1948 is the most recent month for which data
are available. The use of different months introduces some, though not
substantial, seasonal differences into the comparisons made. The greatest
ossibility of error is in food processing because of the canning season,
ut even here the results discussed are not appreciably affected. Numbers
of persons employed by industry groups in 1943 and 1948 are not fully
comparable with 1939 figures because of a somewhat different method of
estimating employees in establishments with fewer than eight persons. The
effect of this difference, however, on the comparison of percentages of
total employment is not significant. August 1943 is the month of peak
war employment in manufacturing and is only slightly below the total non­
agricultural employment peak of September 1943.
Sources: For California, State Division of Labor Statistics and Research;
for other states, United States Bureau of Labor Statistics and cooperating
state agencies.




major industry groups is now not markedly different
than before the war. Little trace remains of the wartime
pattern of employment among industry groups. Employ­
ment in manufacturing, however, is now somewhat dif­
ferently distributed among individual industries than it
was in 1939. Generally, employment in the heavier in­
dustries has tended to increase relative to the total.
Present employment compared with the war period

In August 1948, nonagricultural employment of wage
and salary workers in the five District states under dis­
cussion was about one and a half percent less than in
August 1943. If those who are self-employed (proprie­
tors of unincorporated business) are considered, employ­
ment is actually higher now than during the war, despite
a loss of 650,000 jobs in shipbuilding and aircraft alone.
Some workers were absorbed in other manufacturing in­
dustries such as lumber, stone, clay, and glass, apparel,
chemicals, and petroleum. Nevertheless, there are 600,000 fewer people left in manufacturing employment. The
number of employees in factories accounted for over onethird of total nonagricultural employment in 1943 and
accounts for less than one-fourth now.
The reduction in manufacturing employment since
1943 has been offset by an increase of 250,000 people in

November 1948

M O N T H L Y R E V IE W

P e r c e n t ag e D is t r ib u t io n
by

of

N o n a g r ic u l t u r a l E m p l o y m e n t

M ajor I n d u s t r y G r oups— T w e l f t h

D is t r ic t 1

P rew ar, W ar, an d P ostw ar2

3.0

Construction

5.7

Tran sp o rtatip n a n d
p ublic utilities

P o stw a r

W ar

Prew ar
M ining

mm

1A

5.0

6.6

8.4
10.5

* «*

%

10.4

16.1
G o v ern m e n t

15.8

Fin ance a n d service

17.2

15.9

14.1
18.2

*

M an ufacturing

23.0

*

4

X

%

105

Current employment by industry group resembles
prewar distribution

In the five states under discussion the distribution of
workers among major industry groups is not very dif­
ferent now than in prewar periods. Mining is a pro­
nounced exception; employment here has declined both
in numbers and in its relation to total employment. Be­
cause of increased mining costs, the production of gold,
for which the price is fixed, has become less profitable.
Marginal mines and new explorations, therefore, have
been abandoned for the present. Some gains have been
made in the proportions accounted for by the construc­
tion and the finance and service groups. Construction has
become more important because of the backlog of build­
ing needs and current demand, and finance and services
have gained because of the expanded population and in-

2 3 .3

36.9

P ercentage

D is t r ib u t io n
by

24.8

M a n u f a c t u r in g

E m ploym ent

C a l if o r n ia 1

P rew ar , W ar, an d P ostw ar2

*

T ra d e

of

I n d u str y in

24.0
18.0

1 Includes data for five states only— Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, and
Washington— comprising more than 65 percent of total nonagricultural
employment in the District.

Food

S h ip b u ild in g 3a n d
a ir c r a f t

2 Prewar data are for October 1939, war for August 1943, and postwar for
August 1948.

trade, 170,000 in finance and services, approximately
80.000 in transportation and public utilities, and about
70.000 in construction. The gains in these industries
since the war reflect the removal of several factors dom­
inating the employment picture during the war. Much
higher wages in manufacturing, plus controls on man­
power, restrictions on activities such as construction,
and certain incentive appeals, made employment in war­
time manufacturing more attractive and easier to obtain
than in other fields. Furthermore, many persons enter­
ing the labor force lacked skills, and training programs
were directed toward giving them skills suitable for war
production. As a consequence, the labor supply on which
trade, finance and services, and utilities could draw was
limited.
Since a good many of the wartime entrants into the
labor force were temporary, the end of the war witnessed
an exit of older persons, housewives, and other tem­
porary workers. Additions to the labor force were, in
large measure, returning servicemen who were younger
and had a greater variety of skills. The reduction in the
demand for war goods and the removal of controls per­
mitted the various service industries to reassert them­
selves in the market. At the same time, a rapidly increas­
ing District population and income required a greater
flow of services. An additional factor was the spread of
the 40-hour, 5-day week which in some service industries
replaced longer work weeks and made employment more
attractive.




M a c h in e r y

Iron a n d ste e l

Prin tin g a n d
p u b lish in g

A p p a r e l and
fin is h e d te x tile s

Lum ber

S to n e , c la y ,
a n d g la s s

P e tro le u m a n d
c o a l p ro d u c ts

0

10

20

30

40

P e rc e n t
1 Industries having less than 4 percent of total manufacturing employment
in August 1948 are omitted. Machinery employment includes electrical and
nonelectrical machinery.
2 Prewar data are for October 1939, war for August 1943, and postwar for
August 1948.
3 During the war shipbuilding accounted for almost half the employment
included in this group, but at present it accounts for only slightly more
than 10 percent.

106

FEDERAL RESERVE B A N K OF S A N FRA N C ISCO

come. There has been little change in the proportion of
workers in manufacturing. This is a reflection in part of
the greater expansion of service employment because of
population and income growth. Moreover, much of the
increase in manufacturing production here over prewar
levels has been associated with a greater proportion of
expenditures on plant and equipment to total expendi­
tures than before the war.
Employment in heavy industry more important now

Although manufacturing employment accounts for
about the same proportion of total nonagricultural em­
ployment as in 1939, the heavier industries account for
a higher proportion of manufacturing employment now
than they did in 1939. In general, the durable goods in­
dustries have had a larger percentage increase in em­
ployment than the nondurable goods industries.
Conspicuous in this respect in California, which has
P

ercentage

D

is t r ib u t io n
b y

P

I

r e w a r

, W

M

of

n d u str y

in

a r

,

a n u f a c t u r in g

W
a n d

E

m plo y m e n t

a s h in g t o n

P

o stw a r

1

Machinery

Printing and
publishing

Iron and steel

Nonferrous metals

Furniture and
finished lumber
products

1 Prewar data are for October 1939, war for A ugust 1943, and postwar for
August 1948.
2 Though separate figures for shipbuilding and aircraft production are not
available, shipbuilding probably does not contribute more than 10 percent
of the employment in this group at present, whereas during the war it
probably accounted for 50 per cent or more.




November 1948

almost 80 percent of the manufacturing workers included
in this study, are aircraft, iron and steel, stone, clay,
and glass, and automobile assembly. Employment in
petroleum refineries has also increased relative to the
total. At the same time the raw material industries—
lumber and food processing— and the consumer goods
industries, such as apparel and furniture, employ a
smaller part of the total than before the war.
Washington, which accounts for 18 percent of the
manufacturing employment in this study, shows a similar
pattern to that of California. Here again, lumber and food
processing have a reduced share of total employment in
comparison with 1939. The significant gains in Wash­
ington have been made in aircraft, aluminum, machin­
ery, and iron and steel.
The industries that have increased in relative impor­
tance are for the most part those which require a larger
than average amount of capital per employee and per
unit of output. Thus the District may be considered more
industrialized than before the war, although manufactur­
ing’s share of total employment has not changed.
The effect of the war period has been to hasten the
broadening of the industrial base of Twelfth District eco­
nomic activity. Steel capacity and output have more than
tripled. A substantial portion of the aluminum produc­
tion of the entire country is centered in the Pacific North­
west. Aircraft activity is now many times greater than
prewar, and aircraft production capacity (and also ship­
building capacity) far exceeds production levels and
would permit considerable expansion. The making of
many different kinds of machinery, ranging from roadbuilding equipment to small electric generators, has also
expanded considerably since 1939. As a consequence the
District is now somewhat less dependent on outside
sources for industrial products than it was a decade ago.
Substantial quantities of steel, machinery, manufactured
parts and sub-assemblies, and other industrial goods,
however, are still bought from other parts of the nation.
These developments generally characterize the transi­
tion of an agricultural and raw material economy to an
industrial economy. A raw material economy will tend
to have a large number of persons engaged in primary
handling of the raw material. This has been and still is
true in Washington. There the large employment in dur­
able goods is chiefly the result of employment in the lum­
ber industry. In addition, the food processing industry
both in California and Washington is based on the agri­
cultural production of these states. Increased industrial
development is at first marked by an expansion of other
consumer goods industries for local consumption as had
been the case in prewar years in both states. A further
stage in the development occurs when additional heavy
industry is introduced to take advantage of previously
unexploited resources, locational advantages, or increas­
ing demand for such goods. This stage is evident in Cali­
fornia and to a lesser extent in Washington. California,
however, is entering the next phase in which more highly
processed goods are also produced.

November 1948

107

M O N T H L Y R E V IE W

BUSINESS INDEXES— TWELFTH DISTRICT1
(1935-39 average = 1003
In d u stria l p ro d u ction
(physical v o lu m e )2

Y e ar
an d
M o n th

Petrol e u m 3
Refined C e m e n t
C rude

L e ad 3

W heat
C opper8 f lo u r 3

C ar­
C a li­
D ep’ t
T o ta l
D ep ’ t
forn ia loadin gs
m f’g
R eta il
store
store
(n u m ­
E lectric e m p lo y ­ fa c to ry
sales
stock s
food
power L u
(valu e)2 ( v a lu e ) 5 p rices3*'
mmeb
net r4 payrolls4 ber)2

1929.................
1930_________
1931_________
1932_________
1933...............
1934_________
1935_________
1936_________
1937_________
1938_________
1939_________
1940_________
1941.................
1942_.......... ..
1943_________
1944_________
1945_________
1946_________
1947_________

148
112
77
46
62
67
83
106
113
88
110
120
142
141
137
136
109
130
141

129
101
83
78
76
77
92
94
105
110
99
98
102
110
125
137
144
139
147

127
107
90
84
81
81
91
98
105
103
103
103
110
116
135
151
160
148
159

110
96
74
48
54
70
68
117
112
92
114
124
164
194
160
128
131
165
193

171
146
104
75
75
79
89
100
118
96
97
112
113
118
104
93
81
73
98

160
106
75
33
26
36
57
98
135
88
122
144
163
188
192
171
137
109
163

106
100
101
89
88
95
94
96
99
96
107
103
103
104
115
119
132
128
133

83
84
82
73
73
79
85
96
105
102
112
122
136
167
214
231
219
219
256

1947
A u g u s t _____________
Septem ber_________
October ____________
November__________
Decem ber__________

142
143
148
154
162

148
147
148
150
149

166
162
166
163
160

185
193
187
205
215

96
98
96
107
98

164
168
141
151
161

125
123
133
133
116

1948
January_____________
February____________
M arch______________
April________________
M a y -------------------------June____ ___________
Ju ly_________________
A u g u s t ____ __
_ _
September________

144
152
148
133r
122
128
134
140
138

150
150
151
152
152
153
152
153
123

166
166
164
166
172
168
167
171
110

218
207
216
216
202
196
202
202
215

106
112
109
110
102
102
96
102

163
166
157
164
164
165
159
166

114
104
101
116
108
115
123
124
118

‘ *88
100
112
96
104
118
155
230
306
295
229
175
184

111
93
73
54
53
64
78
96
115
101
110
134
224
460
705
694
497
344
401

135
116
91
70
70
81
88
103
109
96
104
110
127
137
133
140
134
135
142

112
104
92
69
66
74
86
99
106
101
109
119
139
171
203
223
247
305
330

134
127
110
86
78
83
88
96
108
101
107
114
137
190
174
179
183
238
300

13 2 .0
1 24.8
1 0 4 .0
8 9 .8
8 6 .8
93 2
9 9 .6
100.3
10 4 .5
9 9 .0
9 6 .9
9 7 .6
107.9
130.9
143.4
142.1
146.3
167.4
2 0 0 .3

252
259
260
263
275

183
184
187
188
188

407
413
419
421
423

141
139
141
143
144

353
347r
340
348
361

251
266r
293
327
353

1 97.9
2 0 6 .6
2 0 4 .8
2 0 9 .4
2 1 3 .0

278
283
274
275
263
266
284
289
295

187
187
187
184
180
185
190
195p
197p

418
417
406
396
406
424
440
455
454

141
130
131
130
123
134
137
141
146

348
327
339
362
364
372
365
383
355

360
377
388
386
347
335
328
302
311

21 5 .4
2 1 3 .0
2 1 1 .6
2 1 6 .0
2 1 7 .6
2 1 6 .6
2 18.1
2 1 8 .0
2 1 8 .0

BANKING AND CREDIT STATISTICS— TWELFTH DISTRICT
(amounts in millions of dollars)
M e m b e r b a n k reserves an d related it e m s 8

C o n d itio n ite m s o f all m e m b e r b a n k s 7
Year
and
m o n th

T o ta l
tim e
d eposits

U .S . G o v ’ t
secu rities

D em a n d
deposits
a d ju s t e d 9

2,239
2,218
1,898
1,570
1,486
1,4C9
1,537
1,682
1,871
1,869
1,967
2,130
2,451
2,170
2,106
2,254
2,663
4,068
5,363

495
467
547
601
720
1,064
1,275
1,334
1,270
1,323
1,450
1,482
1,738
3,£30
6,235
8,263
10,450
8,426
7,243

1,234
1,158
984
840
951
1,201
1,389
1,791
1,740
1,781
1,983
2,390
2,893
4,356
5,998
6,950
8,203
8,821
8,928

1,790
1,933
1.727
1,618
1,609
1,875
2,064
2,101
2,187
2,221
2,267
2,360
2,425
2,609
3,226
4,144
5,211
5,797
6,006

1947
September
October
November
December

4,997
5,158
5,240
5,363

7,364
7,361
7,361
7,243

8,600
8,722
8,797
8,928

5,924
5,964
5,922
6,006

1948
January
February
March
April
M ay
June
July
August
September
October

5,413
5,467
5,510
5,509
5,569
5,598
5,640
5,743
5,848
5,910

7,264
7,021
6,945
6,943
6,883
6,859
6,816
6,712
6,394
6,440

8,854
8,495
8,452
8,461
8,445
8,464
8,556
8,555
8,661
8,647

6,021
6,063
6,044
6,019
6,008
6,057
6,010
6,005
6,003
6,018

1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947

L o an s an d
discou n ts

C oin an d
T reasu ry
cu rrency in
C o m m ercia l
Reserve
b a n k c re d it10 op era tio n s10 o p e ra tio n s10 circ u la tio n 10

_
_

+
_
_

+
+
_

+
+
+
+
+
+
+

_

+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

34
16
21
42
2
7
2
6
1
3
2
2
4
107
214
98
76
9
302

—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—

-1
-3
-3
-3
-1
-

87
23
4
25

—
—

14
20
49
9
30
14
15
23
17
12

+
+
+

—

—
—
—

+
+

0
53
154
175
110
198
163
227
90
240
192
148
596
,980
,751
,534
,743
,607
443

+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+1
+2
+4
+4
+4
+1
+

23
89
154
234
150
257
219
454
157
276
245
420
,000
,826
,486
,483
,682
,329
630

85
39
0
5

+
+
+
+

172
35
33
49

48
153
29
75
14
50
38
1
427
8

—
—
—

253
244
19
29
45
28
43
12
98
35

+
+
+
+
+

_

Reserves

B an k d ebits
index
31 citie s3»11
(1935-39 =
100)2

6
16
+
48
+
30
+
18
4
+
14
+
38
+
3
20
+
31
+
96
+
+ 227
+ 643
+ 708
+ 789
+ 545
326
— 206

175
183
147
142
185
242
287
479
549
565
584
754
930
1,232
1,462
1,706
2,033
2,094
2,202

146
126
97
68
63
72
87
102
111
98
102
110
134
165
211
237
260
298
326

10
16
3
18

2,095
2,137
2,130
2,202

326
346
344
365

113
2
37
17
26
13
11
17
2
8

2,113
2,045
2,066
2,048
2,068
2,061
2,075
2,065
2,409
2,351

352
354
347
353
342
348
354
356
359
363

—
—

+

—
—
—
—

+
—
—

+
+
+

1 All monthly indexes but wheat flour, petroleum, copper, lead, and retail food prices are adjusted for seasonal variation. Excepting for department store sta­
tistics, all indexes are based upon data from outside sources, as follows: Lumber, various lumber trade associations; Petroleum, Cement, Copper, and Lead,
U.S. Bureau of Mines; W heat flour, U .S. Bureau of the Census; Electric power, Federal Power Commission; Manufacturing employment, U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics and cooperating state agencies; Factory payrolls, California State Division of Labor Statistics and Research; Retail food prices, U .S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics; and Carloadings, various railroads and railroad associations.
2 Daily average.
3 N ot adjusted for seasonal variation.
4 Excludes fish, fruit, and vegetable canning. Factory payrolls index covers wage earners only.
6 A t retail, end of month or year.
6 Los Angeles, San
Francisco, and Seattle indexes combined.
7 Annual figures are as of end of year; monthly figures as of last Wednesday in month or, where applicable,
as of call report date.
8 End of year and end of month figures.
9 Demand deposits, excluding interbank and U.S. G ov’t deposits, less cash items in
process of collection. M onthly data partly estimated.
10 Changes from previous month or year.
11 Debits to total deposit accounts, excluding inter­
bank deposits.
p — preliminary.
r— revised.