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. .<%S<';iOR$™8f^AED OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM For release.., inrevabiing p a p e r s Monday, \Jaj£wjar^ l ¥ I\ . l x January 8 , 1938 r ^P " ,9J '•'' .... - •>;-> DEPARTMENT STORE SALES IN DECEMBER 1937 Preliminary report " Department s t o r e s a l e s i n c r e a s e d i n December by a p p r o x i m a t e l y t h e u s u a l s e a s o n a l amount and t h e B o a r d ' s a d j u s t e d index f o r t h a t month was 90 p e r c e n t as compared w i t h 91 i n November and an a v e r a g e of 93 f o r t h e f i r s t t e n months of 1937. The index f o r t h e l a s t t h r e e months and f o r December 1936 i s shown below. 1936 1937 Dec. Oct. Nov. Dec. Index of department s t o r e s a l e s 1923-1925 a v e r a g e = 100 92 93 91 90 Adjusted f o r seasonal v a r i a t i o n 161 103 101 158 Without s e a s o n a l a d j u s t m e n t T o t a l s a l e s i n December were 2 p e r c e n t l e s s t h a n i n t h e corresponding month a y e a r ago, r e f l e c t i n g small d e c r e a s e s i n a l l r e g i o n s , excopt t h e South, where s a l e s were l a r g e r t h a n in December 1936. T o t a l s a l e s i n t h e y e a r 1937 were 6 p e r c e n t l a r g e r t h a n i n 1936. REPORT BY FEDERAL RESERVE DISTRICTS P e r c e n t a g e change from a y e a r ago Number of stores reporting Number of cities included December* Year -2 +6 440 219 Boston New York Philadelphia Cleveland -4 -1 -5 -4 +2 +4 +3 +11 54 47 24 20 33 24 11 10 Richmond Atlanta Chicago S t . Louis *1 +4 -2 -5 +4 +7 +8 +6 52 20 62 34 25 17 25 Minneapolis Kansas City Dallas San F r a n c i s c o -4 -4 +5 -4 +3 +4 +9 +5 32 18 16 71 17 13 6 23 Total F e d e r a l Reserve d i s t r i c t s : I f * December f i g u r e s p r e l i m i n a r y ; i n most c i t i e s t h e month had t h e same number of b u s i n e s s days t h i s y e a r and l a s t y e a r .