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Automation and Shifting Skill Needs
Over the past decade employment of professional and technical workers in New
England's fast growing electrical machinery industry (where electronics predominates) increased three times as fast as total employment, while unskilled laborers
declined by one-seventh. Projections for this growth industry indicate that this shift
will continue through the I 960's. With total employment increasing 20 percent,
professional workers will increase 27 percent. At the same time laborers will
decline IO percent.
This industry's experience indicates the dramatic shift taking place in the occupational structure of New England's work force. Professional, technical, clerical, and
sales jobs are becoming a greater proportion of the jobs in the region. Skilled craftsmen's occupations are growing at about the same rate as total employment, while
semi-skilled and unskilled jobs are declining.
Automation has reduced the need for workers to enter directly into the production process. Today, manufacturers require more workers with higher skills to
direct automated production. Nationwide in manufacturing, for example, production workers have declined from 83 percent of total employment in 1948 to 74
percent at the present time.
(Continued on Page 2)

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New Developments in the Potato Industry, page 5.

This decline has proceeded in a cyclical manner. At each recession, as output declined, production workers were reduced proportionately
more than nonproduction workers. Then, as
production expanded in the business revival,
firms tended to install automated equipment
rather than add production workers. Consequently, the proportion of production workers
to total employees failed to attain its prerecession level. With each of the postwar recessions
this proportion has fallen to a lower level.
This decline in production workers explains in
large part the change in the unemployment rate
over the postwar period. Unemployment has
been at increasingly higher levels after each recession. As employment shifted from the lower
to the higher skills (that is, as the proportion of
production workers fell) many of the displaced
workers experienced substantial periods of unemployment before finding a niche in the
changed structure. Consequently, the long-term
unemployed (those unemployed 15 weeks or
more) has been reaching higher levels in each
recession. Last year this group averaged onethird of the total unemployed in the Nation, the
highest proportion in the postwar period.
For many of these long-term unemployed, the
transition to higher skill levels will require a
period of training in new skills. This will not
occur automatically. Employers, although they
do provide a substantial amount of training,
cannot be expected to provide all the necessary
training. Many of the displaced workers have
remained unemployed for substantial periods.
Both federal and state programs have been established to help upgrade the skills of this group.•
Need for More Skills

The change in New England's occupational
structure is clearly shown in the table on the next
0

See, "Retraining the Unemployed": Part I and II, New England

Business Review, August and September, 1962.

page, comparing data from the 1950 and 1960
Censuses of Populatiorr.
A discussion of recent and future trends in the
various occupational groups within the region
follows. The employment and occupational
distribution projections are estimates made by
the Bank and based on past experience. They are
subject to the limitations of all long range projections. They should be viewed as approximate
indications of the magnitude and direction of
change.
The projections, assuming that recent trends
continue, show that those industries requiring
the highest levels of skill are also the region's
growing industries. This suggests that an effort
must be made to increase education and training if the region's industrial growth is to be
maximized.
This increase in training and skill will not
only aid in reducing unemployment and in producing more goods, but will also make the worker
more mobile and, hence, cause the economy to
function more smoothly.
Growing Occupations
In every major New England industry, professional workers increased as a proportion of
the work force over the past decade. This occupational group rose from 10 percent of the region's
total employment in 1950 to 13 percent in 1960,
representing a growth five times as fast as total
employment. The proportion will rise even
higher in this decade. Professional employment
is expected to constitute 16 percent of total employment by I 970.
The most dramatic increase in professional
employment occurred mainly in the region's
growing industries. Besides electrical machinery,
the transportation equipment, fabricated metals,
and rubber and plastics industries more than
doubled their employment of this group.
Among New England's professional workers in

PRODUCTION WORKERS AND UNEMPLOYMENT

Percent

2

82

3

80
78

5

7

6

7

7

SOURCE! 1U . S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS


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New England BUSINESS REVIEW

I 960, teachers were the largest ocCHANGE IN NEW ENGLAND'S OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE
1950-1960
cupational group, comprising one(Thousands)
fourth of the total. Over the decade
elementary and secondary school
1950
1960
teachers increased by one-fifth,
Percent
Percent
Percent
while the number of college level
of Total
of Total
Change
teachers rose by one-half. This
Number Employment Number Employment 1950-1960
rapid growth of the teaching profesProfessional and Technical
345
9.7
488
12 .8
+41
sion reflects, of course, the great rise
Proprietors and Managers
384
10.8
352
-8
9.3
Clerical Workers
489
13.7
16 .2
in the region's school population.
616
+26
Soles Workers
259
7.3
282
7.4
+9
In this decade enrollments will inSkilled Workers
15 .5
15 .5
550
589
+1
crease even further, requiring more
Semiskilled Workers
34.7
1236
1228
-1
32 .3
teachers.
Operatives
966
906
-6
27.1
23 .8
Because of the continuing emService Workers
270
7.6
8.5
322
+19
Unskilled Workers
294
245
-17
8.3
6.4
phasis upon improving the health
Private Household
1.8
65
69
1.8
+6
of the population, medical and
Form Laborers
53
34
-36
0.9
1.5
other health workers comprised the
Nonform Laborers
-19
4.9
176
142
3.7
3557
TOTAL EMPLOYED
3800
100.0
100.0
econd largest professional group in
+1
1960, with more than a fifth of the
Source: 1950 and 1960 Censu ses of Populat ion.
region's professional group.
Technical engineers were anportion remained stable.
other important segment of the professional
This growth in clerical occupations has ocgroup. They showed a growth of 68 percent over
the 1950's and in 1960 constituted 12 percent of
curred even though data processing and other
the total. This was slightl y more than the nalabor-saving office equipment and methods are
tional average.
being used more intensively in industry. The
This greater concentration of engineers in
rapid rise in employment requirements of the
New England is one indication of the region's
industries where clerical workers predominate
reliance upon a highly skilled work force to
(finance, insurance, real estate, and government)
has more than offset the labor-saving effects of
operate its inclustria I complex. The region's
improved office equipment. Moreover, mechaniemphasis upon research in such fields as eleczation can have little effect upon occupations
tronics, missiles, and scientific instruments resuch as secretaries and receptionists who have
quires a substantial staff of trained engineers and
contact with the public.
technicians, in addition to other scientific perClerical workers are expected to constitute 19
sonnel. Three-fifths of the region's engineers
percent of the region 's total work force in 1970,
are in manufacturing. Half of them work in the
up 3 percentage points from 1960. Most of this
electrical machinery and transportation equipgrowth will be concentrated in industries where
ment industries.
employment is expected to rise rapidly such as
In the coming decade, chemicals, electrical
trade, finance , government, and services.
machinery, and transportation equipment will
The increase in sales occupations over the past
provide most of the growth in professional emew England was relatively small,
decade in
ployment in manufacturing. Outside of manuabout half the national rate. But projections
facturing, growth in professional employment
indicate that in this decade sales occupations in
will occur primarily in government and services.
New England will increase by more than a third.
An increase similar to that of professional ocMost of this increase will occur in wholesale and
cupations has also occurred in clerical jobs, showretail trade, and in manufacturing. Population
ing a growth three times that of total employgrowth and rising per capita incomes are imment in the region over the past decade. This
portant factors in supporting the expected emwas comparable to the relative growth for the
growth among sales workers. Another
ployment
ation. There has been a continuing rise in
important factor is the changing technology
recorclkeeping and correspondence to meet the
which will require more technically trained salesincreasing complexity of modern business. Stenogmen to sell complex new equipment, particularly
raphers, typists, and secretaries as a group inin manufacturing and wholesaling.
creased by more than a third over the last 10
In managerial occupations, changes in the size
years in New England. During the same period
and methods of business operations have influthe number of cashiers doubled. All major inew Engenced employment trends. For all
dustries had a greater proportion of their work
land industries the number of managers, offecials,
force employed in clerical jobs in 1960 than l 0
and proprietors declined by about half the nayears before except goyernmen t. where the pro1962
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3

tional rate from 1950 to 1960. But this decline
was concentrated in two industries - agriculture,
and wholesale and retail trade. Here the trend
has been toward consolidation of production into
larger units, reducing the number of officials
needed. In all remaining industries, managerial
occupations in the region have gained 16 percent.
This consolidation into larger units has had
another effect. Both in the region and the
Nation, self-employed proprietors declined substantially over the past decade. In New England
self-employed proprietors dropped about 36 percent from 1950 to l 960.
Based on expected employment growth in New
England to 1970, managerial positions in nonagricultural industries are expected to show a
rise of 6 percent.
Skilled craftsmen's jobs as a proportion of
total employment remained unchanged at 15
percent over the past decade. Little change is
expected in this ratio by I 970. However, substantial gains are expected in certain types of
skilled occupations. For example, more mechanics and repairmen will be needed to install and
maintain the increasingly complex equipment
used in industry. Over half of the skilled craftsmen's jobs will be concentrated in construction
and the durable goods sector of manufacturing.
The largest relative growth will occur in the
transportation equipment industry, where 12,000
more craftsmen will be required by 1970.

increase by a tenth. These offsetting changes are
expected to result in a small decline in total
service workers to 1970.
The region's largest occupational group, semi.skilled machine operators, had a 6 percent
employment loss over the 1950-1960 period. Nationally, these operators increased 6 percent over
the 10 years. The only nonmanufacturing industries in the region showing an increase in
this type of employment were agriculture and
construction. In manufacturing, the employment
loss was equal to the regional rate.
During the coming decade the number of jobs
for semiskilled operators is expected to remain
constant.
The greatest relative employment declines
have occurred in the unskilled laborer group.
For all nonfarm industry, laborers declined by
a fifth over the decade, the same proportion as
in the Nation. The only nonmanufacturing industry to show an increase in employment of this
group in New England was wholesale and retail
trade. In manufacturing, employment of laborers declined by a third.
Requirements for unskilled manual labor to
do such work as excavating, loading and unloading are decreasing as machines and equipment
are increasingly used as substitutes. Consequently, laborers in nonfarm industries are expected to decline in the region by more than a
tenth over this decade.
The Implications

Declining Occupations
Workers in semiskilled service occupations such
as hospital attendants, cooks, janitors, barbers,
etc. increased at more than double the rate for

The shifts that have taken place and that are
expected have significant implications for future
planning. ,,Yorkers coming into New England's
labor force will have to enter with better traintotal employment over the past decade. But
ing in order to be readily absorbed. An analysis
virtually all this increase occurred in the governof vocational education facilities in New England
ment and service industries. In manufacturing,
will appear in the November issue of this Review.
service employment decreased by a tenth.
Adequate educational and training facilities
In the I 960's a further shift will occur. Deshould be provided to help the worker attain
these new, higher-level skills. If these facilities
clines will occur in manufacturing, trade, transportation, finance, and construction. However,
are not available, experience indicates unemployment will rise causing personal hardship and
service workers in government are expected to
more than double and in the service industry to
reducing the region's production potential.
To provide the region's industries
with
people well trained for jobs in
CHANGE IN NEW ENGLAND'S PROFESSIONAL AND LABORER
this age of electronics, atoms, space,
OCCUPATIONS, 1960 AND PROJECTED 1970
and computers, there must be an inProfessional
Laborer
crease in general as well as vocational education. For it is on the
Actual Projected Percent
Actual Projected Percent
1960
1970
Change
1960
1970
Change
formal education base received in
(000'sl
I000'sl '60-'70
(000'sl I000'sl '60-'70
the early years that further advancement in vocational and on-the-job
Total Nonagricultural
485
142
668
126
-11
+38
Non-Manufacturi ng
378
540
93
86
-8
training can take place. Education
+43
Manufactur i ng
107
129
49
-18
40
+21
may well be considered one of the
Durable Goods
81
98
28
22
-21
+21
most critical factors in New Eng31
Nondurable Goods
26
21
18
-14
+19
land's future growth.
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New England BUSINESS REVIEW

New Developments in the Potato Industry
When Mrs. Jones does her marketing, she may
select her potatoes from boxes of instant mashed,
home fried, scalloped or other dehydrated varieties. Or she may choose frozen French fries or
frozen potato pancakes. In addition, she has a
choice of canned potatoes as well as potato chips
and sticks. More and more the potato is becoming a conveniently packaged food. As a result,
potato consumption has increased after a long
period of decline and spectacular changes have
taken place in the industry. These may soften
the boom and bust extremes for New England
potato growers.
The heart of the industry in New England is
northeastern Maine's Aroostook County, the
leading potato producing county of the United
States. Historically, sharp price fluctuations have
been a constant plague to the growers. To help
the farmer, a large variety of private, public and
quasi-public credit institutions have been necessary. With more stability in the industry, the
importance of some of these credit sources may
diminish.

Industry Size and Characteristics
Aroostook, the largest county in the State of
Maine, is roughly the size of Connecticut. Forests
cover the major portion of the area but about a
tenth of its 4,400,000 acres is cultivated. Oats,
hay, peas, and other products are grown but the
king of the crop is the potato. Because of the
special fitness of the soil and the climate, potatoes
have been a successful commercial crop since
1890. In 1959 there were 125,000 acres, or 10.4
percent of the national potato acreage, in Aroostook County.
These figures do not tell the whole story. In
the last sixty years the average yield in Maine
has increased from 137 bushels per acre to about
412 bushels. Aroostook County itself provided
about 14 percent of the nation's potatoes in 1959.
The industry provides the major portion of
the area's income. Maine's 1960 income from
cash marketings of potatoes was $68 million or
33 percent of the State's total agricultural income. Most of the potato income went to Aroostook 's 2,340 commercial growers.
But while production increased, consumption declined. Potato consumption per person
dropped almost 50 percent from 1910 to 1950. lll
spite of the two-thirds increase in population in
those years, total consumption was smaller in
1950 than in 1910. Since 1950, consumption per
person has stabilized and even increased somewhat with the development of processing.
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Sharp Price Fluctuations
A housewife buys about the same amount of
potatoes each year regardless of price. As a result
any change in the size of the crop causes a large
change in price per pound. Except for dry
onions, variability in the price of potatoes during
the past decade was greater than for any other
major commodity. Year-to-year price fluctuations
for the period I 95 I -1960 averaged 47 percent.
This sharp variability is about double that for
apples and oranges. Most major field crops
varied less than IO percent. Comparative variation for eggs was 14 percent, for beef cattle 11
percent, and for whole milk less than 5 percent.
The potato grower is severely affected by even
a small shift in the retail price of potatoes.
Marketing and transportation charges are constant so a price drop is mainly the grower's loss.
A 19 percent New York retail potato price decrease between 1958 and 1959 resulted in a 61
percent price decline for Maine growers. In the
past five years prices paid to growers in Aroostook County have ranged all the way from $.90
to $6.00 per barrel. Leaders in the County often
emphasize that the region has never had a crop
failure but if the criterion is a profitable crop,
many loss years are recorded.
Credit Institutions
This one crop economy with its serious instability in income presents many financing problems. Several kinds of financial institutions help
finance the potato crop.
Banks ( commercial and savings) - Aroostook
County has 19 commercial banks and branches,
and one savings bank. They account for 43 percent of the loans made to the potato industry.
The Aroostook County banks work closely with
other Maine banks, and with Boston and New
York City banks. By participating in loans the
city banks help meet the peak seasonal needs of
the Aroostook economy. They also help out in
years when extremely depressed conditions tend
to dry up local deposits while loan demand remains substantially unchanged.
Some of the larger New England banks also
extend loans to firms in other phases of the
potato business. Recently a city bank made a
direct construction loan of $2,500,000 to a national firm for building a potato processing plant.
Farm Credit Banks - Second to the commercial and savings banks as sources of credit are
the Farm Credit Banks of Springfield, Massachusetts. These banks are three in number: the
Federal Land Bank, the Federal Intermediate
Credit Bank, and the Bank for Cooperatives.
;

Together these banks, operating directly and
through local cooperatives and associations, do
about 27 percent of all potato-connected lending
in Aroostook County.
The directors of these local associations are
themselves farmers and hence are usually in a
good position to appraise the farming capabilities and the credit risks of the borrower.
Three local federal land bank associations operate in Aroostook County. These groups arrange for mortgage loans from the Federal Land
Bank and endorse them, thereby taking a predetermined share of the risk. The Federal Land
Bank has provided almost half of the institutional funds for mortgage loans.
There are also three production credit associations in Aroostook. These are cooperatives owned
by their borrowers; they make direct production
loans to farmers. As of March, 1962, a small portion of their loans were financed from the associations' own capital and surplus but about 90
percent had been purchased by the Springfield
Federal Intermediate Credit Bank.
The third member of the triumvirate, the
Bank for Cooperatives, makes loans to both supply and marketing cooperatives. These loans
are made to finance physical facilities or to provide short-term operating funds.
Agricultural Credit Corporations - Other
sources of farm loan funds are the six agricultural
credit corporations. These have been established
largely by banks to supplement their own funds
for working production loans to farmers. A substantial portion of their loanable funds is obtained by discounting loans at the Federal Inter-

mediate Credit Bank. As of March 1962, these
corporations had advanced 9 percent of the operating loans made to farmers.
Farmers' Home Administration - When farmers have been unable to borrow from private
sources, many have obtained loans from a lender
of last resort, the Farmers' Home Administration
of the United States Department of Agriculture.
In March 1962 this agency had a total of almost
$9 million in loans in Aroostook County. During the current season these loans have increased
about a half million dollars above the usual
levels, after two years of low potato prices.
Commercial Credit Sources and Others
Fertilizer manufacturers and dealers have furnished substantial amounts of short-term credit
through time payment provisions. Payment is
usually due in mid-October for fertilizer purchased in May. Many companies charge for this
service by establishing a "time" and a cash price.
Most fertilizer companies also sell the chemicals
necessary to protect crops from insects and disease. Of the $8 million of fertilizer and other
chemicals applied to the potato crop each year,
30 to 50 percent is usually extended on credit by
the fertilizer companies. Most observers feel that
fertilizer credit exceeded normal amounts significantly for the 1962 crop year.
A practice of ten followed by these concerns
is called "contracting." In exchange for fertilizer,
the grower agrees to deliver to the seller a certain quantity of potatoes at a fixed price. This
method of extending credit has grown recently
and is usually associated with hedging operations

LOANS TO THE AROOSTOOK COUNTY POTATO INDUSTRY HELD BY SELECTED
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS - MARCH 1962
(thousands of dollars)
Real Estate
Cfarml

Operating
(farm)

Real Estate
(potato
processing)

Operating
(potato
processing)

Brokers
and
Shippers

Agricultural
Credit
Corporations

All Loans

Aroostook
Banks 1

Farm Credit
Adminis,tration 2

$2,128

2,863

33%

45

Agricultural
Credit
Corporations
Farmers' Home
Administration

1,3963

22

$6,577

32% $2,963

90% $2,278

4,an

23

10

1,765

7,563

334

1,916

54%

46

$1,328 100% $385 100% $15,659

43%

9,989

27

9

1,765

5

36

8,959

25

All Financing
Institutions

$6,387

100% $20,781

100% $3,297 100% $4,194 100%

$1,328 100% $385 100% $36,372 100%

1 Includes part icipated loons.
2 Federal Land Bonk, product ion credit assoc iat ions, Bonk for Cooperatives.
3 Plus $654 ,000 advanced by county banks and i ncluded under banks . These loons were guaranteed by the Formers ' Home Administration .

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New England BUSINESS REVIEW

on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Dealers who buy and sell potatoes for their
own accounts rather than on a commission basis
are also sources of credit. A Department of
Agriculture Study states that 19 dealers advanced
growers a total of more than a million dollars in
cash and materials during the 1954-1955 season.
Farm machinery dealers through credit corporations affiliated with manufacturers are an
additional source of farm credit.
The Small Business Administration has assisted the potato industry through direct loans to
potato-connected businesses and also by participating in a loan to a group of starch manufacturers.
Individuals sometimes extend credit, particularly for mortgage loans. In Aroostook County,
however, individuals appear to be a less significant source of mortgage credit than in other areas
of the country. Local bankers estimated that individuals hold no more than 20 percent of the
farm mortgages in comparison with a 40 percent
figure for the country as a whole.
This large variety of credit sources, both institutional and individual, has grown up to meet
the needs of this sharply fluctuating industry. On
the whole these needs have been successfully met.
In the words of one institutional credit head,
credit availability has "never been a problem in
Aroostook County."
The Future
What of the future? How is the industry
changing? Some noteworthy changes have taken
place in recent years. Here, as elsewhere in agriculture, the trend is to fewer and larger farms.
From 1954 to 1959 the total number of farms
in Maine declined by about one-fourth. At the
same time potato growers with 50 acres or more
increased their proportion of the total acreage
from 21 to 37 percent. This trend will probably
continue and by 1970 there may be fewer than
2,000 commercial farms in Aroostook County although it seems likely that the total number of
acres in production will remain the same.
The larger size of the farm and the increased
use of machinery will add to the farmer's requirements for both investment and operating
capital. As the trend to larger farms continues,
over-all credit needs of the industry may grow.
Futures trading in Maine potatoes on the New
York Mercantile Exchange has become an established practice in the past decade and is now an
integral part of the industry. When the grower
contracts to deliver potatoes at or after the next
harvest, the buyer may hedge his forward purchase contract through the sales of futures on
the Exchange. Growers also may use the Exchange directly to negotiate future sales. These
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practices help to offset the risks of sharp price
changes and market uncertainty.
The most significant change in the industry
has been the growth of potato processing. In
1960 about one-fourth of all potatoes used for
food were processed and industry analysts estimate that by 1970 this figure will rise to 50 percent. This business was almost nonexistent in
Aroostook in 1947. Now over one-third of the
agricultural financing by local credit institutions
is devoted to potato processing. Several new
processing facilities began operations last fall and
another plant is scheduled to begin with this
season's crop. While some processors purchase
potatoes in the open market, others contract with
growers for at least some percentage of their
requirements. Three-way contracts between
financing fertilizer companies, growers, and processors have also appeared in the last few years.
As the potato processing industry grows, it
seems likely that contracting will become more
common. So far, contracting has increased more
slowly in Aroostook than in Penobscot County or
other areas of smaller potato production. The
explanation for the slower spread of contracting
in Aroostook is probably that the farmers have
grown accustomed to the highly speculative
nature of the industry. After several years of low
returns they look forward to a year when they
can recoup all their losses. The processors also
hesitate to make advance commitments. Nevertheless the trends to contracting and processing
are growing and appear to be stabilizing factors.
Another development which has helped stabilize the industry is the diversion program of
the United States Department of Agriculture.
Under this program, payments are made to farmers for specific grades of potatoes diverted to
starch production. About one-fourth of last
year's crop in Maine moved to starch factories.
The combination of the subsidy and the starch
factory payment exceeded the market price by
as much as 30 percent in the fall of 1961 and so
provided some sorely needed income to those
farmers. Moreover, if these potatoes had not
been diverted they would have depressed prices
further in an already disastrous price year.
These new patterns - the growth of processing, contracting, futures trading, and the diversion program of the USDA - are stabilizing
factors for the industry and may influence the
number and kind of credit sources. While overall credit needs may grow as the trend to larger
farms continues, some risks may diminish with
more stability. To the extent that the industry
receives more credit from processors and fertilizer companies, channels of credit will change
and the importance of some, such as the Farmers'
Home Administration, will diminish.
7

MASSACHUSETTS
MANUFACTURING INDEXES

(seasonally adjusted)

(1950-52

=

NEW ENGLAND

100)

=

(1950-52

UNITED STATES

1001

(1957

Aug . 61

Aug. '62

July '62

Aug. '61

Aug. '62

July '62

Aug . '61

122
109
43
117
112

118
111
44
109
105

115
110
45
115
107

126
116
65
120
127

125
110
66
119
123

119
101
66
120
123

119
88
n.a .
n.a.
n.a .

119
86
122
n.a.
124

113
98
116
103
123

NEW ENGLAND

UNITED STATES

Percent Change from:

BANKING AND CREDIT
Commercial and Industrial Loans ($ millions)
(Weekly Reporting Member Banks)
Deposits ($ millions)
(Weekly Reporting Member Banks)
Check Payments ($ millions)
(Selected Cities)
Consumer Installment Credit Outstanding
(index, seas. adj. 1957 = 100)

=

100)

=

100}

EMPLOYMENT, PRICES, MAN-HOURS & EARNINGS
Nonagricultural Employment (thousands)
Insured Unemployment (thousands)
(excl. R. R. and temporary programs)
Consumer Prices
(index, 1957-59 = 100)
Production-Worker Man-Hours
(index , 1950
100)
Weekly Earnings in Manufacturing ($)

=

OTHER INDICATORS
Construction Contract Award s ($ thous .)
(3-mos. moving averages, June, July , Aug .)
Total
Resident ial
Public Works
Electrica I Energy Product ion
(index , seas. adj . 1957-59 = 100)
Business Failures (number)
New Busine ss Incorporation s (number)


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100)

July '62

All Manufacturing
Primary Metals
Textiles
Shoes and Leather
Paper

TRADE
Department Store Sales
(index, seas. adj. 1957-59
Department Store Stocks
(index, seas. adj. 1957-59

=

Au g. 62

Aug . '62
1,595
4,855

July '62
+

l

-

Percent Change from:

Aug . '61

Aug. '62

+

8

33,296

2

+

5

10,688

0

123.9

July "62

Aug. '61

+

l

+

6

124,504

-

l

+

6

+11

170,120

+

l

+10

0

+5

134.2

+

l

+8

117

+

2

+5

115

0

+5

115

-

3

+4

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

3,840
107

+1
-12

+2
-18

55,744
1,514

0
-4

+2
-16

107. l
(Mass.)
87 .9

0

+

2

105.5

0

+1

+

2

99 .9

+

l

+3

-

1

+3

+

89.65
(Mass.)

+

189,080
76,085
32,950
128
88
991
n.a .

=

2
1

4

95.75

-4
-8
+22
+1

+ 5
-3
+20
+5

3,758,931
1,643,267
689,818
130

-3
-3
0
-1

+6
+6
+2

+159
+ 6

+42
+10

1,319
14,955

+13
0

-18
1

+

+1

not available

New England

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