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Monthly Review of Agriculture, Industry, Trade and Finance Released for Publication in Afternoon Papers of Ja n . 31, 1941 FEDERAL Loading RESERVE Cotton in BANK Tennessee OF ST. LOUIS SUMMARY OF EIGHTH DISTR ICT Dec., 1940, comp, with Livestock Nov., 1940 Dec., 1939 Receipts at National Stock Yards..........— 4.0%+ 11.3% Shipments from aforesaid Yards............-f- 0.7 +- 3.1 Production and Distribution: Sales by mfrs. and wholesalers..............— 3.4 +- 29.9 Department store sales............................. + 48.6 + 7.2 Car loadings............................................... + 0.8 +- 3.5 Building and Construction: -j-j, * v i • (Num ber... +- 25.3 — 23.1 Bldg. permits, incl. repairs \ Cost.......... + 26 7 + 53 4 Value construction contracts awarded..-}- 11.1 — 73.9 M iscellaneous: ~ • i r -1 f Number..............— 9.1 + 2.6 Commercial failures \ Liabilities.......... + 3 6 1 + 85.S Consumption of electricity....................... + 1.2 +- 23.1 Debits to individual accounts..................+- 11.5 +- 6.8 Life Insurance Sales................................. + 24.3 +- 6.2 Jan. 15,’41 comp, with Member Banks (24): Dec. 18,’40 Jan. 17,’40 Gross deposits.-...........................................+ 1.9%+ 10.1% Loans........................................................... -0 +- 11.7 Investments.................................................+ 3.5 + 7.5 H E m arked upsw ing in E ighth D istrict busi ness and industry, which had its rise tow ard the end of last spring, continued w ith practic ally no interruption through December and the first half of January. In the case of a num ber of im port ant lines in which activities usually contract a t this time of year, there was little, if any, evidence of the expected decline. In virtually all lines investigated by this bank, volume of sales and production in December were m easurably above a year ago and the average of all years since 1929. This was true of both durable goods and m erchandise for ordinary consumption. A particularly favorable exhibit was made by iron and steel, nonferrous working metal, textile, and other industries directly affected by the Government's defense program . In this district alone contracts placed by the various Government agencies between June 1 and Novem ber 1, 1940, reached a total value of approxim ately $382,200,000, and since th at time a substantial volume of addi tional orders for a broad variety of goods has been placed. In spite of the extraordinary volume of shipm ents during the period, unfilled orders as of m id-January were still sufficiently large to insure the recent high rate of operations during the next several m onths. A num ber of im portant firms in the steel and some other industries report th at their prospective out puts during the first quarter of this year have been sold. Reflecting the high rate of activities in the building industry, demand for all descriptions of building m aterials m aintained the high levels ob taining during the fall. Lum ber production in December, while som ew hat below the preceding T Page 2 m onth, was substantially greater than a year earlier, and largest for the m onth in recent years. Produc tion of glass, cement, quarry and fire clay products was also in exceptionally large volume for this tim e of year. Reflecting generally higher public purchasing power incident to increased em ploym ent and favor able returns from the year’s crops in the district, retail trade expanded more than seasonally in De cember. W hile mild tem peratures tended to hold down the movem ent of cold w eather goods, holiday shopping got an earlier sta rt than usual, and in both the urban centers and country was in larger volume than in any recent year. December departm ent store sales in the principal cities were approxim ately 50 per cent greater than in Novem ber and 7.2 per cent above the December, 1939, total. F or the twelve m onths aggregate sales were 7.1 per cent in excess of those in 1939. Gains in volume of wholesale m er chants noted earlier in the year were well m ain tained during December and total for all lines whose statistics are available to this bank showed a sub stantial increase over a year earlier. Postal receipts in the principal cities during the final quarter of 1940 were 5.6 per cent greater than for the same period a year earlier, and for the entire year an in crease of 6.5 per cent was recorded. Reflecting the high rate of industrial activity, con sum ption of electric current by industrial users in six large cities during December was greater by 1.2 per cent and 23.1 per cent, respectively, than a m onth and a year earlier. O utput of bitum inous coal at mines in this general area in December was 4.8 per cent more than in Novem ber and 10.9 per cent greater than in December, 1939. F or the year production exceeded th at of the preceding twelve m onths by 4.3 per cent. Stim ulated by heavy de mand and relatively high prices, production of lead, zinc and other m etals at district mines reached the highest levels in recent years. As of m id-January production of steel ingots at mills in this area was at 87.5 per cent of capacity, the same as during the preceding six or eight weeks, and com paring w ith 83 per cent a year ago. Commercial failures in the E ighth Federal Re serve D istrict in December, according to Dun and B radstreet, num bered 40, involving liabilities of $727,000, as against 44 insolvencies in November w ith liabilities of $534,000 and 39 defaults for a total of $392,000 in December, 1939. In 1940 there were 443 failures w ith liabilities of $5,534,000, as against 400 failures in 1939 for a total of $6,104,000. D E TA IL ED SU R V E Y OF D IS TR IC T MANUFACTURING AND WHOLESALING Lines of Commodities N et Sales Stocks December, 1940 Dec. 31, 1940 D ata furnished by Bureau of Census, compared with comp, with U . S. Dept, of Commerce. N ov., ’40 D ec., ’39 Dec. 31, 1939 A utom otive Su pplies................................ Boots and S h oes........................................ Drug’s and Chem icals.............................. Dry G oods.................................................. Electrical S u pplies.............................. Furniture..................................................... Groceries....................................................... Hardw are................................................... Tobacco and its P rod u cts....................... M iscellaneous.............................................. Total all lin es............................................ — 29.2% + 12.2 + 6.3 — 29.8 + 14.2 — 15.3 — 15.9 — 1.6 — 3.3 — 4.8 — 3.4 — 11.5% + 41.5 + 14.2 + 2 3 .0 + 2.2 + 12.9 — 1.3 + 37.0 + 7.3 + 13.8 + 2 9 .9 — 2.9% — ’8.V + 15.5 — 26.6 + 1.1 + 41.1 + '6.7 + 2.9 Automobiles—Combined passenger car, truck and taxicab production in the U nited States in Decem ber totaled 483,567, as against 487,352 in November and 452,024 in December, 1939. In 1940 production am ounted to 4,455,493 vehicles compared with 3,574,678 in 1939 and 2,489,555 in 1938. Iron and Steel Products — The high rate of activ ity in the steel industry, which obtained in this area during the fall of 1940, continued during the closing weeks of December and the first half of January. Interruptions to production at mills, foundries, machine shops and other ferrous metal working plants incident to the holidays were less in evidence than during any preceding season. The past thirty days were marked by some recession in new order ing of steel, but backlogs and strong pressure for deliveries on the part of customers resulted in prac tically continuous operations, and indications are th at the present pace will be m aintained during the next several months. In the case of a num ber of producers, shipm ents during December exceeded those of the preceding month, and were the largest ever recorded for the period. This was true particu larly of makers of sheets, plates, strip and other flat rolled steel commodities. Some companies are vir tually out of the m arket and are booking orders only for delivery when m aterials are available. Demands are reported exceptionally well diversi fied, and while defense needs are accounting for heavy tonnages, requirem ents for civilian purposes still predom inate in current business. Machine tool, engine and general machinery m anufacturers are operating at or near capacity schedules. Railroad equipm ent builders have a substantial volume of unfinished orders, reflecting heavy purchasing of freight cars by carriers in 1940. Total of freight cars placed in the past twelve months is estimated at 65,277 units, against 57,775 units in 1939 and 16,303 units in 1938. Releases by the autom otive industry continue on a liberal scale, and purchasing by structural steel fabricators is in large volume. December sales of warehouse and jobbing interests were the largest for the month since 1929, with orders for flat rolled steel and special steels being stim ulated by delayed mill deliveries. Consumption of steel scrap during the last half of 1940 was the heaviest of record for any similar period. As of m id-January production of steel ingots at mills in this general area was at 87.5 per cent of capacity, equal to the best rate reached in 1940. December shipments of pig iron to district m elters exceeded the November total by a liberal margin, and were the highest of record for the month. For the entire country, according to the magazine “Steel,” production of pig iron in December totaled 4,571,715 tons, a new all-time m onthly high, and comparing with 4,397,656 tons in November and 4,219,718 tons in December, 1939. Total output in 1940 was 46,923,527 tons, exceeded only in 1929 when 47,342,605 tons were produced. December production of steel ingots in the U nited States totaled 6,300,768 tons, against 6,282,824 tons in No vember and 5,822,014 tons in December, 1939. For the twelve m onths of 1940 output amounted to 65,246.953 tons. MINING AND OIL Coal — In spite of the extremely mild weather prevailing generally through the district during the late fall and early winter, activity in the bituminous coal industry continued at a high rate tow ard the end of the year and during the first weeks in Janu ary. Smaller tonnages burned for domestic heating purposes were more than offset by heavy industrial consumption. Production at district mines in De cember was m easurably higher than a year ago. In the U nited States production of soft coal in December was 40,600,000 tons, according to the Bituminous Coal Division, U. S. D epartm ent of the Interior. This compares with 40,012,000 tons in November and 38,066,000 tons in December, 1939. In 1940 there were 453,307,000 tons lifted, as against 391,468,000 tons in 1939 and 342,317,000 tons in 1938. A t mines in this general area December out put was 4.8 per cent more than in November and 10.9 per cent greater than in December, 1939. Total production of these mines in 1940 exceeded that of the preceding year by 4.3 per cent. Illinois mines produced 4,941,569 tons in Decem ber, as against 4,234,360 tons in November and 4.318.953 tons in December, 1939. There were 110 mines in operation in December with 27,284 men on payrolls, which compares w ith 98 active mines and 27,013 operatives in November. Page 3 Petroleum — Novem ber output of crude oil in states of the E ighth D istrict was 5.8 per cent less than in October and 1.3 per cent greater than in November, 1939. Cum ulative total for the eleven months of 1940 exceeded th at of the like period in 1939 by 55.1 per cent. Stocks on Novem ber 30 were 4.8 per cent and 9.7 per cent larger, respectively, than a m onth and a year earlier. Detailed produc tion and stocks by states are given in the following table . ________ Production Stocks (I n thousands of barrels) N o v ., 1940, A rkansas............ 2,035 I llin o is .............. 10,089 Indian a.............. 611 415 K e n tu c k y ......... T o ta ls ..............13,150 O ct., 1940 2,121 10,795 583 464 13,963 N o v ., 1939 2,071 10,222 222 472 12,987 Cumulative 1940 1939 N ov. 30. N ov. 30, 1940 1939 23,462 19,002 136,434 83,570 4,271 1,196 4,772 5,132 168,939 10,8,900 2,172 1,896 14,175 13,123 3,491 3,209 1,645 1,361 21,483 19,589 RETAIL TRADE Department Stores — The trend of retail trade in the Eighth D istrict, as reflected in statistics of de partm ent stores in the principal cities which report to this bank, is shown in the following com parative sta te m e n t: Stocks Stock ____________ N et Sales_________ on Hand Turnover December, 1940 12 mos. ’40 D ec. 3 1 /4 0 Jan. 1, to compared with to same comp, with D ec. 31, N o v .,’40 D e c.,’39 period ’39 Dec. 31,’39 1940 1939 Ft. Smith, Ar k . . + 3 4 .1 % + 4.8% + 1 0 .6 % — 8. 1% 3.25 2.99 Little Rock, Ark. + 4 0 .5 + 1 2 .2 + 9.9 — 5.7 3.92 3.47 Louisville, K y. . . + 6 4 .2 + 1 2 .5 + 1 0 .1 + 2.7 4.87 4.48 Memphis, Tenn. . + 5 9 .8 + 7.5 + 6.6 + 6.2 3.75 3.75 Pine Bluff, A rk.. + 5 8 .9 + 1 0 .9 + 4.6 + 2 2 .7 2.83 3.14 Ouincy, 111............ + 4 2 .8 — 2.7 + 1.0 + 3.1 4.24 4.15 St. Louis, Mo. . . + 4 4 .5 + 5.6 + 6.2 + 3.8 4.72 4.76 Springfield, Mo. . + 4 7 .1 + 1 3 .4 + 1 5 .3 + 1 7 .7 3.78 3.30 All Other C ities. . + 4 2 .8 + 6.0 + 1 2 .1 + 2 3 .8 3.59 3.64 8th F. R. D istrict + 4 8 .6 + 7.2 + 7.1 + 3.3 4.45 4.38 Trading days: December, 1940— 25; November, 1940—'25; December, 1939— 25. Percentage of accounts and notes receivable out standing December 1,1940, collected during Decem ber, by c itie s: Installm ent E xcl. Instal. A ccounts A ccounts Fort Sm ith ..............% 40,.8% L ittle R o c k .. . 14.2 33.3 L o u i s v i l l e .. .. 16.2 50.4 Memphis . . . . 28.9 47.3 Installm ent E xcl. Instal. A ccounts A ccounts Q uincy.............................% 50.3% 59.5 St. L o u is............... 18.7 Other Ci t i e s . . . . 9.7 40.4 8th F. R. D istrict 19.1 52.4 Specialty Stores — December results in m en’s furnishings and boot and shoe lines are shown in the following table: Stocks Stock ____________ N et Sales_________ on Hand December, 1940, 12 mos. ’40 Dec. 31,’40 compared w ith to same comp, with N o v .,’40 D e c.,’39 period ’39 D ec. 31,’39 M en’s Furnishings + 3 3 .4 % + 1 0 .6 % B oots and Shoes. + 3 3 .3 + 6.8 + + 7.2% 4.5 + 2.8% — 5.8 Turnover Jan. 1, to D ec. 31, 1940 1939 2.81 7.86 2.80 7.36 Percentage of accounts and notes receivable outstanding December 1, 1940, collected during December : M en’s F u rnishings...................35.9% B oots and S h o es.......................... 37.0% TRANSPORTATION The St. Louis T erm inal Railw ay Association, which handles interchanges for 28 connecting lines, interchanged 87,281 loads in December, as against 86,601 loads in November and 84,309 loads in De cember, 1939. D uring the first nine days of January the interchange am ounted to 25,187 loads, compared Page 4 with 26,627 loads during the corresponding period in December and 23,321 loads during the first nine days of January, 1940. D uring 1940 a total of 989,987 loads was interchanged, which compares with 982,081 loads in 1939 and 904,081 loads in 1938. For the entire country loadings of revenue freight in 1940 am ounted to 36,353,609 cars, as against 33,911,498 cars in 1939 and 30,457,078 cars in 1938. Estim ated tonnage of the Federal Barge Line between St. Louis and New Orleans in December was 114,700 tons, com paring w ith 142,208 tons in November and 127,833 tons in December, 1939. For the twelve m onths of 1940 total tonnage handled was 1,974,516 tons, an increase of 4.2 per cent over 1939. A G R IC U L T U R E Combined receipts from the sale of principal farm products and Governm ent benefit paym ents to farm ers in states including the E ighth D istrict dur ing the period January-N ovem ber, 1938, 1939 and 1940, and during November, 1939 and 1940, are given in the following ta b le : (In thousands of dollars) Novem ber_____ 1940 1939 I n d ia n a .................. Illin o is..................... M issouri.................. K entu ck y................ T en n e ss e e .............. A r k a n sa s ................ M ississippi.............. T o ta ls.................. $29,561 50,230 32,177 9,922 18,121 23,148 31,466 194,625 $27,441 48,991 28,645 8,579 13,712 23,395 20,863 171,626 Cumulative for 11 months 1940 1939 1938 $277,729 514,380 274,496 129,017 122,937 132,956 152,704 1,604,219 $254,574 475,802 251,252 122,003 116,862 147,752 135,845 1,504,090 $249,564 458,001 229,228 137,532 123,090. 159,766 143,315 1,500,496 Farm ing Conditions — According to the post harvest report of the U. S. D epartm ent of A gricul ture on acreage and yields obtained on individual farms, production of m any crops in 1940 exceeded earlier expectations. Yields per acre of certain pro ductions in the E ighth D istrict averaged higher than in any preceding year, and total production — on a sm aller acreage than a few years ago — was larger than in any year except 1937. Crop produc tion, although only slightly above the average of the last three rem arkable seasons, appears high when contrasted w ith production in previous years and particularly high compared w ith averages for periods th at include the drouth years of 1934 and 1936. Unlike the large crops of 1937, which came when reserves were depleted, the 1940 crops were harvested after three good years and supplies of some products are much higher than the production figures alone would indicate. The D epartm ent’s January 1 inventory of grain and hay on farm s shows a volume of supplies slightly above holdings during the last tw o or three years and much above the average Jan u ary 1 hold ings during the 1931-1937 period. H oldings in E ighth D istrict states this year included less corn than in either of the last two years, bu t as much hay, slightly more w heat and much more oats than in either year. In these states farm stocks of corn on January 1 totaled 618,957,000 bushels, as against 712,105,000 bushels a year earlier and the 1930-1939 average of 519,846,000 bushels; wheat, 24,976,000 bushels, against 18,256,000 bushels last year and average of 23,871,000 bushels; oats, 161,869,000 bushels, against 102,264,000 bushels a year earlier and average of 121,820,000 bushels. In states where large am ounts of 1939 and previous corn crops were carried over, stocks continue unusually heavy. This is especially true in Illinois where re-sealing of old corn in Governm ent loans was extensive. The w inter to date has been in the main favorable for agricultural activities and the progress of fallsown crops. Quite generally farm routine has been brought up to the seasonal schedule though in sec tions of the south field work has been held up by excessive m oisture during December and early January. The acreage seeded to w inter w heat in states of the district last fall is estim ated at 6,220,000 acres, compared w ith 6,013,000 a year earlier and the 10-year (1928-1937) average of 6,791,000 acres. The trend of farm prices since mid-December has been upward, w ith m arked advances in grains, live stock, cotton and potatoes. Tobacco prices have declined rath er sharply since the opening of m arkets for the 1940 crop in early December. As of January 4, the farm products group of the Bureau of Labor Statistics index stood at 71.2 per cent of the 1926 average, as against 69.1 per cent on December 21, 1940, and 69.6 per cent on January 6, 1940. Cotton — The 1940 cotton crop was one of the latest in recent years, and as of the second week in January there still rem ained in the fields a substan tial portion of the crop, grades and character of which suffered deterioration w ith each successive rain. Reversing conditions early in the season, when w eather was ideal for harvesting, rains and freezes in Novem ber and later on seriously retarded devel opm ent of late bolls. Practically none of the very late picked cotton will grade high enough to qualify for the Governm ent loan. Dem and for spot cotton early in January devel oped m oderate im provem ent over recent weeks, and in the second week of the m onth prices advanced to the highest levels since last May. Ow ing to this fact and the absence of high grades in current ginnings, loan stocks are being draw n upon to supply desired varieties. W hile this has not reached any considerable volume, indications point to increasing demand as the season progresses. In the St. Louis m arket the m iddling grade ranged from 9.55c to 10c per pound betw een December 16 and January 15, closing at 9.90c on the latter date, which compares with 9.60c on December 16 and 10.50c on January 15, 1940. As indicating lateness of the crop, cotton ginned in states of the E ighth D istrict prior to December 13 totaled 3,264,389 bales, as against 3,755,916 bales a year earlier and 3,751,574 bales during the corres ponding period in 1938. Combined receipts at Mis souri and A rkansas compresses from A ugust 1,1940, to January 17, 1941, totaled 1,731,256 bales, against 1,726,307 bales for the same period a year earlier; shipments, 1,268,324 bales, against 1,513,819 bales. Stocks on hand as of January 17 amounted to 1,472,068 bales, against 1,569,047 bales on the cor responding date in 1940. Livestock — Receipts and shipm ents at St. Louis as reported by the National Stock Yards were as follows . _____ Receipts_______ _______Shipments _____ D ec., 1940 N ov., 1940 D ec., 1939 Cattle and C alves......... 99,484 112,665 84,372 H o g s ................................... 337,069 330,211 292,512 Horses and M u le s ___ 1,210, 1,422 2,735 Sheep................................... 37,188 50,662 46,959 T otals............................. 474,951 494,960 426,578 D ec., 1940 N ov., 1940 Dec., 1939 32,689 44,729 32,535 87,646 70,939 82,306 1,182 1,346 1,570 4,519 8,206 5,829 126,036 125,220 122,240 The following table shows com parative receipts and shipm ents for the years 1939 and 1940: Receipts 1940 Cattle and C alves............1,315,821 H ogs .................................. 3,264,991 Horses and M u les............ 18,483 Sheep .................................. 831,665 T otals................................5,430,960 _______Shipments_______ 1939 1,294,236 2,625,951 28,683 820„080 4,768,950 1940 1939 536,162 1,059,010 19,145 260,722 1,875,039 556,554 776,368 26,718 232,033 1,591,673 Tobacco — W hen the m arkets for burley tobacco closed for the holidays, 162,000,000 pounds, or about half the crop, had been sold at an average price of $17,75 per cwt. Since reopening of the m arkets on January 2, prices declined and on January 11 the average dropped to $14.10 per cwt. The low prices are attributed principally to weakness in medium trashes and flyings and in medium and common grades of leaf selling from $10 to $18 per cwt. xAs of mid-January approxim ately three-fourths of the burley crop had been sold, w ith average prices con siderably below those of a year ago. The Commodity Credit Corporation will make loans on the 1940 crop through farm er cooperative associations, according to announcem ent made by the U. S. D epartm ent of A griculture on January 8. Total loans of not more than $6,000,000 on not to exceed 30,000,000 pounds of tobacco were author ized, the am ount advanced not to exceed 75 per cent of the parity for the grade. Only farm ers participat ing in the A. A. A. farm program will be eligible. Practically all the dark fired crop has been placed in bulk and as of January 15 about half of it had been stripped. M arkets opened January 6 and 7. Page 5 Due to lack of export buying, not more than half the offerings have been sold, and a considerable part of the rem ainder has gone to the Farm ers Coopera tive Association. Prior to the closing of the m arkets for Green River and stem m ing crop at the holiday season, approxim ately 5,000,000 pounds were sold at a gen eral average of $7.90 per cwt. Domestic manufac turers purchased the m ajority of the offerings, relatively little being taken for export. It is esti m ated that the Cooperative Association has taken about 30 per cent of the offerings to date. The one sucker crop is reported of good quality, with an estim ated total of 22,000,000 pounds. Prior to the Christm as holidays about 4,000,000 pounds were sold on the auction floors at an average price of $7.85 per cwt. As of m id-January about 60 per cent of the crop had been sold, with prices generally satisfactory to growers. COMMODITY PRICES Range of prices in the St. Louis m arket between December 16, 1940, and January 15, 1941, with closing quotations on the latter date and on January 15, 1940, follows: close H igh W heat #M ay .....................per bt *Ju ly....................... “ *Sept....................... “ No. 2 red winter “ Corn *M ay..................... “ *July....................... “ *Sept....................... “ N o. 2 m ix e d .. . “ No. 2 w h ite___ Oats *M ay ..................... “ *July..................... “ *Sept....................... Middling Cotton per lb H ogs on H oof . .percw *Nominal quotations. L ow Jan. 15, 1941 $ $ .81 .76 .76/4 .89/4 .605/s .60/4 .6oy2 .67 .68 X .5 7 /s .5 7 /s .57/4 .5 8 ^ .6454 .60 5/s .60/4 . 6 O/2 .64 .67 .5534 .56/s .56% .60/2 .64 .357/s .3 15/s .3 0 /s .10 1.49 .335/s .297/s .3 0 /s .0955 6.15 .355/s .3 15/s .3 0 /s .0.990 8.49 .39 .3 3 / 4 .31/4 .1050 5.71 $ .9 7 /s .947^ .94/s 1.03 WHISKEY Of the 61 distilleries in Kentucky, 48 were in operation on December 31, compared with 44 active on November 30. Condition of the industry is re ported satisfactory and there is talk of increasing production during the coming several months. Tone of the m arket for bulk whiskey continues firm, with excess stocks practically nil. During November, 1940, 4,973,000 gallons were produced in Kentucky, compared w ith 3,907,000 gallons in November, 1939. Final figures for December are not available, but it is believed th at the am ount of whiskey withdrawn from warehouses will show a decrease from Novem ber, owing to the fact th at bulk of liquor for the holiday trade was packaged during November and early December. The percentage of bottled-in-bond whiskey sold compared with total gallonage marketed, according to trade sources, continues to increase. This is emphasized by the fact th at 17.5 per cent of total Page 6 BUILDING The dollar value of perm its issued for new con struction in the five largest cities of the district in December was 38.6 per cent greater than in Novem ber and 62.6 per cent greater than in December, 1939. According to statistics compiled by the F. W . Dodge Corporation, construction contracts let in the Eighth D istrict in December am ounted to $35,214,000, which compares w ith revised figures of $31,697,000 in November and $134,744,000 in December, 1939. D uring 1940, construction contracts totaled $271,654,000, as against $351,125,000 for 1939. Build ing figures for December follow : N ew Construction (C ost in thousands) Repairs, etc. Permits 1940 1939 Cost JL939 1940 11 9 24 18 49 58 366 233 177 162 Dec. T otals,. . . . 627 480 , 823 631 N ov. “ Year “ . . . . 1 0 , 4 6 5 8,206 *Includes a housing project. $ 258 47 52 106 126 126 1,870* 591 629 682 1,709 2,778 2,00,5 1,514 26,254 26,084 E vansville. .■i . . Little R o ck , Louisville . $ Permits 1940 1939 1940 Cost 1939 54 47 $ 20 $ 35 60 47 21 9 28 18 58 19 136 105 109 46 92 99 296 257 370 316 465 405 474 539 555 761 6,974 7,200 6,565 5,986 Jan. 15, 1940 .8 5 ^ .797/s .SOVs .94 y2 .8454 .79/2 .80 .93/2 tax paym ents in November were on th at type of whiskey, the highest percentage for any m onth since Prohibition was repealed. There is also a tendency to increase the age of bottled whiskey. CONSUMPTION OF ELECTRICITY Public utilities companies in six large cities of the district report consumption of electric current by selected industrial custom ers in December as being 1.2 per cent more than in November and 23.1 per cent greater than in December, 1939. Total consumption in 1940 was 13.7 per cent greater than in 1939. Detailed figures follow: N o. of D ec., N ov., Custom 1940 1940 ers K .W .H . K .W .H . (K .W .H . in thous.) ... L ittle R o c k .,. . . L ouisville . . . . . Pine Bluff , 40 35 82 31 20 125 333 4,851 2,309 11,572 3,306 927 48,30,5 71,270 4,600 2,365 11,157 3,371 864 48,099 70,456 December, 1940 Dec., 1939 compared with K.W .H,. N ov., 1940 D ec., 1939 4,511 2,055 9,285 2,369 1,268 38,399 57,887 + — + — + + + 5.5% 2.4 3.7 1.9 7.3 0.4 1.2 + 7.5% + 12.4 + 2 4 .6 + 3 9 .6 — 26.9 + 2 5 .8 + 2 3 .1 POSTAL RECEIPTS R eturns from the five largest cities of the district show an increase of 27.2 per cent in combined postal receipts for the final quarter of 1940 over the pre ceding three months, and of 5.6 per cent over the last quarter of 1939. Detailed figures follow : Quarter ending : Dec. 31, 1940 Little Rock $ 215,665 257,192 877,376 901,182 3,267,824 5,519,239 Sept. 30, 1940 $ Dec. 31, 1939 Comp. L ast Qtrs. 1940 and 1939 169,791 230,366 697,475 629,594 2,612,356 $ 202,823 246,022 849.013 870,703 3,055,954 + + + + + 6.3% 4.5 3.3 3.5 6.9 4,339,582 5,224,515 + 5.6 The following table shows the comparative totals for the years 1938, 1939 and 1940: 1940 comp, w ith 1940 T o ta ls..............$19,003,859 1939 $18,411,947 1938 $17,840„176 1939 _______ 1938 ____ + 3 .2 % +6. BANKING AND FINANCE Save as affected by seasonal influences, banking and financial conditions in the E ighth D istrict underw ent no notable change during the past th irty days as compared w ith the sim ilar period imme diately preceding. Dem and for credit from commer cial and industrial sources developed m oderate im provem ent, but liquidation of routine loans was in substantial volume, so th at net gains in credit extended were not large. According to m any bank ers in the large cities, only a relatively small part of the increase in loans can be attributed to defense projects, owing m ainly to the prom ptness w ith which Governm ent paym ents on contractural obli gations are being made. W hile demands for cur rency incident to the holiday season were of record size, the return flow to m id-January had been rela tively sm aller than in past years. The volume of bankers’ acceptances outstanding in this district as of December 31 was 15 per cent greater than a m onth earlier and 15 per cent less than on Decem ber 31, 1939. M ember Banks — T otal loans and investm ents of reporting m em ber banks in the principal cities in creased 1.8 per cent betw een December 18, 1940, and January 15, 1941, and on the latter date were 9.5 per cent greater than a year earlier. Loans fluc tuated in m inor degree only, bulk of the increase being in investm ents, and more specifically in hold ings of Government securities. Deposits during the four-week period continued the sharp upw ard trends which have prevailed since last summ er and, at $1,230,034,000 at m id-January, represented an alltime high. Statem ent of the principal resource and liability items of the reporting m em ber banks follow s: (I n thousands of dollars) Jan. 15, 1941 Change from Dec. 18, Jan. 17, 1940 1940 Commercial, industrial, agricultural lo a n s ... $220,326 + 1,170 + 2 0 ,3 9 5 Open market paper................................................ 9,931 — 302 + 389 Loans to brokers and dealers.............................. 3,987 — ■ 296 — 1,266 Other loans to purchase and carry securities. 12,788 — 84 + 417 Real E state lo a n s......................... ........................... 58,626 + 357 4- 7,139 Loans to b a n k s....................................................... 2,805 — 573 + 1,228 Other lo a n s.............................................................. 67,989 — 320 + 11 ,0 1 3 Treasury b ills........................................................... 14,138 — 1,703 + 1 1 ,2 9 8 Treasury n o tes......................................................... 35,860 — 1,177 — 8,423 U .S . bon ds.............................................................. 161,559 + 1 7 ,3 3 0 + 2 1 ,6 0 2 Obligations guaranteed by U .S . G overnment. 63,421 — 530 — 6,939 Other securities....................................................... 113,896 — 644 + 9,733 Balances w ith dom estic banks............................ 196,672 + 5,784 — 2,843 Demand deposits— a d j u s t e d * ....,.................... 54.2,071 + 6,396 + 6 4 ,9 6 4 Tim e d ep o sits............................................................ 192,136 + 1,222 + 2,287 U . S. Government d ep o sits................................ 10,231 — 1,290 — 7,785 Inter-bank deposits................................................ 413,833 + 1 8 ,3 4 7 + 4 5 ,4 8 5 B orrow ings................................................................................. — 300 ............ * Other than inter-bank and Government deposits, less cash items on hand or in process of collection. Above figures are for 24 member banks in St. Louis, Louisville, Mem phis, L ittle Rock and E vansville. Their resources comprise approximately 75.0% of the resources of all member banks in this district. T he aggregate am ount of savings deposits held by selected member banks on January 1 was 1 per cent greater than a m onth earlier, and slightly larger than on the corresponding report date in 1940. Federal Reserve O perations — The volume of the major operations of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, during December, 1940, is indicated below: (Incl. Louisville, Memphis, L ittle Rock branches) Pieces Amounts Checks (cash items) handled................................ 5,919,894 $1,483,119,130 Collections (non-cash item s) handled................ 164,834 32,598,012 Transfers of fund$....................................................... 4,910 403,734,589 Currency received and counted ....................... .. 9,355,583 33,438,983 Coin received and counted....................................... 9,560,669 1,029,998 Rediscounts, advances and com m itm ents......... 26 1,611,810 N ew issues, redemptions, and exchanges of securities as fiscal agent of U . S. Govt., etc. 14,817 40,414,736 Bills and securities in custody— coupons clipped 21,381 ............................... Changes in the principal assets and liabilities of this bank appear in the following ta b le : Jan. 21, 1941 (In thousands of dollars) Industrial advances under Sec. 13b........... ! 5 18 Other advances and rediscounts.................. 11 Bills bought (including participations) . . . U . S. securities..................................................... 103,*139 T otal earning a s s e ts ..!................................ 103,168 Change from D ec. 24, Jan. 23, 1940, 1940 8 + 3 — — 205 — 117 -0-0— 8,763 — 7,952 + 8,649 — 8,165 515,257 T otal deposits............................................... .. 392,802 F. R. N otes in circulation.............................. 220,229 — 5,538 + 349 — 496 + + + Industrial commitments under Sec. 1 3 b .. Ratio of reserve to deposit and F. R. N ote liabilities......................... — 170 + 102 — 0.6% + 4.0,% 254 84.1% 81,358 40,897 30,418 Following are the rates of this bank for accom modations under the Federal Reserve A ct: Advances to banks, secured by direct obligations of the U nited States, under paragraph 13 of section 1 3 .. 1 % per annum Advances to member banks, secured by direct obliga tions of the U nited States or by such Government guaranteed obligations as are eligible for collateral, under paragraph 8 of section 13 .............................................. 1 % per annum Rediscounts and other advances to member banks un der sections 13 and 13a...................................................... . . . 1J^ % per annum Advances to member banks under section 1 0 ( b ) ................ 2 % per annum Advances to individuals, firms, and corporations, other than banks secured by direct obligations of the U nited States, under paragraph 13 of section 1 3 ........... 4 >per annum Industrial advances to member banks, nonmember banks, and other financing institutions under sec tion 13b: fl^ % to (a) On portion for which such institution is obligated ( 2 i per annum (b) On remaining portion — N o charge to financ ing institution. Federal Reserve Bank w ill retain interest collected from borrower. Advances to established industrial or commercial f 3 ^ % to businesses under section 13b.................................. « 5 ^ % per annum Commitments to member banks, nonmember banks, and other financing institutions, under section 1 3 b . . . . l % per annum P rovid ed: that on commitments issued for periods of 90 days or less the minimum charge shall be of 1 % fla t; and further provided, that on commitments for loans secured by assignm ent of “ Em ergency Plant Facil ities Contract” w ith the U nited States Government, the rate may be as low as 54 of 1% per annum. Since the preceding issue of this review the F irst State Bank of Olm sted, Olmsted, 111., and the F irst Bank and T ru st Company, Cairo, 111., became m em bers of the Federal Reserve System. Debits to Individual Accounts — The following comparative table of debits to individual accounts reflects spending trends in this d istric t: (I n thousands of dollars) D ec., 1940 E l D orado,. . . . , Ark.$ 5,807 “ Fort Smith, 16,285 H e le n a ,.............. . “ 2,069 “ Little Rock, 56,152 “ 10,112 Pine B luff,......... Texarkana, Ark. -Tex. 9,951 E .S t.L .-N a t.S .Y .,111. 44,707 9,648 Q uincy,.............. . . . “ E vansville,......... .In d . 38,943 ..K y . 214,516 Owensboro, 7,354 M iss. 5,853 , Mo. 729,650 “ 2,396 “ Springfield,. . . . 16,651 Tenn. 207,849 (Completed January 22, 1941) ......... 1,377,943 N ov., 1940 $ 5,7^9 14,436 2,267 48,745 10,299 8,278 43,872 10,056 35,101 183,849 6,939 6,619 627,970 2,216 16,018 213,841 1,236,245 D ec., 1939 $ 6,060 13,849 3,196 46,747 11,307 9,328 38,640 9,169 36,825 196,738 8,054 7,610 688,373 2,510 14,039 197,290 1,289,735 D ec .,’40 comp, w ith N ov .,’40 D e c .,’39 4- 1.2% + 12.8 8.7 + 15.1 1.8 + 20.2 1.9 + 4.1 + 10.9 + 16.7 6.0, + 11.6 + 16.2 8.1 + 4.0 + 2.8 + 11.5 — 4.2% + 17.6 — 35.3 + f o ,.i — 10.6 + 6.7 + 15.7 + 5.2 + 5.8 + 9.0 — 8.7 — 23.1 + 6.0 — 4.5 + 1 8 .6 + 5.4 + 6.8 Page 7 N A TIO N A L SUMMARY O F B U S IN E S S CO N D ITIO N S B Y B O A R D O F G O V E R N O R S O F F E D E R A L R E S E R V E S Y ST E M INDUS TRIA L PRODUCTION PER CENT PER CENT Index of physical volum e of production, adjusted for sea sonal variation, 1935-1939 average = 100. B y months, January, 1934, to December, 1940. L atest figure 136. DEPARTMENT STORE SALES AND STOCKS Indexes of value of sales and stocks, adjusted for sea sonal variation, 1923-1925 average = 100. B y months, January, 1934, to December, 1940. INCO M E PAYMENTS Industrial activity continued at a high rate in December and the first half of January and distribution of commodities to consumers was maintained in large volume. There was some increase in wholesale commodity prices. Production — Volume of industrial production showed little change from November to December, although usually there is a decline at this season, and consequently the Board’s adjusted index rose further by four points to 136 per cent of the 1935-39 average. Steel ingot production was sustained at about 96 per cent of capacity. New orders for steel continued large, accord ing to trade reports, and were equal to or slightly greater than production; consequently the volume of unfilled orders remained at about the peak level reached in November. In the first half of January steel output increased to around 98 per cent of capacity. Activity in the machinery, aircraft, and ship building industries continued to increase sharply and working forces were expanded further. In these lines and in some others, such as wool textiles, unfilled orders are exceptionally large, owing in the main to the defense program. Automobile production declined somewhat more than seasonally in Decem ber following an unusually large volume of output in November and October. Retail sales of new cars during the last quarter of 1940 were about onefourth greater than in the corresponding period last year and used car sales also were large. In the nonferrous metals industries activity increased fur ther in December and output of lumber and cement showed less than the usual seasonal decline. Textile production, which in November had exceeded the previous record levels reached a year ago, continued at this high rate in December, not showing the usual seasonal decrease. At cotton and rayon mills, activity increased somewhat further and at wool textile mills output was sustained at peak rates. In the shoe industry, where output had been in reduced volume during the first ten months of the year, there was less than the usual seasonal decline in November and December and, on a seasonally adjusted basis, production was close to earlier peak levels. At mines bituminous coal production declined less than seasonally and anthracite production increased. Output of crude petroleum showed a reduc tion in December owing mainly to the fact that wells in Texas were closed for ten days as compared with nine days in November. Output of metals continued in large volume. Value of construction contract awards, as reported by the F. W. Dodge Corporation, increased contraseasonally in December, reflecting further sharp increases in awards for defense construction and private nonresidential building. Contracts for private residential building declined by somewhat less than the usual seasonal amount. Distribution —■Distribution of commodities to consumers increased more than seasonally in December. Department and variety store sales showed the customary sharp expansion during the Christmas season and sales at mail order houses rose more than is usual at this time of year. Freight-car load ings showed a seasonal decline from November to December. Shipments of forest products and miscellaneous freight decreased less than seasonally, while ore loadings, which had been unusually large in November, declined sharply. 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 U . S. Department of Commerce estim ates of the amount of income payments to individuals, adjusted for seasonal variation. B y months, January, 1934, to December, 1940. M O NEY 1934 1935 RATES 1936 IN NEW 1937 YORK 1938 Bank Credit — Total loans and investments at reporting member banks in 101 leading cities continued to increase substantially during the six weeks ending January 8, reflecting principally increases in holdings of United States Government obligations at New York City banks. Commercial loans rose somewhat further while loans to New York security brokers and dealers, which had increased in December, subsequently declined somewhat. Excess reserves, after declining during the first half of December, have since in creased to about $6,900,000,000. The increase reflected reductions in Treas ury deposits with the Reserve Banks, a continued inflow of gold, and since Christmas a seasonal return flow of currency from circulation. CITY 1939 1940 For weeks ending January 6, 1934 to January 11, 1941. Page 8 Wholesale Commodity Prices — Basic commodity prices generally increased from the middle of December to the middle of January, following little change during the preceding four weeks. Currently these prices are substantially above the level prevailing last summer. Increases in the past month were most marked for foodstuffs, especially hogs, pork, lard, and cottonseed oil, but there were advances also in a number of industrial mate rials, particularly pig iron, cotton, cotton goods, paint materials, and hides. Steel scrap prices, after increasing during most of the period, subsequently declined and lumber prices also decreased somewhat from the sharply ad vanced peak reached in November. United States Government Security Prices — Prices of United States Government securities reacted somewhat after reaching record high levels early in December. Bonds of 1960-65 showed on January 8 a net decline of about 2 3A points from the all-time peak of December 10, but subsequently fluctuated somewhat above this level. The yield on this issue, which was 2.03 per cent at the peak in prices, was 2.16 per cent on January 14.
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