november 1935 survey - fraser · 2018. 11. 6. · november 1935 survey of current business business...

NOVEMBER 1935

SURVEYOF

CURRENT BUSINESS

UNITED STATESDEPARTMENT OF COMMERCEBUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE

WASHINGTONV O L U M E 15 NUMBER 1 1

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

NATIONAL INCOME PRODUCED,1S23-1934

Estimates of the national income produced and

business savings and losses have been com-

pleted for the years 1929 to 1934, inclusive.

These estimates supplement the data on na-

tional income paid out which was presented in

the August issue. See the article on page 16,


UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCEDANIEL C. ROPER, Secretary

BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCECLAUDIUS T. MURCHISON, Director

SURVEY OFCURRENT BUSINESS

Prepared in the

DIVISION OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH

ROY G. BLAKEY, ChiefM. JOSEPH MEEHAN, Editor

Volume 15 NOVEMBER 1935 Number 11

CONTENTSSUMMARIES AND CHARTS

PageBusiness indicators 2Business situation summarized 3Comparison of principal data, 1931-35 4Commodity prices 5Domestic trade 6Employment 7Finance. 8Foreign trade 9Real estate and construction 10Transportation 11Survey of individual industries:

Automobiles and rubber 12Forest products 13Iron and steel 14Textile industries 15

SPECIAL ARTICLE

The National Income Produced, 1929-34 16

STATISTICAL DATA

Revised series and new data:Revised series: Paint, varnish, and lacquer products, total sales,

1928-35, unclassified sales 1932-35; carlot shipments of fruitsand vegetables, 1934; cottonseed and cottonseed products,1934; fats and oils, 1934; dairy products, 1934 19, 20

New data: Average yield on U. S. Bonds, 1919-25 20Weekly business statistics through October 26 21

STATISTICAL DATA—Continued

Monthly business statistics: PageBusiness indexes 22Commodity prices 23Construction and real estate 24Domestic trade 25Employment conditions and wages 27Finance 31Foreign trade 36Transportation and communications 37

Statistics on individual industries:Chemicals and allied products 38Electric power and gas 41Foodstuffs and tobacco 41Fuels and byproducts 45Leather and products 47Lumber and manufactures 48

Metal and manufactures:Iron and steel 49Machinery and apparatus 51Nonferrous metals and products 52

Paper and printing 53Rubber and products 55Stone, clay, and glass products 56Textile products 57Transportation equipment 58

Canadian statistics 60

General index Inside back cover

Subscription price of the SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS is 31.50 a year. Single-copy price: Monthly, 10 cents; weekly, 5 cents.Foreign subscriptions, 33, including weekly supplements. Make remittances only to

Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C.

25765—35Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS November 1935

Business Indicators1923-25=100

160

100

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

40

16O

1OO

4O

160

100

TOTAL (Adjusted)

mill inn

FACTORY EMPLOYMENT AND PAYROLLS

EMPLOYMENT (Adjusted^

-PAYROLLS (Unadjusted)

TOTAL FREIGHT CAR LOADINGS

40

20O

100

Unadjusted Adjusted

|1 1 1 1 M 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 M 1 1 1

DEPARTMENT STORE SALES

VALUE OF EXPORTS2OO

1OO

1 1 1 1 1 i l l If 1 1 1 1 I I I I 1 1 1

Adjusted^_^ "

iM 1 MM 1 I I 1

-~-- « „

11 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 !

— -̂ -*-

1 1 1 1 1 1 I I 1 II

200

100

BANK DEBITS OUTSIDE NEW YORK CITY

1931

Unadjusted1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 H i

193211933 1934 1935

160

1OO

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

4O

MANUFACTURESMINERALS (Adjusted)* f (Adjusted)*

20O

10O

CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS AWARDED

160

1OO

FREIGHT CAR LOADINGS L. C. L.

160

100

4O

2OO

1OO

WHOLESALE PRICES

ALL COMMODITIES

PRODUCTS

VALUE OF IMPORTS

16O

1OO

FEDERAL RESERVE MEMBER BANK LOANS'

1931 II932T1933 | 193411935

ADJUSTED FOR SEASONAL VARIATION * REPORTING MEMBER BANKS D.D. 8332.Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

November 1935 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS

Business Situation SummarizedBUSINESvS activity during October shows a con-tinuation of the improved trend of recent months.Expansion in industrial output has been accompaniedby a rising volume of freight traffic which has resultedfrom the acceleration in the distribution of manufac-tured products and industrial raw materials as well asfrom the seasonal movement of agricultural productsand the heavier movement of coal. Ketail sales re-ports indicate a somewhat more spotty situation thanin September when the returns generally made a favor-able showing; the September gains were influencedby the expansion in employment and pay rolls, as wellas by the higher income of the agricultural population.Activity in the construction industry is improvingslowly; the current volume of both actual and pro-jected construction work is still low.

The increase in industrial production in Septemberexceeded the usual seasonal gain; weekly data avail-able for October indicate a further advance for thecurrent month. Automobile production has expandedsteadily after reaching a low for the year at the end ofSeptember with the change over to new models. Steelproduction in October has been at a slightly higherrate than in September, the third successive monthlyincrease. Cotton and silk textile production hasincreased, while the rayon and woolen industries havecontinued to operate at high levels. Lumber produc-tion has increased; the output of nonferrous metalsis also higher. Weekly electric power output estab-

lished a new high in October; bituminous coal produc-tion, which showed a less-than-seasonal rise in Sep-tember as a result of the strike, has increased more thanusual in October. Industrial output is currently closeto 90 percent of the 1923-25 average, which is the high-est level of operations for the fall period since 1930;a year ago the index stood at 74.

Ketail store sales in September expanded by morethan the usual seasonal amount, with the widest gainsin rural areas. The index of rural sales of general mer-chandise in September was the highest for this monthsince 1929. The substantial increase in dollar salesover a year ago indicates an increased physical volumeof sales since retail prices (aside from foods) are littlechanged from the level of a year ago.

Commodity prices have changed very slightly onthe average during October. Prices of speculativecommodities have moved irregularly, but have tendedlower since establishing a high for the year in the firstweek of October.

Stock prices have advanced to a 1935 high duringOctober. Bond prices have been generally firm. Condi-tions continue favorable to refunding operations and cor-porations are taking advantage of the situation to reduceinterest charges. Short-term interest rates have re-mained at nominal levels; excess member bank reserveshave reached another high, this time in excess of $3,000-000,000. The fall expansion in bankloans has been small.

MONTHLY BUSINESS INDEXES

Year and month

1929: September1930: September1931: September1932' September1933: September1934:

SeptemberOctober _NovemberDecember

1935:JanuaryFebruaryMarchApril .MayJuneJulyAugustSeptember

Monthly average, Janu-ary through Septem-ber:

193319341935

Industrial production

Unadjusted 1

1e

3

11S

BC

1i

Adjusted a

1

«3

h

1

3

1

CB

I9

Factory em-ployment

and pay rolls

i>»o

11» « B

®l

|i

rf

Isft, 05

«M 3

fla3

Freight-car loadings

Total

•a-S«n

f1V)J3

•<

Merchan-dise, 1. c. 1.

Iao

1

&

no

f

Departmentstore sales,

value

•ao"33

es£

T3

%

14

Foreigntrade, value,adjusted 3

rMW

42

1a Ban

k

debi

ts

ou

tsid

e N

ewY

ork

Cit

y.

.

(

Co

nst

ruct

ion

con

trac

ts,

all

typ

es,

valu

e, a

dju

sted

J

Monthly average, 1923-25=100

12392776785

73757478

889191898786838689

778188

12390766684

70737376

879191918784838688

778088

127101837494

87878485

919290798897848591

818689

12190766684

71747586

918988868586868788

12189756583

69727485

908886868484868788

11894787187

82818190

949697878998848186

106.387.075.261.878.0

74.076.876.778.9

80.581.982.482.381.279.980.481.781.9

366.4379.2381.2

112.984.163.442.959.1

58.061.059. 563.2

64.269.170.770.868.566.465.369.672.1

45.862.168.5

12199786168

67646056

586162596163606470

576262

10687695460

59575964

6465656161635S6062

11099887270

67666562

616365656564636467

676664

10695856968

64636466

656564636364646465

117103887173

7982S3

135

596171797676566286

596770

11399856869

75737478

747582737680807982

11078453340

48454543

454748464650524950

332346346

11574563248

43394741

514849495251605453

336343»52

138.3107.784.359.661.9

65.373.368.079.6

76.466.880.379.879.480.784.479.376.7

59.568.978.2

11081593030

29313131

272826272730353842

320333332

Who

lesa

le

pric

e in

dex

, 78

4co

mm

odit

ies

Monthlyaverage,1926=100

96.184.471.265.370.8

77.676.576.576.9

78.879.579.480.180.279.879.480.580.7

64.374.479.8

nf amrlrina Ha



Comparison of Principal Data, 1931-35FIRST 9 MONTHS Y///////A REMAINDER OF YEAR

BANK DEBITS OUTSIDE NEW YORK CITY — (BILLIONS OF DOLLARS)

O 5O 100 15O 2OO 25O

CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS AWARDED — (BILLIONS OF DOLLARS)1 2 3 4 5

STEEL INGOT PRODUCTION (MILLIONS OF TONS)

10 2O 3O 4O 50

AUTOMOBILE PRODUCTION — (THOUSANDS OF CARS)

FREIGHT CAR LOADINGS — (MILLIONS OF CARS)

D.D. 8333Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

November 1935 SURVEY OF CUERENT BUSINESS

Commodity PricesWHOLESALE prices of the more-sensitive com-modities have fluctuated rather violently sincethe latter part of September. Moody's index of 15 com-modities, which reached a high for the year at 173.3on September 24, dropped to 170.9 by the end of themonth. It again turned upward in early October toestablish a new peak at 175.3 and has since tendeddownward. These movements were influenced mainlyby developments in the European political situation.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly index ofwholesale prices, based on 784 commodity price series,advanced from 80.5 in August to 80.7 in September—a new high for the year and the highest average for anymonth since November 1930. The weekly index hasvaried little from the middle of August to the thirdweek of October. There was a very small declinefor September in the monthly index of nonfarm andfood products, a substantial decline in fuel andlighting, but marked increases in chemicals, hides, andleather.

Retail prices of department-store articles rose 1percent from September 1 to October 1, the largestmonthly gain since November 1933, according to Fair-child's index. The greatest increases were in home

furnishings and women's apparel, though the advancewas shared by all groups except infant's wear. Retailfood prices were higher in early October than inAugust, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics'index. At 124 percent of the 1913 average, the indexwas 6.6 percent higher than for the corresponding dateof last year. Higher prices of meats, lard, butter, andeggs accounted for a large part of this change.

The cost of living of wage earners rose from 83.0 to83.5 from August to September, according to the Na-tional Industrial Conference Board's index. Itemsother than foods contributing to the September rise inthe cost of living were rents, which were up 0.8 per-cent, and coal, 1.2 percent. Clothing prices also rosefor the first time in a year, but the increase was only0.1 percent.

Average farm prices at mid-September were 107percent of the prewar average as compared with 106percent a month earlier, and they were somewhathigher in mid-October, according to the Bureau ofAgricultural Economics. Average prices received byfarmers have risen and those paid by farmers havefallen in recent months, so thatjprices received, relativeto those paid, arejiow the highest in over 5 years.

INDEXES OF COMMODITY PRICES

Year and month

1929* September1930' September1931: September .1932: September1933: September1934:

SeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember

1935:JanuarvFebruaryMarchAprilMayJune__JulyAugustSeptember

Monthly average, Januarythrough September:

193319341935

Wholesale (Department of Labor)

•>*00r»


Domestic TradeR5TAIL sales data for September reveal a more thanseasonal expansion as compared with August. Allof the available monthly indexes, with the exceptionof that for new passenger automobile sales, worehigher, and the sharp drop in automobile sales is areflection of the new model changes rather than anindication of a reversal of the favorable trend of sales.September retail sales were substantially above thosefor the corresponding month of 1934 on a dollar basis.These dollar sales gains are generally indicative of arise in volume, since retail prices, with the major ex-ception of food prices, have not changed to any appre-ciable extent during the year.

Preliminary sales reports for October indicate? asomewhat more spotty situation than existed in thepreceding month. Fall sales promotions, however,have met with considerable success, and the month'ssales are expected to record a substantial gain overOctober 1934. Passenger automobile sales will prob-ably touch a low for the year this month, but the final2 months of the year may be expected to bring anotherupturn in automobile sales as new models becomeavailable for delivery.

With the marketing of crops, retail trade in ruralareas has shown a decided upward movement. Theseasonally adjusted index of such sales moved upfrom 93 in August to 105 in September, the highestfigure reported since May 1930. September soles werethe highest for this month since 1929.

The increase in general merchandise sales in urbanareas, as reflected by the department-store sales index,was less pronounced; nevertheless, the seasonally ad-justed index rose 3 points to 82 percent of the 1923-25average, equaling the previous high of the yearreached last March. Sales of 18 principal chain-storecompanies were about 5 percent higher than a yearago, but there was considerable disparity between theresults in individual lines.

Recent increases in retail sales have been widely dis-tributed geographically. Chain-store data record in-creases in all areas compared with a year ago, andSeptember department-store sales were higher in allareas except Kansas City and St. Louis. The bestshowing in department-store trade last month wasmade in the eastern districts, which, for the year todate, show a less-than-average increase.

The statistics of commercial failures continue toreflect the improved financial position of business con-cerns. Such fluctuations as have occurred in the indexof insolvencies during the past 2 years have beenrelatively minor.

After adjustment for seasonal variation, the indexof advertising has fluctuated within the range of threepoints since last spring—or between 76.3 and 79.3.During September the expansion in newspaper adver-tising linage was smaller than the normal seasonalincrease, but the index of farm-paper advertising wasat the highest level reached since the summer of 1931.

DOMESTIC TRADE STATISTICS

Year and month

1929: September1930: September1931: September1932: September1933: September1934:

September.OctoberNovemberDecember . .

1935:January _ _ _ _February...MarchAprilMayJune -July -AugustSeptember

Mo nthly average, January throughSeptember:

193319341935

Retail trade

Department stores

Sales

Unad-just-ed i

Ad-just-

ed 2

Stocks «

Un ad-just-ed i

Ad-just-

ed 2


1171.03887173

798283

135

5961

797676

n-2

11399856869

75

1178

747582737080SO79

;:>y(i?70

• ' • • -

i 104958463

671 71i 74

60

i 5761656666

"6! »;o

M7

f l l

1009181

5864646564

6464636464m


EmploymentASUBSTANTIAL increase in employment wasrevealed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in-dexes for September. It is estimated by the Bureauthat approximately 335,000 workers were reemployedin the industries surveyed monthly. These industriesemploy more than half of the gainful workers. TheSeptember increase in employment was mainly season-al in character; the gain in manufacturing industrieswas about equal to the usual seasonal rise and theseindustries plus retail trade in which the gain also wasseasonal, accounted for six-sevenths of the totalincrease for all reporting industries.

Gains in employment in 71 of the 90 manufacturingindustries lifted the unadjusted index for September2.2 percent to 83.5 percent of the 1923-25 average,the highest level recorded since November 1930. Theseasonally adjusted index was up 0.2 of a point to81.9. Pay rolls were up 3.6 percent over this periodwith only 18 of the 90 industries reporting declines.

Nondurable goods industries showed a greaterincrease in employment in September than did thedurable goods industries, the gains being 2.9 percentand 1.0 percent, respectively. Of the 46 durable goodsindustries 38 showed gains, while in the 44 nondurablegoods industries, increases were recorded for 33.

Among the more important industries, more-than-seasonal gains in September were reported for foundryand machine shop products, furniture, knit goods, silkand rayon goods, and men's clothing. Increasedactivity in the construction industry was responsible

for the higher level of employment in the steam and hotwater heating, mill work, sawmill, and plumbers' suppliesindustries. The machine tool industry reported a fur-ther gain in employment in September, with the numberof workers the highest reported since December 1930.

Declines, as well as gains, in employment in Septem-ber were mostly of a seasonal nature. The 12 percentdrop in the automobile industry was occasioned bypreparations for the production of 1936 models.

Of the 17 nonmaDufacturing industries surveyed, 10showed gains in employment from August to Septem-ber, while 13 had larger pay rolls. The largest rela-tive increase in employment was that reported for theanthracite mining industry, which recovered most ofthe loss reported in the preceding month. Employ-ment in wholesale and retail trade establishments in-creased in September, as operators prepared for theusual fall upturn in business. Other important non-manufacturing industries reporting gains were metal-liferous mining and building construction.

October statistics on the number of trade unionmembers employed show no change in comparisonwith September; there was, however, a slight increasein the number working full time. In October, 80 per-cent of the membership was employed part-time orfull-time, compared with 76 percent in August and76 percent a year ago. Employment among tradeunion members is currently at the highest level sincethe middle of 1930.

STATISTICS OF EMPLOYMENT, PAY ROLLS, AND WAGES

Year andmonth

1929: September.1930: September.1931: September.1932: September.1933: September.1934:

September. .OctoberNovember..December..-

1935:JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember-

Monthly aver-age, Januarythrough Sep-tember:

193319341935

Factory employmentand pay rolls

Employment

Unad-justed

Ad-justedi

Payroll

Unad-justed

Monthly average,1923-25 = 100

109.089.677.463.380.0

75.978.476.978.1

78.881.382.582.581.279. 779.681.883.5

66.479.281.2

106.387.075.261.878.0

73.976.876.778.9

80.581.982.482.381.279.980.481.781.9

112.984.163.442.959.1

58.061.059.563.2

64.269.170.770.868.566. 465.369.672.1

45.862.168.5

Nonmanufacturing employment and pay rolls(Department of Labor)

Anthracitemining

Em-ploy-ment

Payrolls

Bituminouscoal mining

Em-ploy-ment

Payrolls

Electric lightand powerand manu-factured gas

Em-ploy-ment

Payrolls

Telephoneand telegraph

Em-ploy-ment

Payrolls

Retail trade

Em-ploy-ment

Payrolls

Monthly average, 1929=100

101.993.880.055.856.8

56.958.560.761.6

62.964.451.452.653.550. 849.438.746.0

49.859.452.9

103.891.664.947.060.7

47.048.351.252.3

57.564.338.949.949. 566.037.528.338.2

44.057 747.8

97.290.580.462.471.8

78.279.379.879.7

80.081.181.674.375. 377. 969^973.477.0

66. 376 4?6.7

98.674.953.630.244.1

51.457.658.357.0

59.666.167.545.049. 164. 7

105.5105.294.781.080.3

85. 885.885.583.6

82.782.282.282.683. 2

I s:* s35! 6 84 745.860.4

34.253! o54.9

85.785.8

106.6106.194.374.771.8

79.380.679.678.3

78.078.379.479.079 8i a. o79.881.581.583.1

7^ 783^483.7

70.9

solo

102. 596.885.077.468.3

70.970.369.969.7

70.570.069.869.770. 070. 270^370.570.4

70. 970 470.3

100.4102.292.175.964.6

72.274.972.273.2

73.972.975.373. 173. 774. 475^775.5

100.694.383.374.280.6

81.782.683.791.1

79.579.280.283.682. 282. 179.077.7

74.2 81.61 1! |

68.47o!s

73. 080 8

74.3 80.6

101.791.578.358.358.7

60.661.961.966.2

59.759.360.462.562.062. 460.459.262.5

Trade-Unionmem-

bers em-ployed

Percentof total

members

9079746871

75767573

747678797977737679

j

52.860. 160.9

687477

Wages

Factory »

Averageweekly

earnings

Averagehourly

earnings

Dollars

28. 8925.1021.9016.4419.41

19.5520.0020.1220.74

21.6122.0921.8621.9321.7621 4621.7522. 3222. 59

17.3320.0721.93

.592

.590

.562

.480

.536

.592

.593

.594

.594

.594

.595

.597

.598

.599

. 599

.598

. 00 1

.001

.472

. 577

.598

Com-monlaborrates »

Centsper

hour

4140343237

41414140

393939404142424242

334141

»Adjusted for seasonal variation ? National Industrial Conference Board. ! Bead building.


SUKVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS November 1935

FinanceCONDITIONS in financial markets have under-gone very little change during October. Despiterather sharp setbacks induced largely by develop-ments in the international situation, stock priceaverages have advanced to a new high for the year.

The favorable nature of the reports issued on profitsfor the third quarter has contributed to the strengthin industrial shares. Profits of 120 industrial corpora-tions, as indicated by the preliminary index of Stand-ard Statistics, for the third quarter were considerablyhigher than in 1934 and possibly exceeded thoserealized in the third quarter of 1933 which benefitedfrom the pre-N. K. A. "boom" and the sharp rise inprices which was not accompanied at that time by acorresponding increase in costs. Earnings of 15public-utility corporations were slightly higher in thethird quarter than in 1934 but otherwise were thelowest reported for the quarter since 1925.

Bond prices have been firm after some slightweakness in early October. While prices and yieldshave not altered to any extent in recent months,current yields on representative bonds are below thoseof a year ago and are also considerably less than in1929. The yield on 60 representative corporate bonds,as computed by Standard Statistics, was, on October9, 4.30 percent, compared with 4.57 a year ago and4.70, the 1929 average. The yield on the 15 municipalbonds included in this compilation was down to 3.18, adrop of about 0.64 of a point in a year. These bondswere priced to yield 5.27 percent subsequent to thefinancial panic of 1933.

A continuing feature of the banking situation hasbeen the heavy inflow of gold. Imports in the weekended October 18 amounted to $123,000,000, and thetotal flow to this country since early September hasbeen several times this figure. Although the bulk ofthe gold came from Europe, the gold reserves of theEuropean central banks, with two exceptions, havenot shown a corresponding decrease.

Bank deposits have continued to expand, but theturnover of deposits has remained low. The netdemand deposit figures, subsequent to the report forAugust 23, have included Government deposits subjectto reserve. These deposits were not included in thefigures of demand deposits previously, inasmuch asthey were not subject to reserve requirements.

Issuance of new securities has continued in con-siderable volume, the proceeds being used mainly forrefunding purposes. A substantial amount of cor-porate cash has been employed in these refundingoperations since many of the new issues raised a smallertotal than was required to retire the old issues, includ-ing premiums and financing charges.

In late September the Treasury announced that itwould redeem $8,424,000,000 of its outstanding gold-clause bonds and notes at par and accrued interest atany time up to January 1, 1936. During October,the Treasury announced that the final conversion ofthe outstanding Liberty Loan bonds had been com-pleted. Subsequent to 1927, when for the first timea Liberty bond became subject to call, about$13,400,000,000 of these bonds were redeemed.

FINANCIAL STATISTICS

Year andmonth


September, _-OctoberNovember....December...

1935:JanuaryFebruaryMarchApril...May. ..JuneJuly.AugustSeptember..

Bankdebits

outsideNewYorkCity

Reporting memberbanks, Wednesdayclosest to end ofmonth *

Loanson

securi-ties

Allotherloans

In-vest-

ments

FederalReservebankcreditout-

stand-e nd ofmonth

Totalbank-er's ac-cept-ancesout-

stand-ing,

end ofmonth

Netgoldim-

portsin-

cludinggoldre-

leasedfromear-

mark )

Moneyin

circu-lation

Savings deposits

NewYorkState

PostalSav-ings

Millions of dollars

27, 27421, 25316, 62711, 76712, 215

12, 88814, 46513. 40915, 701

15, 06613. 18115. 84915, 74615, 65515,91416, 65715 64315, 127

3,9843,766

3, 0473,0513,0173,081

3,0242, 9952,9743,1123 0543,0992,9672 8992,986

5,2684, 767

4,7474,7564,6884,565

4.5374, 6034, 6354,5844 5584,4494,3604 4464,570

7,6048,074

10,01710, 03010, 0-"910, 575

10, 68310,72310, 90010,99310 85910 96011 18011 18811, 524

1,4581,1031,5782,2332,421

2,4642,4552,4532,463

2,4612,4652,4712,4682 4692 4802 4652 4852,477

1,2721,367

996683715

539562561543

516493466413375343321322328

11.06.5

-258. 5100.2-7.4

-16.311.1

120.892,2

150.5123.012 3

146 3138 5231 4

15 847 4

155.7

4,8114,4935,1335,6855,632

5,4275,4735,4945,577

5,4115,4395 4775,5005 5075 5225 5505 5765,651

4,4574,6625,2315,2825,079

5, 1455,1285,1195,154

5,1425,1475 1855,1585 1525 1875 1615 1525,179

160190469859

1,182

1,1931,1991,2041,207

1,2011,2051 2031,2001 2051 2051 1901 1911,192

I

Stockprices(421)

Stand-ard

Statis-tics

1 926 - 100

225 2148.881.758.274.8

67.067.3

• 69.469.2

69.767.863 967 573 i76 079 483 385.0

Bondprices,NewYorkStock

Ex-change

(do-mestic)

Dollars

95.5898.8388.3483.9385.82

90.0591.2391.6892.57

93. 3593.3591 7992. 9592 8193 9494 1293 0792.65

Newcapitalissues

Thous.of dollars

1,300,782374, 963220, 54068, 51564, 197

39. 293121, 90H107,036140, 941

92, 09750,011

10S, 07989, 85086 39558 083

134 127151 537177, 139

Aver-agedivi-dendper

share(600

com-panies)

Dollars

2.952.832.181.241.06

1.231.241.271.27

1.281.291 291.291 291.291.301 331.34

Interestrates,com-

mercialpaper

(4-6months)

Percent

6tf32

2-2H$4-1

^4-1K-lH-lH-lH-l

Ha/

%%

%

i 91 cities. » Net exports indicated by (-).Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis


Foreign TradeEXPORTS increased in September by 15 percent,or about the usual seasonal amount. Importsdeclined 4 percent as compared with the usual decreaseof 1 percent. Exports exceeded imports in value by$36,536,000, compared with an export excess of$59,655,000 in September 1934 and $13,476,000 inSeptember 1933.

Agricultural products exported increased from$42,723,000 in August to $76,423,000 in September,and accounted for most of the increase in the total.This upward movement was of a seasonal character,with large increases reported for cotton, fruits andnuts, and unmanufactured tobacco. There was someimprovement in the exports of grains and grain prepa-rations, particularly barley, and also in feeds and incanned vegetables.

The September exports of unmanufactured cotton,apples, and canned fruit were larger in quantity thanin the corresponding month of 1934. Tobacco exportswere greater in value, but in quantity they were 1percent less than in September 1934.

Nonagricultural exports were valued at $119,114,000in September, a drop of $8,000,000 from the precedingmonth. Exports of machinery and vehicles declinedabout 6 million dollars—from $41,790,000 to $35,915,-000—the drop in value of automobile exports account-ing for about 2l/2 million dollars of the decline. Thevalue of automobiles, including parts and accessories,totaled $13,322,000 in September 1935 and was$673,000 lower than in September 1934. The early

shift to the new models affected foreign shipments aswell as the domestic business.

The September import decline was almost entirelydue to a decrease in imports of Cuban sugar. Practi-cally the entire 1935 quota of Cuban sugar was im-ported during the first 8 months of this year, and, as aconsequence, imports of Cuban sugar in Septemberdropped nearly $20,000,000. There was also somerecession in imports of grains and crude rubber duringSeptember. Total agricultural imports declined from$103,418,000 in August to $84,506,000 in September.Competitive agricultural imports, which include meats,butter, fats, vegetable oils, oilseeds, grain and feeds,totaled approximately $18,000,000 in September, adecline of $5,000,000 from the high level of last May.

Among the agricultural products, nursery-stock im-ports showed the usual marked seasonal increase dur-ing September and raw-silk imports increased con-siderably in quantity and value. The price of raw-silkimports averaged $1.44 per pound in September com-pared with $1.3 5 in August 1935 and $1.13 in September1934. The latter figure represented practically thelowest price reached by silk during recent years.

Nonagricultural imports increased from $77,026,000in August to $84,183,000 in September. Imports ofmetals and manufactures, including copper, tin,platinum, nickel, iron ore and steel manufactures, in-creased about $5,000,000 compared with August; thevalue of $18,141,000 was the highest value reached inany month since October 1930.

EXPORTS AND IMPORTS

Tear and month

1929: September _ _ _1930: September1931- September1932: September1933: September1934:


1935:JanuaryFebruaryMarch _ _AprilMayJuneJulyAugust. . __September

Cumulative, Januarythrough September:

193319341935

Indexes

Valueof

totalex-

ports,ad-

justed i

Valueof

totalim-

ports,ad-

justed i

Monthly aver-age, 1923-25=100

11078453340

48454543

454748464650524950

332346346

11574563248

43394741

514849495251605453

336343352

Ex-ports,in-

clud-ing

reex-ports

Exports of United States merchandise

Total

Crudematerials

TotalRawcot-ton

Food-stuffs,total

Semi-in an-ufac-tures

Finishedmanufactures

TotalMa-

chin-ery

Auto-mo-biles,parts,and

acces-sories

Imports *

TotalCrudema-

terialsFood-stuffs

Semi-man-ufac-tures

Fin-ishedman-ufac-tures

Millions of dollars437.2312.2180.2132.0160.1

191.7206.4194 9170.7

176.2163.0185.0164.4165.5170.2173.4172. 2198.2

1, 105. 01, 561. 61,568.0

431.8307.9177.4129.5157.5

189.2203.6192.3168.5

173.6160.3182 0160.7159. 8167.2168.0169.8195.5

1, 085. 31, 536. 61,536.9

112.394.344.447.463.6

66.482.971.754.5

55.845.040.538.236.940.638 340.968.7

364.4444.1404.9

76.462.823.532.145.3

32.243.439.235.0

32.227.121.821.819.423.419.216.631.8

250.9255.2213.2

70.946.028.420.418.7

20.121.918.515.7

16.316.316.212.915.415.515.315.622.4

131.1171.1145.8

57.737.121.415.921.3

29.728.830.430.3

27.225.530.826.226.428.928.131.029.3

159.9252.3253.5

190.9130.683.245.953.9

73.070.171.768.0

74.373.694.583.481.082.286.282.275.2

429.9669.2732.6

48.733.524.69.1

11.7

18.818.720.619.1

18.218.823.722.822.220.623 323.920.5

87.2160.0193.9

33.416.58.74.98.3

14.012.411.012.4

17.220.525.022.018.620.119. 415.713.3

65.4154.4171.8

351.3226.4170.498.4

146.6

149.8137.9149.4126.2

168.6152.3175. 4166.2166.8155.3174.2180.4168.7

1, 036. 61, 221. 21,507.9

122.175.452.927.348.3

38.635.140.128.8

43.145.250.445.944.443.753.050.249.8

297.8355.8425.8

73.048.235.131.331.2

57.346.847.847.8

65.851.759.356.155.049.456. 563.644.4

309.3374.6501.8

70.641.030.314.633.5

24.226.127.421.0

29.629.035.230.733.631.732.131.338.4

203.8232.9291.7

85.661.852.025.333.6

29.629.934.128.6

30.126.330.533.433.930.432.535.436.0

225.8257.7288.6

1 Adjusted for seasonal variations.25765—35 2

2 General imports through December 1933; imports for consumption in 1934 and 1935. 3 Monthly average of unadjusted indexes.Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

10 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS November 1935

Real Estate and ConstructionTHE expansion in the daily average volume ofconstruction contracts awarded during Septemberwas accompanied by an increase in actual building-operations. Total construction contracts awarded forthe month were slightly lower than in August, butwhen allowance is made for the fewer number ofworking days in September there was an increase of12 percent, a gain which was contrary to the usualseasonal movement at this period.

While publicly financed work was an importantfactor in the showing of contracts awarded in Septem-ber, the most significant feature of the figures was thecontinued gain in privately financed residential build-ing. The dollar volume of residential contracts inSeptember was 3 percent higher than in August, and,on a daily average basis, the increase was considerablylarger. There is usually very little change in resi-dential construction placed under contract at thisperiod. September residential contracts were morethan twice as large as in September 1934.

Total awards for all classes of construction for the9 months were slightly lower than for the corresponding-period of 1934, owing to the decline in contractsawarded for large engineering works financed bypublic funds. In view of the large gain in Octoberover the corresponding period a year ago, the total forthe 10 months will be larger than in 1934.

The major gains in residential construction duringthe current year have been in the erection of 1- and 2-

family dwellings. The increase in the construction ofapartments and hotels has been very small, and theactual volume of such construction for the first 3quarters of the year amounted to only about $66,000,-000. Contracts for single dwellings to be occupied byowners amounted to $148,000,000, as compared with$181,000,000 a year ago. Single-family dwellings forsale or rent increased from 25 million in 1934 to 50million dollars this year. Total residential contractswere valued at 339 million dollars against 188 millionin the first 3 quarters of 1934.

The volume of additions, alterations, and repairsundertaken during September was less than in August,according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' permitstatistics from 770 cities. In comparison with a yearago, however, there was an increase of 18 percent inthe number of permits issued and of 39 percent in theestimated cost of such work.

Conditions in the real-estate field continue to showgradual improvement, with vacancies decreasing,rents increasing, and market activity tending upward.The H. O. L. C. is gradually acting upon the loanrequests filed last summer, when applications werereceived for allocation of the additional funds securedby the corporation. According to present estimates,the last of the 185,000 applications now awaiting actionwill be disposed of early next year. It is expected thatwhen loan operations cease, the loans of the corporationwill have reached a total of 3 billion dollars.

BUILDING MATERIALS, CONSTRUCTION, AND REAL ESTATE

Year and month

1029- September1930: September _.1931* September1932' September1933: September1934:

September _ _ _October.--.NovemberDecember

L935:JanuaryFebruaryMarch _AprilMayJuneJulyAugust..S »ptember


193319341935

Construction contracts awarded

F. R. B.index,ad-

justed i

Monthlyaverage,1923-25=

100

11081593030

29313131

272826272730353841

203332

j

All types ofconstruction

Num-ber ofproj-ects

14, 26211,4959, 1057, 1527,594

7, 66310,0127,5035,770

6,4586,1358,929

10, 57010, 49910,45010.Q3010,6559,978

7,0927,6949,400

Mil-lions ofdollars

444332251128120

11013511293

10075

123124127148159169167

82134132

Residentialbuilding

Mil-lions ofsquare

feet

25.619.713.06.66.3

4.87.05.34.0

5.54.68.8

11.913.113. 713. 111.812.2

6.05.3

10.5

Mil-lions ofdollars

117.498. 554.622.821.5

17.926.319.914.6

22.416.632.242.244.949.848 440.541.8

20.020.937.7

Pub-lic

utili-ties

Pub-lic

works

Building-materialshipments

Maplefloor-ing

Oakfloor-ing

iTvyr-n- t Thousands of

dotes feet> boarddollars measure

57.529. 316.14.53.4

6.512.68.5

12.9

8.73.96.57.35.49. 1

13.84.4

12.5

6.110.28.0

83.580.470.464.257.3

43.552.643.837.2 i

35.723.939.833.226.030.040. 165. 163.7

23.454.639.7

6, 1603, 3313, 1442, 4022 622

3,3863,4083, 0052, 668

3, 3022,8122, 9294,1484,4104,6025. 1 1 45, 037

" 2, 621» 4, 133'4,055

35, 23319, 89819, 48011.7399, 563

9,00310, 0959,5336, 964

8,6769, 015

14, 60614, 438IS, 30617, 732IS, 37417, 86417, 402

10, 6518,886

15, 157

Ce-merit

Thou-sands ofbarrels

19, 95018, 08313 0739, 7296,517

7,3888, 4395,6743, 104

2, 8462,9524,8786, 1987,4287, 631'

8,' 1057,799

5. 4596, 5226,183

Highwaysunder

construc-tion

(National!Indus-

trial !1 Recovery| Act)

Con-struc-tion

costs,Eng.

News-Rec-ord a

1 Month-Thou- 1 ly av-

sands of ! erage,dollars i 1913=

! 100

i ^34, 962~"

203,027179, 453

! 156, 599147, 807

145. 639! 155, 448

170,756187, 675191,522185, 044170. «46 |149,047 1126,211

244, 07116-1, 688

207. 6199. 6171.4158. 01 75. 5

200. 6200. 9201.4201.9

198.7196.0194.3194. 5194.1194.8105.2195. 1195.1

163.6197.0195.3

Long-termreal-

estatebondsissued

HomeLoanBank,loansout-

stand-ing

Thousands ofdollars

5, 33813, 89066, 785

7000

0000

o00

568325

000y

1004499

~ 66," 329

86, 64787, 44687,71487, 258

82, 58577, 14272, 61674,01175, 83679, 23480. 87786, 02590,432

36, 96888, 84079,862

Real-estatefore-clo-

sures

Num-ber

15, 83516, ot;fi15, 97216, 72316, 94017, 736

18.05515,45517,94317,44117,44117.24915. S3 514, 96414,470

17,08315, 77716,539

1 Based on 3-month moving average and adjusted for seasonal variations. 2 Index is as of 1st of month, October 1, 1935, 195.1. " 8-month average.Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

November 1935 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS 11

TransportationDURING the 4 weeks of October, daily averagefreight-car loadings were about 5 percent abovethe September level. As the seasonal variation in thefreight movement for this period is small, a rise ofseveral points in the seasonally adjusted index of load-ings is anticipated for October, following the rise of2 points in September to 62 percent of the 1923-25average.

Loadings of miscellaneous freight have recorded again of about 7 percent during October on a daily aver-age basis. The movement of this class of traffic is ofparticular significance, since it includes the car-lotmovement of the products of industry as distinguishedfrom farm products and heavy raw materials such ascoal and ore. Coal loadings have increased by morethan the usual seasonal amount, although the compari-son is affected by the curtailment of production andshipments during the strike which occurred in the latterpart of September.

Freight-car loadings for the first 43 weeks of the yearwere one-half of 1 percent higher than in 1934. Abetter showing is anticipated for the full year, sincefourth-quarter traffic is expected to be substantiallyhigher than a year ago.

The improvement in traffic volume resulted in a sharpgain in net railway operating income in September.Reports so far available suggest that the carriers oper-ated at a profit, after taxes and charges, for the first

time this year. In August the loss aggregated about2% million dollars, and in September 1934 the loss wasjust over 2 million dollars. October results are expectedto record further improvement in the financial operat-ing statement.

During the past month, the Interstate CommerceCommission announced the organization of the NewBureau of Motor Carriers to carry out the dutiesrecently imposed on the Commission by Congress.This Bureau will undertake to regulate the activities ofmotor carriers engaged in interstate commerce. Thetask confronting the new Bureau is a formidable one,according to Commissioner Eastman, who points outthat, although the total number of such carriers is notknown, there may be as many as 250,000. The task ofregulation may possibly be gaged in terms of numberrather than in tonnage carried.

The upturn in traffic volume resulted in an. increasein the number of employees in the transportation divi-sion during September. According to data compiledby the Interstate Commerce Commission, the trans-portation group employed 2.3 percent more workers,but there was a decline of 3.5 percent in the numberemployed in the maintenance of ways and structures.The composite index of employment composed of these2 groups of workers and 5 others advanced 0,2 of a pointto 55.4 percent of the 1923-25 average, on a seasonallyadjusted basis. A year ago, the index stood at 56.2.

RAIL AND WATER TRAFFIC

Year andmonth


September. .OctoberNovember. .December...

1935:JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJune..JulyAugustSeptember-

Monthly aver-age, Januarythrough Sep-tember:

193319341935 .

Freight-car loadings

F. B. IS. index

Unad-justed i

Ad-justed?

Monthly aver-age, 1923-25=

100

12199786168

67646056

586162596163606470

576262

10687695460

59575964

646565616163586063

Total Coal CokeFor-est

prod-ucts

Grainand

prod-ucts

Live-stock

Mer-chan-

disei. c. 1.

OreMis-

cella-neous

Freight-car sur-

plus

Thousands of cars 4

1, 135. 6960.1731. 5576. 5641.8

625.5632.9588.3518.4

542.6581.4602.9575.8581.8607.0557.2620.4657.9

554. 2599.0593.3

187.9158.7126.5109.7122.7

116. 1121.0123.6122.9

137.6143.4136.694.798.4

124.279.698.3

111.4

105.1116 21U.3

11.98.34.93.76.9

5.25.65.46.0

7.88.66.75.75.86.04.75.36.5

5.46.76.3

63.041.525.517.824.9

22.122.421.218.3

18.725. 125.225.425.026.326.430.330.9

20.922 626.0

49.945.437.136.831.0

33.830.627. 825.1

24.025.626.926.925.625.430.042.240.6

33.032 929.8

30.928.325.421.320.7

33.428.522.516.3

11.512.411.612 912 910. 29.9

12.917.4

16.320 212.6

262.2244.4210.3171.2168.0

158. 5163. 2160. 1144.2

68.647.328.46.1

38.3

23.717. 16. 53. 1

144. 1 | 2. 71 52. 2160.8161. 1159. 8153. 5150. 2159. 6160.3

162.6159.8155.9

3.23.78.6

25.631. 832.834.133.8

14.817 519^9

461.1386.2273. 5209.9229.3

232.6244.5221.3182. 5

193.2210.9231.4240.2228. 6229. 6223.6237. 8257.1

196. 1223. 0228.4

119394564599380

318328381392

342320300310305272296245229

536361391

Pull-manpas-sen-gerscar-ried

Thou-sands

3,0312,5171,9691,3391,392

1,3541, 2651, 1311,371

1, 3981,2041,2191, 1931, 1461.3091,2861,4251,364

1,1191, 2601,283

Financial sta-tistics, class 1

railroads

Operat-ing rev-enues

Net rail-way oper;iHrmincome

Thousands ofdollars

560, 701462, 209346, 340269, 533292, 159

275, 511292,903256, 967257, 506

264, 213254 940280, 899274, 652279, 549281.336275, 349294, 018306, 960

255, 350243, 181279, 102

132, 291102, 85254, 49548, 94760, 609

41, 02048, 62531,58338, 738

21, 34925, 72037. 85134, 62639, 50534 02526, 85142, 07457, 359

37, 94638 2103»U84

Canal traffic

SaultSte.

Marie

NewYorkState

Thousands ofshort tons

13, 35610, 3477, 1263, 8078, 453

6, 1455, 0062,627

299

000

8885, 9857. 0587, 5037,7317,148

h 4, 994*5, 71 9^,052

389458587478517

465726559

0

000

329554482519576574

h 470h 476*506

Pan-ama3

PhQQS.of long

tons

1, 1941, 040

884638961

1, 0451, 0291, 015

885

825708961811938862715848

o 745a 946»834

1 Daily average basis.4 Average weekly basis.

3 Adjusted for seasonal variations.o 8 months' average.

8 American vessels, both directions.* Average, April-SeptemberDigitized for FRASER

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis


Automobiles and RubberA?TER reaching a low for the year in September,automobile production has again turned upwardduring October with the inauguration of assemblies on1936 models. United States production during Sep-tember approximated 90,000 units, of which 33,000were commercial cars. With all major producers againin production, output in October is expected to exceed200,000, compared with 132,000 vehicles in October1934.

Since the seasonal movement of passenger-car pro-duction has been radically altered this year by theearly introduction of new models, an erratic movementof the adjusted index of production has been produced,although some allowance was made for this factorin the September index.

Most of the changes revealed in the new models havebeen minor in character so that it is not anticipatedthat a repetition of the delays experienced in reachingvolume production by some of the leading manufac-turers in the past 2 years will recur this year.Trade estimates forecast the assembly of approximatelythree-quarters of a million units in the final quarterof 1935, which is approximately double the outputin the corresponding period of 1934. The accelerationof activity in the automobile industry is expected tofurnish additional impetus to the industries supplyingparts and materials, and it is expected to exercise afavorable influence also on the combined industrialoutput during the final quarter.

If the above-mentioned estimate of the productionin the final quarter is realized, it will mean a totalUnited States production for the year of approximately3,700,000 cars and trucks, the highest total producedsince 1929.

Tentative production and sales budgets for the nextyear have been placed above the 1934 level, but suchestimates are subject to frequent reappraisals as theseason develops. Sales during September and Octoberhave followed a downward tendency as stocks of oldmodels have been cleared and preparations made forintroducing the 1936 lines. Very few of these newmodels have been placed in the hands of buyers as yet,since most companies have not adequately stockedtheir dealer organizations.

Dollar sales during the coming year apparently willnot be influenced by price changes since prices of the1936 models which have been announced to date showvery little variation in comparison with those for 1935.

Activity in the rubber industry as indicated by theconsumption of crude and the employment and pay-roll data, was somewhat higher in September than inAugust or September a year ago. Unsettlement in theretail tire price structure has continued during recentweeks. Tire sales, however, have improved, with theresult that stocks of manufacturers have been reduced.Beginning with August, the percentage of the industryreporting tire production monthly was reduced. Seepage 55 for the estimated coverage.

AUTOMOBILE AND RUBBER STATISTICS

Year andmonth

1929: September...1930: September..1931: September...1932: September...1933: September...1934:


1935:JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJune _ _JulyAugustSeptember. ..

Monthly average,January throughSeptember:

193319341935

Automobile production

United States

F.B.B.index,ad-

justed^

Month-ly av.,1923-

25=100

12262402455

51414088

10410310611086

100956452

558098

TotalPas-sen-ger

cars 3

Thousands

41622114184

192

17013283

154

293336430478365361337240

90

183265325

36417610965

157

1258449

111

22927636240230829727618257

153215265

Trucks

Canada

Total

Automobileexports

Passen-ger Trucks

Registrations

Newpassen-ger cars

Newcom-

mercialcars

Number

51, 57644, 22331,33819, 40234, 424

44, 96747, 98834, 46242, 563

63, 58460, 07768, 01876, 11857, 20564,71260, 96057, 66232, 520

29, 84950, 02060,095

13,8177,9572,6462,3425,808

5,5793,7801,6972,694

10, 60718, 11421,97524, 12120, 76515, 74513, 0697,6925,323

6,29912, 07615,268

20, 9348,1304,5773,0536,330

10, 2368,0409,2088,279

11, 03515, 06720, 98618, 34113.60416, 51714, 75210, 0765,622

5,77913, 30214,000

12, 9855,2854,1712,6014,614

7,5307,5127,0727,141

6,5916,7608,8208,0926,2919,753

10, 2749,9977,081

3,1467,8948,184

304, 359175, 286124, 90381, 893

157, 834

146, 931140. 880107, 64875, 514

136, 635170, 615261, 477319, 652293, 201280, 360285, 184233, 851157,098

133, 883157,529237,564

46, 53233,91125, 96715, 18031, 269

37, 22540, 87828, 68924, 125

34, 75934, 79741,51146, 78547, 96848, 24351, 24350, 35543,234

20, 39434, 47444,322

New passenger-car sales

Unad-justed

Ad-justed i

Monthly average,1929-31=100

133.878.747.230.551.2

51.947.339.227.7

51.572.7

100.2116.798.4

104.989.180.249.9

47.364.084.8

141.582.049.031.052.0

53.059.063.049.0

75.086.594.578.570.078.581.071.550.9

Pneumatictires »

Pro-duc-tion

Do-mesticship-ments

Thousands

3,5682,6922,5382,0313,199

2,8483,1883,2413,665

4,4884,2514,2154,3764, 0503,7933,4263,234

" 3, 175a 4, 109"3,979

4,3303,3603,0342,4102,714

2,9932,8343,0262,921

3,4693,1124,0004,9083,8504,0615.2123,783

o 3, 165o 4, 047"4,049

Crude rubber

Do-mestic

con-sump-tion,total

Im-ports

Worldstocks,end ofmonth

Long tons

31, 23623, 26521, 74720, 69231, 047

27, 31728, 52631, 35832, 996

42, 86438, 86838, 99740,91337, 82733, 32733. 10936. 00034,000

30, 50235, 53337,323

34, 81435, 78338, 93329, 28046, 255

32, 01029, 24037, 21218, 171

40, 52347, 84446, 64041, 45630, 70532, 18248, 13141,48335,707

32, 25541, 97440, 519

307, 152467, 273561, 838599, 986623, 683

694, 361680, 616684, 408705, 975

698, 153686, 195678, 809677, 006677, 569671.525679, 0616*0, 644664, 159

625, 288673, 082679,236

' -Adjusted for seasonal variations. « See note on p. 55. «Taxieabs included with passenger cars. See footnote on p. 59. ' 8 months' average.



Forest ProductsTHE upward trend of lumber production has con-tinued during October. New orders and ship-ments were somewhat lower than in September, andwere also below production. The resulting increasein stocks has not been large. Production ot lumberduring the first 6 months of the year was considerablybelow market requirements, but in the third quarteroutput increased about in proportion to the gain inconsumption. The continued upward trend in resi-dential building, and to a lesser extent the gain in con-sumption by the furniture and other consuming indus-tries, has contributed to the improving outlook forthis industry.

Lumber production so far this year has been higherthan in 1934. Since 1932, when lumber productiondropped to about one-fourth of the 1929 rate, outputhas approximately doubled. This relative increasehas been greater than that for industrial activity as awhole, a condition which is true of the durable-goodsindustries generally since the output of such materialsis subject to wide changes during business cycles.

Accompanying the rise in sawmill activity this yearhas been the improvement in millwork output. Pro-duction of finished lumber products was higher in Sep-tember than in August and was considerably in excessof a year ago. The increase in the output of maple andoak flooring, for example, amounted to 23 and 127percent, respectively, in comparison with September1934. Activity in furniture factories was higher in

September than in the preceding month and also con-siderably higher than a year ago. Pay-roll disburse-ments for a representative group of furniture factoriesin September was 35 percent above the amount re-ported last year.

Of particular importance to the southern lumber in-dustry was the approval by railway executives offreight-rate reductions ranging from 1 to 12 cents perhundred pounds on southern pine and other species oflumber shipped from producing points in the South andSouthwest. The tariffs containing these reductionshave been submitted to the Interstate Commerce Com-mission for approval.

Activity in the paper-manufacturing industry, whichimproved during September, has continued at thehigher level in October. Production in Septemberwas about one-fourth above September 1934, with cur-rent operations at approximately 75 percent of capac-ity. Board mills are operating at the same ratio tocapacity as the paper mills, but this rate is somewhathigher than in September.

New business in both coarse- and fine-grade paper hasimproved during recent weeks, with prices firm. Thenewsprint market has not been active. Contracts fornext year's requirements have been held up in antici-pation of higher prices. Recent developments, how-ever, indicate that this situation is clearing with somecompanies posting a price $1 a ton above the 1935figure.

FOREST PRODUCTS STATISTICS

Tear and month

1929: September1930: September1931: September1932" September1933: September1934:

September _, _ __ _ _OctoberNovemberDecember

1935:JanuaryFebruary.March . _AprilMay. ... _ - .JuneJulyAugustSeptember _


193319341935

Lumber production

Total Doug-las firSouth-

ernpine

Cali-forniared-

wood

Millions of feet, board measure

1,2011,2261,036

896

1,0391,0721,1441,2681,2391,2421,750

31620015596

137

141129123103

1111441451586966

105

o 139"121

20711780

114

981029679

100102103107107110131137125

105109113

3528151118

25282621

202323252626283434

122427

Carload-ings i

Ad-justed 3

Employment

Furni-ture,ad-

Justed 3

Tur-pen-tineand

rosin,unad-justed

Pay rolls

Unadjusted

Furni-ture

Tur-pen-tineandrosin


8655352433

30303032

313533333335394042

283136

116.182.872.353.774.8

63.061.260.762.9

66.467.670.371.170.569.672.473.373.9

58.262.269.1

85.567.897.6

96.289.392.492.9

95.696.399.799.299.098.998.999.1

100.5

76.799.198.6

124.378.660. 133.952.8

44.647.244.545.9

43.547.149.749.247.148.548.456.060.2

32.940.650.0

43.630.443.3

52.245.147.950.2

52.754.252.357.957.359.957.559.359.3

32.650.956.7

Paper production >

TotalBookpaper,un-

coated

News-print

Paperboard

Wrap-pingpaper

News-print

Con-sump-tionby

pub-lisher*

Short tons

637. 033762, 609658. 166618, 522

763. 271707, 084755, 159732, 733778,279714, 308695, 016

73, 24387, 39479, 93674, 427

88, 87886, 98996,41196, 85293, 35882, 09886, 12188, 20187,911

108, 57995, 31891, 16870, 35272, 785

74, 12080. 56274, 85179, 777

80, 57670. 81273, 52874,89184, 36177,31973, 10873, 34471,416

77, 31880, 22375,484

252, 452

233, 426263. 679227, 733199, 940

262, 026251. 870275, 770260.851262, 463256, 665260, 207291, 127289, 596

255, 672231, 349267, 842

111.076151.019126. 441120, 246

147, 698135. 078139, 857132. 986l t > 9-U132. 181121, 304

193, 045163, 895152, 422127, 425134, 306

151,900168, 372172. 287165, 496

157, 870169, 816171, 139166, 1222 ) 1 , 9 - 0161 8*4153,811148, 142160, 558

131,718156, 356165, 701

i Of forest products. ? See note on p. 54, 3 Adjusted for seasonal variations.



Iron and SteelPRODUCTION of steel ingots during October hasbeen at a higher level than in September. Fluc-tuations in the weekly rate of output have been small,with the indicated rate of output for the monthapproximately 53 percent of capacity, compared with51.13 percent in September. Daily average produc-tion is expected to exceed slightly the previous h^gh ofthe year which was reached last February. By mid-October the cumulative total production of ingotsexceeded the output for the entire year 1934. Com-pared with the same period of 1934, output for thethe 10 months is estimated to be 23 percent higher.

Releases from the automobile industry have in-creased as the assembly of new models has progressed.Consumption by manufacturers of farm implementsand industrial machinery has been well sustained,and other so-called "miscellaneous" purchasers of steelhave contributed a substantial volume of tonnage inthe aggregate. The construction industry has requiredincreased quantities of reinforcing bars, but the volumeof fabricated structural steel shipments is less than ayear ago. A very small tonnage is being taken bythe railroads.

Shipments of finished steel products have followedthe upward trend of ingot production. Septemberdaily average deliveries of the leading steel corporationamounted to 24,597 tons, a figure which was exceededduring 1935 only by the March total of 25,292 tons.In August, shipments averaged 23,130 tons daily.Since the beginning of the current month, evidences

point to little change in the average daily rate ofshipments, as customers are taking deliveries andalso placing orders at a steady pace.

Production of pig iron has followed the trend ofingot production, with daily average output in Septem-ber 4 percent higher than in August. This representedthe highest level of production since June 1934. Somefurther improvement is indicated in October by thesustained demand for pig as well as the increasednumber of furnaces in blast. As of October 1, 104furnaces were producing at the rate of 59,250 tonsper day against 99 furnaces on September 1 whichwere making iron at the rate of 56,815 tons a day.Total output of pig iron during the first three quartersof 1935 was 14 percent above the output in the corre-sponding period of 1934.

New orders, shipments, and production of steelsheets by independent manufacturers declined moder-ately in September, but each of these series showedsubstantial gains over corresponding periods of otherrecent years. Shipments for the month were close tothe total for September 1930. The index of machinetool orders for September dropped to 80 from 126 inAugust, but shipments did not show a correspondingdecrease.

Prices of finished steel products have changed veryslightly during the current year. Scrap prices, whichmoved upward until the end of September, have sincereacted moderately. Pig iron was advanced $1 a tonin the latter part of October.

IRON AND STEEL STATISTICS

Year and month

1929: September1930: September1931: September1932: September1933: September1934:


1935:January ._February _ -MarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugust. _ __ _ _September


193319341935 _ —

General operations

Produc-tion,ad-

justed »

Em-ploy-ment,

ad-justed i

Payrolls,

unad-justed

Monthly average,1923-25= 100

13683452865

38414965

808072676666698184

536276

104.782.765.249.470.9

65.465.666.467.7

69.470.670.871. 171.571.772.473.474.1

55.469.871.7

111.376.345.524.847.5

41.142.844.247.6

51.959.059.359.458.555. 852.859.662.9

33.350.357.7

Iron andsteel

Ex-ports

Im-ports

Pig iron

Pro-duc-tion

Thousands of longtons

2211317036

109

301220299283

263229323205287290297247244

93226265

6140312956

24203520

232921294833323153

342733

3,4982,2771, 169

5931,522

898951957

1,028

1,4771.6091,7701.6631,7271,5531,5201, 7611,776

1,0651,4421,651

Fur-naces

iriblast

Num-ber

205123734789

62655969

9096989797919599

104

698796

Steel ingots

Pro-duc-tion

Thou-sands

of longtons

* 4, 5282,8401,545

9922,283

1,2691 48'1,6111,964

2.8722,7782. 8682 6412, 6362 2 ^ 12^2702.9192,830

1.9102,2822,672

Per-cent

ofcapac-

ity

9255281840

23252836

485250464440394951

344047

Steel sheets J

Newor-ders

Ship-ments

Thousands ofshort tons

27521412179

145

77103133193

322183193164-150129206207196

136156195

30118712375

164

739.r-

109142

206201233202187Ifil152181177

124160189

UnitedStatesSteel

Corpo-ration,

finishedprod-ucts,ship-ments

Longtons

867, 282486, 928316.019575, 161

370, 306313,962366, 1 19418, 630

534. 055583, 1376r.8. 056591.728598, 915")7S, 108547, 794624, 497614,933

461, 895533,018593, 469

Prices

Ironandsteel,com-

posite s

Steelbillets,Besse-mer

(Pitts-burgh)

Steelscrap(Chi-cago)

Dollars per long ton

36.2032.7630.6128.9330.36

32. 1532. 1032. 1532.39

32.5832. 5432.3632.2932.3532. 4232.4432.6832. 82

28.7632.1332.50

35.0031.0029.0026.0026.00

27.0027.0027.0027.00

27.0027. 0027. 0027.0027.0027. 0027.0027.0027.00

26.0027.1327.00

15.1312.508.206.259.84

8.508. 759.25

10.31

11.8011.25LO 509.85

10.069.97

10, 3512.3812.50

7.7610.3710.96

Fin-ishedsteel,com-posite

Dollarsper 100pounds

2.542.242.202.162.20

2 442.442.442.44

2.442.442.442.442.442.442.442.432.43

2.122.412.44

• Adjusted for seasonal variations. * Black, blue, galvanized, and full finished ? See table on p. 19 of the January 1935 issue,Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis


Textile IndustriesCONDITIONS in the textile industries during Sep-tember and the first half of October have beenrelatively favorable, with operations in the woolen andrayon industries continuing at a high rate, and activityat cotton and silk mills expanding considerably.Prices of most fabrics and fibers have advanced, witha particularly wide gain in the price of raw silk. Salesof finished goods have improved.

Advancing 2 points to 106 percent of the 1923-25average, the Federal Reserve Board's seasonally ad-justed index of textile production in September wasat the highest level since the summer of 1933 whenoperations were temporarily accelerated in the pre-code rush of activity. Excepting that period, textileindustries as a whole are operating at the highest levelsince late in 1929, according to this index. The indexdoes not include data on the rayon industry and, ifproper consideration is given to the rapid strides madeby this industry in recent years, it is probable thatthe relative position of the textile industries as a groupis even more favorable than is indicated by the indexas it now stands.

As has been true for several years, activity in thecotton industry continues at a lower level relative tothe 1923-25 average than in any of the other threemajor branches of the industry. There was, however,a sharp increase in cotton-mill activity in September

which lifted the seasonally adjusted index of cottonconsumption 10 points to 95 percent of the 1923-25average. This was within 3 points of the high for theyear recorded in January. Weekly estimates indicatethat October consumption will show a gain over Sep-tember of about the usual seasonal amount.

The manufacture of woolen goods in September wasat a lower rate than in August. Daily average con-sumption of wool declined about 10 percent fromAugust to September, but remained above any likemonth since the figures first became available in 1921.Machinery activity was also lower in September. Allclassifications showed declines from the high Augustlevel, the largest being the 9-percent decrease for widelooms and the smallest a 3-percent decline for worstedspinning spindles.

The principal feature in the silk industry continuesto be the almost uninterrupted rise in raw silk pricesto the highest point reached since the short-lived boomof mid-1933. Silk deliveries to American mills duringAugust and September increased considerably, al-though this situation is apparent only after the ab-normal movement to Canadian mills during July andAugust is eliminated from the totals. After this ad-justment, deliveries from July to August and fromAugust to September increased 12 and 24 percent,respectively, on a daily average basis.

TEXTILE STATISTICS

Year and month

1929: September1930: September _1931: September— ..1932: September1933: September1934:

September. > .OctoberNovember ._December

1935:January.FebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAucustSeptember

M o n t n l y average ,Januarv throughSeptember:

193319341935..

Pro-duc-

tion in-dex, ad-justed !

Month-ly av-erage,

1923-25 =100

11888

10010499

63898797

1031009898

102100105104106

10283

102

Cotton,raw

Millcon-

sump-tion

Run-Dingbales

545, 834393, 390464, 335492, 742499, 482

294, 696523, 032480, 081417, 344

550, 553480, 339482, 373468, 402470,412383, 982390, 712408,410449, 120

542, 042444,298453,812

Cotton manufactures

Spin-dle ac-thiiy,total

Mil-lions ofspindlehours

7,8735, 6626,5396,8757,053

3,7167, 2006,7106, 014

7,5426,5676, 6236. 0556, 0875, 1025, 1555, 5456,184

7, 4946,1966, 086

Cotton cloth,finishing

Plainbleacii-

edPrintgoods

Thousands ofyards

111,5811 34, 386126, 726128, 898

145, 390137, 335148,710144.429130, 28190. 49689, 16494, 52193,013

126,562119,260

90, 772126, 384114,139107, 379

120, 203117,780122, 548104, 597100, 26570, 38161,84277,91386,748

100,94795,831

Whole-sale

price,cottongoods

Month-ly av-erase,1926=

100

98.478.661.557. 991. 3

87.886.684 484.3

84.183.382.481.882.782.582.082.583.3

65. 587.182.7

Wool

Con-sump-tion 2

Thou-sands

ofpounds

49, 75538, 08347, 54846, 05550, 467

23, 46734, 06544, 85857, 065

58, 37051, 61665, 00662, 06670, 61780, 42866, 64874, 78180, 283

43, 50629, 99667,758 !

Wool manufactures

Spinningspindles

Wool-en

Wor-sted

Looms

Nar-row Wide

IPercent of active hours

to total reported

7755637082

43636671

85928176838994

10397

766789

7060707469

20354865

747161637172676767

663668

6341443648

17342926

283129272825243133

423128

6446636573

27454863

818882737677788578

69 !5480

Whole-sale

price,woolen

andworstedgoods

Month-ly av-erage,1926=

100

86.775.965.756.782.7

78.074.874.174.0

73.873.673.173.173.575.676.476.476.9

64. I81.674.7

Silk

Deliv-eries tomills

Bales of133

pounds

53, 27455,64953, 81959, 69431, 185

32, 59949, 10637, 54840, 941

47, 44341, 73244, 34739, 75738, 36133, 72844, 16641,71545, 156

42, 12537, 123

! 41,823

Spin-ningspin-dles 3

Percentof

activehours

to total

28.043.244.446.8

55.052.245.840.5

Whole-sale

price,raw,

Japan-ese, 13-15 (NewYork)

Dollarsper

pound

5.1222.4132.3151.8051.889

1.1251.1851.2921.358

1.3481.4321.3271.3911.4181. 3761.4471. 7051.868

1.0441.2901.479

Rayon

Deliveriesfrom mills

Un-ad-

just-ed

Ad-just-ed i

Dailyaverage,

1923-25=100

337304335478433

308382386488

553441295274417381433550583

392331436

286249262355313

221357429574

565387279264439477570513419

402333435

i Adjusted for seasonal variations. * Grease equivalent; see note on p. 58. * Twisting spindles.



The National Income Produced, 1929-34By Robert R. Nathan, Chief, Income Section, Division of Economic Research

ESTIMATES of the national income paid out forthe years 1929 to 1934, inclusive, were presentedin the August 1935 issue of the Survey of CurrentBusiness. Since the publication of these estimates onincome paid out, requisite basic data have becomeavailable making possible the completion of estimates

5ILLIONS OF DOLLARS901 ~

v INCOME PAID OUT

Chart I.—Trend of national income paid out and produced

of the national income produced as well as permittingnecessary revisions in the income paid out figures.1

In analyzing changes in the nature and extent ofeconomic activities through the medium of the nationalincome estimates, it is important to give considerationto income produced as well as to income paid out andalso to the residual item of business savings and losses.Definition of Terms

The national income produced represents the aggre-gate value of all commodities produced and servicesrendered, less the value of raw materials depleted andcapital equipment worn out in the processes of produc-tion. More briefly it may be defined as the net prod-uct of the national economy. Income paid out may bedefined as the compensation paid to or received byindividuals for their productive services, whether labor,management, or the furnishing of capital. If pay-ments by all business enterprises to all individuals fortheir services (national income paid out) are less thanthe aggregate net product of the nation (national in-come produced), then the business enterprises of thecountry have retained a portion of the net product.This portion is termed business savings. If, however,the national income produced is less than the nationalincome paid out, then the business enterprises of thenation have maintained the income payments by

i The figures presented in this article represent the latest estimates of the Depart-ment of Commerce and are those which will be presented in the complete volume onnational income to be published in the near future. The revisions in the estimatesof income paid out made since preliminary data were published in the Augustissue, were due to the receipt of data on all corporate operations in 1933 and newdata received on rental income and on the motor-trucking industry. In compilingthe estimates in the August issue, it was necessary to use sample corporate data forboth 1933 and 1934; current estimates use sample data only for 1934.

drafts upon business resources. These drafts aretermed business losses. Income paid out and businesssavings or losses are estimated directly, whereas incomeproduced is arrived at by adding business savings to ordeducting business losses from income paid out.2

As defined in this study, business savings or businesslosses represent the difference between the total na-tional income produced and the total national incomepaid out and should not be confused with the ordinaryconception of business profits or deficits, with changesin the surplus accounts of business establishments, norwith variations in the national wealth. Businessprofits are usually considered as the amount availablefor dividends and entrepreneurial withdrawals whereasbusiness savings or losses are herein regarded as theresidual after the payment of dividends and the with-drawals of entrepreneurs. Insofar as surplus is con-cerned, there are many factors other than the volumeof business savings or losses which effect changes in thesurplus accounts of business enterprises. The revalua-tion of capital assets, profits from the sale of capitalassets, corporate reorganizations, and the capitaliza-tion of surplus are some of the more important ways inwhich changes in surplus can be brought about otherthan by the transfer of business savings or losses tosurplus. Statistics of business savings and losses shedbut little light upon changes in the wealth of the na-tion. Fluctuations in the general price level and inthe volume of savings of individuals are perhaps twoof the most important factors causing changes in thedollar volume of the national wealth. Business savingsor losses are significant, however, in reflecting the ex-tent to which business enterprises retain a portion ofthe net product during periods of prosperity and alsothe extent to which they maintain payments duringperiods of depressions by drawing upon existing re-sources.Income Produced Up 23 Percent from 1932 to 1934

From the depression low in 1932, national incomeproduced increased 9 billion dollars, or 23 percent, toa total of 48.6 billion dollars in 1934. From 1933 to1934, the increase in income produced was 6.7 billiondollars, or 16 percent, as compared with a gain of 5.2billion dollars, or 12 percent, in the national incomepaid out. As a result of the larger gain in incomeproduced relative to income paid out, business lossesdeclined by nearly 50 percent from 1933 to 1934.The draft upon business resources necessary to main-tain income payments in the form of wages, salaries,

2 For a more comprehensive discussion of these concepts and of the scope andlimitations of the estimates, the reader should refer to ''National Income, 1929-32",Senate Document No. 124, 73d Cong., 2d sess., and to the forthcoming publicationon this subject by the Department of Commerce.Digitized for FRASER

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

November 1935 SURVEY OF CUEEENT BUSINESS 17

dividends, interest, entrepreneurial withdrawals, andrents had reached the huge total of 8.8 billion dollarsin 1932. By 1934 these business losses were reducedto 1.6 billion dollars.

Table 1.. -National Income Paid Out and Produced[Millions of dollars]

Item

Income produced

liusine^s s&vingsIncome paid out

Income produced .Business savingsIncome paid out

Bureau of Labor Statistics costof living index. _.

Bureau of Labor S t a t i s t i c swholesale price index ..

1929

81, 034

2,40278, 632

1930

67, 917

-5, 01572, 932

1931

53, 584

S 12061, 704

1932

39, 545

8 81748, 362

1933

41, 889

-3,05144, 940

1934

48, 561

1 62850, 189

Percentages of 1929

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

83.8

92.8

97.9

90.7

66.1

78.5

89.5

76.6

48.8

61.5

80.8

68.0

51.7

57.1

76.2

69.2

59.9

63.8

78.7

78.6

Table 1 shows the latest Department of Commerceestimates for each of these items for the years 1929 to1934, inclusive. In 1929, the first year covered by theestimates, income produced totaled 81 billion dollarsand exceeded the income paid out aggregate by 2.4billion dollars. In 1930, the 13.1 billion dollar declinein the national income produced was more than twiceas large as the drop of 5.7 billion dollars in income paidout and as a result business enterprises sustainedestimated net losses of 5 billion dollars in that year.The decline in income produced in 1931 was 3.1 billiondollars larger than the decline in income paid out andbusiness losses rose to 8.1 billion dollars. In 1932, thedrop in the total income produced was slightly inexcess of the decrease in the total income paid out andestimated business losses reached the peak of 8.8billion dollars. The increase in income produced in1933, while income paid out was continuing to decline,led to a 5.8 billion dollar decrease in business losses inthat year.Substantial Fluctuations in Real Income Produced

While these estimates of the national income presentstriking evidence of the impact of the depression uponour economic structure, it must be recognized that thenational income is measured in terms of dollars, andthe price level is an important influence in determiningthe movement of the estimates. While income pro-duced was declining 51 percent from 1929 to 1932, theBureau of Labor Statistics index of wholesale pricesfell 32 percent. During the next 2 years incomeproduced rose 23 percent while the wholesale priceindex increased 16 percent. Since income producedrepresents the net value of services rendered as well ascommodities produced and since the wholesale priceindex represents only commodities, it cannot be usedto deflate the income estimates. It is apparent,however, that the fluctuations in the national incomewere more than mere price phenomena and that therewas a substantial reduction from 1929 to 1932 and anincrease from 1932 to 1934 in the volume of goods

25765—35 3

produced and services rendered in the United States.The marked decline and subsequent rise in the totalnumber of persons employed and commodities pro-duced during this period tend to substantiate thisconclusion.Largest Relative Improvement in Agriculture

As shown in table 2, the effect of the depression uponthe various industries of the country was by no meansuniform. The declines in income produced in privateindustries from 1929 to the low for the depressionvaried from 30 percent in the electric light and powerand manufactured gas industry to 82 percent in theconstruction industry. The gains from the depressionlows to 1934 were also highly variable. From 1932 to1934 agriculture showed a gain in income producedof 91 percent, mining registered an increase of 78percent, and manufacturing showed a rise of 74 per-cent. Income produced in the agricultural industryincreased from 33 percent of the 1929 level in 1932 to62 percent in 1934. The construction industry wasthe major exception to the tendency for those industrieswhich had shown the largest declines to record thelargest subsequent gains. Income produced in theconstruction industry in 1934, although higher than in1933, was less than one-fourth as large as in 1929. Forall governmental agencies, including those providingwork relief, the level of income payments to individ-uals increased in each year subsequent to 1929. From1929 to 1934 the gain was 23 percent with work-reliefprograms included, and 3 percent when they areexcluded.

Table 2.—Income Produced, by Industrial Divisions

[Millions of dollars]

Item

Total income produced

AgricultureMiningElectric light and power and gasManufacturingConstructionTransportationCommunication _ . _TradeFinanceGovernment including work relief

program.. _ _ _ _Government excluding work relief

programWork relief program _ „

ServiceMiscellaneous ..

Total income producedAgricultureMiningElectric light and power and gasM anuf actur ingConstructionTransportationCommunication -TradeFinanceGovernment including work relief

program _ _ _ _ _ __ _Government excluding work relief

programW ork relief program

ServiceMiscellaneous

1929

81, 034

7,1591,8941, 295

19, 3083,2257,2161,023

10, 9558,219

6,805

6,805

9, 2074,728

1930

67, 917

5,5551,3071,197

14, 0722,7566,206

9949,1317,113

7,043

7,043

8,4594,084

1931

53, 584

3,601701

1,1259,5261,7425,007

9067,3725,702

7,189

7,189

7,1983,515

1932

39, 545

2,335474985

5,623670

3, 760744

5,2544,360

7,148

7,148

5,3792,813

1933

41, 889

3,300522907

7,797595

3,746656

5,7723,677

7,360

6,741619

4,9572,601

1934

48, 561

4,451842924

9,791729

3,999688

6,3403,859

8,381

6,9921,3895,8022,755

Percentages of 1929

100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0100.0

83.877.669.092.472.985.586.097.283.486.5

103.5

103.5

91.986.4

66.150.337.086.949.354.069.488.667.369.4

105.6

105.6

78.274.3

48.832.625.076.129.120.852.172.748.053.0

105.0

105.0

58.459.5

51.746.127.670.040.418.451.964.052.744.7

108.2

99.1

53.855.0

59.962.244.571.450.722.655.467.357.947.0

123.2

102.7

63.058.3



Relative Importance of Each Industry Varies ConsiderablyAs a result of the variations in the trends for the

different industries, the proportion of the national in-come produced in each industrial division fluctuatedwidely from year to year. (See table 3 and chart II.)As a result of the marked gains in 1933 and 1934,agriculture's relative share in the national total was

10

1929 1930 1931 I93Z 1933 1934INCLUDES fifCr/f/C LIGHT AND POWER, MAHUFJCrU/?££> G/IS, AM£) COMMU

Chart II.—Distribution of income produced by industrial divisions

higher in 1934 than in any of the other years covered.The relative shares of the mining and manufacturingindustries fell off considerably from 1929 to 1932 andrecovered substantially in the following 2 years.Manufacturing accounted for almost one-fourth ofthe total in 1929, less than one-seventh in 1932, andapproximately one-fifth in 1934. The constructionindustry contributed 4 percent of the national income

produced in 1929 and only 1.4 percent in 1933 and 1.5percent in 1934. The proportion accounted for by allgovernmental agencies in the country rose from 8percent in 1929 to 18 percent in 1932, in which yearit was larger than that of any other industry. Govern-ment's proportion declined in 1933 and 1934, evenwith the inclusion of the various work-relief programs.Excluding the work-relief programs, the relative im-portance of Government dropped from 18 percent in1932 to 14 percent in 1934. It is apparent from chartII that the changes from 1932 to 1934 generally tendedto bring the industries closer to the relative status ofthe predepression period.

Table 3.—Percent of Income Produced by Industrial Divisions

Total income produced

AgricultureMining _ _ . ..- __ _ _Electric light and power and gasManufacturingConstruction __ _TransportationCommunicationTradeFinanceGovernment __ ._ _ServiceMiscellaneous _ _ _ __

1929

100.0

8 82.31.6

23.84.08.91.3

13 510.28.4

11.45.8

1930

100. 0

8 21.91.8

20.74.19 11.5

13 410.510.412.46.0

1931

100.0

6 71.32.1

17.83.39.31.7

13.810.613.413.46.6

1932

100.0

5 91.22.5

14.21.79 51.9

13 311.018.113.67.1

1933

100.0

7 91.22.2

18.61.48 91.6

13 88.8

17.611.86.2

1934

100.0

9 21.71.9

20.21.58.21.4

13 17. 9

17.311.95.7

The Department of Commerce will publish in thenear future a volume presenting the national-incomeestimates for the 6 years, 1929 to 1934, inclusive, indetail, showing the classifications of income producedand income paid out by industrial divisions and typesof payments as well as estimates of the number ofpersons engaged and the per capita incomes. Thisreport will also point out the limitations of the data.The classifications will be comparable to those devel-oped in " National Income, 1929-32 ", Senate DocumentNo. 124, Seventy-third Congress, second session,which was prepared by the Department of Commercewith the cooperation of the National Bureau of Eco-nomic Research. The forthcoming volume will includea discussion of the concepts and scope of the incomeestimates and detailed descriptions o