Salt Lake Telegram | 1923-07-15 | Page 4 | Bigger Dollars

4) . ;" 'Biggef Dollars . 1 .J "! rpHE purchasing power of a dollar is In-I In-I i creasing, but it is still far below what It was in 1913. According to statistics gathered !, by the department of labor, some interesting ; examples of what the dollar will do in the .! way of buying are cited. One dollar will '! now buy 11.5 pounds of bread, according to an average of retail bread prices for the prin- cipal cities In the United States. ': Ten years ago, 1913, one dollar bought ' 17.9 pounds of bread, the official records .'; show. Three years ago, t920, one dollar, ; bought 8.7 pounds of bread. The purchasing . power fo the dollar In retail stores throughout ' the Untied States has been Increasing slightly ;!. .since 1920. But it is still far below the pur-chasing pur-chasing power of 1913, the department of labor's figures show. That it will ever regain ;, Its prewar purchasing power is unlikely, government gov-ernment economists believe. ;' ' , Purchasing power of the dollar in bread " and sugar fluctuated more widely than for ; other lable necessities. Meats, coffee, butter and other dairy products show but small fluctuations fluc-tuations in comparison. One dollar now buy , an average of 1.6 pounds of beefsteak In comparison with 3.9 pdunds In 19t3, and J.S ' pounds In 1920. Purchasing power' with re-::' re-::' spec to butter declined from 2.6 pounds in ;; 19li to 1.4 pounds In 1920, and has risen ; since to 1.7 pounds. ' , Coffee In 1913 sold at the rate of 3.4 pounds for one dollar, dropped to 2.1 pounds ;;: in 1920 and rose to 2.6 pounds In 1923. The rise In purchasing power of 4he dollar !: since 1920 represents a real gain for the great ;; mass of the population. Wages and salaries ; have more than held their own. Previously wage Increases were preceded by Increases in prices with the result that the fattened pocket-, pocket-, book of the average family had little more, if any, purchasing power than before.