Show economic econom ic highlights I 1 I 1 alint ai t the th daft alf urr iuler D ta ch ke iid d tux tax nuis hill ot or every 1 N Rt II lonal 11 sri and i onal aro itoe b aur irr irom lsen lav l welfare the end of 1933 and the beginning of 1834 1934 w witnessed an improvement in ili general business busl the decline in production which followed tile the july pe pea lk lc and wiped out the bulk ot of spring and summer gains w was a 8 ref reversed versed contra seasonal improvement occurred in a number ot of lines cis as it did the first half of f last year there seems to be a moro hopeful outlook on the part 0 ot f leaders of a number of basic industries dus tries the hysterical axe excitement 1 te which followed the creation of taie and other phases of the recovery program Is being MK M K replaced by a more stable and realistic viewpoint of importance to business ger gerti orally rally Is the allaying of the tear fear that the government w a 0 it id embark on inflation of flat money it Is believed that the presidents move to stabilize silver and the bill to devaluate the dollar make the issuance ot of printing press money highly lm im pr probable oble it Is doubtful it if the current con gross will be so important to business t as most moat sessions are inasmuch muc it as it Is largely a rubber stamp body which follows the wishes of the president train from A to Z mr air Roosevel ts plans in gen eral are well known and to that mat extent there is less uncertainty over ae legislative 9 a activity than there i w would 0 u id otherwise be A review of the business situation j follows COMMODITY PRICES the low tor for commodity lity prices was reached on march 3 when they stood at 55 per cent of the 1926 level ailigh of I 1 came in october there hai been little late change and a de greo gree of stabilization seems to have been reached level on january I 1 12 waa 72 DOMESTIC TRADE TRAD contrary to many forecasts december retail business was good the inevitable slackening followed christmas but again it was not eo co j great as some expected sales havo have been more satisfactory in the major farm areas than in urban industrial centers employment an tia unlooked looked for drop occurred in this field at tile the end of the year as contrasted with successive gains up tp thel the middle of october late reports show a 2 per cent more than so seasonal drop in employment with a xe reduction of 6 5 per cent in payrolls the industrial employment decline has been somewhat offset by ria als ing employment on federal works projects FINANCE the stock market has been stronger with some substantial rises but la is still a speculators market made uncertain by spasmodic profit taking outside lot federal issues few new bonds have appeared present money policies presage an increase in the price of medium grade bonds a slight shrinkage in high grade bonds FOREIGN TRADE allowing tor for seasonal influences exports were war bout about average at t the end of the year imports were below nor mal our favorable balance of trade Is increasing here Is at ar other field in which dollar devalt atlon wll be ba an all important in fl fluence unc construction this I 1 the h P most lagging of all great industries during 1933 seems to havo have Jm improved proved at the end of the year contra seasonal improvement tool took command in december there was a larger volume of building than in any month since october 1931 transportation end of the year decline in freight traffic was less than seasonal experience forecast in january all classes of freight showed increases revenue continues to be above a year ago and new orders ordera tor for freight cars have been high automobiles new models have met with an excel excellent lont response and the first two weeks of the new year showed a sharp rise in production with demand running ahead of it auto prices generally are higher than last year fifteen out of 17 producers show increased operating schedules ache eche dules CHEMICAL industries this industry had a comparatively good year in 1933 and recent re ports parts show operations continuing at arel a relatively high level improvement iu in the automobile and iron to ris rising ng prices as production was and steel industries major buyers of chemicals are good gurlea guries au for or the future agriculture 1033 crops were valued at an ot of 43 per cent over 1932 f T th 1 improvement was entirely due to rising prices as production was 18 per cent under the 1932 level mid january reports show substantial improvement in wheat and cotton receipts LUMBER in the middle of december orders were at the lowest level of the year moderate ery appeared in mid january prices continue to advance STEEL stoel steel output gained in december as opposed to the usual seasonal experience in the second week of january operations were at 34 per cent of capacity another gain in most markets havo have advanced TEXTILES at the end of the year a lie heavy avy decline occurred and this Is was one of the few industries with a move more than seasonal drop |