Show E economic economic 19 highlights highlight industrial news re review happenings that affect the dinner pails divi dividend bend checks and tax bills of every individual national and international problems inseparable from local welfare since the middle of july there has been a definite but yet not overly severe downa downward ard trend in general business the usual seamona seasonal I 1 august improvement did not materialize what happened was that the summer decline which business avoided for a number of months after it was due made a delayed appearance even so there has been extraordinary sustained improvement over the the preceding few years production in july according to the department of commerce was 68 per cent higher than in 1932 when the absolute bottom of depression was touched 20 per cent higher than in 1931 and 54 per ce cent nt higher than in 1930 the department of commerce places the manufacturers index at 99 which is the highest since may 1930 conditions obtaining in various fields are as follows commodity prices advanced sharply and still upward the cost of living advanced 3 per cent from june to july with an 8 per cent jump 1 reported for food prices Rom domestic estic trade this continues to present a 4 puzzling picture what expansion there has been is not commensurate with the increase in production and the gap between producer and consumer has widened most recent figures indicate that this condition is beginning to be corrected employment definitely u upward p w a r d though somewhat retarded in august the has been a prime factor as have the special spenial indus trial codes banking during a recent six weeks period banks with deposits depp sits in excess of reopened since the moratorium banks have resumed operations on an un restricted basis securities the roost most severe break for a long time was that of the middle of july which cancelled the gains made in previous months so far as stocks socks are concerned the situation is very uncertain there are likely to be a number of ups and downs with speculators waiting for short rises and then taking profits talk I 1 of inflation has stimulated certain I 1 classes of issues bonds have been fairly steady I 1 foreign trade trad has continued the up ward waid trend that started in may however the value of exports and imports has generally been smaller than in comparable months of 1932 construction the long awaited improvement in pro in the construction industry put in an appearance in early august contrary to the usual seasonal experience the basic state of the industry however is little changed the chicago area has been leading the country on contract values rai railroads broads carload ings in the recent months have been well above those of a year ago with carriers in in much better financial condition in june far example operating revenues were nearly f ive five times as large as in june 1932 A slight decline started in august automobiles recently the production index with allowance made for seasonal trends touched the highet highest point since june 1931 in july output was more than double that for july 1932 agriculture wholesale prices of food and farm products meats alone excepted have been showing substantial and steady advances lumber its too early to tell what lumber code stipulations nv which ich have aroused a tremendous amount of dissenting opinion will do to the industry during recent months there has been steady increase in output steel has been been expanding operations with a recession oc curing in in august this is another industry which had great difficulty in formulating mu lating a code mainly because of the fight between open shop operators and union labor and its future will be awaited with interest inflation if as and when it comes probably wont take the form of print ing press money if the administration has its way it will be done through an extension of bank credit according to the U S daily the policy in a nutshell is that the government is going to see the banks 1 through and the banks in turn must put out credit in a much bigger way than they have been banks are filled with idle money monay but the banks position is a difficult one got to put money where they can betit when needed and most applications for loans are based on projects which from that standpoint are pretty dubious and not acceptable to the inflexible banking laws and regulations which require liquid liquia collateral rather than character and past business ui standing as the basis of a loan |