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Show Business Conditions in the U. S. This map represents business conditions in every state in the Union as set forth in the March number of Nation's Business, official publication of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States Washington, D. C. The first month of the new year in business showed year-end continuation of low speed in industry, as pointed out by Frank Greene, of Brad-street's, Brad-street's, in his monthly summary for Nation's Business Magazine. Yet, industry, he says, made a better shewing than either wholesale whole-sale or retail trade. "Of the individual happenings of the month," says Mr. Greene, "some were of a grave, almobt a somber, character. The returns for the fourth quarter made by leading steel corporations were about the poorest in a generation: foreign trade and trade balances were the poorest since the Great War began; railroad earnings were the slackest since the ending of that conflict; commodity prices, far from living up to some 'stabilization' 'stabil-ization' theories, made the lowest levels since early 1900; bank suspensions, sus-pensions, although not as numerous numer-ous or as grave as in the autumn and early winter months of 1931 and 1930, were still heavy, and business failures set up new records rec-ords in number, although not in liabilities. "On the more favorable side of the account might be mentioned agreement between the railroads and their personnel on a ten per cent wage cut. This, coupled with the rate advances granted the roads earlier, may prove the most encouraging feature appering in two years. Of possibly equal value was the movement in the building build-ing industry to reorganize wage scales with the aim of preparing that great ready-money industry for future expansion. Of the trades actually showing real expansion in output, the automobile industry with its steady rise since last autumn aut-umn deserves notice as providing the chief source of new demand in the steel industry. "In the line of rather negative movements might be classed the agreement of petroleum interests to cut out Sunday work to avoid burdensome production, and the effcrt toward curtailing cotton-goods cotton-goods production. "Wholesale trade did not ex pand over December, a small decrease de-crease this year comparing with a slight increase last year. Retail trade did not, of course, expand in either year over December, but the decrease in percentage from December this year is a trifle less than a year alo although there were five Sundays this year in January as against four last year. Industry showed a gain this year in January over DecemeDr but the increase was not as large as it was last year. In collections a small gain was shown. Last year a good sized decrease was shown. This change may reflect a slight easing in the financial situation. "The two largest mail-order houses report a combined total of sales for January 21.7 per cent below those of January, 1931. This compares with a decrease of 18.9 per cent in December but a gain of 4.8 per cent in January 1931 from the like month of 1930. The largest mail-order house is quoted as saying in its annual report that in 1931 for the first time its sales through branches exceeded its mail-order trade. "Chain-store sales in January, according to preliminary report, decreased ten per cent from January Jan-uary a year ago as against a de. crease of 7.3 per cent in December but a gain of 11.7 per cent in January, Jan-uary, 1931, from January, 1930. "Chain and mail-order stores combined ("preliminary report, in the case of the chain total) for January showed a decrease of ten per cent from a year ago as a-gainst a-gainst a decrease of 9.3 per cent m December but a gain of 10.6 per cent in January a year ago over January 1930. "Department-store sales for January decreased 17 per cent from January a year ago, these comparing with a decrease ol 13 per cent in December, 1931, from 1030 and a decrease in January 1931, from 1930 of seven per cent! "As was to be expected failure liquidation continued into January Janu-ary and brought the fourth largest larg-est total of bank failures and the largest single week's and single month's total of all business failures. fail-ures. The after-year-end crop cf failures is always heavy, however. The trend of liabilities was even more marked than was the gain in number. "In 1931 with a 9.4 increase in number over the hitherto record year 1930, liabilities increased 58 per cent. This was due mainly to the large number of banks suspending. sus-pending. According to the Federal Feder-al Reserve System's report these totalled 2.290 with deposits of $1,759,000,000, increases of respectively res-pectively 70 and 103 per cent over that organization's records for 1930. The bank suspensions exceeded ex-ceeded early estimates, some ten per cent of the country's banks suspending during the year as against about five per cent in 1930 and six per cent in 1893. "One of the less encouraging features of -the month just passed was the continuing downward movement in commodity prices This was foreshadowed by the weakness of the Weekly Food Index In-dex in recent weeks and by the I apparent continuance into January Janu-ary of the record low levels of all farm products reported by the Ag cultural Department index In mid-December. The February i Monthly Index touched $7 5243 a decline of 2.7 per cent from January Jan-uary 1 and the lowest since July 1 1901. The drop of 2.9 per cent shown last October was the nearest near-est approximation to the Febru ary 1 drop just shown. Of 13 groups of commodities, eight de clined from the January l level two gained and three remained unchanged. Principal losses were shown in live stock, provisions and hides and leather. Of ?" commodities quoted, 16 rose, 37 declined and 53 remained unchanged un-changed on February l as com pared with January this year "Somo of the other important occurrences in January were the slight decline in piB-iron produo-:on, produo-:on, a fraction of one per cent ;rom December, of 43 per cent lrom January a year ago and of (1.7 per cent from January 19. and the gain of 5.2 per cent in silk deliveries to mills over ,' ary last year. Crude petroleum output declined but gasoline stocks Me expected to show a gain." |