| Show or HUHA BUYING IS mag trend of sales suggest further improvement of retail business some interesting figures on rural buying were released this week from the office of S R boswell county agent the report shows that from 1929 to the first quarter of 1933 farm cash income dropped 61 per cent and rural retail sales fell 57 per cent from the bottom of the depression to the present time farm cash income has advanced 86 per cent and rural retail sales 93 per cent this increase in rural purchasing power contributing to about 40 per cei cent it of the industrial improvement a study of income figures and rural trade indexes reveals A comparison of the tj S department of agriculture ri indexes of farm income and national income exclusive of farm income with the department of commerce indexes of retail business reveals how closely the flow of income in the rural areas corresponds with the flow of rural rl business how very closely the flow of city incomes corresponds with ith city retail business and further offers a basis for appraising the effect of agricultural purchasing power on industrial production and employment starting from the 1929 levels farm income fell 61 per cent while the total of all other money income fell 43 per cent rural retail sales during the same period fell 57 per cent and city department store sales fell fel 46 per cent during the period in which farm income increased approximately 86 per cent and rural retail sales about 93 per cent the total of money income other than agricultural has risen 25 per cent and city retail sales have risen 33 per cent As a result of the various governmental and other activities since early 1933 the 1929 balance between gross farm cash income and total money incomes of the country as a whole has been restored one of the major problems L before agriculture is the preserve tion of this restored balance as further general expansion of in du activity and a further rise in the national income take place the effect on industry of the drop in rural trade may be deducted from the fact that at retail in places having a population of less than 2500 and sales by mail order companies contracted from in 1929 to in 1932 a total decline of this drop accounted for 23 per cent of the contraction in all retail business which fell from in 1929 to in 1932 with the sharp recovery in farm income which appeared early in 1933 came also a quick pickup pick jick up in rural retail sales resulting in an estimated gain for the year of more than 20 per cent this contrasted with a further loss in total retail business of over urban sections buying less at retail than in 1932 by the end of 1933 rural buying had recovered to its 1929 relationship lation ship to total trade what the improvement in rural buying has can roughly computed by assuming that the same amount of employment is necessary to produce a dollars worth of goods for rural market as for the urban on this basis it appears that approximately 40 per cent of the 1932 34 increase in factory employment was attributable to improved rural trade roughly estimated half of this increase cornea comes direct through increased buying by farmers and half through greater purchases by rural population in communities where income is largely dependent on farm conditions rural retail trade probably approximated 5 in 1934 the trend of sales in rural and urban areas for the f first 11 months of 1935 suggests a probable f urther further increase in retail business of over 2000 00 this year the increase to be about evenly divided as between rural and urban areas this will bring rural sales to about an the total to |
