SURVEY of CURRENT BUSINESS October 1959 a Whole Is Somewhat Less Than the Annual Rate, Seasonally Setting a Decline in Conventional Aircraft Outlays
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OCTOBER 1959 ism U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE OFFICE OF BUSINESS ECONOMICS SURVEY OF CUmttEMT BIJSIMES§ U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FIELD SERVICE Albuquerque, N. Mex. Memphis 3, Tenn. No. 10 321 Post Office Bldg. 22 North Front St. CHapel 7-0311 JAckson 6-3426 Atlanta 3, Ga. OCTOBER 1959 Miami 32, Fla. 66 Luckie St. NW. 300 NE. First Ave. JAckson 2-4121 FRanklin 9-5431 Boston 9, Mass. U. S. Post Office and Minneapolis 1, Minn. Courthouse Bldg. 2d Ave. South and Liberty 2-5600 3d St. FEderal 2-3244 Buffalo 3, N.Y. 117 Ellicott St. New Orleans 12, La. M Adison 4216 333 St. Charles Ave. EXpress 2411 THE BUSINESS SITUATION Charleston 4, S.C. PAGE Area 2, Sergeant Jasper Bldg. New York 1, N.Y. Summary 1 RAymond 2-7771 350 Fifth Ave. LOngacre 3-3377 Government Programs in the Year Ahead 3 Cheyenne, Wyo. 207 Majestic Bldg. Philadelphia 7, Pa. Agricultural Income and Production ............ 5 Tel. 8-8931 1015 Chestnut St. WAlnut 3-2400 Recent Changes in National Income and Corporate Chicago 6, 111. 226 W. Jackson Blvd. Profits. 7 ANdover 3-3600 Phoenix, Ariz. 137 N. Second Ave. ALpine 8-5851 Cincinnati 2, Ohio * * * 36 E. 4th St. D Unbar 1-2200 Pittsburgh 22, Pa. SPECIAL ARTICLES 107 Sixth St. Business Financing in 1959. 11 Cleveland 1, Ohio GRant 1-5370 E. 6th St. & Superior Ave. Portland 4, Oreg. Corporate Sources and Uses of Funds............... 11 CHerry 1-7900 520 SW. Morrison St. CApitol 6-3361 U.S. Industry Expands Investment Abroad.............. 16 Dallas 1, Tex,. 500 South Ervay St. Supply of Funds Reduced .,»..... 17 Riverside 8-5611 Reno, Nev. 1479 Wells Ave. Denver 2, Colo. Tel. 2-7133 Plant Expansion Abroad .........to.,....*..*.**... 18 19th & Stout St. KEystone 4-4151 Richmond 19, Va. llth and Main St. Detroit 26, Mich. Milton 4-9471 438 Federal Bldg. WOodward 3-9330 MONTHLY BUSINESS STATISTICS S-l to S-40 St. Louis 1, Mo. Greensboro, N.C. 1114 Market St. Statistical Index. Inside back cover 407 U.S. Post Office MAin 1-8100 Bldg. BRoadway 3-8234 Salt Lake City 1, Utah Houston 2, Tex. 222 SW. Temple St. 405 Main St. EMpire 4-2552 Published monthly by the U.S. Department of Commerce, FREDERICK H, CApitol 2-7201 San Francisco 11, Calif. MUELLER, Secretary. Office of Business Economics, M. JOSEPH MEEHAN, Jacksonville 1, Fla. 555 Battery St. Director. Subscription price, including weekly statistical supplement, is 311 W. Monroe St. YUkon 6-3111 $4.00 a year; foreign mailings, $7.50. Single copy, 30 cents. Send remit- ELgin 4-7111 Savannah, Ga. Kansas City 6, Mo. tances to any Department of Commerce Field Office or to the Superintendent of 125-29 Bull St. 911 Walnut St. ADams 2-4755 Documents, United States Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D.C. BAltimore 1-7000 Special subscription arrangements, including changes of address, should be Los Angeles 15, Calif. Seattle 4, Wash. made directly with the Superintendent of Documents. Make checks payable 1031 S. Broadway 909 First Ave. to Superintendent of Documents. Richmond 9-4711 MUtual 2-3300 OCTOBER 1959 By the Office of Business Economics J\T THE end of the third quarter, the pace of business activity was still being moderated by reduced industrial Per sonal Income and Spending output and employment resulting from labor disputes. Non- agricultural income in September was at an annual rate of Income is off in strike-affected industries $366 billion, the same as in August when employee compen- and in farming sation was lowered by the direct and indirect effects of the work stoppages, and especially the steel tieup. Agricul- Bill JoT Dollars tural income declined during the quarter. For the July- September period as a whole, total personal income was about the same as in the second quarter, the recent down- Wages and Sa/ar/es— Primary Metals Mfg., ward drift offsetting the upswing during the earlier period. 40 — Mining, and Transportation — Total output in the third quarter was marked by some \ _ further expansion in that portion of gross national production 20 represented by goods and services for final use—that is, ~0__^__^_^^^^-^7-^ consumption, fixed investment, and Government purchasing. Farm Proprietors' Income The advance in the total of these categories was not so 0 \ I I j | l | I I I I l l 1 I I i I \ large as in the preceding quarter, and the gross national output was lowered by the slackening of production of basic • Elsewhere income holds up materials. This resulted in a drawing down of inventories 240 which had been built up sharply in the spring. The drop All Other Wages and Salaries ^^^ in GNP followed four quarters of substantial advance. With steel stocks being rapidly depleted, steps were initiated by the Government to effectuate a resumption of production. Production and industrial employment during 200 October will reflect the continuing lowered volume of mate- rials output as, through the first half of the month, the rate All Other Personal Income of steel operations remained at 13 percent of capacity. 120 Employment steady Nonagricultural employment, which had reached a peak seasonally adjusted rate of 52.6 million in mid-July and then i I 1 ! ! 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 80 "*v- , ;' dropped by 550,000 in August—mostly in industries directly affected by the work stoppages—held steady in September RETAIL SALES have leveled off on a seasonally adjusted basis. The only major employ- 160 ment change was the rehiring of automobile workers as Nondurable Good's Stores new-model assembly got underway. Employment in this industry was back to the July total. Elsewhere changes were relatively small with an increase in employment in the machinery industries and in State and local govern- 120 ments offsetting a modest drop in retail trade and contract construction. Little variation occurred in average hours worked, and earnings of production workers in manufactur- 80 Durable Goods Stores ing were rather stable from August to September. \ v Wage and salary disbursements, which account for 70 _> percent of personal income were down a little from August. Farm income was also lower. Some small increases occurred elsewhere so that total personal income in September at 40 » ! 1 I 1 ! I ) 1 | 1 1 \ 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 $379}£ billion annual rate was off only a little from August. 1957 1958 1959 Buying at retail stores dropped moderately in both August Seasonally Adjusted; at Anrtwd Rotes and September from the peak July rate, after adjustment U, 5. Etepctrtment of Commerce, Office of Business Ecooonttcs §§ * JQ ** for seasonal variations. The small decline from July to August occurred chiefly in sales of automotive dealers, SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS October TO general merchandise and apparel stores; in part this was For the heavy-goods industries as a whole the drop was : due to temporary factors. September declines appeared purchased materials; there was little change in the seasonal to have been more widespread among; the different kinds of adjusted book values of other stocks. business. Nondurable-goods inventories have continued relative] For the third quarter as a whole, retail sales were at about stable in the past few months. In the chemical industi the same rate as in the second quarter. With an increase in there has been a slight upward trend. consumer expenditures for services, total personal consump- tion expenditures showed a further rise. Freight traffic lower Output continues below June rate One of the consequences of the steel strike is a decline i freight traffic. For the railroads, seasonally adjusted cai The cut in steel output beginning in mid-July affected the loadings in July and August were down about one-fifth. I supporting industries promptly so that the full direct influ- the second quarter, rail carloadings had been running aroun ence of the strike is shown in the August statistics for most 15 percent ahead of the low rate of a year earlier and hai series. Little further change in these data occurred in about reached the average for 1957. September. The indirect effects developed more gradually Approximately one^third of the decline in carloadings thi during the third quarter. summer was in the broad miscellaneous category, principal! Another influence which affected output rather generally was the substantial curtailment in operations in August by the automotive industry and some expansion in September Table 1.—Changes in Selected Business Activity Measures as new model assembly got underway. Industrial output [Seasonally adjusted] was little changed in September as additional curtailments which appeared in some durable goods industries were about 1959 offset by advances in other industries. Unit of measure April- Sep- Factory and mining output is now down roughly 5 percent June June July August tembe. from the record of June, primarily a reflection of the drop average in output of steel, coal, and iron ore. Output of bituminous coal fell sharply from June to July, Employment: seasonally adjusted, but picked up somewhat in August and Total nonfarm Thous 52, 140 52', 407 52, 558 52,011 51, 9S advanced further in September. Current production is Primary metals, mining, do 4,550 4,589 4,566 4,034 3 96 and transportation, one-sixth below the high June output. The cutback in iron total. Primary metals do 1 275 1 291 1 276 858 83 ore was much sharper, approximately 90 percent. Supplies Mining do 706 709 714 627 60 of steel in early October still permitted high production in Transportation _. ..._ do ... 2,569 2,589 2,576 2,549 2,53 steel consuming industries though spot shortages, already All other ...