.,,.,f ol~:VtR~'/Ty Semi-Annual Issue XAS fJ I I(' TEXAS BUSINESS REMi~1 A MONTHLY SUMMARY OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC coNDmoNs IN TEXAS RY BUREAU OF BUSINESS RESEARCH COUEGE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS Vol. XXV, No. 6 JULY 1951 H I G H LI G HTS 0 F T EXA S BUS I N ES S PERCENT DECREASE JUNE 1951 COMPARED 4r0~~3~0~~~2FO~~TIO'--~--'T--~~.:.;:<-~--=;:!.-~~:'..__~~40 WITH JUNE 1950 Industrial electric power consumption............... Crude runs to stills__________________________ _ _________ _______ _ Crude petroleum production_ ____________ _______________ _ Electric power consumption_______________________________ _ Postal receipts ---------------------------------------------------­Bank debits______ _ _ __________ ____ __________ ___ __ ____________ Miscellaneous freight carloadings._ __ _________________ _ Retail sales ----------------------------------------------------------­Value of building permits__ ___________ ____________________ _ PERCENT DECREASE PERCENT INCREASE JUNE 1951 COMPARED 40 30 20 10 20 30 40 WITH MAY 1951* Electric power consumption ____________ ________________ ___ _ Miscellaneous freight carloadings____________ __ _______ _ Retail sales --------------------------------------------------------­Industrial electric power consumption_____ ___ ___ ___ _ Crude runs to stills______________________________________________ _ Crude petroleum production............................... Bank debits --------------------------------------------------------­Postal receipts -------------------------------------------·-------­Value of building permits --------------------·------·-------­ *All percent changes are obtained from seasonally adjusted indexes. TWENTY CENTS PER COPY TWO DOLLARS PER YEAR The Business Situation 1n Texas The over-all level of business in Texas during June remained practically unchanged from May, although individual phases of business showed considerable varia­tion. The composite index of business compiled by the Bureau of Business Research rose 1% after adjustment for seasonal variation; three of tqe component series rose, three fell, and one remained the same. The table below shows the changes in the individual series making up the composite index and the weight assigned each series. Retail sales, adjusted for changes in prices, showed no change from May; industrial power consumption, total power consumption, and miscellaneous freight carloadings registered increases ; building permits, crude petroleum production, and crude runs to stills de­ clined. Retail sales are given the greatest weight in the com· posite index, and with no change in this series it is un­ likely that the change in the composite index would be great. The increases in consumption of electric power and the movement of goods were undoubtedly related to the increased production of goods stimulated by the de­ fense effort. The reduction in building activity continued a trend that has been well defined for several months, INDEX OF BUSINESS ACTIVITY IN TEXAS, AND COMPONENT SERIES, 1935-39=100 (adjusted for seasonal variation) June May Percent Series Weight 1951 1951 change Retail sales, adjusted for for price changes ____ _ __ 47.7 195* 195* 0 Industrial power consumption 14.8 444 428 4 + Crude oil runs to stills __ ____ 4.5 200 202 l Electric power consumption.. 3.0 491 461 7 + Miscellaneous freight carloadings --··-······-·············· 17.6 147 144 + 2 Urban building permits, adjusted for price changes.. 3.8 149* 162* 8 Crude petroleum production.. 8.6 221 224 l INDEX OF BUSINESS ACTIVITY (Composite) . 100.0 233 230 + •Preliminary. while the reductions in both crude petroleum production and refining were so small that for practical purposes they represent no change. The total weight given to the three series that registered increases exceeds the weight of the three series showing declines. The result is an increase of 1%in the composite. ,The comparison of June 1951 with June 1950, the last month not affected by the Korean war, shows how busi­ness has been influenced by the war. Consumer buying in Texas has lost the stimulus of the war scare, with total retail sales 2% below a year ago. Durable-goods stores dropped 9 % from a year ago, while sales of non­durable-goods stores were up 3%. However, these figures reflect the rise in retail prices as well as changes in volume of goods sold; and when adjustment is made for the changes in prices, volume of retail sales for June was 11 % below a year ago. The prices of goods sold at retail in the United States increased 10% over the past year, according to the index computed by the Department of Commerce, and 8%, as measured by the index of the Fairchild Publications. The chart on page 4 shows the two spurts in retail sales that followed the outbreak of the war. The solid line on the chart also emphasizes the fact that sales in June returned to the pre-war level, while the dotted line shows that the physical volume of sales in June was lower than at any time during 1950. During the past year while consumers were buying an unprecedented amount of goods, businessmen were build­ ing up their inventories; rising prices and the threat of shortages were sufficient incentives to push inventories to all-time highs. Now that consumers are reluctant to buy, wholesalers and retailers are buying with extreme caution as they try to reduce their accumulated stocks of goods. In general, it appears that inventories of durable-goods stores are more out of line than nondurable-goods stores. Radios, television sets, household appliances and furnish· ings in particular are moving slowly. In nondurable­ goods stores, clothing inventories seem to be causing the greatest concern, and the lack of orders is giving the textile manufacturers a very anxious summer. INDEX OF TEXAS BUSINESS ACTIVITY Percent 300 200 10 0 The TEXAS BUSINESS REVIEW is published by the Bureau of Business Research, College of Business Administration, The University of Texas. Entered as second-class matter on May 7, 1928 at the post ofl\ce at Austin, Texas, under the act of August 24, 1912. It should be remembered, l).owever, that sales are very good, even though somewhat below the level of a year ago, and there is ample evidence that aggressive selling will still produce business. Consumer incomes continue to rise, and when goods are offered at prices that buyers consider right, sales can be made. Clearance sales are being widely promoted throughout Texas cities, and some merchants have even been ordering more seasonal mer· chandise for their summer sales when satisfactory prices can be secured. An important fact that should not be forgotten is that a tremendous volume of goods has been produced in the year since the Korean war started. Whether or not this volume of goods will be sufficient to supply consumer needs without pushing up prices unduly is being debated at great length and is the deciding factor in the question of the need for price controls. The Second Quarterly Report to the President by the Director of Defense Mobilization points out that military production is still largely in the blueprint stage; of the $42 billion in orders placed since the invasion of Korea, about $10 billion have been delivered. It is expected that the volume of military ,production will increase steadily until June 1952, when deliveries will amount to $4 billion a month. Whether or not this increase in production can be absorbed by our industrial system without curtailing the supply of goods for consumers will be the determining factor in the need for price controls. INDEX OF INDUSTRIAL ELECTRIC POWER CONSUMPTION IN TEXAS ADJUSTED F'OR SEASONAL VARIATION 1935·39 • 100 Puc•nt 000 ,/ ,.) / v \ _,,. ht"'"' I -" 0 1 500 - 400 300 300 200200 IOO I00 0 we 1940 194 1 t942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 t950 ~· Industrial activity, as a component of Texas business, has been stimulated by the rearmament program and con· tinues to expand, thus offsetting the slackening in con· sumer spending. Electric power consumption, for both total and industrial uses, is influenced by the increasing industrial activity in the state. Total electric power con· sur~.Ption increased 7% between May and June and was 20% greater than a year ago. Industrial power consump· tion rose 4% between May and June and was up 30% over June 1950. In the absence of more direct measures of industrial expansion, the data on electric power consump· tion serves as a barometer of this phase of business, but all the information available supports the conclusion that industrial activity has been expanding at a rapid rate throughout the state. Total manufacturing employment in the state was 390.7 thousand in June, compared with an average of 351.6 thousand for the year 1950. Employ­ment in durable-goods industries, which generally reflects defense production, rose from a monthly average of 147.6 thousand in 1950 to 176.l thousand in June 1951. Petro· leum refining in Texas during June was 28% above the level of June 1950, and production of crude petroleum was up 21 % over the same period. One of the largest units of industrial expansion an· nounced recently is the new aluminum plant to be built in Milam County by the Aluminum Company of Ameri ca; it is to use electric power generated by burning lignite. An early announcement stated that the capacity of the plant will be 85 thousand tons of aluminum annually, and it is expected that production will start in the fall of 1952. The cost of the plant will be approximately SlOO million, and it is expected that a complete town will be built to furnish housing for the 1,000 employees antici· pated. The building industry continued to follow the trends that have been in evidence for several months. The pre· liminary estimate of building permits issued in Texas during June 1951 was 34% below the estimate for June 1950, although because of the high level of building activity during the first part of the year, the total for the first six months of 1951 was only 57c below the same period of 1950. More significant than total building figures were the trends in different types of building. Nonresidential building for the year-to-date rose 16% over last year, but for the same period, residential build­ing declined 15%. It is likely that the pattern of the first six months of the year will be followed in the future, with military construction and industrial plant expansion offsetting the decline in residential building. It seems likely that large sums will be spent by the Department of Defense for military construction in Texas during the government fiscal year starting July 1, and there is no reason to believe that private industry will not continue to expand in the Southwest. The level of wholesale prices dropped gradually during June, bringing the preliminary index for that month to 181.7, compared to 182.8 for May and 184.0 for March, the all-time high. Farm products, foods, and manufac­tured goods all showed declines during June. The con· sumers' price index for Houston rose from 192.0 in May to 192.3 in June, but was still below the 192.5 registered in April, while the index for all cities in the nation dropped from 185.3 to 185.2 between May and June. The index for all cities in June 1951 was 9 % above the level of June 1950, and 0.8% above February 1951, the first month after the price freeze. INDEX OF BANK DEBITS IN TEXAS ADJUSTED FOR SEASONAL Vt>R!ATICl'l,1935-;;9•100 939 1940 1941 19 42 19 43 1944 19 45 19 46 ~47 .,~ lo:J4~ 1950 19:>1 The Bureau's index of bank debits for June declined 3% from May but stood 9% above June 1950. .This decline does not conform with the movement of the com· posite index of Texas business, which rose l '/c in June. The above chart shows that the index of bank debits has stayed higher than the composite index during the past few months and is showing the effect of the spring decline in business activity somewhat later than the composite index. In general, these two indexes tend to move to­gether, although not every month shows exactly the same pattern. TRADE Retail Trade (Th• movemeat of coocla Into the handa of conaumera la one of the fuaclamental aerie• of atatlatlcal data on buaineH activity, alnc• for loualnesa to be 1ound the volume of retail trade muat be cood. Durlq a period of Inflation an Increase In aales in curreat dollars results from a rise In prices aa well a1 from an increase In the ameunt of bualneu. The fluctuations in retail credit ratios are Im­portant condltloalnc factora of the volume of trade. Newspaper uvwtlalnc llaac• and postal recelpta are secondary trade indicatora.) Sales volumes in recent weeks have been closely re­lated to merchants' carefully selective buying and their aggressive but carefully planned promotions. Many still face overhanging inventories even after liquidation sales at all levels-retail, wholesale, manufacturing. Custo­mers' buying reluctance has apparently been strengthened by drastic price cutting in some centers and the wide pub­licity given to these liquidating, volume-building, or pub­licity stunts. "Normal" percentages of seasonal price reductions seem to have lost their appeal for many cus­tomers. Various checks indicate that, in the price-cutting cities, an unknown amount of business may have been "borrowed" from the autumn and holiday months. The degree of effectiveness of controls over credit and prices, as reflected in reduced sales, is problematical. IM:>EX OF TEXAS RETAIL SALES ~rcent ADJUSTED FOR SEASONAL VARIATION, 1935-39•100 Percent 000 500 f\,\. 400 400 ,.. ..,.. I Oollor Solo ..•/'' lOO 300 Soles Adjusied For Price Chonoe _j A ,.]......--.. 200 ,.v 200 _ i,,.­ / 100 I00 1UT .LREAU oF BUSINESS RESEARCH 0 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 194 5 1946 1947 194 8 1949 1950 1951 Following five months of weakening prices in certain wholesale lines, it may be that various classes of retail prices also will soften, for some months ahead. This de­spite the fact that numerous retail prices have not strengthened enough in recent months to absorb greater wholesale costs. In fact, the retail price index computed by the Fairchild Publications was steady from May to June for the first time in more than a year. This total in­dex, however, represents an increase of 8% from a year ago and of nearly 5% over the 1948 high point. Heavy supplies of most types of consumer goods filling trade channels contribute to buying apathy. These heavy stocks undoubtedly must be worked down and customers' weakened interests revived. If and as long-threatened shortages begin to make their belated appearances, the underlying inflationary factors can become active toward developing firmer prices, possibly in the late autumn. ESTIMATES OF TOTAL RETAIL SALES (in millions) Percent change Type of store June 1961 Jan-June 1951 June 1951 June 1951Jan-June1951 from from from June 1950 May 1951Jan-June1950 TOTAL ----------------$638.1 $3,298.2 3 4 + 6 Durable coods ________ 226.8 1,376.6 9 3 + 4 Nondurable goods.. 311.3 1,921.8 + 3 4 + 6 RETAIL SALES TRIENDI BY CITY-SIZE GROUPS Source: Bureau of Buainess Research In cooperation with the Bureau ol the Census, U . S. Department of Commerce Percent change Numberof---------~~ reporting June 1951 June 1951Jan-June1961 establish-from from from Population• ments June 1950 May 1961Jan-June1960 Over 290,000 -------------------... 1,223 -1 9 +10 100,000 to 250,000 4.06 ·-------------12 7 + 2 50,000 to 100,000 255 2 7 -----·----+ 9 2,500 to 50,000 829 6 --·-···---------s + s Under 2,500 -------------------115 + 8 + 2 + 9 *1950 Census. Last year's high volumes of scare buying continue to set high hurdles for current sales goals. Some merchants hold that "business will be what you make it" and are planning steadily for continuing promotions by searching the markets for wanted items. Some foresee a 5 to 8% drop in sales volume for the remainder of 1951 and an even larger reduction in unit sales or tonnage handled. Most expect continually increasing expenses and taxes, "creeping" controls, manpower shortages, and a possible return of "profitless prosperity." A high degree of flex· ibility will be needed for making, altering, and adjusting p~ans, buying procedures, pricing and promotional poli· c1es. By types of retailer, comparisons of June with May varied widely in Texas. Sales increases over May ranged as high as 15% for jewelry stores and 20% for miscel· laneous food stores, while sales decreases from May aver· aged 10% for furniture stores, 16% for department stores and apparel stores, and 34% for florists. Com· paring June 1951 with June 1950, sales increases were significant for druggists ( 11 % ) ; eating and drinking places ( 15% ) ; general merchandise stores ( 18% ) ; office, store and school supply dealers (24%) ; and country gen­eral stores (28%). Meanwhile decreases accrued for furniture stores (10% ), automotive stores (13%), and lumber and building material dealers ( 14%). However for the first six months of 1951 over the same months RETAIL SALES TRENDS BY KIND OF BUSINESS Source: Bureau of Busin""" Research in cooperation with the Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce Percent change Numberof----------~ reportinc June 1951 June 1951 Jan-June 1961 Kind of establioh­ from from from business ments June 195() May 1961Jan-June1960 Apparel stores --------------------­24.6 Automotive stores -----------------­-­253 Country general stores ------­60 + 5 -13 + 28 -16 -2 + 2 + 9 + s + 16 Department stores ----------­----­ 88 -1 -16 + ' Drug stores ----------------------180 Eating and drinking places.... 119 + 11 + 15 3 x + 8 + 10 Filling stations ----------­---------­984. x + 7 Florists ----­----­-------------------­49 Food stores ----·-­·------------­--------­208 Furniture and household*____ 169 + 5 + 9 -12 -34 + 2 -5 + 8 +16 -2 General merchandise stores.. ­Jewelry stores ---------------­Liquor stores ----------------------­ 64 86 28 + 18 + 9 -2 -6 + 15 x + 8 + 18 + ' Lumber, building material and hardware stores --------­ 298 - 10 6 +10 Office, store and school supply dealen -----------------­ 48 + 24 8 +28 xChange is lees than one-half of on" percent. ceding year. Of the 29 papers, three showed increases CREDIT RATIOS IN DEPARTMENT AND APPAREL STORES from May and 16 papers bettered the first six months of (in percent) 1950. Postal receipts of 78 Texas cities in June averaged 8% Ratio of Ratio of credit sales collections to under May, but January-June of 1951 topped the same Number to net sales• outstandingst months of 1950 by 10%. Among the cities, 59 reported of reporting June June June June decreases for June from May, but only 10 fell below Classification stores 1951 1950 1951 1950 in the six-months comparison. ALL STORES ------·· 67 62.5 63.4 44.6 50.4 Sales of gasoline subject to tax totaled 254,396 thou­BY CITIES sand gallons in May, 3% above April and 7% over a Austin 7 56.8 55.8 54.1 55.2 year ago. Sales to the federal government amounted to Cleburne ---------3 34.7 39.0 41.0 42.7 41,720 thousand gallons, 5% up from April and 192% Dallas ·------------11 71.0 71.9 50.7 59.1 of the sales for May 1950. Denison ---------3 57.8 62.1 34.7 28.5 El Paso ·--------POSTAL RECEIPTS 3 56.0 57.3 41.2 36.6 Fort Worth -------·-5 62.3 61.8 50.7 67.1 Galveston -------------·------------4 56.2 59.3 50.4 50.0 Percent change Houston ------------------7 63.4 62.7 57.6 51.3 Jan-June San Antonio ----------5 59.1 62.9 65.3 58.0 1961 Waco 8 67.2 56.2 62.7 62.6 ------------- January.June June 1961 from Others ----------·-16 63.9 62.6 64.4 63.5 June from Jan.June BY TYPE OF STORE City 1961 1961 1950 May 1961 1960 Department stores (over $1 TOTAL• ................$4,148,901 $26,014,117 $23,569,030 -8 + 10 million) 19 64.6 66.0 43.9 48.5 Department stores (under $1 Borger --------9,944 63,490 66,970 + 4 + 13 million) -------·----11 50.8 60.1 46.9 38.0 Brady ---------------3,383 21,206 22,537 6 -6 + Dry goods and apparel stores 6 65.9 66.5 57.1 68.3 Brenham ---------------4,913 37,948 40,904 -15 -7 Women's specialty shops___ 16 63.3 52.1 54.4 51.1 Brownfield ----------4,292 30,242 26,673 -14 + 18 Men's clothing stores _____ 16 61.2 60.4 72.6 69.0 Childress ----------3,780 27,888 26,263 -19 + 6 BY VOLUME OF NET SALES Cisco --------------3,454 21,922 19,770 -7 + 11 (1950) Coleman ----------4,430 27,605 27,050 -2 + 2 Over $8,000,000 ·----·---16 65.8 66.1 44:6 60.0 Cotulla -------------1,294 6,934 6,392 + 21 + 8 U,500,000 to $3,ooo,ooo.____ 11 60.0 63.0 68.1 66.3 Crystal City --------1,912 14,162 12,351 -19 + 16 $500,000 to $1,600,000.___ 19 61.6 61.1 70.0 62.6 Cuero -----------------3,634 23.750 21,796 5 + 9 $250,000 to $500,000....____ __ 13 46.0 46.0 46.6 48.4 Edinburg ----------7,152 40,439 43,257 + 6 -7 Leso than $260,000..____ _ 8 43.() 43.0 42.9 44.2 El Campo ----------6,832 31,606 28,006 + 9 + 13 Gainesville ····-···-···· 6,626 43,844 40,635 -16 + 8 •Credit sales divided by net sales. Garland ---------------6,529 46,194 40,385 -13 + 14 tCollectlons during the month divided by the total accounts unpaid on Gladewater -------4,692 25,745 25,923 + 29 1 the ftnt of the month. Graham -----------4,004 25,954 24,666 -9 + 6 Granbury ··········-·--924 5,780 5,910 -1 -2 of 1950 only furniture stores showed a nominal sales Hillsboro ------------3,978 27,469 28,272 -11 -3 Jacksonville --------7,577 47,267 44,556 -12 6 decrease (1%). All other types averaged increases of 3 + Kenedy ------------------2,511 14,521 12,785 + 8 + 14 to 28%, with 25% for farm implement dealers and 28% Kerrville ------------7,170 41,568 39,230 -1 6 + for office, store and school supply dealers. Littlefield ------3,243 24,074 22,176 -16 + 9 Luling 2,303 15,984 16,538 ------------ -9 -3 Currently revised to reflect the data furnished by the McKinney 5,941 37,411 36,658 -15 6 ------------ + preliminary 1948 Census of Business, the newly estimated Midland ----------28,973 175,162 143,812 s + 22 Navasota -----------3,287 17,411 18,364 + 7 -5 index (402) of total sales (based on 1935-39 and ad­ New Braunfels 8,271 52,193 49,252 -4 6 ·-- + justed for seasonal variation) remained at its May point, Orange 11,167 72,723 65,091 -13 + 12 down from 429 for March and 453 for January. The in­Palestine --------------7,827 49,879 49,596 + 9 + 1 Pampa - ---- -----------11,902 70,665 66,999 + 4 + 5 dex still stood higher than in the months before May 1950 Pasadena -----------9,763 56,788 46,782 -5 + 21 but well below later months. Deflated to remove the Raymondville -----4,006 24,958 27,086 -10 -8 Seguin 6,070 37,491 34,836 -11 8 effects of price changes, the adjusted total sales index --------------- + Snyder --------------------7,879 52,745 47,969 -11 + 10 (195) also remained at its May level, the lowest point Uvalde -- -------------4,378 30,062 28,099 -17 + 7 since 1948 and below the annual averages since 1947. Vernon --------------------7,592 49,246 48,565 -4 + 1 The durable goods index (524) had its fifth month of •The total includes receipts for cities which are listed individually decline from the 611 point reached in January, with under "Local Business Conditions." higher points in August (630) and September (617) of 1950. However the index for nondurable goods (348) regained several points from May's registration of the lowest point in seven months. Revised indexes for indi­vidual lines are not yet available. Advertising linage in 29 Texas newspapers in June averaged 9% below May. The six months of 1951 showed 3% increase over the same period of 1950. June brought to an end a series of 18 consecutive months in which linage increased over the same month of the pre· The Bureau of Business Research Announces Publication of THE USE OF THE PUNCHED-CARD METHOD BY AN APPAREL SPECIALTY STORE: A Case Study of Volk Bros. Company of Dallas by Stella Traweek, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Business Statistics Price, 25 cents Foreia:n Trade (Tonnac• ficure• for export shipments from the principal ports ef the atste provide an accurate physical measure of the current Yolume of foreign export trade. Value figures for exports '!nd lmporta, however, represent a more common measurement of fore1sn trade tranaactiona, hut they are subject to adjustment for price chances.) The value of exports from Texas continued to increase during April, when it was more than a third larger than in March and almost double the amount of a year ago. Imports were up from April 1950 but. showed a slight decline from the month of March of this year. Investigations are being conducted by the Department of Commerce with a view to creating Schedule B com· modity classifications for various items not now classified separately. These investigations are part of the work preparatory to the revision of Schedule B by th~ end. of the year. :The assignment of a separate class1ficat10n number depends on whether exports of the item amount to more than $1 million per year. Current higher dollar valuations place many previously unnumbered items above this minimum requirement. Such commodities include dried beans, grapefruit and orange juice, cotton· seed and soybean oils, industrial lubricating oils, sheet and plate metalworking machinery, automobile accessor· ies, agricultural insecticides, some organic chemicals, and printed matter. Britain has ordered strict licensing control of all ex· ports to China and Hong Kong to keep strategic war materials out of the hands of Communist forces in Korea. The president of the British Board of Trade announced that the controls which became effective June 25, would apply to every export item. Only items of nonmilitary use will be granted export licenses. At the request of the United States government, an emergency committee has been organized by the petro­ leum industry to explore ways of keeping friendly foreign nations supplied with petroleum during the current Iranian oil crisis. This newly-created group, the Foreign Petroleum Supply Committee, represents 19 United States oil companies with extensive overseas interests. The table below shows that total exports from Texas ports in April 1951 rose 81 % above April 1950 and 36% from March 1951. Imports were 95% above a year earlier and dropped 9% from the previous month. FOREIGN TRADE OF TEXAS PORTS (in millions) Source: Bureau of the Census, U . S. Department of Commerce Percent change Customs district Apr 1951 Mar 1961 Apr 1960 Apr 1961 from Apr 1950 Apr 1951 from Mar 1961 EXPORTS, TOTAL .... $187.2 $137.6 $103.4 + 81 + 36 3.7 89.9 33.2 10.8 2.3 71.8t 20.7 8.6t + + + + 87 88 76 34 + + + + 16 60 10 6 42 .6 20.0 + 96 - 9 El Paso .............................. Galveston ··--·····--·-­---···-······ Laredo ··-·······-·····-·····-······ Sabine -······-­-········-··········· 4.0 30.8 8.8 0.3 2.2 36.4 3.5 0.5 1.7 11.8 6.3 0.2 -+ 40 60 + -+ - 82 15 9 40 + 11 Industrial ------------------438,016 fDenotes water-borne shipments only. PRODUCTION Manufacturing (The volume of manufacturlnc activity in any Industrial u-. varyinc recularly with the aeaaona, la a sensitive meuure of tlao chances in bualneaa activity.) With the defense effort gradually changing from plant and equipment expansion to actual production, manu· facturing activity, gauged by the consumption of indus· trial electric power ii:i Texas, jumped another 4% in June. The present index level of 444 represents a new high in industrial consumption. The first six months of 1951, when compared with those months of 1950 prior to the outbreak of hostilities in Korea, showed a 27% increase. Commercial, residential and other consumption all rose substantially from May and from January-June of 1950. The Defense Power Administration is predicting that the load on electric power companies in the United States will be 69 million kilowatts this December as compared with 61.5 million kilowatts last December. The DPA has raised its December 1953 estimate from 70 million to 82 million kilowatts. At the present rate of consumption increase, the electric power companies throughout the country will probably have considerable difficulty in keeping production up with demand. Their problem will of course be made more difficult by the shortages in various strategic metals needed for production of power· generating equipment. Electric energy production in Texas was 1,743 million kilowatt hours in May, an increase of 9% over April and 23% over May 1950. The United States production of 36,136 million kilowatt hours represents a 2% rise above April and 12% over May of last year. INDEX OF ELECTRIC POWER CONSUMPTION IN TEXAS - Percent change Jan.June 1951 January-June June 1961 from June from Jan.June Use 1961 1961 1960 May 1950 1950 TOTAL ·············-·----·--916,116 4,816,092 4,231,782 + 12 +u Commercial ----------------197,618 974,767 880,860 + 17 2,282,868 1,804,266 +11 + 27 + 12 Residential ---------------146,160 813,699 726,814 + 11 Other --------------------------134,432 744,773 620,844 + 12 + 20 •Prepared from reports of 10 electric power companlee to the Bureou of Busine11 Reeearch. As tl}e prolonged drought continues through t?e sum· mer in most of the state, the manufacture of dairy pro· ducts for the first six months of 1951 falls far short of production during the same period of 1950. The sole dairy product bucking the downward trend is cottage MANUFACTURE OF DAIRY PRODUCTS January-June Unit June P ercent Products (OOO's) 1951 1951 1951 change Creamery outter ----­ lbs. 697 3,846 8,015 -62 Ice cream American -­--------gals. ch"""e __ lbs. 2,667 657 11,400 2,087 11,405 2,980 x -30 Cottage cheese ----lbs. 586 3,606 3,026 + 16 All others -·······­----lbs. 2,961 13,927 21,858 -36 Total production in milk equivalent• __ lbs. 59,708 268,093 878,588 -29 •.Milk equivalent of dairy products is calculated from production clata. cheese (up 16% ). Total milk equivalent of production in June was 59,708 thousand pounds, which brings the seasonally adjusted index to 57. Cotton manufacturing activity, though down slightly from May, is still substantially above 1950 levels. June cotton consumption was 14,446 running bales, and }inters consumption was at 3,228 running bales. According to the Defense Production Administration the tax amortization speed-up allowed defense plants by the government is shifting industry from coastal and populous areas to new or less industrialized regions to the benefit of Texas and the Southwest. The purposes of the move to disperse industry are to use labor supply to the best advantage and to minimize our vulnerability in case of war. Lumber production in the Southern Pine Mills during May was up 7% from April. Shipments in May also rose (2%) from the previous month and gross stocks at the end of May stood at 1,510 million board feet, a 5% increase over the April total of 1,444 million board feet. REFINEJIY STOCKS• (in thousands of barrels) Source: The Oil a:nd GQ.11 Jounial Percent change June 1951 June 1951 Item June 1951 May 1951 June 1950 from June 1960 from May 1951 TEXAS Gasoline --····--·········· 21,931 Distillate -··----­- --­9,222 23,251 7,591 19,854 9,819 + 10 -1 -6 + 21 Residual --------------­ 5,369 6,387 4,737 + 13 x Keroeene -­---------­ 4,609 3,978 3,842 + 20 + 16 TF:XAS GULF COAST Gasoline ------­---­18,611 Diatillate -----­---------­8,018 19,601 6,663 16,617 8,143 + 12 -2 -6 + 20 Residual -----------­---­4,547 Keroeene -------­4,167 4,671 3,602 4,026 3,372 + 13 + 24 -1 + 16 INLAND TEXAS Gasoline ------------­Distillate ----------­Residual ------------­---Keroeene ------------­ 3,420 1,204 822 442 3,650 928 816 376 3,337 1,176 711 470 + 2 + 2 + 16 -6 -6 + 30 + 1 + 18 •Figures shown for week ending nearest last day of month. Crude runs to stills dropped slightly (1%) from May totals. Half.year totals were 28% above 1950 levels for t!ie comparable period. All refinery stocks except dis­tillate (-1 % ) showed increases from 10 to 20% over June of last year, and only gasoline stocks (-6%) fell from May levels. With the possibility of loss of petro· leum sources to the Western World due to the Iranian CfJSlS, some emphasis is being placed on domestic resources yet untapped. Research has recently brought forth a new stronger and tougher steel casing for use in deep-well operations. INDEX OF CRUDE OIL RUNS TO STILLS IN TEXAS Pwunt AO.JUSTED FOR SEASONAL VARlAT tON 93~ 39 •I00 " Natural Resources (Tb• production of crude petroleum Is a major Industry In Texas, and the chaqea In the volume of production have a direct effect upon the income produced In the state. Fia-urea on the number of well completions by districts Indicate the extent to which new sources of oll and pa are beina-developed and the areas of th• atat• in which drllllna-operation• are In process.) The seasonally adjusted index of crude petroleum pro· duction declined about 1% from May to June to stand at 221 % of the 1935-39 average. During the 30 days of June, wells were flowing on a 23-19 day schedule; they are flowing on a 24-19 day schedule during the 31 days of July. In line with testimony of major oil purchasers at the state-wide proration hearing, the Railroad Commission of Texas retained a state-wide producing schedule of 24-19 days for August. The East Texas field will re­main on 19 days despite a drop of 6.02 pounds per square inch in bottomhole pressure during June. The President's envoy is said to have moved closer to his objective of getting the Iranians and British to renew talks on solving the oil crisis. One of the projects under consideration is a joint Iranian-British-American com­pany to market Iranian oil. In the opinion of a top official of the Petroleum Administration for Defense, any prolonged shutdown of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company properties may result in spot shortages of residual fuel oils in this country before many weeks, but gasoline will probably not be rationed within a year. VALUE OF NATURAL RESOURCES (In thousands) Source: State Comptroller of Public Accounts Percent change Jan-June 1951 Jan-June June 1951 from June from Jan-June Item 1951 1951 1950 May 1951 1960 Carbon black production ................$ 6,413 $ 23,101 $ 27,629 -16 Crude oil sales ····---261,572 1,250,572 932,373 + 56 + S4 Natural and casinghead gas sales -·-········-----22,323 134,012 102,271 + 9 + Sl In any event the excess crude oil producing and refining capacity in Texas would undoubtedly be utilized to the limit. This development would inevitably bring about a sudden increase in the production of casinghead gas (natural gas produced along with crude oil) and natural gas liquids. Without the steel and other raw materials necessary to expand the markets for these products, large amounts of them would of necessity be flared or in some cases sold at distress prices. Legislation giving the states clear title to oil-rich tide· lands cleared its first hurdle on June 27 with approval by the House Judiciary Committee. The next step is ap­proval in the House. It would give the states except Texas control of the submerged lands out for three miles from their coast lines. In Texas' case the state would have control 10.5 miles out because of conditions under which she joined the Union. It recognizes federal con­trol of the lands of the continental shelf, which extends into the Gulf of Mexico 20 to 100 miles beyond the tidelands boundary limits. It provides that the states receive all the revenues from production of oil and gas in the tidelands within their own state boundaries and 37.5% of the revenues from leases or royalties on pro­duction on the continental shelf. House action on this bill is expected during the latter part of July. It is be­lieved that the bill will pass the house by the two-thirds majority necessary to override a presidential veto. It is by no means certain that sufficient votes to override a veto can be obtained in the Senate. If Congress finally passes this bill, presidential veto appears certain. TOTAL AND MARKETED PRODUCTION OF NATURAL GAS (in millions of cubic feet) Source: Railroad Commission of Texas, Oil and Gas Division Percent change May 1951 May 1951 May Apr May from from Item 1961 1961 1950 May 1950 Apr 1951 TOTAL PRODUCTION 384,881 378,120 326,526 + 18 + 2 Gas well gas ---------------­Sweet ----­--­----------­-­ 286,186 254,585 283,876 253,061 252,438 223,347 + 13 + 14 x + 1 Sour -------------------Casinghead gas• ________ Marketed production _ Gas well gas -----­---­Casinghead gas........ Comingled gas ___ ____ 30,602 99,695 308,907 216,685 86,944 5,278 30,815 94,244 306,990 215,738 82,235 9,017 29,091 74,088 251,649 185,086 63,093 3,470 + 5 + 35 + 23 + 17 + 38 + 52 1 + 6 + 1 x + 6 -41 Exported from state__ 142,264 140,463 100,271 + 42 + 1 Percent of mar­ keted production__ 46 46 40 + 15 0 To carbon black manufacture ........ Transmission lines -------­Consumed in state_ ____ 27,424 219,323 77,059 26,401 214,705 74,242 26,108 172,265 71,994 + 5 + 27 + 7 + 4 + 2 + 4 •Total casinghead gas produced, excluding gas legally vented at the oil well. xChange is less than one-half of one percent. The mid-July decision of the Federal Power Com­mission that it has no jurisdiction over the gas operations of the Phillips Petroleum Company was perhaps the most important happening of the year in the eyes of Texas oil and gas producers. The "no jurisdiction" ruling means the FPC does not consider Phillips to be a natural gas company under the terms of the Natural Gas Act of 1938. The commission's ruling has been long awaited by oil and gas producers. Many producers have been refusing to sign contracts with distributors until the FPC gave some indication of whether it intended to extend its control over the production and gathering of natural gas. The Phillips Company sells gas to the Michigan-Wiscon­sin Pipeline Company for interstate transportation, and Michigan and Wisconsin officials had urged the FPC to claim jurisdiction over Phillips to ward off rate hikes in those two states. Actually there is good reason to believe that the Power Commission's decision, indicating that it will not claim jurisdiction over the production and gathering of gas, is likely to serve best the long-run interest of both con· sumers and producers. The price of gas at the well is so low even now that in many instances it is not profitable for an oil company to invest in the necessary facilities to market its casinghead gas. As long as the oil companies were under the threat of federal regulation, huge sup­plies of natural gas would have been cut off the market, and this would have cost eastern gas users much of their potential gas supply. A ban, proposed by the Petroleum Administration for Defense, would prohibit the use of natural gas for new· house heating and industrial installations in some areas of the country. The ban is deemed necessary by the PAD in view of what it terms shortages of steel for pipe lines. A spokesman for the gas appliance industry warns that the effects of the ban would be ruinous to many thou­sands of people engaged in the production, distribution, retailing and servicing of gas appliances and equipment. The Assistant Deputy Petroleum Administrator assured the industry spokesman that any order issued would he only for the duration of the emergency situation. The Defense Production Administration says there is not enough of some kinds of steel products to meet needs. The worst of the shortages, however, may be over much sooner than was first feared. Steelmen say production is increasing at such a rate, a result of the record expansion program, that there will be plenty of steel for all in the first part of next year. Some have even predicted a surplus next year. W. J. Murray, of the Railroad Commission of Texas, said that proposed defense controls on natural gas equp· ment would mean a reduced rate of expansion of the natural gas industry, but it would not bring about a pro· duction cut in Texas. He said that such a move by the PAD seems to be a reasonable precautionary measure. PRODUCTION OF HYDROCARBON LIQUIDS FROM GASOLINE AND RECYCLING PLANTS (in barrels) Source : Railroad Commission of Texas, Oil and Gas Division Percent change Apr 1951 Apr 1951 Apr Mar Apr from from 1951 1951 1950 Apr 1950 Mar 1951 TOTAL PRODUCTION____ Condensate-crude 9,601,700 500,933 9,886,048 518,826 8,158,520 625,450 + 18 -5 8 8 Gasoline ---------­---­ 5,437,118 5,500,270 4,761,360 + 14 1 Butane-propane and methane- ethane --··········­ 3,472,314 3,695,015 2,673,000 + 30 Other products__ _ 191,885 176,937 193,710 -1 + Total gas processed• ----­- 287,566 289,598 246,738 + 17 Yield per Mcf in gallons -----­-­ 1.40 1.43 1.39 + 1 •In millions of cubic feet. CONSTRUCTION (Because of the accumulated deficiency of bulldlnl' In all section• of the state, data on the volume of conatniction work are an estremely Important part of the business situation. Buildinl' permitsand contract& awarded are both l'enerally used to measure bulldlns activity.) The preliminary estimates of building permits issued in Texas during the month of June fell to $44,757 thou­sand, the lowest June estimates in the past three years. It has fallen 50% from $89,479 thousand in December, the turning point in construction prosperity, and 34% from $70,210 thousand during last June. In spite of the high levels earlier this year, the June figure pushed the total for the first six months of 1951 to $365,941 thousand, 5% below the same period of last year, which still remains the second largest six-month total on record. Residential building as a whole, totaling $22,209 thousand, declined 28% from May and 52% from June last year. Single-family residentials suffered the greatest loss, down 36% from May and 55% from last June. Only two categories showed increases over last month; multi­ple-family residentials gained 69% and nonresidential buildings, 26%. INDEX OF VALUE OF BUILDING PERMITS IN TEXAS ADJUSTED FOR SEASONAL VARIATION,1935-39=100 1939 1940 194 1 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 19 49 1950 1951 In the year.to-date figures, the nonresidential buildings and additions, alterations and repairs contributed in­creases of 16 and 5%, respectively, over 1950, but the weigh.t of the decrease in residential buildings ( 15 % ) was so strong that it brought the year-to-date total of this year 5% below 1950. By city-size groups, declines from May were reported by both the cities over-100,000 and under·25,000, 15 and 35%, respectively. Cities of 50,000.to-100,000 rose 52%, while the 25,000-to-50,000 group gained 18%. All except the over-100,000 group experienced declines in the year-to·date comparison with 1950, the largest decline being in the 25,000-to-50,000 group (26%). ESTIMATES OF BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED BY CITY·SIZE GROUPS (in thousands) Source: Bureau of Business Research in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. U. S. Department of Labor January-June June Percent Populstiont 1961• 1951 1950 change TOTAL-------­ $44,767 $365,941 $387,156 -5 Over 100,000 ----------­ 18,983 184,782 175,639 + 5 60,000 to 100,000 -----­ 10,236 61,100 75,441 -19 25,000 to 50,000_______ 3,88() 27,631 37,311 -26 Under 25,000 -----------­ 11,658 92,428 98,765 - 6 Only buildinl' for which building permits were issued within the Incorporated area of the city is included. Federal contracts are excluded. •Preliminary. tl940 Census. ESTIMATES OF BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED BY TYPE OF CONSTRUCTION (in thousands) Source: Bureau of Business Research in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Department of Labor January-June Type of June Percent construction 1951• 1951 1950 change TOTAL --­----------------­ $44,757 $365,941 $387,156 -6 New construction ------­ 37,900 326,259 349,342 -7 Residential --­---------­ 22,209 217,362 255,385 -15 Housekeeping __________ 21,995 215,328 253,421 -15 Single family ----­ 18,122 199,468 225,029 -11 Multiple family ___ 3,873 15,860 28,392 -44 N onhousekeeping ---­Nonresidential ---­-----­ 214 15,691 2,034 108,897 1,964 93,957 + 4 + 16 Additions, alterations and repairs ------------­- 6,857 39,682 37,814 + 5 Only building for which building permits were issued within the incorporated area of the city is included. Federal contracts are excluded. *Preliminary. The index of value of building permits, adjusted for seasonal variation, slipped to 305, compared with 333 for May and 487 for last June. The average of the first six months of 1951 was 410. After adjustment for price changes, the deflated index for June stood at 149, off 8% from May and 42% below last June. The number of starts of dwelling units was 3,520 in June, a 22% drop from the 4,529 in May and 51 % below last year (7,112). Home buying is less in volume than it was a year ago, according to a survey made by the National Association of Real Estate Boards. Heavier down payments required by credit restrictions, war uncertainties, tight mortgage market, increases in sales prices and a diminishing supply of dwelling units available, have caused the sales drop. However, construction industry will continue to play a big role in the nation's economy. The decline in home building will be largely offset by the increase in volume of government military construction and private indus­trial plant construction. A total of $374 million has been asked by the Depart: ment of Defense for military construction in Texas for the fiscal year beginning July 1. This includes Army camps, arsenals, ordnance depots, Air Force flying centers, and various Navy and Marine Corps projects. More than $100 million has been budgeted for five projects in San Antonio; the largest single sum, $64 million, has been asked for the Lackland Air Force Base. A recent survey made by the Defense Production Ad­ministration revealed that American industry is building new factories in inland areas which are not likely to become enemy bombing targets. Texas, Arkansas, Okla­homa, and Colorado are the principal choices. An eighth, $678 million, of the plant expansion in the United States under the "quick tax write-off" certificates issued by DPA to finance new war plants has been in Texas. This represents 12.5% of the total, second only to Pennsylvania (15.9%). The National Production Authority is planning to replace all of its present building regulations with a new controlled·materials allocation plan. This plan will place stricter controls on construction of hospitals, schools, CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS AWARDED IN TEXAS (in thousands) Source: Dodfl'e Statistical Research Service January-May Type of May Percent construction 1951 1951 1950 change TOTAL CONSTRUCTION __________$150,923 $663,097 $401,754 + 65 Total new buildine­-------------­--­______ 116,624 486,694 301,145 + 62 Residential building ----------­----­-55,547 NonrQsidential building -----------­61,077 286,763 199,931 198,715 107,430 + 48 + 86 Additions, alterations and repairs 18,107 68,996 26,344 Residential ------------­----------------------­ 210 2,841 1,105 Nonresidential --------­--­-----------------­Public works and utilities____ ____ ___ _ 17,897 16,192 66,155 107,407 25,239 74,265 + 45 factories, and other large structures which require more than two tons of steel, 200 pounds of copper, or 100 pounds of aluminum. Controls will be more lenient on construction of amusement and recreational buildings which call for small quantities of these scarce metals. Preliminary estimates made jointly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor, and the Building Material Division, Department of Commerce, disclosed that expenditures for new construction in June 1951 totaled $2,700 million, an increase of 6% over May. Seasonal expansion in highway construction accounted for most of the increase in public construction. The decrease of 23% from June 1950 in private residential construction, which pushed the total for all private con­struction expenditure 4% below 1950, has more than offset the considerable increases in industrial, commercial and public utility construction. The defense program has changed the pattern of con­struction expenditures for the first half of 1951 as com­pared with the same period in 1950. The first six-month total of 1951 was $14 billion, 16% above that of 1950. Residential building remained the same in dollar terms, but has slipped below last year's level in physical volume due to the marked increase in costs. Industrial, military, and commercial construction enjoyed increases both in dollar value and physical volume. LOANS MADE BY SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS Source: Federal Home Loan Bank of Little Rock Percent change June 1951 June 1951 June May June from fromType 1951 1951 1950 June 1950 May 1951 --·-- -------- NUMBER 2,333 2,624 ···-······-····-----2,672 -13 -11 Construction ----------------526 653 604 -13 -19 Purchase ...................... 781 843 832 -6 -7 Refinance ...................... 172 236 263 -35 -27 Recondition ····-···----------285 245 344 -17 + 16 Other ·-----------------------------569 647 629 -10 -12 AMOUNT (OOO's) __ __ __ $10,528 $11,958 $10,957 4--12 Construction ----------------3,415 4,311 3,288 4 -21 + Purchase ( ,076 4,329 4,239 4 -6 Refinance 749 --------------------1,063 1,208 -38 -30 Recondition ··········-------691 613 628 + 10 + 13 Other 1,596 ---------------------------1,642 1,599 x -3 xChange is less than one-half of one percent. AGRICULTURE Income (Tho amount of Income received by farmers la a complete meaaur1of tho .f.rosperlty of asrlculture, taldns Into account both the volume of pro ucts sold and the prices received. Since the marketlnsa of many products are concentrated In certain aoaaons of the year, It ta important that tho data be adjusted for seasonal varlatlona In orcler to 1how the basic cbansea In the altuatlona of apiculture.) The June index of farm cash income, adjusted for sea· sonal variation, was 254, a 25% decrease from May and a 21 % decrease from the January-to-June average. There has been a slight downward trend for the first six months of 1951, but the June 1951 index increased 17% over June a year ago. Cash income to farmers of Texas for January through June 1951 increased 29% over the comparable period last year, even though the index de­creased after seasonal adjustment. Large increases in in· come, occurring for most crops, more than offset the few scattered decreases. Income from wheat marketing was smaller in spite of the fact that a reduction in supply caused the average price to increase 23% over 1950. INDEX OF FARM CASH INCOME IN TEXAS AOJUSTEO FOR SEASONAL \MIATICJN, 1935·39-IOO - Early in June the progress of all Texas crops was retarded, and the harvesting of vegetables, as well as other farm operation, was curtailed as many areas were hit by hail and wind storms. Corn fields were in full tassel as far north as Temple and Waco, and a good crop is in the making. In North Texas the growth is more scattered, but as a whole the crop is progressing nicely with adequate moisture. The estimated production of corn in 1951 is 50,482 thousand bushels, a 23% decrease from the 1950 crop. June tomato harvest produced heavy yields of good quality; however, market prices have been declining because of the substantial increase in supply. Tomato sheds in the Jacksonville area are closing, and several of the large canning companies have stopped buying, thereby reducing the demand considerably. A Department of Agriculture official stated on June 27 that East Texas farmers overplanted the tomato crop and therefore will not receive help from surplus commodity buying. Tomato acreage is up 25% over last year, and the estimated yield is 47% greater. The estimated 1951 flaxseed crop of 64 thousand bushels represents a 95 % decrease from 1950 and a 90% decrease from the 1940--49 average. Acreage for harvest has decreased 93% from 1950 with an average yield per acre of four bushels in 1951. Northwestern wheat farmers are concerned over the continued rains in their area. The quality of the su~­normal harvest has been impaired by the increased mo1s· ture, and an absence of field work is evidenced by the increased weed infestation. The yields are better th_an expected at the beginning of the season, however, with FARM CASH INCOME• (in thouaanda) January-June Percent Commodity 1951 1950 change TEXAS ------------------------------···-· $586,490 $421,251 + 39 Cotton -------·········-·····-········ 11,465 27,666 -59 Cottonseed ------­---··-··-······-····· 2,766 4,893 -44 Wheat ----········­---·-····-······· 12,144 32,692 -63 Oats ---­----­----·····­--·-··········­ 5,109 6,060 + 1 Com -·------­--------··-·····----· Mohair -------··········-····-···-········ Wool ---------·-··············-···---·····­ 9,777 6,886 36,286 6,347 3,535 20,766 + 54 + 95 + 75 Grain sorghum -·--······-········-····­Cattle --···-·········-···············-··-· 29,059 183,179 9,786 134,446 + 36 Calves ---·-···············-···-··············· HOll'I --·········-······························ Sheep and lambs ······················­ 33,400 21,376 16,533 16,089 14,686 15,834 + 46 + 4 Poultry -··-----­-----························ 27,651 5,951 E1rp ---­····--·-····-······················ Rice ---···················--················· Milk and milk products.........._._ 52,481 7,863 103,957 18,595 8,043 56,538 -2 + 84 Fruit and vegetables ---............ 22,299 32,103 -31 Peanuts --··············-·······­----····--­ 4,154 4,865 - 5 FlaxBeed --·······················­············ 115 3,856 - 97 •Farm cash income as camputed by the Bureau understates actual farm cash income by from 6 to 10%-This situation results from the fact that means of securing complete local marketings, especially by truck, have not yet been fully developed. In addition, means have not yet been de.-eloped for computing cash income from all &ll'ricultural 1pecialtiea at local importance in scattered areas. This situation does not impair the accuracy of the indexes. an anticipated yield of 16,362 thousand bushels. There was good news from Washington for the prospective wheat farmers next year provided the weather is favorable. The Secretary of Agriculture announced June 29 that there will be no acreage allotments or marketing quotas of wheat in 1952 because of the food shortage and the uncertain world situation. Grain sorghum acreage for harvest was estimated at 6,776 thousand acres, 18% below last year. Combining is under way in the Coastal Bend area, and the first estimate of production will be made in August. Digging of potatoes in the Hereford vicinity will begin on a limited scale this month, and the yield promises to be good. Potatoes in the Texas Panhandle made progress with favorable weather conditions, and the harvesting season has begun. INDEXES OF PRICES RECEIVED BY FARMERS IN TEXAS (1909-1' =100) Source: Bureau of A&Ticultural Economica, U.S. Department of Agricnlture Percent change June 1951 June 1951 Indexes (unadjusted) June 1961 May 1961 June from 1950 June 1950 from May 1951 ALL FARM PRODUCTS_______ 380 393 288 + 32 3 All crops ---------------­Food grain -------------­Feed 1rraina and hay --···-···· 326 252 208 343 250 215 240 212 163 + 36 + 19 + 28 + 6 3 Potatoes and sweet potatoes 172 189 159 + 8 9 Fruit --­----------------­ 47 47 179 - 74 0 Truck crops -------­------­Cotton ----------------­------­ 416 339 525 345 351 244 + 19 + 39 -21 2 Oil-bearing crops - ·--­------­------­Livestock and products --­-------Keat animals -----------------·­Dairy products --------­Poultry and l!lrP --------­Wool --------­---------­ 429 460 559 ~59 241 646 471 459 568 262 24B 677 229 352 450 220 178 40, + 87 + 28 + 24 + 18 + 35 + 60 9 2 2 1 3 6 RAIL SHIPMENTS OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES (in carloads) Source: Compiled from reports of Bureau of A1rricultural Economics, U . S. Department of Agricultnre January-June June Percent Item 1961 1950 1951 1950 change TOTAL _·····----·------------·---6,554 3,222 19.898 38,088 -48 Fruit Cantaloupes ----·--·-·····­­ 47 98 53 243 -78 Grapefruit• --------···-····-­ 0 0 1,939 3,100 -37 Oranges• ------­---··----­---­ 6 0 599 l,307 -54 Plums and prunes --·--· Watermelons ----·­---­--­ 3 793 2 500 31 793 3 588 + 35 Mixed citrus• -----------­ 0 0 231 357 -85 Vegetables Beets ····----­---·-·------------­ 7 0 86 283 -70 Broccoli -----­---­·­--------­-- 0 0 3 46 -93 Cabbage -------------­--------­ 0 462 2,857 -84 Carrots -----·-------------···· 51 42 2,974 5,755 -48 Caulfliower -----------······· 0 0 57 76 -25 Corn ······­-----­---------···--­ 250 122 422 974 -57 Cucumbers ------------·--­ 0 0 46 53 -13 Lettuce -----·----­----·--········ 0 0 788 1,528 -48 Onions --­---·----­-------·--· 966 455 3,201 5,260 -39 Parsley ----··­--------·--­--· ·· 0 48 171 -72 Peppers -------­--··---······ 2 0 2 45 -96 Potatoes ----­-----­--­-······ 32 122 567 -78 Spinach ----------­----·-----­ 0 0 555 867 -36 Sweet potatoes ----­----­ 1 126 34 0 Tomatoes --­--------------­-- 4,384 1,870 5,190 6,716 -28 Mixed vegetables ____ __ _ 17 8 2,209 7,209 -69 All other ----­----------­-········­ 0 0 53 83 -36 *Figures include both truck and rail shipments. Early varieties of rice are ready for harvest now, and coastal farmers are expecting a bumper crop this season. Indicated production for 1951 is 11,319 thousand 100­pound bags, a 2% decrease from 1950, but a 37% in­crease over the 10-year average. The peanut crop in North Texas looms as one of the best in recent years. Farmers planted peanuts throughout the month of May, and most of the 1951 crop is now well underway. The Department of Agriculture estimate of July 1 for the new Texas oats crop is 7,756 thousand bushels com­pared to 27,027 thousand bushels in 1950, a 71 % de­crease. This would be the smallest oats crop since the fall and winter drought and winter freezes almost ruined the crop in 1942. The harvesting of watermelons and cantaloupes is moving along rapidly, and the July 1 estimate indicates a watermelon crop of 9,760 thousand for 1951. This represents an increase of 16% over 1950 and 7% over the 1940-49 average. Late spring onions in North Texas suffered from heavy rains which seriously interrupted the harvesting operations. Considerable acreage had matured but could not be harvested on schedule, and if harvesting can be completed later the quality of marketings will be lowered considerably. Today Texas cattlemen are anxious over any decisions by the Administration concerning beef prices. Cattle marketings in June 1951 were 85 thousand head, which represents a decrease of 43 % from May 1951, and a 37% decrease from June 1950. Marketings of calves increased 15% over May 1951 and decreased 13% from June 1950. Hog movements decreased slightly from last month, but the seasonal pattern seems to be following that of last year SHIPMENTS OF LIVESTOCK (in carloads)0 Source: Bureau of Business Research in cooperation with the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, U. S. Department of Agriculture Percent change Classifl. cation June 1951 January-June June 1951 -----­from 1951 1950 May 1951 Jan-June 1951 Jan-June 1950 TOTAL SHIPMENTS 4,027 37,809 38,961 -46 - 3 Cattle --------------------------------2,491 25,913 26,633 -46 -3 Calves --------------------------- ----441 3,186 2,756 + 5 + 16 Hogs ----------------------·-----------659 5,235 4,442 -25 + 18 Sheep --------------------------------436 3,475 5,130 -71 -32 INTERSTATE PLUS FORT WORTH --------3,763 36,018 37,103 -47 -3 Cattle ---------­------------­----·--­ 2,314 Calves -------------------------------­ 405 Hogs -------------------------------­ 635 Sheep ----------------------------­--­ 409 INTRASTATE MINUS FORT WORTHt -------­ 264 Cattle -------------------------- - --­ 177 Calves ---- ­----------­----------­ 36 Hogs ·---------------------­-------­ 24 Sheep ·····--------------------------­ 27 24,577 25,146 -47 -2 2,856 2,497 6 + 14 + 5,191 4,425 -27 + 17 3,394 5,035 -73 -33 1,791 1,858 -15 -4 1,336 1,487 -27 -10 330 259 -3 + 27 44 17 81 95 + 4 -15 •Rail-car basis: cattle, 30 head per car; calves, 60; hogs, 80 ; and sheep, 250. tintrastate truck shipments are not included. Fort Worth shipments are combined with interstate forwardings in order that the bulk of market disappearance for the month may be shown. very closely, and a record output is expected this year. The Department of Agriculture forecasts the second largest supply of hogs in the nation's history for 1951. Production in Texas was forecast at 1,436 thousand head compared to 1,254 thousand last year. The increase in pork supplies should reach consumers early this fall. The estimated production of eggs in June 1951 was 265 million compared with 331 million in May and 266 mil­lion in June 1950. Eggs per 100 laying hens for June were 1,494 compared to 1,789 for last month and 1,452 for June a year ago. The cumulative egg production for the first six months of 1951 was 1,697 million compared to 1,774 million for the same period last year. The average production per month for the first half of the year was 283 million. The number of layers on farms in June was 17.75 million, a decrease of 6% from last month. Fluid milk production for June was 390 million pounds, an increase of 2% from May and a decrease of 1% from June 1950. June production was 8% below the 10-year average for June. Prices received by farmers fell this month, and the index of prices received by Texas farmers for all farm products in June was 380, a 13-point drop from the prev­ious month. Truck crops had the largest decrease, 21%. The only increase recorded was 1% in food grains. The agricultural outlook on the national scene is very good. The Department of Agriculture has predicted record crops for 1951, and the favorable developments during June place the crops within reach of the govern· ment defense production goal. Reports at the end of June show a total production of all crops just 1.8% short of the record set in 1948 and 7% above last year. If favorable weather holds out during the remainder of the growing season, a new record production could very well be attained. Cotton (The cotton balance sheet shows the basic demand and supply factors affecting cotton which is an outstandiq element in the farm income of the state.) As suggested some time ago, the early part of July witnessed the price adjustment essential in going from the old 1950-51 short crop to the prospectively much larger crop of 1951-52. The combined adjustment of base price and basis for spot cotton for October shipment,_ as compared with late June shipment, has meant a dechne of more than $48 a bale. The cotton balance sheet for the United States as of July 1 is the lowest since July 1929. This fact is not market news because it has been anticipated for several months. The drastic decline in the price of the new crop of cotton is lending great prominence to the government support price for this crop, now at the beginnin~ of.its harvest. Parity in July is about 33.85 cents for _m1ddlmg 12/16 inch cotton, and the loan at 90% of parity would be about 30.47 cents. It is reported that the Department of Agriculture has designated 30.71 cents as the loan price for middling 15/16 gross weight. The next important turn in the price will follow the first government estimate of 1951-52 production to be released August 8. The cotton world is expecti~g .16 million bales or more. A report much over 16 m1lhon would be bearish and much under would be bullish. The government is jittery over the situation and has suggeste.d that exports might reach 7 million bales. However, t~1s seems out of the question in view of increased foreign production, difficulties of many countries in securing dollar exchange, and lack of world demand for that much American cotton at current prices. COTTON BALANCE SHEET FOR THE UNITED STATES AS OF JULY 1, 1951 (in thousands of running bales except as noted) CarryoverYear Aug I 1941-42.·-······-·-·-·······-·······-··-··­12,367 1942-43.........·-·············-·····-·····--10,590 Imports to July 1* 267 176 Final ginnings 10,495 12,438 Total 23,129 23,204 Consump­tion to July 1 10,176 10,260 1943-44.·--···························-··-----· 1944-45......·-········-·····-··············-·· 1945-46..·-··········-···············--·····-··­1946-47 ··························-··--··········· 1947-48...·-········-·············-···-······-·· 1948-49.............·-·····················--··· 1949-50..·-·-··············-····················-· 1950-51 ........... 10,687 132 11,129 21,948 9,220 10,727 183 11,839 22,749 8,895 11,164 321 8,813 20,298 8,434 7,522 276 8,513 16,311 9,358 2,521 236 11,552 14,309 8,719 2,823 16lt 14,540 17,524 7,343 5,283 251t 15,908 21,442 8,259 6,846 180t 9,899 16,925 9,884 Exports Balance to as of July 1 Total July 1 1,102 11,278 11,851 1,254 11,51' 11,690 1,044 10,264 11,684 1,615 10,510 12,289 3,186 11,620 8,678 8,458 12,816 8,495 1,819 10,638 8,771 4,015t 11,358 6,166 4,765t 18,024 8,418 3,784t 13,668 8,257 The cotton year begins August 1. •In 500 pound bales. tTo June 1 only. PRICES (Chanr.. ln the level of prices are u Important to busln..aman u c~rea ln the volume of production and aalea. The Index of con­sumer• pric.ea r~preaenta chanrea in prices at retail; the Inda: of wholesale pncea •• a measure of cbana'•• ln the prices of commodities in primary markets.) By the latter part of June, the nation's businessmen began to realize that the inflationary trend was not run­ning entirely according to their expectations. After their attemp~ to build up ~ventories and expand plant during the spr~ng, many bu~messes have recently been trying to determme how to ad1ust to the current slackening without disorganizing their long-range plans. The heavy backlog of products has been especially troublesome to the elec­tric appliance industry. Radios, television sets and refrii;erators in part.icular have. been subjected t~ pro­duct10n cut-backs. Fmns producmg such goods complain that defense orders have failed to materialize as rapidly as they had anticipated. It follows that they have been trapped between excessive inventories and too few defense orders to support their large pay rolls. CONSUMERS' PRICES IN HOUSTON Pscent INDE XES, 1935·39 =10 0 Percent 3001,--,-,...---,..-,--,---'-,-~,--~-~~-~~_:..::.300 250J---t--+--+-+--+-+---ll---+--l---+--+---+~250 1 2oo•r--t---t--+-+--+-+---ll---+--+---+-+---+=--1200 ~----.......--­ 150t---+--t---+-+--+-+--+-...,,,j,_~:::.+--l---1--+---l150 100~-!..--~~::::t::t:::::t::!:::..J__JL-J__i__J___JIOO soi---t--t---+--t--+-+--+-+---11---+--+---+---lso 0 1939 1940 1941 194Z 1943 1944 194~ 1946 1947 19.;a 1949 1950 19" 0 INDEXES OF CONSUMERS' PRICES (1956-89 =100) Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor June May Apr June May Group 1951 1951 1961 1960 1960 HOUSTON, ALL ITEMS___ 192.3 192.0 192.6 175.8 175.3 Food --235.2 235.3 238.3 208.1 206.3 Clothing ------­222.4 221.8 220.5 194.8 196.2 Rent -------------­ t 168.4 t 163.6 162.0 Fuel group ----------­ 98.6 98.6 98.6 98.6 98.6 Housefurnishings ___ 205.9 206.3 206.2 183.3 183.4 Misc~llaneous -----­168.1 167.3 167.3 157.9 168.2 UNITED STATES. ALL ITEMS ---------­-­185.2 185.4 184.6 170.2 168.6 tNot surveyed. . The decline in buying power of the dollar has acted m two opposite directions. On one hand, consumers, feeling the pinch of higher prices, have dipped into their savings in the attempt to maintain their living standards; on .the other, they have become increasingly aware that the~r bank accounts are shrinking to a level lower than their plans for the future would require, and consequently ~ey ~ave been increasingly reluctant to pay the prevail­mg high prices. The same factors have acted upon busi· ness as inventories have piled to unexpected highs, and the Department of Commerce Securities and Exchange Commission predicts that the rate of plant expansion­now $26 billion a year-will decline somewhat. Late in June, the Office of Price Stabilization sustained a severe blow when the House of Representatives passed a bill to outlaw all livestock slaughtering quotas; the Senate had already voted favorably on an identical meas­ure. The OPS took the view that the bill might force ~hem to forsake the control of meat prices and possibly Jeopardize the whole stabilization structure. Under the erstwhile quota, only 90% as many beef cattle could have been killed in July as were slaughtered the same month last year. The quota for calves, sheep, and lambs was 85%, and for hogs, 105%. During the year since the Korean outbreak livestock prices have soared $3.00 to $10.00 a hund~edweight. Hogs, for example, were only $20.50 a year ago. ,They reached their peak, $25.50 on the Chicago market, last August and have since declined to $23.50. Whether the se~sonal summer shortage of pork will once again raise prices to the August 1950 level is problematical; how­ever, government authorities say that the large spring pig crop of this year will start to the market by September, and the supply level will be 6% more than last year. The beef cattle market traded 20% more volume during the past 12 months than during the year before the Korean war. Yet, during the past year cattle prices have spiraled upward by about $6.00 per hundred pounds. In June of last year, the prices of steers ranged from $31.50 downward; today they exceed $38.50. ~n June 29, Congress placed an absolute ban upon price rollbacks and outlawed many new price controls but also extended the administration's economic control agency for one more month. In a widely publicized state­ment, the Office of Price Stabilization claimed that the ban on rollbacks would cost consumers about $5 billion. Some of the banned rollbacks, affecting prices of machin­ery, shoes, cotton textiles, and many other commodities were due to go into action July 2. ' The following day, June 30, the OPS, its rollback power checked for the time being, froze prices on a wide range of manufactured goods. The freeze applied to shoes? apparel; cotton goods, household appliances and machmery, prices for many of which were scheduled to be rolled back by the impending orders that Congress killed. By the end of June, when the Defense Production Act was originally scheduled to lapse or be renewed by Con· gress, t~o strong influences were being felt by the govern· ment. First, there were rumors of peace in Korea, a peace that would change the immediate needs of the national defense establishment. Second, strong pressure was being ?roug~t to bear on Con~ress by special groups interested m various phases of pnce control. With both influences still active, no long-range decision has yet been made on the future of the OPS. According to the opposition to the Administration eco· nomic control program, there are certain steps which, if taken, would render many present controls unnecessary. This ~pposition group advocates: (a} a pay-as-you-go financ.mg of gov_ernment expenses, including defense spendmg; (bJ stricter economy in government spending; (c) more mducements to savmg money; (d) increased controls on credit of all kinds. It is the belief of those who maintain these principles that the increased value of the dollar, which they say would result from their program, would make saving more attractive, thereby inhibiting inflation even further. Proponents of the Administration price control pro­gram claim: (a) price levels of many commodities have risen out of all reason and must be stabilized or rolled back; (b) credit buying has increased so rapidly that it has given considerable impetus to inflation; (c) in the past 18 months, inflation has added $21 billion to the national cost of living; (d) the government's vast spend­ing program for rearmament will not be in full action until next fall and winter, and it is then that the real force of inflation may strike. Those who oppose the tactics of the Administration counter by saying: (a} prices have declined since March, and a natural downtrend is underway; (b) with rising production, there will be enough goods for both civilian and military requirements during the coming year; (c) in spite of Administration prophecies, shortages of con­sumer goods have failed to appear; (d) consumer de­mand has been greatly overestimated by planners in both government and production industry; (e) present con­trols have been so severe as to hurt merchants more than they relieved consumers. Most steel producers have agreed to ban any price­fixing agreements on many steel products. The Federal Trade Commission had found that about 85% of the industry had followed pricing practices that the FTC considered to be "oppressive to public interest." While the industry did not concur with this opinion, it did con­sent to the prohibition on "any planned common course of action, understanding or agreement" to manipulate prices. Three essential non-ferrous metals-copper, lead, and zinc-are expected to rise in price as the result of read­justment to world price levels. The first step in this direction came in the form of an agreement between the United States and Chile, effecting a three-cent price rise for Chilean copper in this country. Large-scale metals importers suggest that the United States will benefit from a ruling permitting these strategic metals to be bought by this nation at or near world market levels, for then, they say, the increased supplies needed for defense build­ing will find their way into this country. INDEXES OF WHOLESALE PRICES IN THE UNITED STATES (1926 =100) Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Department of Labor Percent change July 3 July 3 1951 1951 from from JulyS May29 June 27 June 27 May 29 Group 1951• 1951 1950 1950 1951 ALL COMMODITIES 180.5 182.5 167.1 + 16 -1 Farm products ---------------------198.0 199.8 166.0 + 20 -1 Grains --------------------------------176.6 184.0 169.3 4 4 + Livestock ----------------------------266.0 267.6 217.6 + 22 1 Foods -------------·------------------------187.4 188.4 162.7 + 16 -1 Meats ---------------------------------276.6 276.4 241.5 + 14 x All commodities other than farm and foods .... 168.8 170.9 148.7 + 14 1 Textiles ------------------------------178.3 182.9 136.7 + 30 s Fuel and lighting 138.6 138.5 133.1 ------------4 x + Metals and metal products --------------------------188.2 189.4 173.1 9 -1 + Building materials ---······· 224.7 227.3 201.4 + 12 -1 Chemicals and allied products 137.3 ···········-··········· 141.6 114.8 + 20 -8 •Preliminary. xChange ia less than one-half of one percent. LABOR (Employment atatiatlca Include data on both the employed and unemployed portions of tile labor force aad the number ef pla­ments made by the State Employment Service durln11 tile mon~ These data serYe as measures of the deauuad for and the supply el workers.) The nonagricultural civilian employment in 17 selected Texas labor markets continued to increase during June to 1,534,370 as compared to 1,519,020 for May. De· spite this slight rise in total employment, all hut four of the cities registered increases ranging from 6 to 33% in unemployment. For the first six months of 1951, non· agricultural labor force shows a 6% rise over 1950, and unemployment registers a 35% decline. Total national employment in June reached 61.8 million, up 600,000 from May and about 300,000 higher than in June of last year. Farm employment was down by a million from June 1950, while the total for nonfarm jobholders was up by 1.3 million. Unemployment for the nation rose in June to almost 2 million from 1.6 million in May, due primarily to the entry of students and graduates in the labor market. The hiring rate of factories showed no over-all de­cline. Industry as a whole hired 45 new workers per thousand already employed, in March, April and May. Increased hirings were reported in ordnance, machinery, metal-refining and instrument factories. The addition of workers to pay rolls in these industries is larger because of layoffs, quits or other causes. The quit rate has in· creased, and this is usually a sign of available jobs. Rio Grande Valley farmers have been worried about obtaining cotton pickers since Mexico terminated its migratory labor agreement with the United States. How· ever, a new bill has been passed allowing Mexican work· ers to cross the border to work, hut they must he paid the same wages as domestic help and have the same working conditions. Farmers will also have to reimburse the gov· ernment up to $10 a head for recruitment and transporta· tion expenses. LABOR IN SELECTED TEXAS MARKETS Source: Texaa Emplo:vment Commlaalon Percent change Classification June 1951 Average month January-June 1951 1950 June 1951 from May 1951 Jan.June 1951 from Jan.June 1950 Nonagricultural civilian labor force ---·-----·-···­--·­1,534,370 Placements --·-··-··---­39,010 Unemployment --­--­50,070 1,496,263 35,072 47,405 1,410,321 25,118 72,964 + 1 -2 + 13 + 8 +,0 -35 Percent of labor force unemployed.. 3.8 3.2 5.2 +14 -88 In the Houston area some 20 thousand construction workers received a 15-cent hourly wage increase. For the most part, however, wage increases are fewer these days for workers in the South. The regional director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics has said that only 165 wage increases, affecting about 230 thousand workers, were recorded in May. This was the lowest number of wage increases since the summer of 1950. Most of the boosts were in textile, construction, transportation, com­munication, and local and state government fields. This situation is due, in part, to the wage freeze. In Texas the average workers gross weekly wage in May 1951 was $62.01, compared to $62.20 in April and $55.04 in May 1950. The average of hourly earnings in Texas during May 1951 was $1.48, 2 cents above the average for April and 16 cents above May 1950. State employment agencies throughout the United States reported 64 thousand job openings that could not be filled in their areas. Out-of-state recruitment is going on. Labor shortages in some areas and unemployment in others are prompting unions to demand that defense orders be placed in spots where there is surplus man­power. Construction activity felt the tightening of controls as it fell to a rate of $29.6 billion per year in June, down 8% from March. Residential and commercial building is down a quarter since March, allowing for seasonal influences. Defense production is absorbing ma­ terials and labor at an increasing rate. The Commissioners Court raised salaries of all Dallas County officials and approved a long-expected 10% pay increase for 675 county workers. Raises were to be effec­ tive July 1 and will add $108,985 to the county budget for the last 6 months of 1951, a total of $217,970 a year. Dallas Textile, Incorporated, filed an injunction suit against the United Steelworkers of America, CIO, claim­ ing that the union strike on June 19 violated the con­ tract between the company and the union. The com­ pany's petition states that the strike grew out of their refusal to accept certain wage demands made by the union after the company began its war work, the fabrica­ tion and assembly of parts for B-36 bombers. In New York the CIO Transport Workers Union called a general strike of some 1,000 Pan American World Airways workers including all flight personnel except pilots. The strike is local and has not spread to terminals outside the New York area. NONAGRICULTURAL CIVILIAN LABOR FORCE Source: Texas Employment Commission Percent change Ares June 1951 Average January-June 1951 1960 June 1951 from May 1951 Jan-June 1951 from Jan-June 1960 TOTAL ------­--------· l ,634,370 1,496,263 1,410,321 + 1 + 6 Abilene 23,100 22,400 19,376 + + 16 --··-------·-··-­·--------------­ Amarillo 41,060 38,783 36,633 + + 6 Austin 49,340 48,638 46,986 1 + 6 ----------------+ Beaumont- Port Arthur 76,850 76,283 76,088 x x Corpus Christi ........ 67,500 66,867 64,092 + 2 + 6 Dallaa 276,100 271,867 253,192 + 1 + 7 ·------­ ---------·-----·--­----------62,900 62,043 + El Paso 53,967 1 + 16 Fort Worth 161,200 155,060 U0,723 + 1 + 10 Galvaton- Texas City -------49,700 49,017 61,708 + 2 6 Houaton-Baytown ___ 346,300 842,900 336,833 x + 2 Loneview 23,600 23,100 22,608 + 2 + 2 Lubbock 30,200 30,250 27,267 + 11 ----·----­ ----~--­ San Anirelo ---------20,700 20,708 19,076 x + 9 San Antonio -------·---191,200 174,917 169,617 + 2 + 10 Texarkana --40,700 39,225 34,660 3 + 14 ---------+ United Airlines was also faced with a strike of AF of L Airline Pilots Association. The pilots are demanding a maximum limit on monthly flight mileage and on the hours they are available for duty. CIO radiomen on the West Coast reached a wage agree­ment with ship operators, but Atlantic and Gulf Coast seamen are still out on strike because of a split with em­ployers over the effective date of the work-week agree­ment. The Wage Stabilization Board has ruled that the maxi­mum rate of 95 cents an hour for farm labor does not apply to such piece work as cotton picking. The Fort Worth office of the Wage and Hour Division, Department of Labor, explained that a raise of 10% above the base rate of last year is legal. If a farmer paid cotton pickers an average rate of $3.00 a hundred pounds last season, he can pay them $3.30 this year; if he paid them $5.00 last year, $5.50 is legal now. East Texas raisers had previously expressed alarm over the belief that the 95­cent farm wage ceiling applied to cotton picking. ESTIMATES OF EMPLOYMENT IN SELECTED INDUSTRIES IN TEXAS (in thousands) Source : Texaa Employment Commission in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Department of Labor Percent change Industry June 1951 • May 1951 June 1961 June 1961 June from from 1950 June 1960 May 1961 TOTAL NONAGRICULTURAL 2,016.4 1,994.2 1,884.6 + 7 + 1 MANUFACTURING -----------­390.7 383.9 344.0 + 14 + 2 Durable goods --------­-------­176.1 Primary metals ---------------­17.6 173.3 17.3 143.2 16.3 + 23 + 14 + 2 + 1 Machinery (except electrical) ----------­------------­ 28.8 28.2 24.6 + 17 + 2 Transportation equipment.. 52.0 60.6 31.6 + 65 + 3 Fabricated metals ------------­ 17.6 17.6 16.3 + 14 -1 Lumber and wood products -----­--­-------­-----­-­ 31.7 31.9 31.7 0 1 Furniture and fixtures_______ 9.3 9.3 8.3 + 12 0 Stone, clay and irlass .......... 15.2 14.9 13.8 + 1() + 2 Other durable iroods_______ 4.1 3.6 2.6 + 68 + 14 Nondurable goods ----­------------­Textile mill products_________ 214.6 9.9 210.6 10.0 200.8 9.0 + 7 + 10 + 2 -1 Apparel --­----­------­--­----­------­ 28.5 27.9 26.9 + 6 + 2 Food --------------------------------------­ 61.3 68.5 61.3 0 + 6 Paper and allied products.. 6.1 6.1 5.8 + 6 0 Printinir and publi1hin1r .. ­ 21.4 21.6 21.7 -1 x Chemicals and allied products -------------------­----­ 84.0 33.8 30.5 +11 + 1 Petroleum and coal products ·--------­---­-------------­ 44.1 43.6 37.7 + 17 + 1 Leather ------------­-----------­-----­ 2.6 2.6 2.4 + 8 0 Other nondurable .roods.. .... 6.7 6.6 5.6 + 22 + 2 NONMANUFACTURING.. 1,624.7 1,610.3 1,640.6 + 5 + 1 Mining ------·-------··---·-----------­116.3 111.3 106.8 + 9 + 4 Construction --------­-------------­ 162.7 160.0 189.0 + 17 + 2 Transportation and public utilities ---­--------­ 218.1 2U.6 216.4 + 1 + 2 Trade ----------------­-----------­ ~15.8 615.6 501.0 + 8 x Wholesale trade ---­----­18S.6 134.6 126.6 + 6 -1 Retail trade --------------·-­382.2 380.9 374.6 + 2 x Finance, service and miacellaneoua ----­-·----------­317 .0 313.2 312.0 + 2 + 1 Government ------------------------­296.8 296.8 266.8 + 11 0 Waco 44,260 44,283 44,133 x xChanire ia less than one-half of one percent. Wichita Falls 40,680 39,933 84,3'8 2 + 16 -----+ •Preliminary. FINANCE Business Finance (Since the condition of business la both reflected by and dependent upon financial conditions, various Indicators of financial activity are eaaentlal for proper analysis of the husinesa situation.) Few significant changes occurred in the national finan­cial picture during the month of June. The easier con· ditions in the New York money market during the first three weeks of the month resulted not from Federal Reserve policy but from certain transitory factors. There is no indication that the tighter policy adopted by the Federal Reserve authorities in March (discussed in the June issue of the Review) will be changed during the next few months. Businessmen can therefore expect financial institutions to continue the conservative lending policy which has been the chief characteristic of the recent financial situation. Study of the changes in condition of weekly reporting member banks of the 11th Federal Reserve District indi­cates that the activities of banks in the Southwest are in conformity with the national trend. W.Qile total loans of these banks expanded by 19% during the last year, a net contraction of 1 % has occurred in the month of June. ,This curtailment in the rate of bank lending restricts the growth of commercial bank deposit liabilities and there­fore tends to restrain the growth of an already swollen money supply. Consumers and businessmen in the 11th Federal Reserve District have less funds to spend for goods and services, and thus at least one cause of inflation is cut off at the source. Total spending, however, is a function not only of the absolute level of the money supply, but is also affected by the rate at which people spend their cash balances. It is therefore necessary to analyze deposit turnover rates CHANGES IN CONDITION OF WEEKLY REPORTING MEMBER BANKS IN THE DALLAS DISTRICT Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Percent change• June 1951 June 1951 June 1950 from from from Item June 1950 May 1951 May 1950 ASSETS Loans and investments ------------+ 4 x + 1 Loans -------------------------------------------+ 19 -1 + 1 + Total U .S. Government securities -14 3 x Treasury bills -6 54 47 -----------------------+ + Treasury certificates of indebtedness -------------------------45 -40 Treasury notes x -26 35 United States bonds -13 2 1 -------------------------+ ---------+ Other securities -------------------------+ 21 + 2 + 1 Reserve with Federal Reserve banks 18 5 4 -----------------···----------·-----+ + + Cash in vaults -------········---·-------··--3 0 + 12 Balances with domestic banks-··-·· + 3 + 14 + 9 LIABILITIES Total deposits (except interbank) 5 x 1 -----------------------·--·-+ + Demand deposits (adjusted) ____ + 4 + 1 Time deposits -------·-···----·--···-----3 x x U.S. Government deposits.·-·-·-··· + 77 + 27 + 12 Interbank deposits 7 16 -------------+ + 22 Domestic banks ------------······-······· + 8 + 16 + 5 Foreign banks ----------------------···-+ 13 + 17 0 CAPITAL ACCOUNTS -···------+ 11 0 + 16 *Percentage comparisons are based on week ending nearest the close of the calendar month. xChana:e is less than one-half of one percent. to determine the extent that bank deposits are sitting idle or are "on the wing." In the 20 Texas cities for which data concerning bank debits and the rate of deposit turn· over are available, holders of deposits reduced slightly ( 1 % ) their spending rate during June. There were no extremely large increases or decreases in any of the 20 cities. It therefore appears that the restriction in growth of the money supply has not been offset by an increase in the rate of spending. The result of these two factors has been less spending on the part of buying units in our ecqnomy and a slackening of the upward pressure on prices. Although it is still too early to make a definite state· ment concerning the effectiveness of the recent shift in Federal Reserve policy, it appears that unless events take an unforeseen turn in the near future the policy will be quite successful in achieving the purpose for which it was designed, that is, to reduce total demand in order to stem price rises and to facilitate the defense program. BANK DEBITS* (in thousands) Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Percent chan11e City June 1951 Average month January-June 1951 1950 June 1951 from May 1951 Jan.June 1961 from Jan-June 1950 TOTAL ______ $4, 794,899 $4,891,374 $3,959,662 x + 24 Abilene ----­ 48,394 61,545 43,279 + 2 +19 Amarillo -·--­--Austin ------­ 120,070 133,989 126,719 153,873 102,018 133,664 + 2 + 2 + 24 +16 Beaumont --·--­Corpus Christi ·-Corsicana --·------­ 117,617 117,750 12,158 114,669 115,807 12,663 97,309 92,809 9,986 + 3 + 2 + 8 + 18 +25 +27 Dallas ---·-···-·-·­1,307,27 4 El Paso -------------­165,230 Fort Worth ·-----­463,998 Galveston ----------­76,869 1,420,771 177,053 453,381 79,329 1,153,470 145,883 364,730 68,083 + 4 x 9 + 28 +21 +28 +17 Houston -·············· 1,432,339 Laredo ----------­20,212 Lubbock ------------­81,679 1,392,936 21,158 99,258 1,098,097 17,280 85,688 + 1 -9 6 + 27 +23 +16 Port Arthur ---·· San Angelo ····---· San Antonio __ Texarkanat -­-Tyler -·----­Waco ----------­Wichita Falls ·-­ 43,511 46,009 382,333 30,526 50,009 66,905 78,127 40,465 43,409 364,672 30,743 49,227 69,541 74,619 31,512 35,912 298,261 25,744 43,623 60,392 62,227 + 8 + 6 + 6 + 8 + 6 3 + 6 + 28 +21 +22 +19 +18 +16 +20 •Debits to deposit accounts except interbank accounts. tincludes two banks in Arkansas, Ei11hth District. xChange is less than one-half of one percent. Goverrunent Finance (Federal and state tax collections vary directly with ti.. level of bualneH proaperlty and consequently aerve u an Inda of ecenemla cendltlons.) On June 30, at the end of fiscal year 1951, fiscal oper· ations of the United States Treasury showed a budgetary surplus of slightly more than $3.5 billion. The cash sur· plus, which includes Treasury receipts of contributions to government trust funds, was even larger in amount. The existence of a large surplus during a period of arrne.d conflict and a concentrated preparedness program 1s highly significant and deserving of careful study by businessmen and economists. The surplus occurred primarily because of errors in forecasting; in brief, government receipts from taxation were much larger than were expected, while actual expenditures lagged somewhat in relation to planned amounts. The unexpectedly large tax receipts resulted primarily from increases in monetary income during the year; as business and consumer incomes rose, income tax payments automatically increased. The lagging expendi­tures resulted from slowness in getting the stepped-up defense program under way. FEDERAL INTERNAL REVENUE COLLECTIONS* Source: omce of the Collector, Internal Revenue Service, Treasury Department July 1-June 30 Percent District 195{}-51 1949-50 change TEXAS --------$1,680,565,016 $1,287 ,031,489 + 31 Income --­-­ 1,051,907,812 786,406,126 + 34 Employment Withholding _ ___ --­ 63,277,647 411,603,668 59,903,732 296,106,636 + 6 + 39 Other FIRST DISTRICT -­ 153,776,889 874,419,384 144,614,995 701,477,162 + 6 + 25 Income ----­Employment ___ 547 ,872,134 26,840,241 440,162,303 17,613,827 + 24 + 62 Withholding -­- 216,627,299 167,786,136 + 29 Other -----­SECOND DISTRICT - 83,079,710 806,145,632 75,916,896 685,654,327 + 9 + 38 Income _ 604,035,679 846,243,823 + 46 Employment Withholding ---­---­ 36,437,406 194,976,368 42,289,904 128,321,499 -14 + 52 Other ----­ 70,696,179 68,699,099 + 3 "Withholding receipts f* BAYTOWN: (pop. 22,927):1: Retail sales -----------------------------­-----­---­Department and apparel store sales____ Postal receipts _________________ _________________________ $ Building permits -----------------------------------­$ Air express shipments --------­-------------­46,817 272,248 186 -11 -20 -6 + 3 -32 + 2 + 9 + 12 -43 + 13 Postal receipts ---------------------$ 11,477 Bank debits to individual accounts (thousands) -----­---------------$ End-of-month deposits (thousands)•___ $ Annual rate of deposit turnover__________ 15,619 17,473 10.6 7 + 3 2 + 5 + 4 Bank debits to individual accounts (thousands) ----------­------------------­-$ End-of-month deposits (thousands)•....$ 48,394 50,065 + 2 + 19 + 15 Unemployment (area) --------------­--Placements in employment (area) ___ Nonagricultural civilian labor force 8,500 6,449 + 8 + -49 + 81 Annual rate of deposit turnover__________ Unemployment -----­---------------------­Placements in employment ------------­---­Nonagricultural civilian labor force_ ______ Percent of labor force unemployed_______ 11.5 800 745 23,100 3.5 AMARILLO: (pop. 73,737) * Retail sales ---------------------------------­Apparel stores ---­---­---­----------­Automotive stores ----------------­Food stores ---------------------­-----­Furniture and household stores_______ 0 -11 x + 1 -10 -2 -11 + 13 -1 -35 + 3 -9 + 25 + 16 -20 + 9 + 14 + 4 + 26 + 17 (area) ----­---------------------------­Percent of labor force unemployed (area) -------------------­------------­846,300 2.5 BEAUMONT: (pop. 93,715>* Retail sales --­---------------­Automotive stores -------------­E'ating and drinking places -----­------­Food stores --­-------­----------­Furniture and household stores_____ General merchandise stores ----­Lumber, building material x + 9 + 5 + 9 1 1 +us 7 + 2 -50 + 10 +11 + 2 -1 + 16 + 6 Department and apparel store sales___ Postal receipts ----------------------­------­---$ 87,845 Building permits -------­------------------------$ 1,265,575 Air express shipments -------------------------­438 Bank debits to individual accounts -16 -5 + 10 -10 + 11 + 6 + 11 -12 and hardware stores ------­Department and apparel store sales__ Postal receipts -------­--------­---------$ Building permits -------------------$ Air express shipments ---------­ 58,735 409,644 215 + -10 -18 -8 -28 9 + 7 + 6 -42 + 8 (thousands) ----­---------­---------------------$ End-of-month deposits (thousands)•­$ Annual rate of deposit turnover_______ Unemployment ------­-----------------­------­Placements in employment ----------­Nonagricultural civilian labor force________ Percent of labor force unemployed_________ 120,070 97,075 14.8 1,250 1,683 41,050 3.0 + 2 1 + 2 0 8 + 1 3 + 24 + 4 + 19 + 2 + 51 + 6 -5 Bank debits to individual accounts (thousands) ----------------$ End-of-month deposits (thousands) •--S Annual rate of deposit turnover___ Unemployment (area) ---­---­Placements in employment (area) __ Nonagricultural civilian labor force 117,617 88,538 16.0 5,650 1,597 + s + 1 + 3 3 -14 + 18 -1 + 19 -81 + 16 AUSTIN: (pop. 131,964)* Retail sales -----­---------­-----------­-Apparel stores ----------------------­Automotive store! --------------------­----­Eating and drinking places_________ Filling stations ----------------------­Food stores -----------------------------------­Furniture and household stores_________ Lumber, building material and hardware stores -------­---------­-----­Department and apparel store sales____ Postal receipts ----------------­-------------------­$ 158,769 Building permits -----------------­--------------$ 1,172,856 Air express shipments ------------------­-----­329 Bank debits to individual accounts (thousands) --------­----­------------­------$ End-of-month deposits (thousands)•....$ Annual rate of devosit turnover___________ Unemployment ---------­---­------------­------­--­-­Placements in employment ----·­--------·------­Nonagricultural civilian labor force________ Percent o! labor force unemployed__________ 133,989 109,838 14.6 1,990 1,588 49,340 4.0 CORSICANA: (pop. 19,108) * -7 -19 + 5 -9 -14 -4 -24 -4 -20 -12 -26 -25 + 2 + 3 + 20 + 3 + 1 + 18 3 + 9 8 + 8 + 7 + 34 -13 6 + 2 + 9 -37 + 8 + 15 -1 + 15 + 5 + 21 + 6 0 (area) ------------------­Percent of labor force unemployed (area) -----------------­Export cars unloaded ---------­Water-borne commerce (tons) ---­76,850 7.4 41 22,787 BIG SPRING: (pop. 17,258)* Retail sales -------------­Department and apparel store sales_ Postal receipts --------------------$ Air express shipments ---­-------------­Bank debits to individual accounts (thousands) -----------------$ End-of-month deposits (thousands)•_$ Placements in employment -------­15,220 37 18,731 25,072 182 BROWNSVILLE: (pop. 36,176) * Retail sales -------------­Department and apparel store sales___ Postal receipts ------­------------------------* Building permits ------------------$ Air express shipments -----­------------­Placements in employment ------­---­Export cars unloaded -------------­Coastal cars unloaded -----------­---­-16,648 141,819 892 451 864 8 x 8 -87 + 79 + 4 -14 + 86 -14 + 4 4 9 x + 9 6 -71 -10 -18 + 75 -38 x -82 -64 -20 + 19 + 10 + 16 -6 + 15 8 + 6 + 5 -46 + 8 + 88 + 57 -70 Postal receipts --·--·­-------------------­----------------$ Bank debits to individual accounts (thousands) ---------­---­------------------------$ End-of-month deposits (thousands)•­---$ Annual rate of deposit turnover_ ________ Placements in employment --------­---------­ 11,969 12,158 20,473 7.0 203 -16 + 8 3 + 8 + 7 + 19 + 27 + 2 + 25 + 22 BRYAN: (pop. 18,072>* Department and a.pparel store sales__ Postal receipts ---------------------$ Building permits ----------------$ Air express shipments ------­Placements in employment -----­ 10,167 144,450 16 877 + 3 -16 +lao -80 + 70 -2 + 2 -26 +u + 7 For explanation of symbols, see p. 23. For explanation of symbols, see p. 28. JULY 1951 LOCAL BUSINESS CONDITIONS Percent change Percent change Jan-June Jan-June 1961 1951 June 1961 from June 1961 from June from Jan-June J une from Jan-June City and item 1961 May 1951 1960 City and item 1961 May 1951 1950 BROWNWOOD: (pop. 20,140); DALLAS: (pop. 432,927); Retail oales --------------­+ 7 + Retail sales ------------------------­-10 + 8 Department and apparel store sales ---14 + '3 Apparel stores ------------------------­-19 + 9 P0&tal receipto __ _____________$ 14,492 + a + 6 Automotive stores ------------------­6 + 6 Air express shipmento ----------­23 -30 + 10 Department storest ----·-·-------·----·----·-----19 + 7 Bank debits to individual accounts Eating and drinking places________ + 3 + 11 (thouoands) -------------------$ 11,776 + 2 + 17 Filling stations --·-------------------­-2 + 7 Fnd-of-month deposits (thousandsr•....$ 13,366 + + 2 Food stor es ----------------------------+ 2 + 14 Annual rate of deposit turnover____ 10.6 0 + 16 Furniture and household stores_______ + 12 -12 Placements in employment -------191 + 2 -1 Lumber, building material and hardware stores -----------------­-17 + 16 Office, store and school CLEBURNE: (pop. 12,845)* supply dealers ----------------10 + 19 Department and apparel store sales_ _ -21 + 18 Postal receipts --·-------------------$ 1,058,335 8 + 8 Building permits ___________________$ 6,790,077 x xP0&tal receipts ---------------------------­7,469 8 + 8 Bank debits to individual accounts Air express shipments ------------7,267 11 + 14 Bank debits to individual accounts (thousands) -----------------------6,844 + 2 End-of-month dep0&its (thousands)•___$ 10,046 -10 (thousands) -----------------$ 1,307,274 + 23 4 End-of-month deposits (thousands)"__$ 927,773 + 2 + 12 Annual rate of deposit turnover_____ 17.2 5 + 9 CORPUS CHRISTI: (pop. 108,053)* Unemployment ·--------------------------------­6,000 + 33 48 -Placements in employment --------6,856 + 1 + 61 Retail sales ------------­ 4 + 6 Nonagricultural civilian labor force____ _ 275,100 + 1 + 7Apparel stores -----------­+ 6 + 6 Percent of labor force unemployed_____ 2.2 + 29 -61 Automotive atores -------------­1 + 9 Department storest ·--·--·-------------------­6 + 6 Food atores --------------------­-20 1 DENTON: (pop. 21,345) * Furniture and household stores --­x 5 Retail aales ------------11 7 Lumber, building material Department and apparel store sales____ -14 and hardware stores ----­6 -14 Postal receipts _____ ___ __________$ 13,204 -28 + 2 85,228 -14 P0&tal receipts ----------$ + 10 Building permits ----------------$ 72,950 -68 -c(9 Building permits _ __________$ 692,310 -29 -25 Bank debits to individual accounts Air express shipments ------­352 9 + 17 (thousands) ____________ __$ 10,018 + 6 Bank debits to individual accounts End-of-month deposits (thousands) •---S 12,610 + 6 (thousands) --------------$ 117,760 + 2 + 25 Annual rate of deposit turnover____ _ 9.8 + 2 End-of-month deposits (thousands)•__$ 91,379 a + ' Placements in employment ---------27 + 4 + 2 Annual rate of deposit turnover___ 16.2 + 3 + 18 Unemployment ------------­2,200 + 26 -19 EL PASO: (pop. 130,003); Placements in employment ----1,701 -9 + 7 Nonagricultural civilian labor force____ 67,600 + 2 + 6 Retail sales ----------­-6 + 8 Percent of labor force unemployed.__ 8.8 + 23 -24 Apparel stores ----------------------­-13 + 9 Export cars unloaded --------­141 +139 + 5 Automotive stores -------------­+ 10 Water connections ----------------­29,407 + 1 +11 Department stor est ····-·--------------·---·------'5 + 7 Electric connections ------------33,868 + 1 +11 9 + 9 Furniture and household stores_______ General merchandise stores -------­x + 6 Lumber, building material 2 DENISON: (pop. 17,444); and hardware stores -------·--------· -19 Office, store and school Retail aales -------------­-1 + 4 Department and apparel store saJes__ -19 -13 supply dealers ------------------·--­-37 + 32 P0&tal receipts ___ _ _______ $ Postal receipts -----------------------·-$ 138,808 -8 + 16 10,448 -6 + 8 Building permits ·--·-·------------------------$ 1,074,699 + 10 -22Building permits ------·---------------' 39,015 -41 + 99 Air express shipments ····----------------------·-­1,174 11 + 2 Bank debits to individual account• Bank debits to individual accounts (thousands) ---------------·--------------' 8,656 -14 +a (thousands) ------------..·--·----·-··--------$ 166,230 x + 21 End-of-month deposits (thousands)•_ $ 12,432 + 2 + 10 Annual rate of deposit turnover__________ 8.3 -16 + 3 End-of-month deposits (thousands)•....$ 130,891 + 3 Annual rate of deposit turnover__________ 16.1 0 + 19Placements in employment ---------351 -23 + 36 Unemployment -------·--·----·--·-·-······----·--­2,000 + 11 -26 Placements in employment -------------1,720 9 + 26 N onagricu1tural civilian labor force._____ _ 62,900 + 1 + 16 DEL RIO: (pop. 14,191); Percent of labor force unemployed........_ 3.2 + 10 -36 P0&tal receipts __________$ 6,672 -3 -2 Building permits ----·-·---------------$ 23,996 -9 -61 Air expres1 ohipments ---------------------­33 -23 -19 GREENVILLE: (pop. 14,697):1: Bank debits to individual account• Retail sales -----·------------------··-·----------+ 1 6 (thousands) -----·----------------··' 6,911 + 13 Department and apparel store sales._____ + 1 2 End-of-month deposits (thousands) • -S 9,988 + 1 Postal receipts ----------------------·--·--·-------·$ 12,530 -15 1 Annual rate of deposit turnover______ _ 8.4 -18 256 Placements in employment --·---·····--------+ 16 + 8 For explanation of aymbols, see p. 23. For explanation of symbols, see P-23. TEXAS BUSINESS REVIEW LOCAL BUSINESS CONDITIONS Percent change Percent change Jan-June Jan-June 1951 1951 June 1951 from June 1951 from June from Jan-June June from Jan-June City and item 1951 May 1951 1950 City and item 1951 May 1951 mo FORT WORTH: (pop. 277,047) * HENDERSON: (pop. 6,802)* Department and apparel store sales._ -24 -11Retail sales -------------------------­-9 + 4 Postal receipts ------------------$ 6,814 -9 + 7 Apparel stores ---------------------------------­-14 + 13 Building permits -------------------$ 16,650 -47 -25 Automotive stores -------------------------------­-8 -17 Bank debits to individual accounts Department storest ---------------------------------12 + 7 (thousands) -----------------$ 2,209 + 8 Eating and drinking places_____________ + + 6 + 13 End-of-month deposits (thousands)•-$ 12,817 3Filling stations ----------------------------------­2 x Annual rate of deposit turnover_____ 2.0 + 5 + 5 Food stores --------------------------------------­+ 5 + 19 Placements in employment --------------391 +185 + 48 Lumber, building material and hardware stores -----------------------11 + 29 Postal receipts -----------------------------------$ 366,895 -9 + 8 HOUSTON: (pop. 594,321)* Retail sales Building permits -------------------------------$ 3,101,981 -20 + 23 --------------------­-6 +16 Air express shipments -------------------------1,891 -10 + 22 Apparel stores ----------­-14 + 12 Bank debits to individual accounts Automotive stores ------------­-1 +13 (thousands) --------------------------------------$ 463,998 + + 28 Department storest -----------------------------11 + 20 Eating and drinking places_______ End-of-month deposits (thousands)•....$ 850,545 3 + 11 4 + 17 Annual rate of deposit turnover --------­15.7 + 1 + 15 Filling stations ------------­x + 6 Unemployment -------------------------------­5,500 + 20 -35 Food stores -------------------------5 + 20 Furniture and household stores_______ -26 Placements in employment -------------­6,527 + 2 + 67 + 2 Nonagricultural civilian labor force__ 161,200 + 1 + 10 Liquor stores -----------­4 + 9 Percent of labor force unemployed______ 3.4 + 17 -41 Lumber, building material and hardware stores -----------1 + 44 Postal receipts -------------------------$ 698,811 6 + 8GALVESTON: (pop. 65,898) * Building permits --------------------------$ 7,738,675 -21 + 5 Retail sales -----------------------­-18 + 11 + Air express shipments ---------------------4,019 -18 Bank debits to individual accounts Apparel stores -------------------------­-21 + 6 Automotive stores ------------------------------­-29 + 8 (thousands) ------------------------$ 1,432,839 + + 27 Florists --------------------------------------57 + 7 End-of-month deposits (thousands)•----$ 1,072,078 x +10 Annual rate of deposit turnover.____ 16.0 + 1 + 14 Food stores -----------------------------+ 4 + 5 Jewelry stores ------------------­+ 8 -10 Unemployment (area) --------8,500 + 8 -49 Lumber, building material Placements in employment (area)__ 6,449 + 1 + 81 Nonagricultural civilian labor force Department and apparel store sales___ -21 +11 (area) ---------------­346,300 x + 2 Postal receipts ---------------------------$ 58,568 -7 + 3 and hardware stores -----------8 +u Percent of labor force unemployed Building permits --------------------$ 5,034,285 +3604 +ioo (area) -----------------­2.5 + -50 Air express shipments ---------------------289 -20 + 11 Export cars unloaded ------------------­5,583 8 + 68 Bank debits to individual accounts Coastal cars unloaded ------------82 + 88 -68 (thousands) -------------------------------$ 76,869 9 + 17 End-of-month deposits (thousands)•----$ 99,276 x + 6 LONGVIEW: (pop. 24,445) * Annual rate of deposit turnover___________ 9.2 9 + 10 Postal receipts ---------------------------$ 22,928 + 9 +12 Unemployment (area) -------------------------­1,700 0 -42 Building permits -------------------$ 884,818 -24 + lS Placements in employment (area) -------­787 8 + 56 Air express shipments --------­118 -81 +17Nonagricultural civilian labor force Bank debits to individual accounts(area) --------------------------------------49,700 + 2 -5 (thousands) --------------$ 28,550 + 7 +26Percent of labor force unemployed End-of-month deposits (thousands)•--$ 81,556 1 -8 (area) ---------------------------------------3 -40 Annual rate of deposit turnover___ 10.8 + 7 + 18 Export cars unloaded -------------------­8,940 7 + 67 Unemployment -------------­1,250 + 11 -80 Coastal cars unloaded --------------2,198 9 -18 Placements in employment -----­626 -11 +80 Nonagricultural civilian labor force--23,600 + 2 + 2 Percent of labor force unemployed_____ 5.3 + 10 -81 GONZALES: (pop. 5,630)* Postal receipts ----------------------------------$ 2,980 -37 Building permits -------------------------------------$ 22,125 + 18 -39 LAREDO: (pop. 51,694)*Bank debits to individual accounts Department and apparel store sales_ _ -15 + 52 (thousands) ------------------------------------------$ 4,697 + 4 + 18 Postal receipts --------------------------------------$ 18,619 -12 + 9 End-of-month deposits (thousands)•....$ 5,666 1 -6 Building permits ---------------------$ 88,280 -64 -37 Annual rate of deposit turnover____________ 9.9 194 -19 -6 + 4 + 25 Air express shipments --------------­ Bank debits to individual accounts (thousands) ___________________$ 20,212 9 +28 McALLEN: (pop. 20,005) * End-of-month deposits (thousands)•_ _$ 19,936 7 -7 Retail sales ------------------------------------------+ 8 -10 Annual rate of deposit turnover._ __ 11.8 6 +82 Department and apparel store sales_ _____ 15 -14 -14 --10 Placements in employment ---------332 Postal receipts ------------------------------------------$ 12,224 -9 + 2 Electric power consumption (kwh) _____ 3,897 + 18 Building permits -------------------------------------$ 37,400 + 2() -68 Natural gas consumption (Mcf) ____ 87,727 -12 +28 Air express shipment.a ------------------------­64 + 60 + 2 Tourists entering Mexico ------­15,226 + 97 7 Placements in employment --------------------· 681 + 18 + 29 Tourists cars entering Mexico -----4,910 + 86 + 2 For explanation of symbols, see p. 28. For explanation of symbols, see p. 28. LOCAL BUSINESS CONDITIONS Percent change Percent chanll:'e Jan-June Jan-June 1951 1951 June 1951 from June 1951 from June from Jan-June June from Jan-June City and item 1951 May 1951 1950 City and item 1951 May 1951 1960 LOCKHART: (pop. 5,531); HARLINGEN: (pop. 23,202) * Department and apparel store sales_____ + 4 + 6 Postal receipts ----······----------------------- ---$ 17,822 x + 4 Postal receipts ----------------------------------$ 2,317 -1 + 1 Building permits ----·-···-----------------------$ 39,660 -28 31,100 -15 + 133 Air express shipments ····-····--------------------53 0 -17 Building permits ----------------------------------$ Bank debits to individual accounts Bank debits to individual accounts (thousands) --------- ----------------· ...........$ 3,048 + 3 (thousands) ·········-·-·--·-------------····---····$ 20,317 + 7 + 9 + End-of-months deposits (thousands)•....$ 13,365 6 -2End-of-month deposits (thousands) • _ $ 4,420 4 3 Annual rate of deposit turnover___________ 14.4 + 13 + 11 Annual rate of deposit turnover._ ___ 8.1 + 9 0 Placements in employment -------------347 + 2 + 77 LAMESA: (pop. 10,706); 8 3 MINERAL WELLS: (pop. 7,763); Retail sales -----------­+ + Postal receipts __ $ 6,778 + 9 + 1 Retail sales ------------------------------------+ 8 + 10 Buildinll' permits -------------------------$ 84,800 -93 +106 P ostal receipts -----------------------------····------$ 5,968 -9 Placements in employment ----------------­173 -12 + 12 Building permits -----------------------------···-·-$ 78,490 -38 +273 Telephones in service --------------------------­2,584 + 11 x Air express shipments ----------------------------­24 + 9 -12 Rail carloadings Bank debits to individual accounts Inbound --------------·------------------------------------99 + 65 + 23 (thousands) --------------------------------------$ 5,366 3 + 37 Outbound -------------------------------------------------22 -67 -27 End-of-month deposits (thousands)•....$ 8,983 + 3 + 15 Annual rate of deposit turnover________ ___ 7.3 4 + 21 Placements in employment ---------------136 -38 +222 LUBBOCK: (pop. 71,390H -14 1 Retail sales ---------------------------------+ MARSHALL: (pop. 22,255)* Apparel stores -----------------­x + 2 Automotive stores -------·--------------4 1 Retail sales --------------------------------3 x Furniture and household stores__ _ _ -14 -28 Department and apparel store sales.____ -10 General merchandise stores -------­-26 + 22 Postal receipts --- -------------------------------------$ 13,871 + 8 4 Lumber, building material Building permits ---------------------$ 102,356 + 40 -11 and hardware stores -----------------­ -9 -11 Bank debits to individual accounts Department and apparel store sales____ -25 + 15 (thousands) ----------------------------------$ 11,674 8 + 15 Postal receipts ------------·-----------• 64,967 -2 + 12 End-of-month deposits (thousands)•....$ 18,063 -3 -20 -23 Annual rate of deposit turnover.___ _ _____ 7.7 7 Building permits --------------------------$ 1,067,438 + 19 Air express shipments --------------------325 + 14 + 6 Placements in employment 447 + 11 + 11 Bank debits to individual accounts (thousands) ----------------------$ 81,579 6 + 16 End-of-month deposits (thousands)•__$ 91,039 x + 14 NACOGDOCHES: (pop. 12,303) * Annual rate of deposit turnover_______ 10.8 4 + 12 Postal receipts ----------------------------------$ 8,242 + 32 + 11 Unemployment --------······--------------­ 900 + 6 -6 Bank debits to individual accounts Placements in employment --------------­1,036 -27 + 14 (thousands) ------------------------------------------$ 9,683 + 5 + 31 Nonagricultural civilian labor force...._ 30,200 1 + 11 End-of-month deposits (thousands)•____ $ 14,112 -4 Percent of labor force unemployed---------3.0 7 -15 Annual rate of deposit turnover __________ 8.2 + 6 + 26 + Placements in employment --------------------179 + 61 + 34 LUFKIN: (pop. 15,147) * ODESSA: (pop. 29,432); 8,642 -31 + 7 90,700 -34 -37 Retail sales ----------------------------------------5 + 10Postal receipts ---------------------• Building permits ---------------------------------$ Department and apparel store sales______ 7 + 88 Air exprese shipments ----------------------------­42 -18 + 20 Bank debits to individual accounts Postal receipts ----------------------------- -------------$ 26,313 + 5 + 16 Building permits ------·-·····-······--------------------$ 553,940 -68 2 (thousands) ---------------------------------$ 14,842 + 3 + 21 End-of-month deposits (thousands)•___$ 18,010 4 -1 Air express shipments ------------------------------­194 3 + 5 Bank debits to individual accounts Annual rate of depooit turnover______ 10.1 + + 22 (thousands) ····-·····--------------------·····-----$ 28,862 x + 25 Placements in employment --------------150 -31 + 65 End-of-month deposits (thousands)•____$ 27,620 + 22 Placements in employment ---------------------592 + + 72 PLAINVIEW: (pop. 14,023); -20 + a PARIS: (pop. 21,636); Retail sales -------------­Department and apparel store sales_____ -6 + 3 6 3 Retail sales ------------------------------­9,257 -32 + 13 Postal receipts -----------------------------------------• Department and apparel store sales______ -15 + 13 Building permits ----- ------ --------------------------$ 155,000 + 40 + 61 Postal receipts -----·······-------------------------------$ 11,158 -4 + 2 Air express shipments ---------------------------­41 + 11 -13 Building permits -----------------------------$ 27,080 -10 -8 Bank debits to individual accounts Air express shipment.a -----------------·--·-------­14 -44 -20 (thousands) -------------------------------------$ 14,364 + 2 + 14 Bank debits to individual accounts End-of-month deposits (thousands)•____$ 15,897 3 -6 (thousands) ------------------------------------------$ 12,380 + 4 + 10 Annual rate of deposit turnover___________ 10.7 0 + 21 End-of-month deposits (thousands)•____$ 14,112 x -12 Placements In employment -------------------­-18 50 Annual rate of deposit turnover__________ _ 10.5 + 4 + 26 Telephones in service ------------------·--·-4,625 + 8 x Placements in employment -··· 578 + 48 + 26 F or explanation of symbols, see p. 23. For explanation of symbols, aee p . 23. TEXAS BUSINESS REVIEW LOCAL BUSINESS CONDITIONS Percent change Percent change Jan-June Jan-June 1951 1961 June 1951 from June 1961 from June from Jan-June June from Jan-June City and item 1951 May 1951 1950 City and item 1961 May 1961 1960 PORT ARTHUR: (pop. 57,377>* SHERMAN: (pop. 20,073)f Retail sales --------------------------------------------------13 + 6 Retail sales ·····-·-·-···········-··---···---·----------··-+ 20 +16 Eating and drinking places__________________ + 2 -13 Department and apparel store sales........ -13 -1 Food stores ----------------------------------------------+ 6 + 6 Postal receipts ·····-·-·------···---------···-········-·---$ 17,071 -16 + 9 Furniture and household stores___________ _ -50 2 Building permits ···········--···········-·--········-··-$ 109,425 -26 +96 Lumber, building material Bank debits to individual accoun ts and hardware stores ·--·-··-········--·----------20 7 (thousands) ·-----·--------------------------··-·-···$ 21,012 + 27 Department and apparel store sales...... -7 + 4 End-of-month deposits (thousands)•__ _$ 14,185 + 16 Postal receipts --------------------------------------------$ 27,636 -8 + 7 Annual ra te of deposit turnover............ 19.1 + 30 Building permits --------·--------------------------------$ 962,009 + 73 -12 Placements in employment ·-·········-·-·--··---206 0 + 34 Air express shipments -----------------------------­106 -23 + 22 Bank debits to individual accounts SWEETWATER: (pop. 13,580):j: (thousands) ------------------------------------------$ 48,611 + 8 + 28 E'nd-of-month deposits (thousands) •----$ 88,748 -5 x Postal receipts -------·--------·------------------------$ 8,410 Annual rate of deposit turnover____________ 18.1 + 11 + 29 Building permits ··------------------------------------$ 67,370 -----------------­ Unemployment (area) -----------6,650 -3 -31 Air express shipments ----------------------------­37 Placements in employment (area) -------­1,697 14 + 16 Bank debits to individual accounts Nonagricultural civilian labor force (thousands ) ------------------···-··-·--··-··------$ 10,786 76,860 x x End-of-month deposits (thousands)•__ __$ 11,866 (area) ---------------------------------------------------­Percent of labor for ce unemployed Placements in employment ··-·······-·--------·· 130 (area) --------------------------------------------------7.4 3 -32 Export cars unloaded -------------------------------· 647 9 +101 TEMPLE: (pop. 24,970) f Coastal cars unloaded -------·--··-··--····--····---· 882 -22 + 93 Retail sales ·---·-----------------··--·---···--···--·····-··--·· + 8 + 7 Department and apparel store sales__ ___ 3 + 8 SAN ANGELO: (pop. 51,889>* Postal receipts ······-·-················-·-······--···--····-$ 19,776 8 + IO Building permits ···---·-·······-······-·····-·······---$ 127,277 -87 +114 Retail sales -----------------------------------------11 + 6 Air express shipments ---------------------------­34 + + 6 _ Department and apparel store sales.____ -19 + 8 Bank debits to individual accounts Postal receipts ··-·············-··-----------------------···$ 36,816 -6 + 15 (thousands) ······---·····-···-···--------·-······-$ 16,665 + Building permits ······-·····-------------------··-·····-$ 466,671 + 10 -7 End-of-month deposits (thousands) •----$ 21,328 + 6 -Annual rate of deposit turnover____________ 9.6 Air express shipments ----------------------------246 -29 20 + 4 Bank debits to individual accounts Placements in employment -----------·-----··-426 + 11 + 1 (thousands) ·····--·····----------------------········$ 46,009 + 6 + 21 End-of-month deposits (thousands)•____ $ 60,657 3 12 + TEXARKANA: (pop. 24,657) f Annual rate of deposit turnover............ 10.7 + + 7 Retail sales ···-····----------------------------------------···· -6 + 7 Unemployment --------------------------------------------800 + 7 -26 Department and apparel store sales______ -24 + 9 Placem ents in employment ··-----········-····-··· 737 + 2 + 26 Postal receipts ------------------------··-·-----------··-···-$ 40,394 + 18 N onagricultural civilian labor force...... 20,700 x 9+ Air express shipments --------------------------·-­106 + 26Percent of labor force unemployed___ _______ 3.9 8 32 + ­ Bank debits t o individual accounts (thousands ) ···-····-·············-··---········-$ 30,626 + + 19 End-of-month deposits (thousands)•----$ 23,971 + 4 Annual deposit turnover__ SAN ANTONIO: (pop. 406,8ll) * rate of __________ 8.9 + 1 + 13 Unemployment ···---------------------------------------· 3,300 + 10 -18 Retail sales ·········---·················-·····-···---·--·­-6 + 10 Placements in employment ··---···············--1,082 +100 Apparel stores ·---··----········-········---------·· -18 + 12 + Nonagricult ural civilian labor force______ 40,700 + 3 + 14 Automotive stores --------------------------­+ 1 + 7 -28 Percent of labor force unemployed...·--···· 8.1 + Department storest ·-·-···-····---·--·-····-··--·--12 + 4 Eating and drinking places_______________ x + 18 Filling stations ·--··-········-···--·········-···-·· + + 8 TEXAS CITY: (pop. 16,577)f Food stores -------------------------··-·-···-··········· + + 15 4 + 26 Furniture and household stores___________ _ Retail sales ··-····-········-·····-·········-------------­ 13 + 4 Department and apparel store sales_____ _ 4 + 22 Lumber, building material and hardware stores -------------------------7 + 12 Postal receipts ------·-----------------------··········-··-$ 9,986 x + + 62 7 867,990 -16 + 18 Postal receipts __________ __________ ________________________$ Building permits ----·-···-····-----------------·--------$ 176,166 -38 Bank debits t o individual accounts Building permits ·-·-----------------------------····-··-$ 2,861,949 -17 -1 Air express shipments ---·-··--··--·---------------­2,462 -10 + 11 + 48 (thousands) --------------···-······------··-···-·----$ 22,688 + 14 + 48 End-of-month deposits (thousands)•____$ 20,625 xBank debits to individual accounts Annual rate of deposit turnover___________ _ 13.2 + 6 + 1 (thousands) -·-·-·-·--······-·-------------·-···--$ 382,333 + 6 + 22 End-of-month deposits (thousands) •----$ 364,376 2 + 6 Unemployment (area) ·····----------------·-·-··-·· 1,700 -42 Placements in employment (a rea) ._________ 787 8 + 66 Annual rate of deposit turnover............ 12.5 + 6 + 16 N onag r icultural civilian labor force Unemployment -------------------···--·-··-····--··-···­6,000 + 33 -37 -5 49,700 +(area) -·-··-····---·-······--··------------·-····-·· Placements in employment ------------------·· 3,906 + 1 + 41 Percent of labor force unemployed Nonagricultural civilian labor for ce.._ 191,200 + 2 + 10 3.4 -40 (area) -·-·-······--·------··---------------·····-··--·-­ Percent of labor force unemployed........._ 3.1 + 29 -42 622 -24 -s Coastal cars unloaded ······------------·········-···· For explanation of symbols, see p. 23. For explanation of symbols, see p . 23. JULY 1951 LOCAL BUSINESS CONDITIONS Percent change Percent change Jan-June Jan-June 1951 1951 June 1951 from June 1951 from June from Jan-June June from Jan-June City and item 1951 May 1951 1950 City and item 1951 May 1961 1950 WACO: (pop. 84,300>* TYLER: (pop. 38,864>* Retail sales ·--·--·-·---·-----­ -14 + 10 Retail sales ---·-----·--·­- --·-·­ - 5 + 3 Apparel stores ----­ -·­----·­ -11 - 1 Department and apparel store sales -14 + 11 Automotive stores ·--··········-·······-·····­Furniture and household stores_____ _ Lumber, building material and hardware stores ·····-·················­Department and apparel store sales..... . 12 -18 + 13 -23 + 12 -7 + 34 + 4 Postal receipts .............................................. $ Building permits ················-······· ............. $ Air express shipments -------------···--·­······· Bank debits to individual accounts (thousands) ··························-······-······$ End-of-month deposits (thousands)•.... $ 50,704 294,772 229 50,009 51,672 x + 31 2 + x + 14 17 12 + 1~ -2 Pootal receipts ··-···-····­·-···-······-···--·-··$ 79,520 - 5 + 6 Annual rate of deposit turnover............ 11.6 + 3 + 16 Building permits ······-······-···--···············-$ 586,750 -61 -27 Placements in employment ---········-······ 542 + 25 Air express shipments ····-···--··--··­····­ 187 - 11 + 17 Bank debits to individual accounts (thousands) ····-···········-·····-·········-···$ End-of-month deposits (thousands)•..-$ Annual rate of deposit turnover.... -.. ­Unemployment ··········--·····--·-···-········­Placements in employment -···-········-··­ 66,905 79,769 10.2 1,200 1,103 3 + 2 4 + 9 + 6 + 15 + 13 + 1 -36 + 69 WICHITA FALLS: (pop. 67,709>* Retail sales ·······-·············-········ Department and apparel store sales..... . Postal receipts ··························-··············$ Building permits --··········-························$ Air express shipments ·····-----­81,894 787,615 192 + 17 1 +107 9 + 16 + 7 + 37 + 17 + 11 Nonagricultural civilian labor force.___ 44,250 1 x Bank debits to individual accounts Percent of labor force unemployed....... -. Railroad carloadings Inbound ·····--·······­··­·-···--··--·-··---·· Outbound -··-····-········-··-·-····················· 2.7 187 91 + 8 + -42 -38 -8 -34 (thousands) ·····-··--·--········$ End-of-month deposits (thousands)•....$ Annual rate of deposit turnover........... . Unemployment ········--··­·-····--­---·--­­ 78,127 100,842 9.6 1,030 + 5 + 8 + 1 + 17 + 20 + 6 + 12 -8 Placements in employment ···········-·······­ 917 + 2 + 38 VICTORIA: (pop. 16,102):1: Nonagricultural civilian labor force..... . Percent of labor force unemployed...... __ 40,680 2.5 + + 14 + 16 -22 Department and apparel store sales.... ­ -12 - 1 Pootal receipts ---····-····-­--·····-··-····$ Air express shipments ·­-·······-········-··­Placements in employment ······­·············· 13,192 33 250 -4 -13 + 6 + 13 + 16 + 24 •Excludes deposits to credit of banks. xChange is less than one-half of one percent. +Preliminary 1950 Census. tReported by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. TEXAS BUSINESS REVIEW Published monthly by the Bureau of Business Research, College of Business Administration, The University of Texas, Austin 12, Texas Material contained in this publication is not copyrighted and may bt reproduced freely. Acknowledgment of source will be appreciated. Subscription $2.00 per year. William R. Spriegel......... ·-·························-·····················-······-·····-·-···Dean ~AFF OF THE BUREAU OF BUSINESS RESEARCH ,John R. Stockton Stanley A. Arbingast Eugene Beard Director Assistant Director Research Supervi•orResources Specialist A. H. Chute W. N. Breswick Retailing SpocialU.t International Trade Specialist Robert Ryan Evalyn Kaiser Frances Wilson Edit<>ri1 191>1 191>1 191>1 GENERAL BUSINESS ACTIVITY tlndex of Texas Bueiness Activity ......................................................... Index of bank debits in Texas cities_____....____________ 233t 603 230t 622 230 622 234 615 227 535 Income payments to individuals in the U.S. (billions-seasonally adjusted at annual rate) ................-...-..............._________ $ 249.5 $ 245.2 s 244.0 $ 222.8 Index of wholesale prices in the U.S. (1926=100, unadjusted) ______ Index of consumers' prices in Houston (unadjusted) ____.._______ 181.7+ 192.3 182.8 192.0 183.5 192.5 182.4 191.7 161.4 178.7 Index of consumers' prices in the U.S. (unadjusted) __....__________ Index of postal receipts in Texas cities...._____.._____.._________ 185.2 346 185.4 366 184.6 341 184.2 352 172.0 309 tlndex of miscellaneous freight carloadings in the Southwestern Dis­trict (17.6 ) ......................-----------------..·--------------­Business corporation charters issued (number)-­----------­Business failures (number) ........................_ ..________________ _ 147 7 144 280 7 140 273* 4 144 258 8 142 263 15 TRADE tlndex of total retail sales (adjusted for price changes) (47.7) • ------­Index of total retail sales•........________..________________.._____ _ 195t 402 195t 402 198 407 204 419 219 412 Durable goods stores*.............----------------------------------­Nondurable goods stores•..---------------------------------------..·--------­Index of department store sales in the U.S.......·-----------------------­--· Ratio of credit sales to net sales in department and apparel stores........ Ratio of collections to outstandings in department and apparel stores____ Index of gasoline sales.............................................-------------------­ 524 348 303t 62.5 44.6 531 344 301 64.2 43.7 254 537 347 302 65.7 46.5 262 552 359 314 65.3 45.5 252 553 345 303 64.7 46.3 234 PRODUCTION tlndex of industrial electric power consumption (14.8 )........ .... ..... .. . t Index of crude runs to stills (4.5) ------..·---------------------.............. Index of wheat grindings_...........-----------------------­---­lndex of cottonseed crushed...........________________ ___________.._____ 444 200 428 202 96 134 421 198 91 132 418 199 104 llO 355 167 110 153 Index of southern pine production......___..______.._____...............---­-lndex of dairy product manufacturing______..__________.._ .._ _____________ tlndex of urban building permits (adjusted for price changes) (3.8) ___ Index of urban building permits........_ ..______.._________________ tlndex .of crude petroleum production (8.6)._______________........._____ Index of natural gas production..______...........................-..............______ tlndex of total electric power consumption (3.0)...................._________ Index of industrial production in the U.S...-............................................. Index of cement production...................-..........._______________________________ Construction contracts awarded (thousands) .....................-............-....... 57 149t 305 221 491 223t $ 98,960 137 52 162 333 224 515 461 223t 277 $150,923 128 51 163 332 224 488 458 222 263 $141,358 125 56 201 410 217 462 459 222 284 $127,010 128 73 262 504 184 435 406 200 279 $ 80,614 AGRICUJ,TUREIndex of farm cash income........................____.._______________ 254 339 355 323 387 Index of prices received by farmers (unadjusted) __..________________________ 380 393 399 390 306 Index of prices paid by farmers in the U.S. (parity index, unadjusted)(1910-14=100) ...............-........................._____________________ _ Parity ratio for Texas......................................................................_ ..________ Index of prices received by farmers-livestock (unadjusted) ................ Index of prices received by farmers-all crops (unadjusted) ................ 283 134 450 326 283 139 459 343 283 141 477 341 280 142 464 335 256 120 356 262 FINANCE Loans, reporting member banks in the Dallas Federal Reserve District (millions) ...... ........... ............... ...... .. ........................................................ $ 1,435 $ 1,453 $ 1,464 $ 1,464 $ 1,273 Loans and investments, reporting member banks in the Dallas Federal Reserve District (millions) ......................................................................... . s 2,620 $ 2,609 $ 2,621 $ 2,645 s 2,583 Demand deposits adjusted, reporting member banks in the Dallas F ederal Reserve District (millions) .. ........................................... ............. Bank debits in 20 cities (millions) __________________________ Revenue receipts of the State Comptroller (thousands) ........_______ Federal internal revenue collections (thousands)._______.._________ $ 2,131 $ 4,795 $ 51,925 $189,645 $ 2,163 $ 4,816 $ 66,465 $135,242 $ 2,156 $ 4,821 $ 59,720 $143,546 $ 2,183 $ 4,894 s 43,602 $140,047 s 2,067 s 4,322 $ 48,982 $109,990 tABOR Total manufacturing employment (thousands)*.........._____________ Durable goods employment (thousands)*..........................._ _____ Nondurable goods employment (thousands)•.................................... Nonagricultural civilian labor force in 17 labor market areas (thousands) Unemployment in 17 labor market areas...................................................... Placements in 17 labor market areas...............................................-.......... Percent of lahor force unemployed in 17 labor market areas.............. 390.7t 176.U 214.6t 1,534 50,o70 39,010 3.3 383.9 173.3 210.6 1,519 44,120 39,795 2.9 386.l 173.2 212.9 1,495 44,775 39,046 3.0 384.2 170.7 211.8 1,496 47,405 35,072 3.2 351.6 147.6 204.0 1,431 62,810 29,995 4.4 All flgureo are for Texas unlee• otherwise indicated. All indexes are baeed on the average months for 1936-89 except where Indicated and an adjusted for seasonal variation (excevt annual indexes) . tThe index of business activity is a weighted average of the indexes indicated by a dagirer (t). The weight irlven each index In compotlnir the composite is given in parentheses. tPreliminary. •Revised. Retail salee Indexes have been tentatively revised on the basis of preliminary 1948 Census ot Business reports. Manufacturing employment estimates have been adjusted to First Quarter 1950 benchmarks.