TEXAS BUSINESS REVIEW A MONTHLY SUMMARY OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN TEXAS BUREAU OF BUSINESS RESEARCH COLLEGE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS VOL. XXI, 0. 5 JUNE, 1947 HIGHLIGHTS OF TEXAS BUSINESS MAY 1947 COMPARED WITH MAY 1946 Construction contracts ------------------­Pay rolls ------------------------------------------­Bank debits ---------------------'-----------------­Farm cash income ---------------------------­Retail sales --------------------------------------­Employment -------------------------------------­Crude petroleum production __ _______ __ _ Electric power consumption ______ __ ____ __ Postal receipts ---------------------------------­Life insurance sales ------------------------­Cotton consumption -----------------------­ MAY 1947 COMPARED WITH APRIL 1947 Farm cash income ---------------------------­Retail sales --------------------------------------­Crude petroleum production __ ____ __ __ __ Bank debits ---------------------------------------­Pay rolls -------------------------------------------· Electric power consumption _____________ _ Employment -------------------------------------­Postal receipts ---------------------------------­Life insurance sales ------------------------­Construction contracts ______------------­Cotton consumption -----------------------­ PERCENT DECREASE , PERCENT INCREASE 40 30 20 10 0 20 30 40 50 60 70 BO 90 100 110 120 PERCENT DECREASE PERCENT _ INCREASE 40 30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 BO 90 100 110 120 TWENTY CENTS PER COPY TWO DOLLARS PER YEAR FIGURES FOR THE MONTH INDEX OF TEXAS BUSINESS ACTIVITY (1935-39= 100)*_______ _ Index of depa)"tment and apparel store sales (10) -------------------------------------------------------------­Index of miscellaneous freight carloadings in Southwestern District (20) --------------------------­ Index of crude oil runs to stills (5) ______________________________________________ _____________________ _ __________ _ Index of electric power consumption (15) ___________________________________________________________________ _ Index of employment (25) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------­ Index of pay rolls (25) ___________________________________ ________ _ _______ _ _______________________________________________ _ TRADE Retail snle -of 1,780 independent stores________ ________________________ __ ____ -------------------------------------------­Ratio of credit sales to net sales in department and apparel stores----------------------------------------­ Ratio of collections to outstandings in department and apparel stores__________________________________ _ Advertising linage in 29 newspapers-----------------------------------------------------·----------------------------­Postal receipts in 54 cities----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------­ PRODUCTION Industrial electric power consumption for 10 companies (thousands of kilowatt hours) ___ _ Man-hours worked in 505 manufacturing establishments.------------------------------------------------­ Crude oil runs to stills (42-gallon barrels) ----------------------------------------------------------­Gasoline stocks at refineries (thousands of barrels) ----------------------------------------­Fuel oil stocks at refineries (thousands of barrels>.--------------------------------------------------------­Cotton consumption (running bales)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------­Cotton !inters consumed (running bales) ------------------------------------------------------------------­Cottonseed crushed (tons) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------­Manufacture of dairy products (1,000 lbs. milk equivalent) ------------------------------------------------­Lumber production in southern pine mills (weekly per unit average in board feet) --------­Construction contracts awarded --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------· __ _ Co~st_ruction c_ontracts a~arded. for residential building.......------------------·-----·--··-·---·-·--·----___ _ _ Bmidrn g perm1 ts issued rn 46 c1t1es------------------·------------------------------------------·---------------·----·---­ Number of loans made by savings and loan associations______________________________ _ __ ________________________ Amount of loans made by savings and loan associations_______________________________________________________ _ Crude petroleum production (daily average in barrels) ____________________________________________________ _ _ AGRICULTURE Farm ca h income___ ·--------------------------------·------------------------------------------·-------------------------­hi pments of livestock (carloads)---------------·-------·-------------------·-----------·-----·-------------------­ Rail shipments of fruits and vegetables (carloads) ________________________________ __ _____________________________ _ Rai1 hi pments of poultry (carloads) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------­Rail shipments of eggs (shell equivalent in carloads> ------·---------------------------------------------· Interstate receipts of eggs at Texas stations (shell equirnlent in carloads) ----·-------·--·-·-------­ FINANCE Loans, reporting member banks in Dallas District (thousands) ___________________________ __ _______________ Loans and investments, reporting member banks in Dallas District (thousands) ·----------------­Demand deposits adjusted, reporting member banks in Dallas District (thousands).________,__ Bank debits in 24 cities (thousands) ---·-------------··----------------·----------------·--·-----·---·-·-----------------·-----­Corporation charters issued (number>---------------------------·-------------------·------------------------------­Ordinary life insurance sales (thousands) ------------------------·--------------------------·-----------------­ TRANSPORTATION Revenue freight loaded in Southwestern District (carloads) _______________________________________________ Export and coastal cars unloaded at Texas ports-------------------·---··----------------------------------------­1iscellaneous freight carloadings in Southwestern District (carloads)____________________________ _ Air express shipments (number) ---------------------------------------------------------------------­ LABOR Total manufacturing employmenL .--------------------------------·---------------------------­onagricultural civilian labor force in 16 labor market areas......-----------------------------·-------­Unemployment in 16 labor market area ·----------------------------------·--·--·--·--------------------·--·-------­Placements in employment in 16 labor market areas_·-------·-·---·------------------·--------·---·--·---------­ GOVERNMENT Revenue receipts of State Comptroller._ ____________________________________________________________________ Federal internal revenue collections....__________________________________________________________________________ PRICES Index of consumers' prices in Houston (1935-39=100) -------·-------------·-------------··-·-----·-·----------· Index of food prices in Houston (1935-39=100) ---------------· ·------·-----·-----·----·------------­ May 1947 187.3 284.1 143.0 145.3 256.0 119.3 219.2 $ 60,738,823 57.l 58.7 25,122,241 $ 2,661,445 227,325 3,104,211 41,746,563 17,809 14,206 12,437 1,034 6,602 102,527 226,206 $ 52,898,189 s 23,526,200 s 20,415,981 1,984 s 7,405,365 2,226,850 s 93,618,000 12,403 13,311 28 461 9 $ 736,000 $ 1,849,000 $ 1,530,000 $ 2,910,710 230 $ 62,009 282,876 17,249 173,500 25,917 324,800 1,226,863 68,356 21,640 $ 41,440,730 $ 62,651,199 157.6 197.1 Apr. May 1947 1946 189.7 171.0 289.5 268.0 145.3 134.4 132.3 150.6 270.0 244.4 119.8 107.9 217.9 184.6 s 57,596,454 $ 52,109.257 55.7 53.5 56.2 66.3 23,861,349 19,609,065 $ 2,706,246 $ 2,549,759 230,040 222,474 3,096,373 2,576,482 36,553,999 43,256,732 18,464 17,277 12,648 11,364 16,263 18,783 1,283 2,224 22,870 8,240 88.129 85,677 221 ,625 184,475 $ 63,601,739 $ 24,507,453 $ 30,456,913 s 6,801,600 $ 21,332,430 $ 19,581,390 2,040 2,342 $ 7,743,839 $ 8,562,501 2,162,250 2,114,800 $ 81,469,000 $ 79,141,000 11,730 12,041 13,184 13,681 17 69 347 l ,028 5 33 $ 736,000 $ 682,000 $ 1,823,000 $ 2,092,000 s 1,510,000 s 1,426,000 $ 2,834,656 $ 2,456,703 130 335 $ 63,467 s 80,277 272,022 249,180 19,771 9,500 165,256 162,891 23,445 23,608 325,900 299,700 2,222,641 67,576 ···106,046 21,84-5 22,205 $ 39,931,414 $ 28,168,999 $ 86,176,852 $ 52,166,566 128.5 158.6 139.7 199.2 •T he com posite index is made up of the indexes listed. All comwnent Index.. except emplo!D1ent and pay rolls are adjuated for ,,..onal v:\ri1ttion. and A.II index.a are basOO on the aTeraire month of the yeare 1935-89. Numbers tn parentheses following the component indexes indicate the weiR"ht of each index in the compoeite. The Business Situation in Texas Business in Texas turned downward in May according to. the index of Texas bwine3s activity prepared by the Bureau of Business Research. The decline was not great (only 1.3%) and it was smaller than the 3.8% decrease between April and May last year, but it was large enough to drop the index to the lowest point since November 1946. Nevertheless May business this year was still 9.5% over business in May a year ago and 87.3% above the average month of the prewar (1935­39) period. Texas business for the past 6 months has Ouctuated within a narrow range at very high levels. The postwar peak was reached in February, a month before the national peak, but the February index was only 2.3% higher than the index for last month. The same narrow fluctuations at peak levels have characterized business throughout the country in recent weeks. · 'Ihere was nothing uncertain about the downturn of Texas business during May. Of the six indexes that go into the general State index, four went down, one rose slightly and only one advanced. Last year-similar tend­encies appeared. The question is whether the present downswing in business is like those in May and Septem­ber of last year that proved to be short-lived or is this the beginning of a prolonged period of downward read­justmenL Tralle in Texas continued high in May. The retail ltlle. of independent stores were 5.5% larger than in April and 16.6% greater than May 1946 sales. The general dollar figures obscure the retail trade situation, however, because prices have risen and sales in some lines declined. Decreases }}ave developed in the sales of soft goods, luxury items, jewelry, and cosmetics, for example. Since these items are customarily handled by department stores it is not surprising the seasonally­adjusted index of department and apparel store sales fell 1.9% in May and was only 6.0% ahead of last year's figures despite the intervening rise in prices. Com­pared with the prewar period, the index was up 184.1 %. While stores of this type did 184.1 % more business in dollars in May than in the average month of the prewar period, they responded to the buyers' resistance to high prices with clearance sales and more vigorous sales pro­motions. With larger inventories, lower consumer in­comes, and a diminished rate of customer saving, stores generally were selling more goods on credit and were experiencing difficulty in keeping up the rate of collec­tion. In April 1946 Texas department and apparel stores sold 49.3% of their merchandise on credit; last month the percentage was 57.1 %. A year ago in May collections were 66.7% of outstandings at the end of the month; this year the ratio was 58.7%. Production on the wl}ole remained steady in May. Man-hours worked in the State's industrial establish­ments was steady at a level 20.5% above May 1946. The seasonally-adjusted index of. m-iscellaneous freight car· loadings in the Southwestern District fell 1.6% for the month, but the decrease was only a fraction of last year's 9.1% decline. Runs of crude oil to stills rose 9.8% between April and May after seasonal adjustment, al· most 6 times last year's 1.7% increase. Electric power consumption dropped 5.2% in May after allowance for seasonal factors, a larger decrease than last year's 0.7% decrease, but the index in May was 4.7% above the May 1946 level. The consumption of industrial power alone declined only 1.2% to remain 2.2% above last May's total. Compared with May of last year, miscellaneous freight carloadings were up 6.4% and electric power consumption down 3.5%. All three indexes topped their prewar averages by substantial margins; miscellaneous freight carloadings were up 43.0%, crude runs to stills 45.3%, and electric power consumption 156.0%. The several cotton series turned down between April and May of this year, including cotton consumption, cotton [inters consumed and cottonseed crushed, but these de­creases were largely seasonal. On the other hand, dairy product manufacturing, lumber production and crude petroleum production turned up ·and showed substantial gains Qver May of last year. *'1'lae TlmM BUllllm9 Bnorw ill paWilbed bJ' tbe Bureau of Buaineu Reeearch, Collen of Business Administration, The University of T~• ._... u -•a._ ..U.-oa J(.q 'I, 1118 at tbe poet olllce at An.Un, Texas, uader the Act of Augnst 24, 1912. · The leveling-out of production in Texas has matched the first signs of weakness in national industrial pro­duction. In April the Federal Reserve index dropped from 190 to 187 (1935-39 = 100). Manufacturers' shipments on a national basis now exceeded current orders, some materials were still short, and there were complaints of cost-price squeezes. Texas manufacturers seemed to have less to complain about on these scores than manufacturers in other parts of the country. The recession in construction, however, was as evident in Texas as elsewhere. Construction contract awards, the value of building permits, and the number and amount of loans made by insured savings associations were all smaller in May than in April, although build­ing permits and construction contract awards were still above May 1946. High prices had materially cut down the demands of business for new plants and of workers for new homes everywhere in the country~ Texas agriculture continued to enjoy dollar prosperity in May with farm cash income totaling $93,618,000 for the month, 14.9% more than April and 18.3% above May 1946. The physical volume of marketings of live­stock, poultry and eggs, and fruits and vegetables also rose for the month but except for livestock was below May 1946. High prices clearly had more to do with the farmers' lot in this State than high production. Mixed tendencies characterized the field of finance dur· ing May, some indicators rising and others falling. There was a decrease in export and coastal cars unloaded at Texas ports, but all of the other transportation series moved upward in May. Employment was down for the month, unemployment and the civilian nonagricultural labor force were down; and placements held fairly steady. Receipts of the State Comptroller continued to rise in May, but federal internal revenue collections in Texas dropped sharply. SMALL BUSI NESS AIDS In continuance Qf a co-operative plan to extend management assistance tQ small business in Texas, the Bureau of Business Research has reproduced during the pa t montl~ for fo~e distribution tge fol­lowing mall Business Aids prepared in the Office of Small Business of the U. S. Department of Commerce : What Is Important in Selling? Points to Check in Your Sales Force Successful Electrical Appliance Window Dis­ plays 13 Ways to Eliminate "Seasonitis" Corning Competition Demand Better Retail Management How to Analyze Your Local Market Methods of Sales Approach for a Women's Ready-to-Wear Shop Copies of the above leaflets, in addition to those announced in the May REVIEW, are available from the Bureau of Business Research upon request. TRADE Retail Trade (The movement of irooda Into the hands of consumer• la one of the fundamental aeries of atatlatlcal data on bualneas activity, alnct for business to be sound the volume of retail trade must be rood. During a period of rlsinir prices, such aa the present, an lncreaae In sales may result from a rise In prices aa well as from an increaae In­the amount of business. The fluctuations In retail credit ratloa art Important conditioning factors of the volume of trade. Newapaper advertlalnir linaire and postal receipts are secondary trade lndlcatora.) Total retail sales in Texas were estimated by the Bu­reau of Business Research to be $400,000,000 in May, an increase of 5.0% over April. This estimate is based on data from 1,780 Texas retail establishments that report regularly to the Bureau .. After adjustment for seas~nal variation, however, the mcrease was only 3.6%, smce there is normally an increase in May sales over April. Sales of durable goods stores increased 7.4% after · adjustment for seasonal variation, while sales of non· durable goods stores increased only 1.8%. In May durable goods stores accounted for 34.l% . of the total retail sales, compared with only 29.4%' of total sales in 1946. The prewar relationship between sales of RETAIL SALES OF IND E PENDENT STORES BY KINDS OF BUSINE SS Source : Bureau of Business Reeearch in co-operatlcm with the Bureau of the Ceneue, U. S. Department of Commerce Number Percent change of reporting May 1947 May 1947 establish­from from Business m en ts May 1946 Apr. 1947 + 5.5 TOTAL 80==~=+ 16.6====== ....................................................... ~l,~7,:,, APPAREL ........................................... .. 211 4.1 3.1 Family clothing stores ...................... 37 7.9 + 5.1 + + + Men's and boys' clothing stores........ 64 8.1 + 6.3 Shoe stores ............................................ 32 + 12.0 4.9 Women's specialty shops .................. 62 0.7 + 2.3 + + Other apparel stores ........................ 16 -9.9 7.9 AUTOMOTIVE* .................................... 214 + 45.8 + 6.7 Motor vehicle dealers .......................... 165 + 49.7 + 6.6 + COUNTRY GENERAL ........................ 211 9.7 + 6.8 DEPARTMENT STORES .................... 51 + 12.1 + 5.1 DRUG STORES ...................................... 146 2.5 + 4.6 + 9.0 GENERAL MERCHANDISE' ............ 46 4. 8 FILLING STATIONS .......................... 72 -6.6 + 1.4 FLORISTS .............................................. 47 -1.4 8.5 F OOD* ...... -.............................. : .............. 245 + 16.5 + 5.3 + + Grocery stores (without meat) ........ 52 9.0 + 5.5 Combination stores (groceries and meats ) .............................................. 165 + 17.2 + 4.6 Other grocery and combination stores --·-------------------------------------------­ + 27.8 + 23.5 FURNITURE AND HOUSEHOLD*.. 150 + 17.3 + 17.5 Furniture stores ----------------------------------99 + 12.l + 18. 6 J E WELRY .............................................. 45 -10.6 + 19.6 LUMBER, BUILDING, AND HARD­ WARE* .............................................. 235 + 28.6 + 2.7 Farm implement dealers .................. 23 + 28.7 -4.0 Hardware stores .... -.......................... 67 + 22.9 + 12.7 Lumber and building material deal­ers ....................................... -............ 129 + 27.0 0.1 EATING AND DRINKING PLACES* ..... _ ..... -...-.................. 122 5.9 0.7 + + Restaurants .. -..·-·--·-...................... 95 + 8.0 + 0.5 ALL OTHER STORES ........................ 126 1.1 3.1 + •Total includes kinds of business other than the claseifications listed. RETAIL SALES OF INDEPE DE T STORES BY crTY-SlZE GROUPS Source: Bure.au o! Business R.search in Cperation "'i the Bureau or the Celll!WI, u. s. Department of Commerce Nnmber Percent change of reporting May 1947 May 1947 eslabli5h-from from CitT-siLe group me.nt:s May 1946 Apr. 194'1 TOTAL ,7 0 + 16.6 + 5.5 O•·er 100,000 popula ion ----'i02 + 16.J + 5.0 . 50,000-100,000 population 203 + 20. + 6.2 2,50(H;0,000 population 5 + 15.6 + 6.5 Under 2,500 population 190 + 21.0 + 6.4 durable and nondurable goods stores was about 30% for durable goods stores and 70% for nondurable. In 1943 sales of durable goods stores had dropped to 18.7% of the total. The Bureau's index of sales of durable goods stores was 307.9% of the 1935-39 base period in May, com­pared to 279.41fr for sales of nondurable goods stores. The index for durable goods stores in Mav was 27.3% above the average for 1946, while for nondurable goods stores it was only 5.1 % above 1946. In comparison with a year ago, sales for May were up 16.6%, although jewelry stores, florists, and filling stations reported a decrease in sales. All durable goods stores except jewelry stores reported substantial gains over a year ago, the largest being motor vehicle dealers with an increase of 45.8%. The ralio of credit sales to net sales in department and apparel stores was 57.1 ~ in May 1947 compared to 53.5% a year earlier, which represents no substantial RETAlL SALES OF INDEPENDE T STORES BY CITIE.5 Source: Bn.reau of Business Research in co.ope·ra ion with he Bureau of the Census, . S. Department of mmerce Number Perce!lt cha nge of reporting Mai, 1947 May 1947 estabii.sh-from irom City ments l!ay 1946 Apr. 1947 TOTAL 1,7 0 -'-16.6 5.5 -· + Abilene + 27.4 .0 Amarillo 52 + 14.J 0.6 Austin 61 + 23.J 6.5 + Beaumont 49 + 21.9 + 9.2 Corpus Christi 51 + 30.5 + 11.2 Dallas 102 + 15.0 6.0 + El Paso 43 + 12. 7.7 + Port Worth 131 .16.9 -'-6.1 Gal>eston 29 + 40.7 20.3 Houston 155 + 16.5 + 6.2 Lamesa Lockhart 22 19 -'­11.5.92.0 + 5.0 + 10.6 Lubbock 14 + 27. + 0.1 Plain,~iew - 29 - 0.7 - 5.4 Port Arthur 54 + 41.4 + 13.6 San Antonio 156 + 13.3 - 0.5 Temple 33 + 9.2 + 1.2 Texas City 12 295.2 + lol.6 Tyler 23 + I .4 + 10.5 \'\ 7 aco 3 + 9.1 + I.I W ichit.a Falls Other 13 6 0 -r · 0.1 + 12.4 + 4.6 + 6.0 change iu this series for the last 18 months. During all this time the volume of credit sales has been climbing hack to the prewar relationship to cash sales. Of the cities for which individual tabulations were made, only Dallas reported a lower percentage of credit sales for May in comparison with a year ago, and this was 69.8% compared to 71.0%. Advertising linage in Texas newspapers in May 1947 was 28.1 % above May 1946. In comparison with the preceding month May linage increased 5.3%. May 1947 postal, receipts for 54 Texas cities were 4.4% above May 1946, hut decreased I.7% from April. The normal seasonal change between April and May is a drop of 2.2%; so the Bureau's index rose 0.5% after adjustment for seasonal variation. Nine of the 54 cities reported an increase in postal receipts, with Fort Worth showing the largest gain (12.9%) . Thirty-five cities registered gains over a year ago, witg the largest in­crease 36.8% in Lubbock. Taxable sales of gasoline reported by the State Comp­trolle~ were 168,079,685 g~llons in April, an increase of 4.1 % from March. This volume was 5.9% above April 1946, and the Bureau's index of gasoline sales adjusted for seasonal changes stood at 178.8% of the 1935-39 base period. Sales to the federal government in April totaled 14,157,135 gallons, a decrease of 62.l% from a year earlier, hut an increase of 25.8% over March 1947. Attendance at Texas StaJ,e parks in May was sub­ stantially above a year ago and the preceding month, CREDIT RATIOS IN DEPARTM.ENT AND APPAREL STORES (ln percent) R atio of R atio of credit sales collections to Number nf to net sales• outstandingst Classification reporting et.ores May 1947 May 1946 May 1947 May 1946 ALL TORES 49 57.l 53.5 5 .7 66.3 STORES GRO PED BY CITIES : Austin 7 46.2 40.6 6 .9 75.4 Bryan 3 43.2 41.2 61.6 60.6 Corpus hristi 3 50.3 3 . 70.1 1.5 Dallas 5 69. 71.0 57.7 63.9 Fort Worth 4 56.9 51.1 60.2 71.6 H ouston 56.4 49.6 57.7 60.1 San Antonio 50.4 43.4 59.4 69.0 Waco 5 54.1 50. 5 .9 66.3 Other 13 50.5 46.0 55.0 64 .8 BY TYPE OF STORE: Department stores (annual sales over $500,000 --­ 14 56.5 60.6 59.5 67.4 Department stores (annual sales under 500,000) -­ 6 4 .4 44.7 55.9 69.8 Dry goods apparel stores _ 4 40.1 37.6 67.7 72.1 Women' specialty shops _ 12 64.3 66.5 55.7 63.l llen's clothing stores --­ 13 45.4 39.3 67.3 72.2 BY VOL ME OF ET SALES (1946) : O•er $2,500,000 19 59.4 56.0 57.9 65.4 s1.ooo.000-s2.soo,ooo 46.2 40.9 67.9 74.1 $500,000-$1,000,000 12 43.0 39.4 62.2 73.5 Less than $500,000 10 41.5 3 .1 61.9 64.1 •Credit ' sales didded by net sales. tCollections during the month dirided by the total accounte unpaid on the first of the month. TEXAS BUSINESS REVIEW according to the monthly report of the Board of State Wholeaale Trade Parks. A total of 90,413 cars visited the parks in May, (Wholesale nle• represent the movement of soocls to retsilen,an increase of 34.7% over April. 0£ this total, 87,738 and·when compared with the chancee In retail sales Indicate whether stocka In the hancla of retailen are belns maintained at a con•taat were Texas cars and 2,675 out-of-state. The number of level or are belns all-ed to Iner-• or decrease. The lnformatloaout-of-state cars increased only 11.9% over April, while on Inventories of wholeaalers slvea an hldlcatlon of the avsilabllllJ the number of Texas cars increased 35.6%. During May of soocls to retailers, which In thi• period of shortasea la a slplfl. cant factor In the business situation.) 320,188 persons visited the parks, an increase of 26.4% over last year. This increase was entirely in daytime Sales of wholesalers in Texas for April were reported visitors since the number of over-night visitors was by the Bureau of the Census, United States Department 7.8% less than a year ago. of Commerce, to be 28% above the same month last year, but the same as the preceding month. The sales POSTAL RECEIPTS of wholesale druggists were reported to be 5% below April 1946, but all other lines of business were up. Sales Percent change of electrical goods wholesalers were up 136%, to register May 1947 May 1947 by far the greatest gain of any type of business. Other May Apr. May from from City 1947 1947 1946 May 1946 Apr. 1947 types of business were up as follows: tobacco 35%, machinery, equipment, and supplies 27%, hardware TOTAL ············-··$2,661,445 $2,706,246 $2,549,759 + 4.4 -1.7 24%, groceries 19%, and automotive supplies 7%. In Abilene 30,359 32,792 27,416 + io.7 -7.4 comparison with the preceding month electrical goods Amarillo --------·­56,853 63,736 57,614 -1.3 -10.8 and drugs reported no change, automotive supplies, Austin -·-·---·--· 123,996 114,534 118,828 + 4.3 + 8.3 hardware, and tobacco were up, while machinery and Beaumont -----·­45,632 62,140 46,527 -1.9 -12.5 groceries declined. · Borger ---··---······· 7,022 8,195 7,161 -1.8 -14.3 Brownsville ----­11,313 12,659 10,133 +11.s -10.6 VVHOLESALERS' SALES Brownwood ------­10,577 10,669 11,966 -11.5 -0.9 Source : Bureau of the Census, U. S. Department of Commerce Bryan -·----········ 8,381 9,329 . 8,405 -0.3 -10.2 Childress --·--···· 3,271 4,284 3,936 -16.9 -23.6 Cleburne -----·-­4,815 5,420 6,260 -8.3 -11.2 Percent change N umberColeman --··-·-·--­3,910 4,424 4,080 -4.2 -11.6 of Apr. 1947 Apr.1947 Corpus Christi -·­64,295 68,412 63,691 + 0.9 -6.0 reportinir from from Corsicana --------­8,652 10,001 8,274 + 4.6 -13.5 Business firms Apr. 1946 Mar.1947 Dallas ·-·-·---· 677,612 696,199 647,573 + 4.6 -2.7 TOTAL ·········-··-·---····-·······-··-···-·····-··--135 + 28 Denison -----·-­9,433 9,404 9,385 + 0.5 + 0.3 Denton ---··-····· 12,036 13,066 11,000 + 9.4 -7.9 Automotive supplies -------··---··-----·----······ 12 + 7 +6 Edinburg -··--·· 5,485 6,487 5,135 + 6.8 -15.4 Drugs and sundries* -······-······--·····--19 -5 0 El Paso -----··­79,979 91,784 95,591 -16.3 -12.9 Electrical goods ··········--·-··----··--·--······ 28 + 136 Fort Worth ··--·· 296,766 262,751 276,319 + 7.8 +12.9 Groceries ----··------------------····· 42 + 19 -4 Gainesville -----­5,475 6,236 4,984 + 9.9 -12.2 Hardware ·····-·-··---···----·-·-14 + 24 + 4 Galveston -·-·-· 48,109 49,739 52,727 -8.8 -3.3 Machinery, equipment, and supplies Gladewater --·­3,522 4,129 3,849 -8.5 -14.7 (except electrical) -······-···----···-·---·-4 + 27 -3 Graham -·-····--­3,362 3,510 3,337 + 0.7 -4.2 Tobacco --···-··-······---·---·----·-·------······· 9 + 35 +1 Greenville ·-·---··­9,194 10,563 8,946 + 2.8 -13.0 All other -··-·-------·---··-7 + 1 -2 Harlingen --·--·-­11,636 13,890 10,455 +11.3 -16.2 Houston -·-----·­468,688 468,925 424,998 + io.a -0.1 *Includes liquor departments. Jacksonville ··-···· 6,068 6,524 6,652 -8.8 -7.0 Kenedy -·-···--­2,081 1,940 1,786 + 16.6 + 7.3 ln~entories of the same establishments increased 66% Kerrville -··----·-­4,562 4,974 4,381 + 4.1 -8.3 over the same month of last year. For electrical goods Lamesa --------------­5,065 4,727 4,640 + 9.2 + 7.2 Laredo ··········---··· 15,137 16,698 14,606 + 4.3 -9.3 the increase was 330%, while automotive supplies in· Longview ---------­15,428 16,160 12,884 + 19.7 -4.5 creased 121%, hardware 84%, machinery 65%, gro· 44,058 42,054 32,216 Lubbock ·-·-····-·· +as.8 + 4.8 ceries 38%, and drugs 28%. Lufkin -··-··--·-·-·· 7,754 8,349 7,026 +io.4 -7.1 McAllen -·--­9,626 10,583 8,727 +io.a -9.0 VVHOLESALERS' INVENTORIES Marshall --··-···· 10,297 11,831 10,496 -1.9 -13.0 Source : Bureau of the Census, U. S. Department of CommerceMidland -·-··---­13,977 14,014 12,429 + 12.5 -0.3 Nacogdoches -···· 5,737 6,036 5,585 + 2.7 -4.9 Orange -·-····-----· 10,642 10,767 12,819 -17.8 -2.1 Percent change Palestine -----···· 7,625 7,906 6,299 + 21.1 -3.6 Apr. 1947 Apr. 1947 Pampa ·-··-····-··--­10,511 10,760 9,778 + 7.5 -2.3 from from 11,481 10,396 9,961 +is.a +10.4 Business Ap r. 1946 Mar. 1947 Paris ·---·--·-·· San Angelo -·-····-23,007 24,467 23,729 -3.o -5.9 TOTAL ·----··-··-----------·-··---··---·--·----··---··-··-·---+ 66 + 2 San Antonio ____ 257,530 266,909 257,553 0.0 -3.5 Seguin -----------­4,071 4,312 4,328 -5.9 -5.6 Automotive supplies ---·-······-·-········-----·--------········-··--· + 121 + 3 Sherman ·····-······· 12,786 13,303 11,260 + ia.6 -3.9 Drugs and sundries• ····--------·--------···· -·····---·····----·-· + 28 -5 Sweetwater --·-­9,229 10,632 7,511 + 22.9 -13.2 Electrical goods -····---··-·····--···---·--····----···-··--·-·----+aao + 6 Temple -··----·· 11,736 14,368 12,537 -6.4 -18.3 Groceries ·-··---·--······---····--------------·········---····---··-·--· + 38 -1 Texas City ----· 7,633 7,903 6,869 + 11.1 -3.4 Hardware ····--···-··-·--·---······--·····---·--····---·-···----·-·· + 84 + 6 8.5 Machinery, eQuipment, and supplies (except Tyler -··-··-····-·­26,519 28,988 25,518 + 3.9 ­Vernon ---------­6,574 6,527 5,551 + 0.4 + 0.9 electrical) -···-·······--·----···------··· + 65 + io Victoria --------------8,776 9,233 8,610 + 1.9 -4.9 Tobacco -······----···---··----·-·-·-···-····-·--··-··--·--·--· -8 + 1 64,729 66,811 57,250 +13.1 -3.1 All other -·---··-··-----·-·-··----··-------·-·------+ 37 + 7 Wichita Falls -·· 39,634 36,818 42,299 -6.6 + 7.4 Waco ·-·-------·-· *Includes !iQuor departments of other trades. Foreign Trade (T-.e &cures for e_.t alaipnents from the principal ports of ... State proYicle aa accurate physical measure of the current volume .I: &reip esport trade. Value firures for exports and imports, ....,,_., _..t a more common measurem"'1t of foreign trade b~) Exports of domestic and .foreign merchandise from the 4 Texas customs districts continued to rise in March, totali~ $155,500,000 or ll.3~ more than the $139.700.000 of merchandise exported in February. March 1947 exports were 46.7'/c: greater than exports in March 1946. Texas shared in the broad upswing of American foreign trade. Among the 4 districts. Galveston and Laredo showed gains for March over February of this year; El Paso and Sabine registered decreases. All 4 districts reported substantially more export trade this past March than a year ago. Big items among State and national exports were such typical items as wheat. automobiles, trucks, pe· troleum products, and steel. Allocations of grain (moetly wheat) for export were 46 million bushels in Jane. 54 million bushels in July, and 53 million bushels in August. This heavy movement was expected to put a eevere ·strain on the transportation facilities of the Soulhwest and Midwest, the major grain producing areas (aee Transportation, p. 19). The public grain elevator at Houston shipped 3,006,016 bushels of grain in May and received 1,296,826 bushels. EXPORTS OF DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN MERCHANDISE (in thousands o! doIla.re) Sour'Oe: Bureau of the Census, U. S. Depar tment of Commerce Percent change Customs dist ric Mar. 194 F eb. 1947 Mar. 1946 Mar. 1947 from Mar . 1946 Mar. 1947 from F eb. 1947 TOTAL 55.500 139,700 106,000 + 46.7 + 11.3 El Paso 4,100 4,.200 2,700 + 51.9 -2.4 Gt! es D ---97,500 ,000 71,000 + 37.3 + 12.1 La.redo 40,600 31,400 22, 00 + 7 .1 + 29.3 Sabine 13,300 17,100 9,500 + 40.0 -22.2 Imports of general. merchamli.se through Texas unounted to $8,800,000 in March-31.3% less than in February 194.7 and 30. 7'/o less than in March 1946. Slight gains for the month were reported by the El Paso and Laredo districts, but the loss of imports through Galveston more than offset them. All 4 districts handled IMPORTS OF G.EiNE.RAL MERCHANDISE (in thousands o! dolla.ra) Sow-oe: Bn.reau o! the CeU3us, . S. Department o! Commerce P ercent change Mar. 1947 Ma r . 1947 toms district :Mar. 19fl Feb. 1947 Mar. 1946 irom Mar. 1946 from Feb. 1947 TOTAL 12,700 -30.7 -31.3 El Paso 1,300 1,000 2.100 - 3 .l + 30.0 Gal'l"eSl.oD 3,100 '1,700 5,SOO - 43.6 - 59.7 Laredo 4,400 4,100 5,000 - 12.0 + 7.3 Sabine 100 • I.,eg I.ban $50,000. a smaller dollar volume of imports this past March than they did 12 months earlier. A major difficulty in building up importations into the United States at this time is the failure of the foreign production programs to come up to their original goals. As long as production lags abroad, the foreign trade of the United States rests on an insecure foundation. In recent weeks Texas foreign traders have called for greater efforts to promote imports. Shipping services at the Texas Gulf ports are being improved, customs entries are being facilitated, and plans for foreign trade zones in San Antonio and Houston are progressing. There was a sharp drop in the ex1>0rts of merchandise by air from Texas in January and a smaller (3.1% ) decline in February. The total for February was $1,591.922, the bulk of the movement taking place through the Laredo District which includes the airports of Brownsville, San Antonio, and Laredo. The drop in air exports from the Galveston District was responsible for the over-all decline. EXPORTS OF MERCHANDISE BY AIR Source: Bureau of the Census, U. S. Department of Comme.rce Percent change Dist r ict and por t Feb. 1947 Jan. 1947 F eb . 1947 from Jan. 1947 TOT AL ----$1,591,922 $1,643,030 + 3.1 ======================== GALVESTON 223,109 400,335 44.3 Dallas 26,948 2,310 + 1066.6 Fort Worth----­10,040 66,396 84.9 H ouston -------186,121 331,629 43.9 LAREDO _ 1,310,570 1,201,125 + 9.1 Brownsville ------596,774 564,458 + 5.7 Laredo 18,052 2,501 + 621.8 San Antonio -------695,744 634,166 + 9.7 EL PASO 58,243 41,570 + 40.1 E! Paso ------58,243 41,570 + 40.1 January imports o.f general merchandise by air doubled the December figures, but February imports were down to almost two-thirds of the January total. The import situation was just the reverse of the export picture. Imports rose in February through the Galveston and El Paso districts; importations through the airports of the Laredo District were off 78.2%. tMPORTS OF GENERAL MERCHANDISE BY AIR Source : Bureau of the Census. U. S. Department of Commerce Percent change Feb. 1947 F eb. J an. f rom Di trict a.nd port of unls.ding 1947 1947 J a n . 1947 T OTAL .$ 215,395 631,941 - 65.9 GALVESTON -----­ 11,116 10,936 + 1.6 Dallas 115 3,213 -96.4 F ort W orth -----­ 510 H ouston 11,001 7,213 + 52.5 LAREDO 126,389 5 0,232 - 78.2 Brownsville 3,281 10,932 -70.0 Laredo 21 San _.\_ntonio 123,108 569,279 -78.4 EL PA 0 77, 90 40,773 + 91.0 El P aso -------­ 77,890 40,773 + 91.0 PRODUCTION Manufacturing (The volume of ma'nufacturiq activity In any Industrial area la a aenoltlve measure of the chance• In business activity. The vol­ume of durable coodo manufactured tends to fluctuate more vio­lently than the volume of nondurable coods such as foods, and may serve to Indicate chances In the business situation at an early date. Since many manufacturinc industries vary recularly with the seasons, this factor must be taken into consideration in interpreting the cbancea from montb to month.) Manufacturing activity in Texas, measured by man.­hours worked in 505 factories reporting to the Bureau, leveled off by registering a slight increase of 0.3% from April to May 1947. Man-hours worked in May 1947 registered a 20.5% gain over the figure for May 1946. Gains over April 1947 were shown by firms turning out iron and steel, machinery (except electrical), lumber and timber, food, paper and allied products, and printing and publishing. Both durable and non­durable goods industries showed mixed gains and losses in the monthly comparison, with durable goods in­dustries presenting the stronger picture. For the 12­month period all industries, except paper and allied products, showed gains. Industrial, electric power consumption at Texas manu­ facturing plants registered a 1.2% decrease over April and was 2.2% above May 1946. Adjusted for seasonal variation, the Bureau's index of industrial electric power consumption in Texas dropped 5.2% between April and May this year to 239.1 % of its 1935-39 level. Runs of crude oil to stills in Texas totaled 41,746,563 barrels during May, a 14.2% advance over April, ac­ cording to information compiled by the Railroad Commission of Texas. Crude runs to stills in May 1947 were 45.1 % above the prewar (1935-39) average hut were 3.7% under May 1946 runs. Refinery stocks of both gasoline and residual fuel in Texas for May 1947 were down from April 1947 by REFINERY STOCKS• (In t houeand1 of barrel• ) Source: Th~ Oil and G48 J ournal Percent change May 1947 May 1947 May Apr. May from from Section and item 1947 1947 1946 May 1946 Apr. 1947 TEXAS Gasoline --------17,809 18,464 17,277 + 3.1 _:. 3.5 Distillate -­------­ 6,329 5,437 5,524 + 14.6 +16.4 Residual ·----­ 5,610 5,695 5,840 - 3.9 - 1.5 Kerosene ----­ 2,267 1,516 +49.5 TEXAS GULF COAST Gasoline ------­14,056 14,121 14,249 - 1.4 - 0.5 Distillate ----5,996 5,134 5,205 +15.2 +16.8 Residual 4,991 4,981 5,135 -2. 8 + 0.2 Kerosene -----­ 2,014 1,305 +54.3 INLAND TEXAS Gasoline -------­ 3,753 4,343 3,028 +23.9 -13.6 Distillate ----­ 333 303 319 + 4.4 + 9.9 Residual 619 714 705 -12.2 -13.3 Kerosene 253 211 +19.9 •Filrures ohown for week ending nearest last day of month. 3.5% and 1.5%, respectively, hut in the same period, distillate and kerosene stocks increased 16.4% and 49.5%, respectively. TQe yearly comparison of gasoline and distillate in Texas showed gains, while residual fuel stocks revealed a loss. The Texas ~ulf Coast registered a 54.3% gain in kerosene for May 1947 over April 1947, while Inland Texas registered a 19.9% increase in kerosene. Texas consumption of both cotton and cotton linter& for May 1947 declined noticeably from April figures by registering losses of 23.5% and 19.4%, respectively. Both were also down from May 1946, 33.8% and 53.5%, respectively. CONSUMPTION OF COTTON AND COTTON LINTERS ( in running ba les) Source: Bureau of the Census, U. S. Department of Commerce Percent change May 1947 May 1947 May Apr. May from from Item 1947 1947 1946 May 1946 Apr. 1947 Cotton ----------12,437 16,263 18,783 -33.8 -23.5 Linters ---·--1,034 1,283 2,224 -53.5 -19.4 Cottonseed received at Texas mills for May 1947 was 98.2% below that for April 1947, although 83.9% above that for May 1946. Cottonseed crushed was down 17.1% from April 1947 and 19.9% from May 1946. The index of cottonseed crushed in Texas during May 1947 dropped to 34.1 (1935-39 = 100), a 37.7% decline from April, after seasonal adjustment. COTTONSEED PRODUCTION (In tons) Source: Bureau of the Census, U. S. Department of Commerce Percent change May 1947 May 1947 May Apr. May from from Item 1947 1947 1946 May 1946 Apr. 1947 Received at mills --­ 206 11,353 112 +83.9 -98.2 Crushed -----·-­ 6,602 22,870 8,240 -19.9 -71.1 Stocks at end of month._ 20,535 26,931 13,660 +so.a -23.7 Spinning spindles in place in Texas, active spindles, and average spindle hours all registered losses from the end of April to the end of May 1947. Spindles active and average spindle hours showed I! decline from May 1946, with practically no change registered for spinning spindles in place for the 12-month period. Average spindle hours showed the greatest loss from April to May 1947 with a 20.1 % decrease. Active spindles fol· lowed with a 17.1 % decrease. COTTON SPINNING ACTIVITY Source: Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce Percent change Item May 1947 Ap r. 1947 May1946 May 1947 May 1947 from fro:n May 1946 Apr. 1947 S p inning spindles in place• ____ 242,496 245,824 242,392 + 0.04 -1.4 Spindles active ____ 200,274 241,690 240,640 -16.8 . -17.l Average spindle hours 314 393 402 -21.9 -20.l •End ol the mont h. Cement product:Wn in Texas rose slightly (0.6%) from March to April 1947, but showed a gain of 16.3% over April 1946. After seasonal factors were removed, the Bureau's index of cement production in Texas there· , fore declined 6.4% to to 182.7% of its 1935-39 aver­age. Shipments from Texas plants showed a 6.7% in­crease from March to April, which reduced stocks at the end of April 9.5% below the March figure. All items registered gains from April 1946 to April 1947. CEMENT PRODUCTION Cin thoueanda of barrela) Source: Bureau of Mines, U. S. Department of Interior Percent change Apr. 1947 Apr. 1947 Apr. Mar. Apr. from from Itm> 1947 1947 1946 Apr. 1946 Mar. 1947 Production 1,018 1,007 871 +16.3 + 0.6 Shipments ------1,064 997 988 + 7.7 + 6.7 Stocks 493 544 478 + 3.1 - 9.4 A.verage weekly lumber production per unit in south· era pine mills for May 1947 was 2.1 % greater than for the preceding month and was 22.6% above that for May 1946. Average weekly shipments per unit in­creased only 0.6% from April to May. Average unfilled orcfers per unit at the end of May 1947 decreased 8.8% from April 1947 figures and 32.0% from May 1946 figures. Lumber production in southern pine mills in­creued only 1.8% to bring the index to 78.5% of the 1935-39 averag~. LUMBER PRODUCTION IN SOUTHERN PINE MILLS (In board feet) Source: Southern Pine Association Percent change May 1947 May 1947 May Apr. May from from Item 1947 1947 1946 May 1946 Apr. 1947 Average weekly pro­ duction per unit_ 226,206 221,625 184,475 +22.6 + 2.1 Average weekly ship­ ment.s per unit__ 212,428 211,237 199,968 + 6.2 + 0.6 Average unfilled or- de.rs per unit, end of month ___ 772,658 847,288 1,135,500 -32.0 - 8,8 Total milk equivalent used in the manufacture of dai.rr produces in Texas for May 1947 showed an in­crease of 16.3% over the April 1947 figure and 19.7% MANUFACTURE OF DAIRY PRODUCTS Percent change May 1947 May 1947 May Apr. May from from Product Unit 1947 1947 1946 May 1946 Apr. 1947 TOTAL MILK EQUIVA LENT*_ 1,000 lbs. 102,627 ,129 85,677 + 19.7 + 16.3 Creamery butter _ 1,000 lbs. 2,298 2,015 1,656 +47.7 + 14.0 Ice creamt ___ 1,000 gal. 2,054 1,644 2,668 -23.0 + 24.9 American cheese _ 1,000 lbs. 1,581 1,427 973 + 62.5 + 10.s All otber ___ 1,000 lbs. 5,790 5,181 5,171 +12.0 + 11.8 *Mill< equivalent of dairy products waa calculated from production data. tincludes sherbets and ices. over the May 1946 figure. Creamery butter was up 14.0% from April and 47.7% above May 1946. Ice cream showed a 24.9% gain over April but .was 23.0% below May 1946. American cheese increased 10.8% over April 1947 and 62.5% over May 1946. All other dairy products increased both on a monthly and yearly comparison basis. Output of canned grapef.ruit juice for the 1946-47 season through May 31 showed a decrease of 13.8% from the same period of the 1945-46 season. Ship· ments were off 39.1 %, while stocks showed an increase of 106.8%. As a result, canned grapefruit stocks were over 2 times their year-ago level. GRAPEFRUIT JUICE CANNING (in cases of 24/ 2'e) Source: Texas Canners' Association 1946-47* 1945-46* Item Season Season Percent chan1re Production --·--·------8,239,813 9,561,319 -13.8 Shipments ----------4,780,306 7,852,008 -39.l Stocks --------------3,536,676 1,709,311 +106.8 *Through May 31. Construction (Because of the accumulated deficiency of bulldln• In all section• of the State, data on the volume of conatructlon work are an ex• tremely important part of the business situation. Buildin• permita or contracts awarded are •enerally used to measure buildln• activity, but recent studies by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics in­dicate there la considerable las in besfnnin• construction of buildin•• for which permita have been iaaued, M>d that actual coats are now 25% or more above the permit valuation. Loans by aavinsa and loan associations reflect the financin• of residential housin•· At the present time both bulldin• permits and contracts are affected by •overnment restrictions.) Expectation of a drop in the cost of building caused a decline in total construction contract awards for May 1947, showing a 16.8% loss from April. The May 1947 figure of $52,898,189 was 115.8% greater than the figure a year ago. Engineering, nonresidential, and resi· dential construction all turned in losses in the monthly comparison, the greatest decline being 22.8% in resi­dential awards. Outstanding increases in the yearly comparison were a 104.3% gain in nonresidential awards and a 245.9% gain in residential awards. CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS Source: Teo:cu Contract..,, Percent change Type of May Apr. May May 1947 from May 1947 from building 1947 1947 1946 May 1946 Apr. 1947 TOTAL ______ $52,898,189 $63,601,739 $24,607 ,453 + 115.8 -16.8 Engineering -11,709,118 12,896,172 9,058,208 + 29,3 - 9.2 NonresidentiaL 17,662,871 20,248,664 8,647,645 + 104.3 - 12.8 Residential - -23,526,200 30,456,913 6,801,600 + 245.9 - 22.8 Building permits issued in 46 Texas cities continued their downward trend by registering a 4.3% drQp in May 1947 from the preceding month. The $20,415,981 permits for May 1947 were 4.3% in excess of the amount issued in May a year ago. Houston, with permits total­ing $5,249,821, led in value of permits issued during TEXAS BUSINESS REVIEW BUILDING PERMITS City May 1947 Apr. 1947 May 1946 TOTAL ______ $20,415,981 $21 ,332,430 $19,581,390 Abilene ---­---­---­- 249,335 1,252,745 217,227 Amarillo -------­ 646,055 766,040 688,615 Austin -----1,413,750 2,279,470 1,514,540 Beaumont -----­ 447,706 368,588 213,406 Big Spring ----­ 62,905 57,605 209,100 Borger -----------­ 36,950 96,850 34,700 Brownsville --­----­- 85,730 121,455 67,678 Brownwood -----­ 247,372 63,540 10,725 Bryan -------------·----­ 204,030 155,555 202,419 Childress ------­ 6,300 7,900 40,931 Cleburne -----------­ 18,850 27,855 43,625 Coleman -----­ 221,650 17,100 26,000 Corpus Christi ----­ 751,842 1,079,612 543,169 Corsicana ---­--­ 13,600 20,555 40,295 Dallas -------­ 3,143,356 5,166,228 5,554,210 Denison 44,808 55,181 100,912 Denton --------­ 189,500 144,057 111,950 Edinburg -----­ 39,775 42,600 21,350 E l Paso ----·-­ 1,070,890 417,095 909,466 Fort Worth ___ 2,300,088 1,766,348 2,781,073 Gainesville ----­ 33,860 41,575 18,960 Galveston ------­ 231,515 129,775 84,819 Gladewater ---­ 2,375 3,100 64,300 Harlingen -----­ 207,925 157,115 95,668 H ouston -----5,249,821 4,459,386 3,516,258 J acksonville ---­ 40,300 43,400 41,450 Kenedy ----­ 145 6,800 3,050 Kerrville ----­ 61,960 98,100 61,174 Longview ----­ 164,980 95,975 67,675 Lubbock 1,154,487 583,555 237,771 McAllen ----­ 48,698 110,110 54,311 Marshall -----­ 89,494 67,843 68,475 Midland ----­ 166,600 123,000 340,225 New Braunfels ___ 57,590 87,674 58,452 Pales tine ----­ 32,874 20,913 39,900 Pampa -----­ 75,800 44,250 50,350 Paris -----------­ 28,375 50,565 65,525 Plainview ------­ 69,750 76,200 253,125 Seguin ------­ 102,986 44,745 25,735 Sherman -----­ 92,342 60,921 49,688 Sweetwater 43,700 93,760 51,000 Texas City 338,290 75,650 71,940 Tyler 217,067 339,240 336,417 Victoria ------­ 32,575 31,475 37,400 Waco ·-------­ 563,325 465,134 459,786 Wichita Falls --­ 114,655 115,790 96,545 May, followed by Dallas with $3,143,356; Fort Worth with $2,300,088; Austin with $1,413,750; Lubbock with $1,154,487; and EI Paso with $1,070,890. In the April· May comparison this year, 25 of the 46 reporting cities contributed to the over·all decline, while in the 12-month comparison 26 cities showed gains contributing to the 4.3% yearly gain. Business analysts generally felt the recession in the construction industry to be one of the most significant features of the current business situation. The postwar demand for housing and industrial and commercial buildings was immense at prewar, or wartime prices, but it. was predicted that the steady rise in building costs might dull the edge of the building boom just as it has in Texas and the rest of the country. Families anl busi­ness concerns alike have withdraw~ from a market that was drastically inflated despite the fact that the need for construction is almost as great today as it was a year and a half ago. Whether governmental controls have helped or hind­ered construction since V-J Day will probably remain a matter for political debate. Certainly the policy of the federal government was not clear-cut. Now that con. trols on construction have been virtually abandoned, it is expected that construction will be stimulated, although few expect a return to boom conditions with prices at current levels. The distortion of building costs is plainly shown in the wholesale prices of building materials and lumber (page 26). Building materials in April were 78.8% above the 1926 average, and lumber was up 173.5%. Both number and amount of loans made durinii; May by the 119 insured savings and loan associations in Texas WP,re below the previous monthly figures by 2.7% and 4.4%, respectively. Losses in number and amount of loans were also registered over the May 1946 figures by 15.3% and 13.5%, respectively. In the number of loans made, purchase. refinance, and other loans showed decreases over the April 1947 figures, whereas only purchase loans showed a loss in the yearly comparison. All types of loans except purchase loans showed notice· able gains in value over previous monthly and yearly figures. LOANS MADE BY SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS• Source: Federal Home Loan Bank of Little Rock Percent change May 1947 May 1947 May Apr. May from from Ty-pe 1947 1947 1946 May 1946 Apr. 1947 NUMBER, TOTAL 1,984 2,040 2,342 -15.3 -2.7 Construction ----­ 578 510 474 +21.9 +1s.s Purchase --------­ 851 941 1,405 -39.4 -9.6 Refinance -------­ 166 178 162 + 2.5 - 6.7 Recondition ----­ 220 194 141 +56.0 +13.4 Other -----------­ 169 217 160 + 5.6 -22.l AMOUNT, TOTAL $7,405,365 $7,743,839 $8,562,501 -13.5 -4.4 Construction ----­2,529,103 2,423,942 1,939,112 +3o.4 + 4.3 Purchase -·-----­ 3,331,334 3,844,767 5,597,220 -40.5 -13.4 Refinance -------­ 605,462 522,429 558,117 +8.5 + 15.9 Recondition -----­ 245,383 241 ,490 174,115 +40.9 + 1.6 Other ----­-------­----­ 694,083 71 1,211 293,937 +136.1 -2.4 *These data cover the lending activities of 119 insured associations in Texas. There are 2.1 uninsured savings and loans associations in the State which are not covered. Public Utilities (The consumption of electric power by industrial concerns la • measure of the volume of industrial activity, since it may be a•· sumed that the amount of power used will be directly related to manufacturing volume. Residential and commercial power consump· tion show a seasonal variation due to the changinz amount of lii:hting needed.) Electric power consumption in Texas for May 1947 showed a decrease of 0.2% under that for the preceding month, but was 4.6% above the figure for a year ago. Industrial power consumption was down slightly in May 1947, while commercial and residential power con· sumption showed respective gains of 7.3% and 0.4% over April 1947. Mter seasonal adjustment. the Bu· reau's index of. total electric power consumption fell 5.2% from April to May to bring the index figure to 256.0% of its 1935-39 average. Industrial electric power consumption also fell 5.2% from April to May and brought the index tQ 239.1 % of its 1935-39 average. ELECTRIC POWER CONSUMPTION" (in thousands of kilowatt hours) Percent change May Apr. May May 1947 from May 1947 from u.. 1947 1947 1946 May 1946 Apr. 1947 TOTAL ----469,066 470,035 + 4.6 -0.2 Commercial -­ IOI, 26 94,900 9,165 +14 .2 + 7.3 Industrial --­227,325 230,040 222,474 + 2.2 - 1.2 Residential 76,359 76,052 65, 84 +15.9 + 0.4 Other 63,556 69,043 71,10 -10.6 - 7.9 •Prepared from reports of 10 electric power companies to the llureau o! Business Research. Production of electric energy in Texas for public use dropped 2.4% from March to April 1947, totaling 615,· 004,000 k.w.h. in the latter month. In comparison with April 1946, output this year was up 8. 7%, however. Natural Resources (TM production of crude petroleum is • major industry In Texas, ... die cluuos• la the voluma of production have • direct effect ..-die '-producecl in the State. Fisurea on the number of ....U -.letloas lay districts Indicate the estent to which new _._ of oil Uld pa are ~developed Uld the areas of the State la wlUcla drflliq operations ...., in process.) Daily average production of crude petroleum in Texas for May 1947 was 3.0% above that for the preceding month and 5.3% above the May 1946 output. The index of production in Texas for May 1947 was 176.8, based on the prewar years 1935-39. Total well completions in Texas for January-May of 1947 were slightly above the total for these months in 1946. Total well completions in Texas for May 1947 were 786, of which 513 were oil wells, 225 were dry wells, and 48 were gas wells. North Central Texas led in completions in May 1947 as well as in dry wells. West Texas, second in number of wells drilled, led in number of oil wells brought in, and Eastern Texas led in number of gas wells. WELL COMPLETIONS Source' T he Oil c.nd Ge Ban.ks_ -2.6 -2.3 + 0.8 Casb in nntl + .0 + .0 + .7 Balances witb domestic banh + 6.9 + 2.7 +u LL>.BILITIES Toi.al deposi (except interbank) _ -.6 + 0.9 -0.2 Demand deposits adjusted + 7.3 + 1.3 + 0.9 Time deposi + 9.5 + 1.5 + 1.3 nit.eel tales Go,-ernment deposi _ -90.9 -22.5 -6.0 lnterbank de i : Domestic banks -13.4 + 2.2 + 1.5 Foreign banks ________ +so.o 0 0 CAPITAL ACCOUNT -----+7.6 + 0.6 + 0.7 •Percentage comparisons based on week ending nearest the close of calendar month. a third of that amount at the end of May 1947. Federal Reserve notes of that Bank in actual circulation con­tinued their moderate decline and stood at $571 million on May 28. SUMMARY STATEMENT OF CONDITION OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF DALLAS (in thousand• of dollars) Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve SY11tem Percent change Classification May28 1947 Apr. 30 1947 May29 1946 May28 1947 froqi May 29 1946 May28 1947 from Apr. 30 1947 ASSETS Go!d certificate reserves ---­ 460,272 467,316 479,511 - 4.0 - 1.5 U.S. Government securities ---· 885,794 889,039 893,252 - 0.8 - 0.4 Discounts and ad­ vanees ---­ 1,219 1,306 3,984 -69.4 - 6.7 Other cash ___ 10,932 12,093 7,891 +38.5 - 9.6 Otber assets ___ 95,543 93,448 90,265 + 5.8 + 2.2 TOTAL ASSETS _ l,453,760 1,463,202 1,474,903 -1.4 -0.6 LIABILITIES Federal Reser ve notes 571,468 573,314 591,358 - 3.4 - 0.3 Deposits -­-- - 775,866 787,295 790,415 - 1.8 - 1.5 Otber liabilities _ _ 82,098 78,434 71,307 + 15.1 + 4.7 TOTAL LIABILITIES __l,429,432 1,439,043 1,453,080 -1.6 -0.7 Capital paid in __ 7,08 7,081 6,589 + 7.6 + 0.1 Surplus 15,084 15,084 11,977 +25.9 0 Other capital accounts ---­ 2,156 1,994 3,257 -33.8 + 8.1 TOTAL LIABILITI ES AND CAPITAL ACCOUNTS __l,453,760 1,463,202 1,474,903 -1.4 -0.6 Bank Debita (Since the bulk of business transactions are settled by check, chances in bank debits to illcliviclual accounts represent chanpa in the volume of transactions and are a basic measure of buaineaa activity.) In contrast with the usual seasonal decline, bank debits in 24 leading Texas cities rose to $2,911 million during May, an increase of 18% over the same month last year. All reporting cities of the State participated in the gain except Temple and Lamesa, which reported declines of 3.5% and 0.6%, respectively. The largest relative gains were recorded in Lubbock, Port Arthur, and Amarillo where increases of more than 25% oc­curred. As a result of the increases, this Bureau's index of bank debits in Texas (which has been adjusted for seasonal variation) rose to a new peak of 371.1 % of the 1935-1939 average. Bank debits during May were 2.7% above those in April 1947. Dallas had the greatest volume of bank debits of any Texas city in May, with $820,408,000, Houston running a close second with its debits totaling $787,727,000. The only other cities with debits in excess of $100 million were Fort Worth ($278,422,000) and San AntoniQ ($233,· 002,000). BANK DEBITS* (In thouoand1 of dollara) Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System = Percent change City May 1947 Apr. 1947 May 1946 May 1947 from May 1946 May 1947 from Apr. 1947 TOTAL ·······------$2,910,710 $2,834,656 $2,456,703 + 18.5 + 2.7 Abilene 26,519 27,158 23,171 + 14.4 -2.4 Amarillo -----­--­ 69,432 71,953 55,207 +25.8 -3.5 Austin ---------­ 89,362 95,572 82 ,249 + 8.6 -6.5 Beaumont ----------­ 70,746 72,345 57,324 + 23.4 -2.2 Corpus Christi ·-· 66,938 65,772 63,809 + 4.9 + 1.8 Corsicana ----­---­ 8,186 8,245 7,958 + 2.9 -0.7 Dallas ------­----------­ 820,408 786,088 683,332 +20.1 + 4.4 El Paso -----···-···· 97,400 96,430 87,690 + 11.1 + 1.0 Fort Worth ------­ 278,422 278,844 223,428 + 24.6 -0.2 Galveston --­------­ 60,595 57,697 53,235 + 13.8 + 5.0 Houston ·····-···-···· 787,727 752,618 656,098 + 20.1 + 4.7 Lamesat ----------­ 5,540 5,734 5,575 -0.6 -3.4 Laredo -------------­ 16,678 16,807 16,3 79 + 1.8 -0.8 Lubbock ----------­ 48,587 46,905 36,856 +31.8 + 3.6 Plainviewt --------­ 11,258 10,753 7,401 +s2.1 + 4.7 Port Arthur --·· 31,996 28,993 24,671 + 29.7 + 10.4 San Angelo --······ 23,413 22,928 22,812 + 2.6 + 2.1 San Antonio --­ 233,002 227,911 205,475 + 13.4 + 2.2 Texarkanat -----­ 21,743 23,280 19,891 + 9.3 -6.6 Templet ----------­ 6,279 6,135 5,470 -3.5 + 2.8 Texas Cityt ----­ 16,374 13,996 11,5 13 +42.2 + 17.o Tyler -­------­----­-­· 36,515 31,784 30,279 +17.3 +11.7 Waco -----------------­ 41,428 45,076 37,837 + 9.5 -8.1 Wichita Falls ...... 44,122 42,633 39,043 + 13.o + 3.6 •Debits to deposit accounts except interbank accounts. tincludes two banks in Arkansas, Eighth District. tSource of data : Bureau of Business Research. Corporation Charters (Th• l11ue of corporation charters measures tho additions to the bualneH population and reflect• tho atate of optimism or peulmlsm of bu1lne11mea.) Information supplied by the Secretary of State of Texas indicates t}Jat 230 new corporation charters were issued in the State during May, as compared with 130 in April and 336 in May 1946. Although the number of firms receiving charters in May was considerably CORPORATION CHARTERS ISSUED BY CLASSIFICATION Source: Secretary of State Cla11iflcatlon May 1947 Apr. 1947 May 1946 DOMESTIC CORPORATIONS Capitalization (1,000 dollars) --------­9,547 3,987 8,085 Number ----·-------------------­-----·--··-­ 230 130 336 Banking-finance ---­-·--··--------· 8 10 7 Construction --·-·------------····----­--··-­ 15 3 0 Manufacturing ---··-·---··---·--------·--·­ 22 16 49 Merchandising --------------·­-··------­ 48 27 94 Oil -·-------------·-----·---­ 14 8 21 Public service ----------------------­ 9 0 2 Real estate -------­--------·-­ 34 10 40 Transportation ----------­ 4 4 13 All others ----------·-­ 49 22 68 No capital stock ----------­-­ 32 30 42 FOREIGN CORPORATIONS Number ------------­ 7 19 60 smaller than the same month last year, capitalization of the new firms in May this year amounted to $9,547,000 as compared with a total capitalization of $8,085,000 for the larger number 0f firms chartered in May 1946. Among the new businesses chartered in May this year there were 48 merchandising firms, 34 real estate firms, and 22 manufacturing concerns. Continuing the pattern of other recent months, most of the new corporations were small firms hut in May there were 26 new corpora· tions with stated capitalization in excess of $100,000 each, as compared with only 13 such firms in the same month last year. The majority of the new corporations (125 of the 230) were in the size group with capitalization from $5,000 to $100,000, while 43 of the new companies formed in May were capitalized at less than $5,000. CORPORATION CHARTERS ISSUED BY CAPITALIZATION Source: Secretary of State May Apr. )\fay Capitalization 1947 1947 1946 Over $100,000 ··-------------·--·-· 26 11 13 $5,000 to $100,000 ---····-····-···-----· 125 70 207 L ess than $5,000 -----·----············-­ 43 19 65 Capitalization not specified --------­ 4 0 No capital stock ----------------­ 32 20 42 Failures (The number of failures and the amount of liabilitfea vary in­versely with the prosperity of husineas and reflect In a aimple ud direct mall1ler what is happeninir to buaineas.) According t0 information furnished by Dun and Brad­street, there were only 2 business failures in Texas dur· ing May and the total liabilities of these firms amounted to $34,000. During the preceding month there were 5 busi· ness failures. There were no failures in May or April 1946. BUSINESS FAILURES Source: Dun and Bradstreet, Inc. May Apr. May Apr. 1947 1947 1946 1946 Number -------­-·-··-····-···-·· 2 0 Liabilities• -----------···-··-· 34 892 Average liabilities per failure• _____ 17 178 •In thousands. Life Insurance Salea (Since the aalea of life insurance are relatively aenaltive to the chaqea In conaumer Income, they may he u1ed u a moeaure of the conaumer market.) Sales of ordinary life insurance in Texas during May amounted to $62 million, a reduction of 22.8% from the amount sold in May 1946 and slightly below the volume sold in April this year. According to the Life Insurance Agency Management Association, the decline in Texas was somewhat greater than that for the United States, where sales during May were 15.3% below thoee in May last year. TRANSPORTATION Rail (The movement of roods by rail Is fundamental to all business operations, and chanres In the number .of freirht cars loaded reflect basic chanres In the volume of business. The commodity rroups are slrnificant for the information they give on specific Industries. The miscellaneous rroup Includes manufactured roods and Is renerally considered a measure of the volume of trade. Merchandise I.c.1. shipments include the same type of roods shipped in smaller lots. Cars unloaded for export reflect tbe chanres in the volume of exports.) The loading of revenue freight in the Southwestern District picked up 4.0% in May over April to reach a total of 282,876 carloads but was still under the 292,377 cars loaded in March. Last year revenue car­loadings fell 4.8% between April and May. Loadings of revenue freight in May 1947 were 13.5% greater than May 1946 loadings. This gain for the district approxi­mated tbe nationwide upswing. Principal factors in the April-to-May increase this year were the heavier loadings of coal and miscel­laneous freight which offset minor declines in other commodities. All commodities except Le.I. merchandise were loaded in greater volume in May this year than a year ago. The seasonally-adjusted index of miscellaneous freight carloadings for the Southwestern District dropped 1.6% in May compared with an April-to-May decrease of 9.1 % last year. During the past 12 months the index has risen 6.4% to stand 43.0% above its prewar (1935­39) average. REVENUE FREIGHT LOADED IN SOUTHWESTERN DISTRICT (in carloads) Source : Car Service Division. Association of American Railroada Percent change Item May 1947 Apr. 1947 May 1946 May 1947 May 1947 from from May 1946 Apr. 1947 TOTAL -·----­282,876 272,022 249,180 + 13.5 + 4.0 Grain and grain products_ 19,668 20,062 14,322 + 37.3 -2.0 Livestock 9,286 10,124 8,820 + 5.3 - 8.3 Coal 22,58 18,229 10,396 + 117.3 +23.9 Coke -----­ 676 624 650 + 4.0 + 8.3 Forest products ---23,748 Ore _______ 3,274 23,417 3,439 18,585 1,869 + 27.8 + 75.2 + 1.4 -4.8 Merchandise (1.c.l.) 30,136 30,871 31,647 4.8 - 2.4 Miscella necms 173,500 165,256 162,891 + 6.5 + 5.0 The April upturn in export and coastal cars unloaded at Texas ports came to an end in May with a 12.8% drop from 19,771 cars to 17,249 cars. However, the May 1947 total was still 81.6% above May 1946. Gal­veston unloadings more than doubled in the 12-month interval to account in large; measure for the increase. Last year between April and May unloadings gained 6.1%, the Houston increase offsetting the Galveston decline. Coastal car unloadings at Port Arthur showed little change for the month or year. There were several significant developments in Texas rail t:ransportation during the month. Of greatest im­mediate importance was the boxcar problem associated EXPORT AND COASTAL CARS UNLOADED• Source : Car Service Division, Association of American Railrotlda P ercent chantt• May 1947 May 1947 May Apr. May from from P ort 1947 1947 1946 May 1946 Apr. 1947 TOTAL ----17,249 19,771 9,500 + 81.6 -12.8 Beaumont -----­ 548 910 668 - 18.0 - 39.8 Galveston ---­11,085 11 ,266 5,154 + 115.1 - 1.6 H ouston ----4,739 5,892 2,800 + 69.3 - 19.6 P ort Arthur -----­ 877 982 500 + 75.4 - 10.7 Texas City ---­ 0 7211 378 *Excluding coal. t Complete to and including April 16. No report since because of explosion. with the opening of the wheat harvest in late May. The official May 1 estimate placed t4e Texas crop at 112,425,000 bushels, but predictions of railway officials ran up to 125,000,000, 140,000,000, and even 146,000,000 bushels. A crop of this size will require from 7,000 to 8,500 boxcars, approximately twice as many cars as in any previous year. The heavy movement of wheat to Texas ports in recent months for export, however, left a good supply of boxcars in the area. Reports from the various roads indicated 8,300 to 8,800 boxcars ready for service at the start of the harvest-a much better situation than last year. Another favorable factor was the emptiness of tlie nearby elevators in Fort Worth, Plainview, Lubbock, Wichita Falls, Amarillo, and other grain centers with a 45,000,000 bushel capacity. Despite these factors a car shortage developed in June. The harvest proceeded with unusual speed due to the favorable weather (14 consecutive days of sun­shine) and the widespread use of combines, 1,500 of which were brought into the State for the harvest sea­son. Shipments to distant mills were also heavier and turn-arounds were reduced. Farmers were forced in many sections to store their grain on the ground until ciu's were available. Although no quick improvement was expected, the railroads generally were now adding freight cars more rapidly than they were retiring them from service. Relief from the national boxcar shortage, however, was still months ahead. A second development of importance was the 7 to 2 decision of the Supreme Court upholding the Interstate Commerce Commission's order for a 10% increase in class rates in the Northeast (or "official territory") and a 10% decrease in class rates in the South and West. Since these rates on manufactured goods apply to only 4% of the rail freight traffic, and since only 10% of the final price to the consumer represents transporta­tion costs on the average, no great changes in the economies of South and West may be expected in the near future as a result of the Supreme Court action. However, a first step toward lifting a handicap to indus· trialization in these areas has been taken and the final results may not be inconsiderable. Improvements in schedules and rolling stock con­tinue to be reported by the railroads serving Texas. Air Express (The total volume of commodities shipped by air express Is only a very small percentqe of all commodities moved. but the rapid Increase In the use of this type of transportation makee Its srowth of reneral Interest to business.) Air express shipments in Texas rose sharply (10.5%) in May over April, although the gain was not as large as last year (18.3%). April 1947 shipments, however, were 9.8% greater than shipments in April 1946. In­creases for the month for the larger cities of the State in terms of the number of shipments were as follows: Dallas, 878; Fort Worth, 283; El Paso, 275; Houston, 204; and San Antonio, 192. Air freight activity continued to increase with ship­ments of livestock from Houston to Guatemala, tomatoes from the Valley to the Midwest, and imports from Mexico. The 25% reduction in air freight rates an­nounced for July 15 by American Airlines was fol­lowed by a similar announcement from Braniff Inter­national Airways. The Railway Express Agency also published lower rates on domestic air express during May. Improvements in schedules and other services in Texas were inaugurated by American, Braniff, Val-Air, and Pioneer Air Lines this past month. Intrastate passenger traffic continued to increase. Acquisition of a wartime army field was reported by the cities of Mission, Edinburg, and McAllen, and a new airport was dedicated at Memphis. AIR EXPRESS SHIPMENTS (in num ber of shipment..) Source: Railway Express Agency Percent change May 1947 Mayl947 May Apr. May from from Cl~ 1947 1947 1946 May 1946 Apr. 1947 TOTAL ----·· 25,917 23,445 23,608 + 9.8 + 10.5 Abilene --·--·­ 151 147 117 + 29.1 + 2.7 Ama rillo --------­ 416 423 502 - 17.1 - 1.7 Austin ------­--­ 53 1 503 562 - 5.5 + 5.6 Beaumon t ---­ 265 222 279 - 5.0 + 19.4 Big Spring ____ 68 60 52 + 30.8 + 13.3 Brownsville ---2,055 2,018 2,709 -24.1 + 1.8 Bryan -------­ 32 16 +100.0 Corpus Christi -­ 630 559 541 + 16 5 + 12.7 Dallas 7,855 6,977 7,062 + 11.2 + 12.6 El P aso ----­ 1,348 1,073 1,285 + 4.9 + 25.6 Fort W orth ___ 1,706 1,423 2,628 -35.1 + 19.9 Galveston -----­ 445 478 325 + 36.9 6.9 Houston 4,948 4,744 3,739 + 32.3 + 4.3 Lamesa ----­ 19 20 - 5.0 Laredo -----­ 324 356 348 - 6.9 - 9.0 Lubbock 269 219 207 + 30.0 + 22.8 Midland ----· 135 105 157 - 14 .0 + 28.6 Mineral Wells --­ 47 21 + 123.8 Odessa ----­ 159 121 + 31.4 Port Arthur ----··· San Angelo --­ 209 327 164 266 112 201 + 86.6 + 62.7 + 27.4 + 22.9 San Antonio ___ Sweetwater --­ 2,957 51 2,765 28 1,925 + 53.6 + 6.9 + 82.1 Texarkana --­ 83 71 102 - 18.6 + 16.9 Temple Tyler ·----­ 62 371 67 170 231 + 60.6 -7.5 + u 8.2 Waco -----­Wichita Falls --­ 178 276 190 239 248 276 - 28.2 0 -6.3 + 15.5 *First reported in February, 1947. LABOR Employment (Employment statlatlca are amour the moat Important hullcatDq of Tesaa business and -mlc activity. The •tlmat. of fllllll employment in Tesaa manufacturins lndustrlea Include all ­ployees, both production workers and others. The Bureau's statfatla of nonmanufacturing Industries also compriH all employees. ffow. ever, the statistics of manufacturins pay rolls are baaed OD ........ tion and related workers only. Proprietors, officers of c:orporatlau, and othn principal executives are escluclecl from all th·• Hriea.) Employment in Texas remained steady from April to May, registering a very slight decline of 0.4% areoM· ing to reports collected from 1,310 establishments. Compared with May 1946, employment in May 1947 was up 10.6%. All nonmanufacturing groups showed increases in May 1947 over May 1946 except the laun· dry industry which indicated a decrease of 12.2%. Of the 8 nonmanufacturing groups 4 showed increases in May 1947 over April 1947, ranging from 0.7% in the insurance industry to 2.2% in the crude petroleum industry. The other 4 nonmanufacturing groups showed decreases for May 1947 under April 1947, ranging from a decrease of 0.6% in the wholesale trade industry to a decrease of 2.0% in the dyeing and cleaning industry. Estimated total marmfacturing employment in Texas in May 1947 was 324,800, a decrease of 1,100 or 0.3% from April 1947. The decrease exactly offset the in· crease made from March 1947 to April 1947. Compared with a year ago, manufacturing employment increased 8.4% in May 1947. All manufacturing groups showed increases except the paper industry which revealed a decrease of 7.9% for May 1947 under May 1946. Trans­portation equipment indicated the largest increase (22.6%). Increases in manufacturing employment for May 1947 over April 1947 ranged from 1.0% for nonferrous ESTIMATES OF TOTAL MANUFACTURING EMPLOYMli.NT (in thousands) Percent change Industry May 1947 Ap r. 1947 May 1946 May 1947 May 1947 from from May 1946 Apr. 1947 T OTAL 324.8 325.9 299.7 + 8.4 - 0.3 DURABLE GOODS, TOTAL 138.5 137.9 127.1 + 9.0 + 0.4 I ron and steel ------­ 17.3 17.3 16.3 + 6.1 0.0 Machinery (except electrical) 30.0 29. 1 29.1 + 3.1 + 3.1 T ransportation equipment -­ 27.1 27.5 22. 1 +22.6 - 1.5 Nonferrous metals --­ 9.8 9.7 9.3 + 5.4 + 1.0 Lumber and timber ---29.7 29. 1 26 .6 + n .7 + 2.1 Furniture and finis)led lumber Stone, clay, and glass __ 11.3 9.8 11.7 9.8 11.0 9.7 + 2.7 + 1.0 - 3.4 0.0 Other durable goods --­ 3.5 3.7 3.0 + 16.7 - 5.4 NONDURAB LE GOODS, TOTAL ---------·· 186.3 188.0 172.6 + 7. 9 - 0.9 Textiles ---· 8.6 8.9 8.6 0.0 - 3.4 Apparel ---------­ 25.1 26.2 21.7 + 15.7 - 4.2 Food -----------­ 64.7 64.0 58.2 + u .2 + 1.1 P aper ------------­ 3.5 3.5 3.8 - 7.9 0.0 Printing and publishing Chemicals --·· - 19.4 18.0 19.4 18.8 17.3 17.5 + 12. 1 + 2.9 - 0.0 4.3 Petroleum ------­ 38.6 38.8 38.2 + 1.0 Other nondurable goods - 8.4 8.4 7.3 +15.1 metals to 3.1 % in machinery (except electrical) • De­creases for May 1947 under April 1947 ranged from 0.5% for durable g the petroleum industry to oods industries. 5.4% for other CHANGES IN EMPLOYMENT AND NONMANUFACTURING PAY ROLLS IN INDUSTRIESt SPE CIFIED Number Employment Pay Rolls of Industry reporting May 1947 establish-from ments May 1946 May 1947 from Apr. 1947 May 1947 from May 1946 May 1947 f rom Apr. 1947 Crude petroleumt - 44 + 6.9 + 2.2 + 8.8 + 1.7 Dyeing and cleaningt 6 + 4.3 - 2.0 +10.4 -1.9 Hotels 17 + 4.8 + 1.3 + 8.7• + o.6* Insurance ___ 117 + 4.3 + 0.7 +13.5 + 0.3 Launddest -­- 11 -12.2 + 1.7 - 6.9 + 3.0 Quarryingt -­- 13 + lo.8 - 0.2 +21.4 + 3.6 Retail trade __ 368 + 3.8 - 1.2 + 13.6 + 0.8 Wholesale trade - 152 + 0.4 - 0.6 + 4.4 - 2.0 •Cash payments only; the additional value of board, room, and tips cannot be computed. t Figures do not cover proprietors. firm members, officers of corpora­ tions, or other principal executives. t Figures cover production workera only. Pay Rolla (PQ' roll &sun• an 1eia..U,. ncosalzecl u sl&'Dlfi.cant indicators of 1-and purclauU.. power by both economists and busineumen. 11.mphiuls OD the malnteD&llce of purcbaaln1 power u a saal for the-b7'• postwar 9COllomy ah•• particular importance to theae ftaura at this time.) Reports from 728 establishments indicate that pay roll& in Texas in the nonmanufacturing industries showed an increase for May 1947 over April 1947 with the exception of the dyeing and cleaning industry ( 1.9% less) and the wholesale trade industry (2.0% less). Nonmanufacturing industries in May 1947 as compared with May 1946 showed·an increase in all groups except hotels (8.7% less) and laundries (6.9% less). The increases ranged from 4.4% in wholesale trade to 21.4% in quarrying. Reports from 582 manufacturing establishments indi­ cate the largest percentage decrease in productiQn CHANGES IN PRODUCTION WORKER PAY ROLLS IN SPECIF• ..D MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES N umber Percent change of reportin2' establish- May 1947 from Ma y 1947 from Industry men~ May 1946 Apr. 1947 Durable sood!!: Iron and steel 34 + 24.6 + 3.4 Machinery (except electrical) 48 + 5.7 + 4.6 Nonferrous metals 11 +21.9 + 0.9 L umber and timber 16 +58.o + 6.6 Furniture and finis hed lumber __ 32 +23.5 -0.4 Stone, clay, and g lass 41 +20.9 -0.9 Other durable goods 9 +52.6 -0.6 Nondurable good!!: Textiles 16 +12.6 -9.2 Apparel 37 +28.5 -1.2 Food 166 + 29.8 + 6.8 Paper 17 + 2.0 + 3.9 Printing and publishing 40 +30.9 + 2.9 Chemicals 67 + 15.o -12.8 Petroleum refining 40 + 14.0 + 1.3 Other nondurable good!! 8 +23.6 -2.5 worker pay rolls from April 1947 to May 1947 to be 12.8% in the chemical industry, followed closely by the textile industry with May 1947 dropping 9.2% under April 1947. The largest increase in pay rolls from April 1947 to May 194 7 came in the food industry ( 6.8%), crowded by the lumber and timber industry with an increase of 6.6%. Manufacturing industries increased pay rolls in all groups between May 1946 and May 1947 and gains ranged from 2.0% in the paper industry to 58.0% i11 the lumber and timber industry. Hours and Earnings (Statistics on heurs and earnina'• show dearly the effects of th• shift of the State's economy and the 1eneral upward movement of wages since V-J Day. Averaae hourly earnings are computed by divldiDI' tbe total number of man-hours worked In reportln1 estab­lishments into total pay rolls.\ For the month of May 1947, 5 of the industrial groups of the manufacturing industries reported a work week of less than 42 hours, while the other 10 groups reported average work weeks of 42 hours or more. Of the 15 industries in the manufacturing group, 7 reported percentage increases in average weekly hours in May 1947 as compared to May 1946. These in· creases ranged from 0.2% (machinery, except electrical, industry) to 12.6% (lumber and timber industry). One industry, food, reported no cl;iange while the other 7 manufacturing industries reported decreases for the same 12-month period, ranging from 0.8% (other dura­ble goods industries) to 10.5% (other nondurable goods industries). Only 2 of the 7 nonmanufacturing industries reported average work weeks of less than 42 hours for May 1947, these being crude petroleum production and retail trade. In May 1947 compared to May 1946, 3 of the nonmanu­facturing industries reported increases in weekly hours, as shown on the accompanying table. The decreases reported by the other 4 industries for the same 12-month period ranged from 1.2% (wholesale trade and laun­dries) to 4.2% (dyeing and cleaning) . Hourly earnings were greater in May 1947 than in May 1946 in every manufacturing industry, without exception; and only 2 of the nonmanufacturing ind us-. tries reported declines-hotels (-5.3% ) and dyeing and cleaning (---6.5 % ) . Weekly take-home pay was greater in May 1947 than in May 1946 in all manu­facturing industries except other nondurable goods in­dustries group---which reported a percentage decrease of 2.0%. In the nonmanufacturing group a similar in· crease was shown, with only the dyeing and cleaning in­dustry reporting a decline of 10.4%. The amount of weekly take-home pay again varied greatly between the industries reporting. Those indus­tries reporting average pay of more than $55 a week were: crude petroleum production industry ($61.76) and petroleum refining industry ($61.47). Hotels ($18.31) and laundries ($22.41) continued to be the only 2 industries reporting average weekly pay under $25.00. TEXAS BUSINESS REVIEW -~ HOURS AND EARNINGS* Source: Bureau of Business Rese&rch in co-operation with the Bureau of Labor Statlstlca, U. S. Department of Labor Average Average hourly Average weekly Percent changeweekly hours earnings (in cents) earnings (in dollars) May 1947 from May 1946 May May May May May May · Weekly Hourly Weekly 1947 1946 1947 1946 1947 1946 hours earnings earnin1ta Industry MANUFACTURING Durable goods : Iron and ateel ----------------­ 42.7 43.2 107.5 102.9 45.90 44.45 1.2 + 4.5 + 3.3 Machinery (except electrical) ----­N onferrous metals -----­-----­ 44.5 44.4 44.4 41.5 109.3 122.8 109.1 115.5 48.64 54.52 48.44 47.93 + + 0.2 7.0 + + 0.2 6.3 + + 0.4 13.7 Lumber and timber---·--·--------­ 48.1 42.7 88.2 73.4 42.42 31.34 + 12.6 + 20.2 + 35.4 Furniture and finished lumber.. ______ 44.5 43.9 81.4 69.4 36.22 30.47 + 1.4 + 17.3 + 18.9 Stone, clay, and glass---··--------­Other durable goods.... ---­-·---------------­ 43.9 38.5 42.5 38.8 88.0 123.5 78.5 118.9 38.63 47.55 33.36 46.13 + 3.3 0.8 + + 12.1 3.9 + + 15.8 3.1 Nondurable goods: Textiles -------------­--­ 39.7 42.7 93.8 84.2 37.24 35.95 7.0 + 11.4 + 3.6 Apparel -------------·-------­Food -------------------------------­ 36.1 46.4 39.2 46.4 75.1 80.2 65.1 72.7 27.11 37.21 25.52 33.73 7.9 0.0 + + 15.4 10.3 + + 6.2 10.3 Paper -------------------­ --­ 44.0 45.3 103.0 97.1 45.32 43.99 2.9 + 6.1 + 3.0 Printing and publishing..---···-­ ---­ 42.3 42.0 129.0 116.6 54.57 48.97 + 0.7 + 10.6 + 11.4 Chemicals -----------------------­ 42.5 46.4 118.8 105.8 50.49 49.09 8.4 + 12.3 + 2.9 Petroleum refining ·--------------­ 40.9 39.4 150.3 138.6 61.47 54.61 + 3.8 + 8.4 + 12.6 Other nondurable goods ----------------------­ 41.9 46.8 93.4 85.3 39.13 39.92 - 10.5 + 9.5 - 2.0 NONMANUFACTURING Crude petroleum production -------­Dyeing and cleaning ----------­ 40.9 48.3 40.8 50.4 151.0 67.8 129.0 72.5 61.76 32.75 52.63 36.54 + - 0.2 4.2 + 17.1 6.5 + - 17.3 10.4 Hotels ----·------­ 51.0 45.8 35.9 37.9 18.31 17.36 + 11.4 5.3 + 5.5 Lauadriee --­ 48.3 48.9 46.4 42.7 22.41 20.88 1.2 + 8.7 + 7.3 Quarrying -------­------------­ 42.4 40.2 123.8 119.0 52.49 47.84 + 5.5 + 4.0 + 9.7 Retail trade ---·--­------------­ 41.4 42.6 78.7 68.6 32.58 29.22 2.8 + 14.7 + 11.5 Wholesale trade ---­ 42.9 43.4 93.8 85.5 40.24 37.11 1.2 + 9.7 + 8.4 •Fhrures do not cover proprieton, ftrm memben, officers of corporations, or other principal executives. Manufacturing data cover production and r elated workers ; nonmanufacturing data cover all employees. Man-houra reporting percentage decreases for the same period were: apparel industry (1.0% less); textiles industry (7.0% (The reporta which the Bureau receive• on employment Include every employee who worked any part of the week. Thia meana less) ; and chemicals industry ( 12.3 % less). that cban1"•• In the number of employee& In an Industry do not always measure the cban.-ea In the volume of output. Cban.-es In MAN-HOURS WORK.ED JN IDENTICAL MANUFACTURING the number of man-hours worked, however, are closely asaoclated ESTABLISHMENTS with the rate of manufacturinl" activity, and may be uaed aa a measure of the volume of production.) Number Percent change Total man-lwurs worked in 505 manufacturing estab­ of reporting May 1947 May 1947 lishmef\ts were up 20.5% in May 1947 over May 1946, establish­from from Industry ments May 1946 Apr. 1947 and were also up 0.3% over April 1947. All durable and nondurable goods industries reported increases in TOTAL ------------·---------·--------------------------505 +20.5 + 0.3 May 1947 over May 1946, with the exception of the Durable goods : paper industry which reported a 1.5% decline. Activity Iron and steel ------·-···------------------·------32 +u.9 + 1.6 was greatest in the "other durable goods" industries, Machinery (except electrical) ----------44 + 3.4 + 5.0 the petroleum refining industry, and the lumber and Nonferrous metals ---------------------------10 + 16.0 -0.3 timber industry. Lumber and t imber ---------------·----------13 + 28.4 + 4.2 Furniture and finished lumber --------23 + 7.0 -3.2 Three of the durable goods industries reported per­ Stone, clay, and glass -----------------------­35 + 6.3 -0.8 centage increases in cqmparing May 1947 to April 1947, Other durable goods ·····--·-····--·-----···---8 +44.4 -1.0 ranging from 5.0% (machinery, except electricaJ, indus­ Nondurable goods : try) down to 1.6% (iron and steel industry) . The other +u -7.0 Textiles -------·······-·····-----------·---------·-······· 16 industries in this group reported decreases for the same Apparel -------·---------------·--------·------------29 + 5.8 -1.0 period ranging from 0.3 % (nonferrous metals industry) + lo.o + 4.6 Food -----------------·-----···------·----·-----·------148 to 3.2% (furniture and finished lumber industry). Paper ------------········--·---------------·----------8 -1.5 + 5.4 Printing and publishing ------------------33 +11.8 + 2.6 Five of the 8 nondurable goods industries reported Chemicals --------------····---------·---------------64 + 4.3 -12.3 percentage increases in May 1947 over April 1947, rang­ Petroleum refining ---------------------··· 37 +37.6 + 1.4 ing from 5.4% (paper industry) down to 1.4% (petro­Other nondurable goods --------·-·------5 + 0.6 + 4.9 leum refining industry). The 3 industries of this group TEXAS BUSINF.SS REVIEW .. T­ a iaolaatrial tlisputes-................ ­......... ­~el _._t ._..,., ••'-la lndastrial rela­ .._. la y ta ­ ............... ef tM StaW• laJoar picture.) ~ Of major significance in the industrial relations news during May was the settlement, on May 17, of the 41­day telephone strike and the restoration of telephone service in Texas and the nation. The spectacular and costly strike which began April 6 ended with a Oat S4 acrosa-the-board increase in weekly wages, plus an aver· age of 42 cents in "fringe" items. The original nation­wide union wage demand had been for a $12 weekly raise. On the heels of the telephone strike came the re­establishment of picket lines of an affiliated union of maintenance and equipment workers at local exchanges (continuing a 6-weeks old strike), effectively precluding telephone employees from returning lo their jobs for 4 more days. Company officials acted swiftly, however, in granting a 111h-cent hourly raise to the equipment workers in settlement. Almost simultaneously with the termination of the telephone strike was the settlement of a 20-day strike against a petroleum company, involving several thous­and employees, which had curtailed activities of nu­merous industries in the area of the strike. The bar· gaining agreement gave the workers maintenance of manhership in their 2-year contract with a 3-day escape clause at the end of 1 year, and a raise of 5 cents an hour. Other terms of the new contract gave workers uaurance of the regular cost-of-living bonus for 12 months, double pay for holidays, assurance that the time lost during the strike would not interrupt con­tinuous service for policy benefits, insurance, etc., and that there would he no reprisads because of the strike. Summarizing the labor disputes of the month, the Tens Employment Commission reported that 49 labor disputes were in existence in the State at one time or another during May, affecting 43 employers and 31,895 employees. Back on the job by month's end were 30,100 of the total employees, including 20,402 telephone work­ers, 5,614 refinery employees, 3,084 construction work· era, 835 chemical employees, 94 flour mill workers, and 70 transportation employees. At the end of May, 26 labor disputes, affecting 1,795 employees were still misettled. Major industries involved were refineries, constructiQO, and shipyards. Early in May a fifth strike-curbing bill was approwd by the State Governor, reported to he one of the most far-reaching bills of the session, and aimed at dis­orderly strikes. The bill prohibits mass picketing (de­fined as the spacing of pickets closer than 50 feet apart, and picketing by more than 2 employees at the same gate) and overt acts by pickets. At the nation level labor-management difficulties threatened to crop out in several major fields of indus­try. A strike is feared in the coal industry when the government restores the bituminous coal mines lo private operators on July 1. The reticence of Southern coal operators to submit lo industry-wide bargaining has de­layed negotiations for a new contract. In the maritime, railroad, and local coDSIJ'uction industries, labor diffi­culties aleo aeemed ominous. Labor Force (Estimates of the n....-ricultural civilian labor force are made c~tly for the Stat•'• 17 principal labor market ..-. by the Tezas State Employment Service. Lahor force data, ladicatins the total s~of a.Joor in these ..-., include all employed workers, as well as all ethers who are available for jobs and who are willins aadahletowwk.) There was a very slight increase in the nonagricul­tural civilian labor force in the 16 labor market areas of the State between April and May 1947, as measured by the Texas Employment Commission. Among the areas covered, greatest variations were in the Browns­ville area where a 5.5% increase (739 persons) was reported; in the Galveston-Texas City area, with a 2.0~f-gain (1,050 persons); and in the Longview area, where 2.8'/C, or 606 more persons, were estimated to be in the nonagricultural labor force. In the remaining areas fiuctuations were minor. ONAG.RICULTURAL ClVlLlAN LABOR FORCE urce: Texas Employment Commission Percent change A,... May 194'i Apr. 194'i May 1947 from Apr. 1947 TOTAL ,226, 63 1,222,641 + 0.3 Abilene 19,262 19,449 -1.0 Amarillo 29,400 29,250 + 0.5 Anstin 4-4,072 43,969 + 0.2 Brownsnl.le 14,200 13,461 + 5.5 Corpus Chris j 50,3 0 50,400 -0.04 Dalbs 219,490 219,192 + 0.1 El Paso 50,250 49.750 + 1.0 Fort Worth 130, 7 129,361 + 1.2 Gakeston-Texas i y 53,366 52,316 + 2.0 Ho ton-&yt----350 ,__ _ __,___,___.-. r•­ ,___, . __,__--+--' ....., """ 300 " ,... . 2501-+--+--+-+--+--+--t 1-+-+-+-Hl---+----ll--...--h~'tAl---+----1 250 2001-+-+-H·--t--+--t-t--+-+--lc--!t---1 · -, _ /11.Y '"l-u-1 " 1---1 '--' -----1 200 n. .. i... ... • l--+--+-+--<1--+--i--+--t-I--1----­150 H-++-l-+-+--+--t--t--t-l--t-+ -...... 150 t: ~-\,...1 ----->->-·---+----1-------1 100 rf.,."':+-t-++71A'"!"'A-1 ___ _ _ ________ 100 50L..l....L...L.'-'·--'---'--"'---' --'---'-'--L----·-----.____ ~--~----~--' 50 1929 193 3 19 37 1941 1942 1943 194 4 1945 19 4 6 1947 INDEX OF SOUTHERN PINE PRODUCTION\ r ERCENT 1935 -39 2 100 PERCE NT ----------150 1:50 12~ ..,...__,___,__,_-+--•--+--i· - --------125 INDEX OF CRUDE OIL RUNS TO STILLS IN TEXAS · 1 ~--=--'·-----,--·­ 225 225 200 20 - 175 17 5 150 - 150 ./'ir ~ 125 >---­ 125 ,..... -~ r-\1 ~y ..,J ..... 10 0 100 ) 1­ -1-­ 75 5 0 !.!:--~-... ~ -5 50 1933 1937 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 PERCE NT ' A0JUSTE09;~R ~~~~g~AL VAR IATION; 1929 PERCENT INDEX OF BANK DEBITS IN TEXAS i --. -ADJU S TED FOR SEA SONAL VARIATION -. ' 1935-39 . 100 . PERCENT 19 4 7 jf'fRGENT INDEX OF VALUE OF BUILDING PERMITS IN TEXAS ADJUSTED FOR SEASONAL VARIATION PERC E Nl" 1935 39 . 100 700 700 --­ ,__ 600 ,__ ,__ -­ 600 1--1-­ -1­ 50 ~ ~ 500 - --1, 400 400 300 M--­ 300 ~ 200 -- f--­ 200 ..... ..J 1­ 1~1­ 100 100 -. n I• L ·­ 0 ·19291 1933 1937 1941 19 42 194 3 194 4 19 45 PERCEN 1946 1947 350 350 "JI 325 325 "' /• 300 300 A 'J 275 275 250 250 --.--1-kW\j v 225 225 .. ,, 200 20 175 175 II " -·--~ ,, 150 150 .. 125 12 5 100 I()0 .... 75 5 ilNOEXESOFEMPLOYMENTAND PAYROLLS IN TEXAS PER~ENT . . ~ ~~~ 250 225 200 17 5 150 125 • 111111 100 ,... 15 50 1929 1933 \ 1935 -39 ,. 100 PER CENT J ~ ~ ~_,{f!~~t\_ -:~:=~~~~ 1---. :.:_ PA!~~LS __..,!__ ------250 ----..._ ,__ ~-/ -. ~ ----1;..r-225 ••• ~!t":.J.,,. 1-200 /-I.~ --· · ·---~-175 I ~ -"\ 150 ••• ~-~r~~~~~NIT 125 I I 100 r __ J 1s 50 1937 1941 1942 1943 19 44 1945 19 46 1947 1933 1937 1941 1942 1943 194 4 194 5 1946 1947