A cautious consumer attitude remains in evidence. With the holiday season getting under way, sales have begun to pick up. Most retailers, however, look for business to be about the same as last year-in some instances worse and in others significantly better. Thus, reflecting the difficulties in the aerospace and timber industries, sales in the Seattle area were particularly depressed. Virtually all retailers contacted in the Boston District reported very disappointing Christmas sales, while in Philadelphia the physical volume of sales in large department stores were down 10 percent from a year ago.
Industrial production remains weak.
Most manufacturers contacted reported no change or some decline as compared with last month in output, sales, and new orders and, in general, look for only a moderate pickup in the coming months. Some rebound in December was expected in the Cleveland and Chicago Districts, which had been particularly hard hit by the General Motors strike. However, reports from the steel industry in the Cleveland District reveal that the release of steel stockpiled for General Motors has so far been smaller than expected. The slowdown in industrial production was reflected in a further weakening in the employment picture. Unemployment among white collar workers and professionals continues to rise.