Milford chronicle., 1922-12-01
GENERAL SUMMARY OF
BUSINESS CONDITIONS
In the Third Federal Reserve District Compiled As Of November %
1922 By Richard L. Austin, Chairman Of the Board and
Federal Reserve Agent

a sail orders for the holiday season
have been received heretofore. Wrap
ping and book papers, however, are
still in good request, and mills devoted
to their manufacture are working at
capacity. Paper wholesalers nave
noted no falling off in demand, ano
the volume OF business compares laV-
orably with that Of a month ago. Inc
call for paper boxes has continued 10
De strong, but manufacturers have not
been able to maintain capacity pro-
duction because of the great scarcity
of skilled workers. The larger cigar
firms are still oVersOld, and the past
month has been the best in point OF
sales during the year. Many OF the
smaller manufacturers are also dong
a large business. The labor shortage
in the cigar industry is more acute
perhaps than it has ever been, and
the bidding for workers has brought
the wage level to a point slightly
above that of the peak period OF 1920.
The furniture industry also is very
active, more so than at any Iline
since last June; and here, TOO, tne
scarcity of labor has caused dlIncuI-
ty. g
From the foregoing a summary OF
conditions in the several important
industries of the district, it is evil
dent that the outstanding feature IS
the scarcity of labor. In spite OF this,
however, as in all periods Of prosper
ity. there is still some unemployment
in the district. The Pennsylvania
State Department of Labor reported
rs, ,745 out of work on November 10 IN
the cities of Harrisburg, JohnstoWn,
Philadelphia, Reading, and Scranton.
In addition to these there are 15,SOO
workers on strike. The number OF
unemployed, however, has shown
steady decline since February 10 ana
is 1916 per cent less than the NUMBER
out of work on November l.
Second only in importance to the
labor scarcity is the present trans
portation situation. Freight conditions
are far more satisfactory and ofer
serious difficulties in the getting OF
raw materials and in the shipment OF
finished products. OF course, those IN
dustries for which raw materials can
be shipped by motor truck report no
serious delays in production, DuL
others are decidedly hampered. Whole
salers report that deliveries are from
three to six weeks behind, and that IN
many cases goods will not be recelV-
ed in time for the holiday season.
from the middle west and
the Pacific coast are especially late.
In addition to the delays cars are
also being overloaded.
Commodity Prices
Domestic wholesale prices, as meas
ured by the index numbers, continue
to advance. The Bradstreet number
rose from $12.5039 in September, TO
S13.3482 in October, and that Of r. e.
Dun & Company from 175.649 to 49,
291. The index number of the Bureau
of Labor Statistics, after declining
from 1856 in August to l53 IN Septem-
Der, rose to 154 in October. VI the
groups comprising THIS IN
dex. only the fuel and lighting group
any decline during October.
Farm products continued to show
large increases, owing, the Bureau
states, to advances in grains, cotton,
hay, eggs, and hides. The cloths ana
clothing group also made a large ad-
vance.
The index number of the principal
European countries seem to have tur-
ned definitely upward. During Octo-
ber, prices in Great Britain advanced
1.3 per cent, in France "a per cent
and in Italy 3.3 per cent. German
prices, as was to be expected with the
further decline of the mark, made an
other spectacular jump.