The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-12-31
American PeoiIe Produced More, Spent More And
 Saved More

n1oIe anu SdNeu more III IJz3 than III 1922, the federal reserve board said tonight in it's annual review of ec9-' homie conditions for the year.
 As whole, the review said. the year was characterized by the large industrial output, practically full em- ployment, sustained customers de- mand for goods, and levei of prices more stable than in any year since 1915.
 Tracing the course of business de- velopment, the board found that the peak of the output was reached in May. There followed a recession in industrial activity during the sum- mer months, which, the board said, arose from "a hesitancy of business concerns in placng forward orders than from a lesssned demand on the pait of the ultimate consumers. The price declines which accompanied the conditions were. therefore, chief ! ly in materials used in industry rather than in customers goods. "A natio .al ineo-4a larger than in 1 1922 srislag both eut of increased earnings of faetery workers and larger tr8ceeds from the sale of farm products. he review continued, fur nished tie buyag power to absorb the ar's tncres sed output of goods. Tha leolne of Industrial workers, as The sesat cf a volume of employ me sppro mately 13 per cent ls sar tnan n 1922 and of wage ad- ! Eaaces greatly exceeded that of the preyjors year.
 The total value of agricultural rso1acton was about $900, 1000, 900 ate than in 1922 The increase in iH ore was not accompanied by
 Il 1fa,e
 a and the large growth in savings
 1osits indicated that there was
 nsiderable margin on income above
 expenditures The increased buying during the year is reflected in the volume of retail trade, which was larger for every month of 1923 than of 1922, so far as monthly figures are now available, and the total of department store sales for the 10 months exceeded those for the cor responding months of last year by l3 per cent. The distribution and marketing of goods was facilitated by the improvement of transporta tion facilities and the volume of railroad traffic was the largest on record"
 Farm Prosperity shown,
 Tn agriculture the final estimates | Tor the year indicate a physical vol ume of production larger than the year before and at the prevailing level of farm prIces the total value o1 the years crops is about 12 Der cent above that of 1922. Further more, large preparation of tarm in come was available for current ex- pendlture since less of the incone than in preceding years was used in the repayment of ioals Sales of mali order houses, representing chief iy purchases in rural communities, increased by 31 per cent in 1923.
 The recovery of agriculture, how ever, IS stil incompete, particuary In the wheat market. and the usual business growth of the year has been chiefly in the industrial sections. It is the demand on the part of industrial workers which, even with the de- creased fore/n demand, has resulted products.
 Tn addition to the large purchases of goods for immediate consumption there was also an exceptionally heavy demand for houses and automobiles. as indicated by the growth in the construction of buildings and the manufacture of motor cars. The au- tomobile output of the year will total nearly 4,000,000, an increase of more than 50 per cent over 1922.
 "Fhe building activity which had been at high lever during 1922 itdcHtu u UdNlnuIn III the spring Of 1923. and then slackened somewhat owing to the rapid advance in wages and in prices of materials. With the subsequent decline in construction costs activity was renewed and for the eleven months ending in Novem- Der contracts awarded totaled more than for the corresponding months of 1922.
 Considerable Building Operations.
 The building operations on a con- siderable scale were general through out the country and residential build ings not only increased more rapidly than construction for business and | industrial purposes, but constituted a larger proportion of the total than in the four previous years.
 'The large volume of construction not only led to increased production of building materials. but also re- suited in large sales of furniture and other household goods and was an | important factor in the demand in many lines of trade.
 While the business attitude has been one of watchfulness the board believed greater confidence had been
 nstilled by the continued industrial activity of the fall months and the steady demand for consumers goods Throughout the year, however, the review added, the attitude of busi- ness acted as moderating influ- ence and thus to an extent stabilized trade and industry. The hesitancy was declared to have resulted from a general belief on the part of busi- ness leaders that the expansion which had lasted more than IS months could hardly be maintained and the recess on attitude taken by the business community.
 Credit Remains Constant.
 Notwithstanding the business ex- pansion of 1922 and early 1923 the amount of credit used by the coun- try, as indicated by the demand on the Federal Reserve banks, remained practically constant. The range of amounts borrowed through the re- serve system was from $1,000, 900, 900 to about s1.20O,O0 ,000, the boards records showed.
 The constancy of the credit volume during the. two years has served as basis for observation by the board as to policy requirements the review said and this was particularly true of the effect of changes in the vol ume of open market holdings upon the volume of discounts by the mem ber banks. Summed up, the board found that whether the member bank discounts changed upward or down. ward, the cause could be found in ttc volume of open market purchases by the reserve banks.
 Growth in credit used by member banks in the agricultural districts Curing the year was much larger than in the industrial districts, the Review said. adding that discounts by the agricultural districts, Rich mond, Atlanta, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City and Dallas, increased by 69 per cent between January and September.
 Discounts at the othere reserv banks, or those in almost wholly in- dI strial sections. increased only 31 per cent.