The border vidette., 1933-07-01
BUSINESS CONDITIONS IN 18TH
FED. RESERVE DISTICT

Further expansion Of Twelfth
District business was recorded
during May. although the in
crease was not so pronounced as
10 April. Most adjusted mea.
sures of production advanced to
levels approximately as high as
those prevailing a year earlier,
and additional expansion was
evident in the distribution and
sale of commodities. Wholesale
prices of commodities important
in the district continued to move
upward during May and the first
half of June. Improvement in
employ ment conditions became
more widespread in May than in
April. although there were sea
| sonal reductions in the mber
employed in food processing in
dustries Aggregate wage pay
10 ents increased some what
further.
Cold weather throughout the
district and subnormal rainfall in
Arizona, California and Nevada
retarded the growth of crops and
OF livestock forage during May.
Winter wheat, oats. barley. and
tame hay were 10 less satisfac
tory condition than year earlier
Although product estimates
for winter wheat we're slightly
higher on June than on May /.
it was expected that the crop
would be only half as large as
1882. Forecasts of the barley
crop, while indicating a smaller
crop than the large 1882 harvest.
approximate average production
during the past five years. 1t is
estimated that deciduous fruit
production will be about the
same 10 1888 as in 1882. Lemon
and Valencia orange crop esti.
mates show increases from the
preceding year.
Production of crude oil averag
ed slightly higher in May than
yin April. There was some re-,
duction during the first half of
June, although an advance in
the proration schedule was an
nounced on June /. Output of
lumber increased at more than
the seasonal rate and new orders
were larger than In any month
since the spring Of 1881. Flour
milling and meat packing again
advanced. New awards for en-
gineeling construction were ex-
ceptioualiy low during May, and
other classes of building did not
change appreciably from levels
Immediately preceding months.
Neither was there much evi.
dence of increased operations in
non ferrous metals mining. al
though prices Of those metals
advanced considerably.
Seasonally adjusted sales Of
department stores, registrations
of new automobiles, sales at
wholesale, and intercoastal ship.
ments continued to expand dur
ing May and exceeded those Of
! May, 1882. Freight carloading
increased more than seasonally,
according to preliminary figures,
but remained slightly lower than
in the corresponding month Of
1882.
Credit conditions 10 Twelfth
District were eased somewhat
during the five weeks ending
June 21 by further increases in
available banking reserves other
than Federal reserve credit, the
use of which declined. Local
disburse ments of the United
States Treasurer exceeded Trea
sury collectionS during most Of
the period. There was some
outflow of commercial funds dur
ing late May but this movement
was reversed in June. Demand
for currency declined less rapid
ly than in March and April and
April, partly because of the ap
proacbing summer season when
additional currency is needed for
ordinary business transactions.
Loans OF reporting member
banks continued to decline dur
ing May and June, while invest
ments increased. Deposits Auct
uated considerably, bnt showed
little net change. The redis
count rate Of the Federal Re-
serve Bank Of San Francisco
was reduced from B. 10 3 per
per cent. effective June 2.