Evening star., 1936-05-03
STORE SALES LAG
BEHIND CLIMB IN
FACTORY ACTIVITY
Summer Trade Slow to Get
Under Way, but Holds
Well Above 1885.
INDUSTRIAL INDEX HITS
BEST LEVEL SINCE 1880
Demand for Heavy Steel Products
Attracts Attention-Building
Continues to Expand.
BY RAIDER WINGET,

retail trade gains last week on a ma
tional basis, but both branches of
Americas economy continued well
above year ago.
Retailers made no attempt TO con-
ceal the apparent slowness of busi.
ness to close the gap between the East
ern peak and the coming Summer
sales increases.
There were, however, numerous com.
munities in which Summer trade al.
ready has started at a rate which
gave evidence Of meeting high hopes,
and generally fair weather favored the
bulk OF merchants. Total volume we'll
exceeded the corresponding period of
1885.
The Department Of Commerce ir
its survey of "a cities for the week
ended Wednesday stated: Although
retail trade tempo was somewhat re-
taroed in most sections of the coun-
try, improvement over last year con-
tlnued In most instances, and con.
siderable expansion in diversified io-
dustries, along with employment gains,
were reported to the department"
Specialized Lines Soar.
Wholesale interest naturally fol-
lowed the path of the retailers, but
many specialized lines stood out well
above the average level.
Industrial activity, as measured by
the Associated Press index, adjusted
for seasonal variation, moved up to
87.2 per cent of the l929-30 average,
the highest since June of 1880. from
85.8 per cent the previous week.
Steel continued to defy predictions
of rounding off of the Summer
when the industry produced at the
rate of 7l.2 per cent of capacity, as
estimated by the American Iron and
Steel Institute, compared with 704
per cent the previous week
A betterment in the demand for
heavy steel products was seen by au.
thorities, and improvement in the
need of structural steel was cited.
First-quarter bookings for structural
metal stood at Sis per cent of the
l928-31 average. the highest for that
period in five years.
United States Steel reported earnings
for the first quarter of "a cents a pre-
ferred share compared with a loss a
year before, and Bethlehem Steel
made net equal to about 8 cents a
share on the per cent preferred
against loss the year before.
OF the first 81 steel companies re-
porting for the first three months OF
this year, nine gained over year ago
and IL declined for an aggregate in
crease of Ala per cent.
Auto Output Down.
Although automobile production
dropped to l18,764 uuits on the week
from 120,519 units the previous week,
the decline was slightly less than an
ticipated for this time of year. Gen.
eral Motors reported net profits for
the first quarter Of SLIT common
share against 68 cents the previous
years first quarter.
Feight car loadings for the week
ended April 25 reached 666,181 cars,
the second highest point of the year
and a gain of 81 per cent compared
with the week before and 1872 per
cent compared with year ago. Coal
and miscellaneous freight shipments
composed the bulk of the additional
revenue.
Cotton manufacturing continued to
be the laggard in the Industrial field
with mills curtailing output in an
effort to trim sails against an adverse
price wind and a cross current OF
chronic overproduction.
Home building steadily expanded.
and engineering construction awards
for the week ended April % reached
s37,824, 900 compared with Sl0,34l 900
a year ago.
Criticism Unsettling.
Passage by the House in Washing
ton of the corporation tax bill and the
simultaneous attacks by members of
the United States Chamber of Com
merce on administration fiscal poll
cies received some credit for unsettling
the more sensitive security markets.
At the same time the French elec-
tions a week ago and the run-of vote
today between the unified leftists and
the rightistS for seats in the Chamber
of Deputies were regarded as none
too reassuring to financial quarters.
Shipments of gold from Paris to New
York started again as the franc
slumped.
The Associated Press average of 60
industrial stocks dropped to $3.50
from s609O, a net loss of $3.50 in six
trading days.
Bond offerings. however were the
best of the year, with total OF $685.
8l9 900 moved into public hands.
The coal industry remained in
suspense. A strike of anthracite
miners was averted by timely action
of a conference between workers.
owners and Federal advisers, but no
settlement was reached. The Su-
preme Court kept the soft coal inter-
ests guessing by not handing down
q decision last week on the Guffey
regulatory act.
Detailed Reports Given.
Detailed reports on trade by individ-
ual Federal Reserve districts follow:
BOSTON.-Leather awaited a mod
crate volume of buying to raise prices
while manufacturers were believed to
be operating on less than normal
stocks. Wool was dull, cotton drifted.
Boston retail trade was estimated by
the Department of Commerce at 10
per cent over 1885.
NEW YORK-The dip in retailing
in the metropolitan area has not been
fully erased by the nearby opening OF
Summer trade and the weeks sales
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