Evening star., 1938-09-04
WEEK|NBUS|NESS
IS MOST SP0TTy
BEFORE HOLIDAY
Experts Who Predict Brisk
Pace for Autumn See
Brighter Signs.
AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY
STARTS NEW MODELS
Bank Loans Swing Forward and
Freight Carloadings Climb
to New High for Year.
BY THOMAS E. FLANAGAN,
Associated Press Financial Writer.

Associated Press Financial Writer.
The Nations business turned in q
spotty record this week.
Some heavy industries, notably
steel, pushed ahead, but other sections.
including retail trade and textile pro-
ducers, behaved sluggishly.
On the whole, business acted as
though 1t was waiting to pass the
Labor Day turn before stepping on the
accelerator for the fall stretch.
Experts who predicted a brisk pace
Tor autumn business did not have to
search far for encouragement. Bank
loans to business. industry and finance
swung forward definitely for the first
time since last October The auto
mobile industry started operations on
new 1889 models.
Freight car loadings climbed to a
| new high for the year and traffic an
alysts said the gain would be extended
with the aid of large crop movements
Home building held stubbornly at re-
cent high levels, and Government re-
lief and w. P. A. spending put NOR
money into consumers pockets
Pay Rolls Are Swelled.
Meanwhile. the American Federa-
ton of Labor reported that improve
business had svelled pay rolls by s3l.-
100000 in July. The federation pre-
dicted recovery will be rapid if pro-
ductlon keeps up with increasing Gov
ernment and consumer spending. On
the other hand, the organization
economists estimated that ll,344,OOO
or % per cent Of all workers were out
of jobs
Retail trade Jagged in many regions
The Federal Reserve Board reported
volume Of department store sales
throughout the country were down IA
per cent from 1887. The Department
! Of Commerce noted that the recent
spurt in retail activity had begun to
| level of. Moderate improvement
! continued in most wholesale centers.
with the bulk of the business coming
from agricultural areas" the depart
ment said. There was a nominal
amount of advance staple buying. but
retailers as whole maintained a eau
tious buying policy"
The action of the capital markets
continued a topic of lively discussion
IN business circles. 1t was noted that
during the week new security issues
met good demand. Some financial
experts said the outlook was good for
wider financing operations during the
fall.
Cheer Is Tempered.
What cheer they took from these
factors was tempered. 1t was stressed
that most of the offerings came from
companies with top-grade credit and
that the bulk of bonds were issued in
order to repay outstanding debts. In
other words. stock financing for new
and productive enterprise was con-
spicuously lacking.
A rise in automobile output as new
models rolled of production lines
heralded the new fall season on which
many have pinned hopes, but Alfred
P. Sloan, jr., chairman of General
Motors Corp, showed no excitement
over the outlook If business improves,
he said, the motor industry will bene-
mt. He foreSaW no price increases and
he said he doubted fourth-quarter
earnings will equal those year ago
Once more the steel industry leaned
most heavily on miscellaneous con-
sumers for support. Observers said
demand from the railroads, long
awaited, would probably be held up
pending settlement of the dispute be-
tween railroad labor and management
over proposed Is per cent wage cut.
Estimates on Steel.
The American Iron e. Steel Insti-
tute estimated steel output at A per
cent Of capacity, the highest since the
week Of November /, 1887, when the
rate was 48.6. The rise represented fur
ther consolidation of the gains which
have been scored since the week of
July 4, A week ago the rate was
42.8, year ago, 841.
Production of electricity in the week
ended August % totaled 2,l34,O57,-
900 kilowatt hours. This was a little
lower than the previous week, but
the decline was about normal for this
time of year. The total was down 7
per cent from the corresponding week
Of 1887.
Carloadings were reported by the
Association of American Railroads at
620,5ll for the week ended August
q, a gain of 3.8 per cent over the
previous week. The total was off
20.8 per cen. from last year.
Wards Aumotive Reports, Inc, es-
timated motor output at 22,l65 units,
compared with 1900 the preceding
week and $4,000 in the like week last
year.