Evening star., 1940-12-29
Business Prospects
Bright, Jones Says,
Reviewing Year
Substantial Reduction
In Unemployment Is
Predicted for 1941

Business prospects for 1941 are so
bright we may confidently look to
substantial progress toward elm
tnation of unemployment as major
problem in our society," Secretary
of Commerce Jones declared yester-
day in a year-end statement.
Business moves into 1941 op-
Grating at record levels" said Mr.
Jones, who is also Federal Loan
Administrator. 1T can look back
on the year just past as one of
vigorous expansion which in total
produced the best results in a
decade. Il can look forward to
1941 as year that will bring
further progress and the advance
of our PEI capita output to a new
record"
Mr.. Jones said that the squirt in
industry, which he credited pri-
narily to the defense program,
already had taken up some unem-
ployment slack and that between
February and october 100000
persons got new non-agricultural
jobs.
C.. !. o. Less Optimistic.
Meanwhile, however, the C. I. o.
said that those economists in
Washington who have been predict
ing for the fall of 1941 an increased
employment of 100000 over the
fall of 1910 are less confident in
their assertions"
A re-examination of the estimates
oh nf loo
indicates an increased employment
of 100000 for 1941 is a generous
estimate" said the current issue of
the C. I. o. publication, the Eco
nonic Outlook.
The national unemployment fig
ure in January will be 'as great or
greater than in July when the ma
tional defense program was put
under way" the article said.
Urges Increased Plant Capacity.
Warning that the United States
cannot afford to repeat the mistakes
of other democracies, which per
nitted irreplaceable time to slip by
without pushing production to the
full potential of labor and raw ma
terial resources" Mr.. Jones called
on American industry to increase
its plant capacity.
Production must be expanded and
ways must be found to use more
effectively existing industrial equip
ment. he declared.
I'VE face many problems of ad-
tustment during the coming year"
he said. 1T must be a period of
hard work and cooperative endeav-
ors geared to meet the imperative
requirements of the world today.
We must increase production, and
to do this we must recognize the
urgency of and meet the capacity
problem"
Within the past year, Secretary
Jones asserted, the business picture
has undergone such sweeping
changes as to alter radically the
problems faced by the country.
Emphasis Shifts.
"A year ago the lack of sufficient
demand for capital goods still
proved a serious deterrent to any
substantial general expansion in
income and employment" he said.
To-day, however, the defense pro-
gram and the needs of the British
Empire have provided large back
logs of investment, and the eXpan-
sion in activity has been sufficient to
press even now upon the limits of
capacity in many of the key durable
goods industries. Thus in the short
space of a year, the emphasis of
our economic problems has been
converted from one of idle resources
to one requiring production of more
plant and equipment"
Expanded industrial production
has been the chief factor, Secretary
Jones said, in increasing total in
come payments in 1910 to STA OOO,-
100000, a gain of $4,000 ,0O0,0 900 over
1889. Business activity, at its pres
ent rate, assures yearly income pay
ments over $4,000, 100000, with all
the indications pointing to further
substantial advance in 1941
Production at Record High.
In all branches of the national
economy, American business, in
1910, advanced to higher levels than
in 1899, Secretary Jones declared
Under the impetus of the defense
program, industrial production re-
gained the ground lost at the first
of the year and now stands at a
record high with the production
of durable goods scoring the largest
gains of the year.
Expenditures for construction in
1910 exceeded 100000, a sub
stantial increase over 1899. Residen-
tial construction registered 10 per
cent gain.
Though hourly wage rates have
shown little advance during the year,
labor has increased it's income
through more full-time employment,
and greater number of jobs, Mr..
Jones pointed out. Profits also
have risen substantially, and are
running more than Is per cent in ex-
cess of those in the previous year."
he added. In spite of additions to
taxes, the net earnings of large cor
porations are expected to be as high
as In any year since 1929"
Retail Trade Up.
Retail trade will be 7 per cent
higher than in 1899, with sales of
automobiles, electrical appliances
and durable goods generally reach
ing the highest levels of the decade.
Though prices so far have shown
no substantial advance, Mr.. Jones
warned that the price problems may
be. a potentially difficult one as
production continues to rise" For
this reason, it is problem that
merits careful consideration in 1941,
he said.
If the war in Europe continues,
our exports will increase, Mr.. Jones
declared. The pattern of foreign
trade changed in important respects
during 1910. THE closing OF CONT
mental Europe shut off principal
market, but the loss was more than
r-f