Evening star., 1941-09-25
Expenditure
OF IS Billions by
Consumers Forecast
Strong RetoiI Price
upswing Also Seen by
Commerce Department
BY OLIVER MCKEE.

Warning that the closing months
of 1941 are likely to see strong
upsurge" in retail prices, unless
Government agencies take "forceful
measures" to check such rise, the
Commerce Department, in report
published in the Survey of Current
Business, estimated today that the
consumer expenditures of the Amer
ican people this year will reach
a record high of $75,000,00 100000
more than $4,000 900 900 greater than
the total for the boom year of 1929.
Retail sales during the first seven
months Of l941 were 18 per cent
above those for the corresponding
period last year. Though part of
the advance represented higher
prices, the physical volume of the
goods purchased has increased by
about 13 per cent.
Autos Up 35 Per Cent.
The rise in consumer expenditures,
particularly purchases of durable
goods, reflects the impetus of the
defense program, the Commerce De-
partment report pointed out. The
most notable illustration, it said,
is the record total of 1884 900 pas
Senger automobiles sold during the
first seven months of the years.
per cent more than during the cor
responding period in 1910. Sales by
independent furniture, household
equipment and radio stores have
increased by one-fourth, and those
OF jewelry stores by nearly a third.
Though not so striking, sales of
non-durable goods have also regis
tered a substantial advance over
1910. Department store sales, which
in July, on Seasonally adjusted
basis, were back to their 1929 peaks,
are l6 per cent above the first seven
months of 1910.
In general, according to the Com
merce Department, the current rec
ord level of consumer expenditures
is in line with increased national
purchasing power.
In the future, however, aggregate
consumption will not hinge pri-
marily on the income of the Ameri-
can people, but on the supply of
goods and services available TO con-
sumers" it pointed out. This limi-
tation in turn would ordinarily re-
strict the rise in consumers money
income. However. the expansion of
defense expenditures from Sl1 ,0O0,-
100000 or .000,000,000 in 1941 to
better than $4,000 ,0OO,0 900 in 1912
will much more than offset any cur
tailment of consumer income caused
by curtailed production of consum-
ers's goods.
Food Supplies Increasing.
Supplies of apparel, though not
likely TO be reduced except silk hos
iery) cannot be expanded anywhere
near as much from present levels
as was possible a year ago. The
output of textiles can hardly be ex-
panded at all. Total food supplies
are increasing, but total demand is
increasing even more. Under the
general tendency for increased de-
mand to outrun increased supply,
conditions of apparent scarcity are
entirely possible
In view of the inadequacy of sup
ply in most Industries, the report,
in conclusion, stresses four points:
First, the urgent need for expand
ing industrial capacity; second, sys-
tematic efforts should be made to
teach consumers how to make ex-
lstng stocks of goods render the
maximum possible period of service;
third, the necessity for action by
Government agencies to hold. in
check advancing prices; fourth, the
need for expanding many of the
service industries, notably domestic
service. medical, entertainment and
recreation.