Evening star., 1962-02-14
Income Drop
Insignificant,
Hodges Says
BY LEE M. COHN
Star Staff Writer

oSok otutk WriteE
Personal income declined last
inonth-possibly rejecting a
slight setback in the econoray's
recovery-but Commerce Sec
retary Hodges maintains the
drop was insignificant.
Mr.. Hodges reported at news
conference yesterday that per-
sonal income slipped to a sea-
sonally adjusted annual rate
OF $430.3 billion in January
from $431 8 billion in December.
More significant, Mr.. Hodges
said, was the 6.5 per cent rise
above January. 1861.
He said the December-to-
January decline resulted partly
from bad weather and partly
from initiation of the Deem
ber total by extra corporation
dividends and a special in
surance dividend paid to vet
Grams of the Korean war.
Major elements in the de-
cline of total personal income
to $430.3 billion in January in
cluded the decline of wages and
salaries to $290.1 billion from
$29O.7 billion, and reduction of
dividend income to $14.9 bill
lion from $15.5 billion.
Sees Steel Accord
Questioned about steel, la
Dor negotiations starting today
IN Pittsburgh, Mr.. Hodges said
he was pretty sure" of a con-
tract settlement "long before"
present contracts expire next |
June 80.
He said he based his opti- |
miSm on the reasonable" at.
titude expressed by labor and
management leaders, and on
the feeling that both sides are
needing President Kennedy's
call for responsible negotia-
tions and an early settlement in |
the public interest.
Asked whether he expects the
labor settlement to result in a |
steel price boost, Mr.. Hodges
replied: II would doubt that |
there would be very much Of
an increase lin prices), if any"
On other subjects discussed at
his news conference, Mr.. Hod-
geS:
Reported that administration
policy on trade with Iron Cur
tain countries is not quite as
restrictive" now as it was a
month ago, although the diff
ference is not Substantial" He
remarked that "mercurial"
changes in Soviet Premier
Khrushchev's cold war attitude
"keep the whole administration
wondering whether to loosen
or tighten"
Said he is fairly confident"
that American textile interests
will support the administrations |
tariff-cutting legislation if the |
agreement on controlling tex
tile trade-negotiated last week |
in Geneva-workS well.
Work Week Cut
In another economic report |
yesterday, the Labor Department |
said the average factory work |
week declined to 39.9 hours in |
January from 40.6 hours in De-
Cember. The department said |
the more e-than-seaSonal drop |
was caused by a sharp cut
back in overtime in the auto |
industry and more moderate re-
ductions of hours in other in
dustries.
Shorter hours reduced ave-
rage weekly earnings of factory |
workers to $94.96 in January
from $96.63 in December.
The department had reported
two weeks ago that the num-
ber of unemployed workers rose
t. 1868, 900 last month from
4,091 900 in December, and hat
total employment declined to
65,058,000 from sc, ,467.00
Since the rise in joblessness |
was smaller than normal for |
this time of year, the Seasonally |
adjusted unemployment rate |
dropped to 5.8 per cent of the
labor force in January from |
6per cent in December.
If only seasonal factors oper-
ate, officials said, the So per
cent rate would produce unem-
ployment totals of AZ million
in February and March, Al
million in April and 4 million
in May, after which joblessness |
would increase as students |
hunted summer jobs.