except the accounts of other banks. The manager of each clearing house summarizes the figures and telegraphs to the Federal Reserve agent of his district the number of banks included and the aggregate amount of debits. In the office of the Federal Reserve agent a tabulation is made of the figures thus received, and the Federal Reserve Board is advised by telegraph of the figures received from each clearing-house center. These figures relate to the week ending with Wednesday. By Saturday night the Board distributes 475 copies of a press notice1 giving the total debits for each clearing-house center, the sum of these totals in each district, and the aggregate debits for all the 250 reporting clearing-house centers. Comparative figures are shown for the corresponding week in the preceding year, and for the previous week of the current year. The following Monday 1,300 additional copies of the press notice are distributed, making a total issue of 1,775. The Federal Reserve Bulletin carries in each issue a table giving the bank debit information outlined above for the four or five weeks preceding publication, including comparable figures for the corresponding weeks in the preceding year. Monthly figures for 141 centers for which comparable data are available are shown in the Board's annual report. DISCOUNT AND INTEREST RATES PREVAILING IN VARIOUS CENTERS. The high, low, and customary rates at which banks in different banking centers discount various classes of commercial paper are published in tabular form in each monthly issue of the Federal Reserve Bulletin as of the 15th day of the preceding month. The banking centers selected are the Federal Reserve cities and branch cities.3 STOCK OF MONEY IN THE UNITED STATES, MONEY HELD BY THE TREASURY AND THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM, AND MONEY IN CIRCULATION. The Federal Reserve Bulletin gives a table in every issue showing the estimated stock of money in the United States as of the 1st day of the preceding month. Separate totals are given for the amounts of each kind of money held by the United States Treasury and the Federal Reserve System, and for the amount of money in circulation. The figures are obtained from the monthly circulation statement of the Treasury. Released for publication on Sunday morning. The actual number of reporting clearing-house centers for the week ending October 7, 1922, was 246. The number varies slightly from time to time. * Comparison of the corresponding rates in the different cities is the purpose in view; therefore the published rates, which are secured through the Federal Reserve agents, are arrived at in a uniform manner. See the September, 1918, issue of the Federal Reserve Bulletin. FOREIGN BANKS. Statistics relating to foreign banks of issue and to foreign commercial banks are published from time to time in the Federal Reserve Bulletin. The tabulations, which for the most part are condition statements of foreign institutions, are compiled from various foreign sources. The statistics as published in the Bulletin are generally accompanied by interpretative textual discussions. FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES. In accordance with the provisions of the Emergency Tariff Act of May 27, 1921, the New York Federal Reserve Bank certifies to the Treasury daily average noon buying rates for cable transfers of foreign currencies. These statements, which form the basis of the determination of customs duties, but are not to be regarded as official exchange rates, are telephoned daily to the Federal Reserve Board, and are issued by the Board in a mimeographed statement on the next day. These rates are also published monthly in the Federal Reserve Bulletin, high, low, and average rates for the month being shown. A foreign exchange index is also computed every month and published in the Bulletin based on rates on the 18 principal foreign countries, weighted in accordance with the total volume of trade with these countries during the preceding 12 months. EXPORTS AND IMPORTS OF GOLD AND SILVER. Soon after the organization of the Federal Reserve System it became evident that it was necessary for the Board to be in possession of prompt information concerning the movement of gold. Arrangements were made with the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce and the Customs Service to have the imports and exports of gold reported weekly to the Board. For some time both gold and silver import and export figures were received three times a month, i. e., as of the 10th, 20th, and last day of the month, and released by the Board in the form of a press notice as well as published in the Federal Reserve Bulletin. This arrangement has recently been discontinued and the Board now publishes only the monthly figures of such exports and imports, distributed by countries, as compiled by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. Trade Statistics. Primarily for the purpose of aiding the members of the Board and the officers of the Reserve banks in formulating policies in the administration of the Federal Reserve System, certain general statistics of trade are prepared and published in the monthly Bulletin. WHOLESALE PRICES IN THE UNITED STATES. A number of tables, accompanied by text matter and graphic charts, are included in each issue of the Federal Reserve Bulletin, showing the movement of wholesale prices in the United States. Index numbers of wholesale prices, based upon the average prices for 1913, are published for the last month for which computations have been completed2 and for each of the preceding months of the year, with the average index number for prior years. Index numbers are stated separately for: goods produced, goods imported, goods exported, raw materials, producers' goods, and consumers' goods. They are constructed primarily for the purpose of international comparison. The Federal Reserve Board also includes in the monthly Bulletin index numbers of wholesale prices in the United States collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but regrouped by the Board under the headings: raw materials (agricultural products, animal products, forest products, and mineral products); producers' goods; and consumers' goods. In order to illustrate more concretely the movement of wholesale prices in the United States, there are also presented in the Bulletin tables showing monthly actual and relative prices for certain staple commodities. These prices are abstracted from the records of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. WHOLESALE PRICES ABROAD. Beginning with January, 1920, each issue of the Federal Reserve Bulletin has contained comparative tables showing index numbers of wholesale prices in foreign countries. In October, 1922, the foreign price indexes currently published in the Bulletin numbered 25, compiled from the following sources: Belgium, Department of Statistics. Denmark, Finanstidende. France, General Statistical Bureau. Germany, Frankfurter Zeitung. Germany, Federal Statistical Bureau. Holland, Central Bureau of Statistics. Italy, Riccardo Bachi. Norway (Christiania), Økonomisk Revue. Poland, Central Statistical Office. Spain, Institute of Geography and Statistics. Sweden, Goteborgs Handelsoch Sjofartstidning. The index number of the Federal Reserve Board is based upon approximately 90 commodities. 2 Usually the second month preceding the issue of the Bulletin. See footnote to page 965 of the August, 1921, Bulletin. Switzerland, Doctor Lorenz. United Kingdom, Board of Trade. United Kingdom, Statist. Canada, Department of Labor. Peru, Department of Statistics. Australia, Bureau of Census and Statistics. China (Shanghai), Ministry of Finance. New Zealand, Department of Statistics. In order that the published figures may be as nearly up to date as possible, these index numbers are received by cable from the various foreign statistical offices as soon as the computations are available. Revisions of figures, changes in methods of computation, etc., are regularly reported in the Bulletin. Occasional articles analyze and compare the movements of prices in the principal countries of the world. INTERNATIONAL PRICE INDEX. For some time past the Federal Reserve Board, through its Division of Analysis and Research, has been securing data required to construct comparative wholesale price tables for leading countries in such a manner as to show not only the changes in price levels of groups of commodities from year to year in the same country, but also the relative trends in such prices in different countries. Essentially comparable index numbers have now been completed for the United States, England, France, Canada, and Japan, the average of prices in 1913 constituting the base. The index for each of the five countries is derived from about 100 price quotations, the commodities being divided into three broad classes: (1) Raw materials, (2) producers' goods, and (3) consumers' goods. The commodities are again classified under the two groups (1) goods produced, and (2) goods imported; while an additional group is made up of the principal "goods exported." The foreign prices have been obtained partly from authoritative trade publications and partly from dealers and manufacturers abroad. The Board has had the cooperation of the American consuls in London and Paris, the Bank of Japan, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, and others in gathering the necessary data. INDEX NUMBERS OF RETAIL PRICES AND THE COST OF LIVING. The Federal Reserve Board publishes regularly statistics showing the trend of retail prices and the cost of living in the United States and foreign countries, compiled from the following sources: Retail prices. United States, Bureau of Labor Statistics. France, French General Statistical Office. Cost of living. Austria (Vienna), Paritatische Kommission. Belgium, Belgian Ministry of Labor. Germany, Federal Statistical Bureau. India (Bombay), Labor Office. Poland, International Labor Office. Sweden, Royal Social Board. Switzerland, Swiss Bureau of Labor. Union of South Africa, International Labor Office. OTHER FOREIGN STATISTICS. As part of the reporting of economic and financial conditions abroad, the Federal Reserve Board collects and publishes monthly a variety of industrial and financial statistics compiled in the principal countries of the world. Tables are published showing (1) industrial activity in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, and Japan; (2) foreign trade of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Japan, and Argentina; and (3) financial and banking statistics for the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Japan, and Argentina. The data available for the different countries naturally varies somewhat, but an illustration of the information of this sort to be found in the Bulletin may be obtained from the following description of the monthly tables published for the United Kingdom : 1. Industrial activity: Production- Pig iron. Steel ingots and castings. Finished steel. Visible supply of raw cotton. Shipping tonnage under construction. Net ton-miles carried by railways. Exports Iron and steel manufactures. Cotton manufactures. Coal. Unemployment Percentage of unemployed among 12,000,000 insured persons. 2. Foreign trade (value): Imports Food, drink, and tobacco. Raw materials and articles mainly unmanufactured. |