TNAG-0143-FCO40-179-Exports-of-textiles-to-United-States-of-America-1969 — Page 150

Production

ECONOMIC INDIATORS

27/e/iii

he Federal Reserve's scasonally adjusted index of production both for textile mill products and for apparel (1957-59 = 100) has been about 150 for 1968.* · It was about 140 for 1967. The index for textiles has increased in the past year at the same pace as that for all manufacturing, which is about 165.

:

Consumption of all fibers by U. S. mills is expected to be 8 percent above 1957, a new record.

Sales

Sales of both textile mill products and apparel are expected to be about $21 billion, a 10 percent increase over 1967.

Profits

After-tax net income for the first nine months of 1968 for 21 apparel firms was 21 percent over 1967, and for 22 textile firms was ahead 17 percent (data from Citibank). The average profits increase for 398 manufacturing firms was 12 per- cent. These are considered record textile profits.

Imports

Textile and apparel imports in 1968 through November set a new record of $17 billion, 124.3 percent over the like period of 1967. This compares with a 23.4 percent in-

crease for all imports, which also set a new record in 1968.

By value, imports of textile mill products were 4.7 percent of domestic shipments in 1967. Average value of imports each year from 1961-67 was 4.6 percent. Value of apparel imports was 3.1 percent in 1967, up from 1.9 percent in 1951.

By quantity (all textile imports reduced to fiber equivalents) imports of cotton, wool, and man-mode fiber manufactures increased from 6 percent of total domestic consumption of textiles in 1960 to 7.2 percent of domestic consumption in 1967.

Employment

The textile industry employed 2,402,000 persons in 1958. Employment in the textile mill products industry averaged 985,000, up 3.5 percent from 1967. Employment in the apparel and related products industry averaged 1,417,000, an increase of 1.9 percent. These are the highest figures on record.

Average hourly gross earnings of production workers through November 1968 averaged $2.20 both for textiles and apparel, up 6.8 percent and 8.4 percent respectively from 1957. These are new records for both industries. Earnings are still below the average of $2.82 for all manufacturing, perhaps reflecting the predominant location of the industry in relatively low wage areas and weak unions in the South.

Stock Ferformance

Textile and apparel shares out-performed the market as a whole in 1968. Standard and Poor's industry indexes show apparel shares up 30 percent from 1967, textile shares up 24 percent, and fiber producers' shares up 18 percent. By contrast, the NYSE composite index gained 9.4 percent.

Page 150Page 151