HD UC-NRLF $B T4 351 1 \ 1 BUREAU OF APPLIED ECONOMICS, INC. 1 WASHINGTON CHANGES IN COST OF LIVING AND PRICES 1914 to 1920 Bulletin Number 6 WASHINGTON 1920. COPYRIGHT, 1920 BY BUREAU OF APPLIED ECONOMICS, INC. WASHINGTON HUGH S. HANNA, Director PRICE $1.00 r^l ' BUREAU OF APPLIED ECONOMICS, INC. WASHINGTON CHANGES IN COST OF LIVING AND PRICES 1914 to 1920 a 1 • •• > ' ,' > ' » » J > » » yj » } WASHINGTON 1920 PREFACE. This bulletin is a compilation of the existing authoritative data on changes in cost of living since the beginning of the European War in July 1914. Inasmuch as these data are at present scattered through a large number of publications it is believed the assembling of them under a single cover, in summarized form, will be of service at the present time when there is so much demand for information on this subject. Bureau of Applied Economics, Bulletin Number 6. ADDENDUM, JUNE 20, 1920. Since this bulletin was printed index numbers of cost of living and prices for a month later than those given in the bulletin have become available for most of the sources listed. These later figures are shown below, together with the com- parable data for the preceding monJ;h or two months, in order to show clearly the recent changes. All figures are converted to the same base (July, 1914=100) in order to make them com- parable with those printed in the bulletin. Index Numbers of Cost of Living and Wholesale and Retail Prices, April, May and .June, 1920. 1914=100. 1920 April May June 1. General Cost of Living: (a) National Industrial (Conference Board — Food 100 111 Shelter 50 51 Clotliing 188 187 Fuel Heat and Light 51 55 Sundries 83 83 Total, weighted 96.6 101.62 (b) Massachusetts Commission on the Neces- saries of Life — Food 91.9 101.3 Shelter 29.3 30.3 Clothing 200.4 197.0 Fuel and Light 75.5 75.9 Sundries 83.0 83.0 Total, weighted 92.3 96.2 2. Retail Price of Food: U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 211 217 3. Wholesale Prices: (n) U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Farm Products 246 244 Food, etc 270 287 Cloths and Clothing 353 347 Fuel and Lighting 213 235 Metals and Metal Products 195 193 Lumber and Building Materials 341 341 Drugs and Chemicals 212 215 Housef urnishing Goods 331 ^9 Miscellaneous 238 246 All Commodities 265 £12. (b) Bradstreet— All Commodities 225 225 21b All Commodities 213 218 217 '^^f^'X 225 229 .235 1 Week ended June 12, 1920. 2 Preliminary figure. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/costlivingchangelOOburerich i — i i « ' f — ?~4 ? ? ? ? ^ r ? § ? J„n , — H» "•o — V ■ 1 ..... .___. 1 > \ ^ h^ i ' [_ ^^ ,^ >, s. tn « i 1 1 S g I 1 » i i - ri 1 a 1 3 3 , i ' * «y ! 5°i i lift ^» ^ N> ..X L_6^ ^ — ] \^ "^ N \ N P3 Q 1 \ ^^^^^ ■v NyJ \ -38 2 1 1 -1 joe- y v\^^ \ -l^ * 1 f"* •"^ \ > ' ^J s -, \. "S8 1 ^ ^ ^H 1 ! 1 N • ^ \ Tir W 1 \ '^Ar \i^ > ^N ^ ^ i r 1 <" — T r \4 1 y / L V ] \ s > \ ^ \ \, 1 \ \ ... / \ \ \ jcn. < V^ h \ \ Jbd K T 1 r^v \ \ i 1 1 lW j !.! v\ \ j 1 \ \ \ H si i t 1 X V i' r > i;\ j/. 1 r"' i'^ !•'"' i . -y- — 1 ^ \ i ^- \ , 1 \ \ V C 1 / ' N^ OG 1 / \ A / w i- j ' ;^h N\ 1 : \ 1 i 1 \ \N ! : : t s ^ 1 IVy r. ^ ^ "-.. \ \ i; ilA . ., , .,_ ... ,. , ^ h- 1 H -- \\ jWU 1 1 — ^-r "^. \ \ 1 IFK j. ^M\ i i^ ' .1 ^ I K\ ' I 1- ; '["^""Zj 1 1 /f ^ ^ ^ '^^J \\ 1 ^ j i . 1 e B ►^ ^^ — 3«l CO 2 S 5 ^ =-^ i " " 1 1 ^ ^ . ' ^ -i 1 — \ L;; \ l! \ vV\ m N \\\ ii_ \ \Y It« N \\ fe "^ I 1 ^l lor ' nN l-r V m i)| roi s 1 r ^^r 1 1 1 ! i — > 'ir 1 \l| 1 In t-7 ! •Vj lOfT 1 . 1 .j , /M Js" 1 — 1 — r— , [ . L ' — r 1 — ^^^ -.ADC 1 ^ i ^ § a ? . , .J i s k ' 2 S ■•.. —cL. CHANGES IN COST OF LIVINC' 'aND PRICES, 1914 to 1920 CHAPTER I. Increase in the General Cost of Living July, 1914, to May, 1920. Recent studies of cost of living and prices indicate that the in- crease in the general cost of living between July, 1914, and May, 1920, was approximately 110 per cent for the larger cities of the country and approximately 100 per cent for the country as a whole. The periodic changes, for as short intervals as are available, are shown in the following table, which summarizes reports of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Indus- trial Conference Board, supplemented by corresponding data for Massachusetts as compiled by the Massachusetts Commission on the Necessaries of Life. PER CENT INCREASE IN COST OF LIVING SINCE JULY, 1914. Mass. Commission U. S. Bureau of National Industrial on the Necessaries Labor Statistics. Conference Board. of Life. 18 Country Industrial as a Country as a Whole. Massachusetts Only. Centers. whole. 1914 — December .... 2 2 .6 1915— June-July .... 2 2 .5 dec. .4 December .... 3 3 1.4 1916— June-July . 9 9 8.7 7.6 December . 17 17 15.0 1917— June-July . 30 29 31.3 26.6 December . 44 41 36.7 1918— June-July . ... 60 56 52.2 49.3 November . ... . 65.0 61.6 December . 76 72 62.7 1919— March .... 60.5 61.3 Jmie 80 75 66.8 July .. 72.2 68!o November . . 82.2 80.7 December .. loi 95(1) 80.9 1920— January . . 90.2 88.1 February . . 93.5 86.9 March .... 94.8 89.4 Apra 96.6 92.3 May nii^) ibm (^)Esthnates; increase between December, 1919, and May, 1920, being estimated at 5 per cent from price increases shown in later sections. 5 Sources op the Table. The figures for the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics up to June, 1919, are from the Labor Review for October, 1919. For December, 1919, the figures are based on press statements issued by the Bureau. The figures for the National Industrial Conference Board are from the Board's publications, supplemented by press statements for February, March and April of this year. The figures for the Massachusetts Commission on the Necessaries of Life are from the recent report of that Commission, supplemented by press statements for March and April, 1920. The index numbers as issued by this Commission are all based on the jesiT 1913, equal- ing 100. In order to make these figures comparable with those of the other two studies, the base has been changed to July, 1914, by dividing by the index number for that month. Similarity op Results. The similarity in the results of these studies is apparent, and the similarity becomes even more striking when the methods and scope of the studies are analyzed. Thus, while the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics' investigations are the most thorough and, as a result, probably the most accurate, they have covered the whole period since 1914 only for certain large cities which during the war were shipbuilding centers. As these cities suffered from a very heavy influx of population, with consequent congestion, price ad- vances there were somewhat greater than in most other communities. In the October, 1919, number of the Labor Review, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that during the war the cost of living increased 12 per cent less rapidly in other communities, and 6 per cent less rapidly in the country as a whole, than it did in the ship- building centers. If these relationships still hold, as there is reason to believe they do, the figure of 101 per cent for December, 1919, would be reduced to 95 per cent as a fair average for the country as a whole. Increases by Principal Commodity Groups. The increases in Jiving costs have been by no means uniform for the various commodity groups. The following tables show the esti- mates of increases by commodity groups as compiled from reports of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Indus- trial Conference Board and the Massachusetts Commission on the Necessaries of Life. The tables, it will be noted, cover slightly dif- ferent periods, and the commodity groups are not identical, but they constitute the most complete and most recent studies of the subject. INCREASED COST OF LIVING BY COMMODITY GROUPS. 1. U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1914 to 1919. For 18 Industrial Centers. Items. Per cent increase Dec, 1914, to Dec, 1919. Food Clothing Housing Fuel and light Furniture and furnishings \ Miscellaneous I Total, weighted according to importance of each item in the| family budget | 87.8 178.8 28,5 57.7 166.9 86.3 97.1 2. National Industrial Conference Board, 1914 to 1920. Items. I Per cent increase I July, 1914, to AprU, 1920. Food i 100. Shelter | 50. Clothing I 188. Fuel, heat and light | 51. Sundries I 83. Total, weighted according to importance of each item in thel family budget I 96.6 Massachusetts Commission on the Necessaries of Life, 1913 to 1920, for the State of Massachusetts. Items. Food Shelter Clothing Fuel and light Sundries I Total, weighted according to importance of each item in the] family budget Per cent Increase I 1913, to April, 1920. 98.2 33.8 205.5 70.8 83.0 96.3 Changes in Cost op Living by Cities. The preceding sections have been concerned primarily with the ascertaining of average increases in the cost of living for the coun- try as a whole. This has meant the averaging of conditions in a large number of communities. While increases in the cost of living oc- curred during the past few years in every community of which there is record, the rate of increase was not everywhere the same. In general, the increases were greater in the East than in the West, and greater in the centers where industrial activity was most stimu- lated by the war. On the other hand, the greatest price increases have not always been in the very largest cities. These variations are well brought out in the cost of living surveys made by the U nite d States Bureau of Lg ^nr ^t^iti^.tip n r^nr'ing .^Ui^y.Qj-, ^ These surveys covered a large number of cities, and the results have been partially tabulated and published by individual communi- ties. For only one group of 18 large cities, however, does the infor- mation cover substantially the whole war period from 1914 to Decem- ber, 1919. For 13 other large cities partial information is available for the period December, 1917, to December, 1919, and for a third group of 66 cities, mostly of smaller sizes, detailed information is available for the one-year period, December, 1917, to December, 1918. The summarized data for the two former groups of cities, as tabu- lated from the published figures of the Bureau, are as follows : (a) 9 Survey of Eighteen Shipbuilding Centers, December, 1914, TO December, 1919. This survey was undertaken by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics especially for the use of the Shipbuilding Labor Adjust- ment Board of the Emergency Fleet Corporation, and for that rea- son was limited to shipbuilding centers. It covered 18 large cities of wide geographical distribution and containing between 15 and 20 million people. The following tables show the percentage increase in cost of living for December of each year from 1914 to 1919, as developed in this survey. PERCENTAGE OF INCREASE IN COST OF LIVING IN 18 SHIPBUILDING CENTERS, FROM DECEMBER, 1914, TO DECEMBER, 1915, 1916, 1917, AND 1918, AND TO JUNE 1919 AND DECEMBER, 1919. (Compiled from data published in the Monthly Labor Review of the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). Percentage of increase from December, 1914, to — Cities. December 1915 December 1916 December 1917 December 1918 June 1919 December 1919 Portland, Me ♦ .42 1.57 1.97 1.19 ♦1.37 .61 ♦.21 1.27 ♦.40 *.29 3.01 3.51 1.42 3.53 ♦3.05 *1.02 ♦1.93 ♦1.66 .43 13.83 15.72 14.91 14.65 18.51 14.73 14.59 14.66 13.82 16.41 19.51 22.25 19.10 24.38 6.14 7.40 7.68 8.30 14.81 37.96 38.13 44.68 43.81 51.27 45.15 42.48 41.63 43.16 44.89 41.78 49.85 42.93 51.13 31.23 31.08 28.85 28.63 41.04 72.23 70.60 77.28 73.86 84.68 80.73 74.98 71.52 71.37 75.67 72.16 78.03 71.36 80.91 64.24 69.87 58.03 57.77 72.52 74.25 72.78 79.22 76.21 83.99 87.05 79.76 77.48 76.64 80.22 74.47 84.36 77.23 84.23 69.16 74.01 65.07 65.58 76.76 91.59 Boston, Mass 92 30 New York, N. Y Philadelphia, Pa Baltimore, Md Norfolk, Va 103.81 96.49 98.40 106.98 Savannah, Ga 98 68 Jacksonville, Fla Mobile, Ala 102.14 94 54 Houston, Tex 101.70 Chicago, lU 100 61 Detroit, Mich 107 87 Cleveland, Ohio Buffalo, N. Y Portland, Ore Seattle, Wash Los Angeles, Calif — San Fran'co & Oakland Average (unweighted) . 95.05 102.65 83.73 97.67 85.33 87.76 97 07 ♦Decrease. 10 (&) Survey op Thirteen Large Non-Shipbuilding Cities, December, 1918, to December, 1919. The cities covered by tliis survey are for tlie most part lai^ in- land cities. Industry in many of them was greatly stimulated by the war, but in few, if any, cases did they experience the heavy labor influx and housing congestion experienced by the shipbuilding cen- ters. The following table gives for each city the percentage increases in cost of living from December, 1917, to December, 1919, and to June, 1919. PERCENTAGE OF INCREASE IN COST OF LIVING IN 13 LARGE NON- SHIPBUILDING CENTERS FROM DECEMBER, 1917, TO JUNE, 1919. AND DECEMBER, 1919. (Compiled from data pabfished in the Monthly Labor Review of the U. S. Borean of Labor Statistics). Per cent increase from December, 1917, to— Cities 1 December, 1918 June, 1919 December, 1919 Atlanta, Ga 19.68 16.98 17.27 20.72 19.06 ! 19.62 18.33 15.80 17.90 19.82 17.88 16.69 21.89 18.59 23.27 19.78 2L05 25.33 21.12 20.57 23.25 18.75 20.73 21.82 20.60 17.85 25.03 22.24 37.89 Pirminghain, Ala. 34.32 Cincinnati, Ohio 35 24 Denver Colo 38.19 Indianapolis Ind 36 53 Kansas City Mo 3816 Memphis, Tenn. 35.23 Minneapf>lis, Minn , , , , , ^ , . . 32.71 New Orleans, La. 33 86 Pittsburgh, Pa. 36.17 Richmond, Va. 32.02 St Louis, Mo 34.24 Scranton Pa 37.10 Average (unweighted) 35.51 Monthly Changes in Cost of Living. Since January, 1920, the National Industrial Conference Board has undertaken to collect and publish monthly statistics of changes in cost of living. Prior to that time neither the National Industrial Conference Board nor the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics attempted to report changes at less intervals than six months. Therefore, the attempt of the Massachusetts Commission on the Necessaries of Life to compile monthly figures for a period of years is of much interest, even though the figures relate solely to the one 11 state. The index numbers as compiled by this Commission are shown in the table below, by months, from January, 1913, to April, 1920. INDEX NUMBERS OF COST OP LIVING, 1913 TO APRIL, 1920. (From Report of the Commission on the Necessaries of Life, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, February, 1920.) 1913. 1914. 1915. 1916. 1917. 1918. 1919. 1920. January 94.9 94.2 99.2 99.6 99.4 100.3 100.8 100.6 100.2 101.0 101.0 100.8 101.8 101.8 101.6 100.4 100.1 100.6 102.1 103.1 103.3 104.1 103.2 102.7 102.9 102.1 101.0 101.0 101.5 101.4 101.7 101.4 102.2 103.2 103.9 103.5 105.7 106.3 106.7 108.2 108.7 110.3 109.9 110.1 112.1 113.6 116.2 117.5 119.6 121.1 122.7 125.3 127.5 131.0 129.3 130.0 133.1 137.1 138.2 139.6 144.6 147.0 145.7 145.9 148.7 152.4 155.1 157.6 161.3 164.2 165.0 166.1 167.5 164.7 164.7 167.0 169.1 170.3 171.5 174.6 173.1 179.9 184.5 184.7 192.0 February 190.8 March 193.4 , April 196.3 May Juno r T , July August September October November December Method op Computing Increased Cost op Living. The relation between increased cost of living and increased prices should be, but is not always, clearly understood. This point is de- veloped in an article in the Monthly Labor Review for October, 1919. There it is pointed out that the determination of_c hanges in the cost of living^to be at all accurat e, must be based upon the reta il^ CQSt g-Of the vario usitems ent*^T»inp^ intn |be ^^Hlnnry family hnfl^ot^ w^^^]^j^jl_^£2rirJlll3^^--t2^^ ^ ^ ^^^^ items in the b udget. This includes house ^ent, sick ness_exp enses, amusements an d other PiO££L or less intangible thing s, as well as actu al commodities, such a^^foodand clothing. For this reason prices of commodities, as the term is usually used, whether wholesale or retail, do not constitute a complete index of cost of living. Thus prices of food, fuel and clothing may go up 100 per cent, but if rent and sundries (which take about one-third of the average family's income) advance, say, only 10 per cent, the real increase in cost of living will be about 70 per cent. Retail prices of food offer an excellent guide to changing living costs, but cannot be taken as absolutely conclusive, as food is only one item, although usually a most important one, in the family budget. 12 Wholesale prices offer a very unsatisfactory guide to living costs. Experience has shown that during a period of rapidly rising prices, such as has occurred during the past five years, wholesale prices tend to increase more rapidly than retail prices. There are two evi- dent reasons for this : first, the retailer often buys on contract for future delivery, and, second, the retailer is often unable to shift the increased wholesale cost immediately to the consumer. Thus, in a period of increasing cost, retail prices — and it is at retail that the average consumer buys — tend to lag behind wholesale prices. Ultimately retail prices will show somewhat the same total increase as wholesale prices will, but on any particular date, in a period of generally increasing prices, wholesale prices may be sev- eral steps in advance of retail prices. Moreover, the existing data regarding wholesale price movements are not entirely satisfactory. There are four well-known index numbers of such prices — Bradstreet's, Dun^s, the Annalist's and the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics'. These are based on dif- ferent groupings of commodities, and are by no means identical in their results. Character of the Principal Cost of Living Investigations. Comprehensive studies of the character above mentioned and for the country as a whole have been made only by two organizations : (1) The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, and (2) The National Industrial Conference Board. In addition, a very interest- ing study has been made for the State of Massachusetts by (3) The Massachusetts Commission on the Necessaries of Life. (1) Cost of Living Survey of Eighteen Shipbuilding Centers from December, 1914, to December, 1919, made by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, and supplemented by a country-wide cost-of-living survey, covering (a) thirteen large non-shipbuilding centers form December, 1917, to December, 1919, and (b) sixty-six additional cities, most of smaller size, from December, 1917, to December, 1918. In these surveys detailed expenditures over a year's time were obtained from several hundred families in each community. From these were determined the relative importance of each article in the list of expenditures. The local retail prices were then obtained and weighted according to their importance in the budget. The most recent data of the Bureau regarding the "weights," or percentage importance, of the various groups of items in the family 13 budget were developed in the budget study made in 1918-1919. This study covered more than 12,000 families. Their combined expe- rience gives the following per cent distribution of expenditures by principal groups of items : PER CENT DISTRIBUTION BY ITEMS. (From Labor Review, August, 1919.) Items. White Colored Families. Families. 38.2 42.7 16.6 15.9 13.4 12.4 5.3 5.3 5.1 4.3 21.3 19.4 Food Clothing Rent Fuel and light Furniture and furnishings Miscellaneous (2) Cost of Living Surveys of the National Industrial Conference Board. This Board is an association of manufacturers' associa- tions, which has established a research department for industrial investigations. In these surveys the prices obtained were similarly weighted, the results of previous investigations being used for this purpose. The weights used are as follows : PER CENT DISTRIBUTION OF ITEMS. Food Shelter Clothing Fuel, heat and light Sundries 43.1 17.7 13.2 5.6 20.4 In obftaining prices the Board used the retail food prices pub- lished by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. For other items it obtained prices direct from the localities, mostly by corre- spondence. Its principal investigations are now made at intervals of four months, with monthly studies of more limited scope since January, 1920. The making of cost-of-living surveys such as these just listed is very laborious. It means collecting prices of food, clothing, house furnishings, house rents, etc., from a large number of persons in a 14 large number of localities. As a result, such price collecting has only been done at considerable intervals and for a more or less limited number of communities. Thus there is no complete series of figures showing changes in cost of living for all communities and at short intervals. Therefore, in attempting to arrive at a complete series of figures showing changes in cost of living during the period July, 1914, to date, the best that can be done is to combine and analyze the existing data and to seek to reconcile conflicting find- ings and fill in lacking data as well as possible. The paramount difficulty is that during the past few years there has been considerable lack of uniformity in the increasing cost of living in different cities and different sections. From 1914 to date every community of which there is record shows a very substantial increase, but the percentages are by no means the same. This fact explains in some part the different results obtained by different investigations. 15 CHAPTER II. Retail Prices of Food. The only authoritative data on retail food prices in the United States are those collected by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics and published currently in the Monthly Labor Review of that Bureau. These price reports for a considerable period of time have been for at least 22 principal food articles, obtained from some 2,000 dealeiFs in forty-five cities of the United States, so distributed geographically as to be representative of the whole country. Re- cently the number of commodities and the number of cities covered by the study has been considerably extended. Index Numbers op Retail Food Prices of All Commodities^ by MoNTHS_, January_, 1913, TO April, 1920. The following table gives by months from January, 1913, to April, 1920, the index numbers of retail food prices of all the commodities for all cities for which data were obtained by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics for this period. The average of the prices for the year 1913 is taken as a base of 100. RELATIVE RETAIL PRICES OP FOOD IN THE UNITED STATES JANUARY, 1913, TO APRIL, 1920, INCLUSIVE. (Compiled from Monthly Labor Reviews of U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.) Month. J J ,1 1913. I 1914. I 1915. I 1916. | 1917. 1 1917. 1918. 1 1919. ! 1 1 146 16? 186 128 160 185 133 161 172 133 154 175 145 154 182 1 1 151 158 185 152 162 184 146 167 190 149 171 192 153 178 188 157 181 189 155 183 192 157 187 197 1920. Average for year January February March April May June July August September October November December 100 98 97 97 98 97 98 100 101 102 104 105 104 102 104 97 98 99 101 103 101 I 101 99 I 98 99 100 100 102 I 100 107 I 100 107 I 101 105 I 103 105 I 104 105 I 105 I 114 I 107 I 106 I 107 1 109 I 109 I 112 I 111 I 113 118 121 I 126 I 126 I 201 200 200 211 16 Index Numbers of Retail Price Changes for Certain Commodities 1913 to 1920. The table below analyses the data of the preceding table by com- modities. It shows for twenty-two important commodities the index numbers of retail prices on February 15 for selected years from 1913 to 1920. RELATIVE RETAIL PRICES OF FOOD IN THE UNITED STATES ON FEBRUARY 15, 1913, 1914, 1917, AND 1920. (Compiled from table in Monthly Labor Review of U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.) Base, 1913 = 100. Article 1913 1914 1917 1920 Sirloin steak 94 93 95 93 93 90 95 94 98 97 91 108 100 100 100 100 98 99 90 100 100 100 97 99 102 101 103 102 100 98 99 99 104 106 93 104 102 110 99 103 100 108 94 100 99 101 113 117 114 116 116 125 114 118 138 126 147 122 142 112 142 171 136 104 290 148 100 100 133 160 Round stf^ak 167 Rib roast 159 Chuck roast 157 Plate beef 152 Pork chops 179 Bacon ■. 185 Ham 188 Lard 1 204 Hens 210 Eges 199 Butter 190 Cheese 196 Milk 189 Bread 198 Flour 245 Com meal 217 Rice 210 Potatoes 353 Sugar 342 T^i 131 Coffee 164 22 weighted articles 200 17 Actual Retail Prices op Food on Fkbeuaey 15 of Each Year, 1913 TO 1920. The actual retail prices of a long list of food articles for Feb. 15, 1913, 1914, 1917 and 1920, are given in the next table. Prices for certain of the articles are not available for the whole period, but the totals are suflScient to be representative. AVERAGE RETAIL PRICE ON FEBRUARY 15, 1913, 1914, 1917 AND 1920, OF SPECIFIED ARTICLES OF FOOD. (From March, 1920, Monthly Labor Review, Bureau of Labor Statistics.) Article. Average Retail Price February 15 — 1913. Cents. 1914. 1917. Cents. Cents. 25.4 28.7 22.8 26.0 19.9 22.5 16.3 18.6 12.4 14.1 20.9 26.1 26.4 30.7 26.5 31.8 18.9 25.9 22.2 26.7 21.6 91 10.0 35.9 46.9 23.6 31.5 15.8 21.9 1920. Cents. Sirloin steak. Round steak, Rib roast... Chuck roast. Plate beef.. Pork chops Bacon Ham Lamb Hens Salmon, canned Milk, fresh MiDt, evaporated, unsweetened. Butter Oleomargarine Nut -margarine Cheese Lard Crisco Eggs, strictly fresh. Eggs, storage. Bread Flour Corn meal Rolled oats... Pound do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. Quart 15-16-oz..can Pound do. do. do. do. do. Dozen do. ^Pound do. do. do. 24.0 20.6 18.9 14.9 11.1 18.8 25.5 25.3 18.5 20.8 8.9 41.4 22.2 15.4 3*1.5 23.5 5.7 3.3 3.0 36.4 50.6 32.6 46.3 6.2 8.0 3.2 5.6 3.1 4.1 40.6 37.2 31.5 25.1 18.4 37.6 50.0 50.5 39.1 44.7 37.6 16.8 16.2 72.6 43.4 36.1 43.3 32.3 37.8 68.6 59.4 11.1 8.1 6.5 10.0 ^Baked weight. 18 AVERAGE RETAIL PRICE ON FEBRUARY 15, 1913, 1914, 1917 AND 1920, OF SPECIFIED ARTICLES OF FOOD— Continued. Article Unit. Average Retail Price February 15— 1913. Cents. 1914. Cents. 1917. Cents. 1920. Cents. Corn flakes 8-oz. pkge. 28-oz. pkge. Pound do. do. do. do. do. No. 2 can do. do. do. Pound do. do. do. do. Dozen do. * 8.6 1.6 * 5.5 54.3 29.8 ' 8.7 1.9 * 5.1 54.5 29.6 .... * 9.1 14.9 5.1 12.2 ' 8.1 54.6 29.9 14.1 14.1 141 Cream of Wheat 29 3 Macaroni 20 2 Rice 18.3 Beans, Navy 12 2 Potatoes 60 Onions 94 Cabbage 93 Beans, baked 16 9 Corn, canned 18 7 Peas, canned 191 Tomatoes, canned 15 3 Sugar, granulated 18 8 Tea 71 Coffee 49 Prunes Raisins 29.0 25 6 Bananas 41 Oranges 53 2 Increase in 22 weighted articles— each specified year over 1913 — per cent 3 37 105 19 CHAPTER III. Retail Prices op Coal. The Monthly Labor Review of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics for March, 1920, contains detailed data regarding the retail prices of coal on January 15 and July 15 of each year 1913 to 1919 and on January 15, 1920. The prices shown for bituminous coal are averages made on the several kinds, the coal dealers in each city being asked to quote prices on the kind usually sold for household use. The prices quoted are for coal delivered to con- sumers, but do not cover charges for storing in cellar or coal bin where extra handling is necessary. Coal prices were obtained only for those cities in which the Bureau obtains food prices. The following table summarizes the information referred to. These abbreviated data are sufficient to show the trend of prices: AVERAGE AND RELATIVE PRICES OP COAL IN TON LOTS FOR THE UNITED STATES ON JANUARY 15 AND JULY 15 OF EACH YEAR, 1913 TO 1919, INCLUSIVE, AND ON JANUARY 15, 1920. I Pennsylvania anthracite, white ash. | Bituminous. ( Year and month. Stove. Chestnut. Average price. Average price. Relative price. Average price. Relative price. Relative price. 1913: Aver, for year. January July 1914: January July 1915: January July 1916: January July 1917: January July 1918: January July 1919: January July 1920: January $7.73 7.99 7.46 7.80 7.60 7.83 7.54 7.93 8.12 9.29 (1) 9.88 9.96 11.51 12.16 12.59 100 103 97 101 98 101 98 103 105 120 (1) 128 129 149 157 163 $7.91 8.15 7.68 8.00 7.78 7.99 7.73 8.13 8.28 9.40 (1) 10.03 10.07 11.61 12.19 12.77 100 103 97 101 98 101 98 103 105 119 (1) 127 127 147 154 161 $5.43 5.48 5.39 5.97 5.46 5.71 5.44 5.69 5.52 6.96 (1) 7.68 7.92 7.90 8.10 8.81 100 101 99 110 101 105 100 105 102 128 (1) 141 146 145 149 162 (1) Prices not secured by bureau in July, 1917. CHAPTER IV. Retail Prices of Clothing and Dry Goods. Lack of standardization makes it very difficult to obtain satisfac- tory price changes for specific articles of clothing and dry goods. The tables below reproduce in condensed form two of the most interesting of recently published studies of such prices. The first, from the report of the Massachusetts Commission on the Necessaries of Life, gives prices in 1914 and in 1920 for a few articles of everyday wear. The second table, from a report of the National Industrial Conference Board, gives prices for 1914 and November, 1919, for a considerable number of articles of clothing and dry goods. RETAIL PRICES OF CERTAIN ARTICLES OF CLOTHING 1914, 1917, 1919 AND FEBRUARY, 1920. (From Report of the Commission on the Necessaries of Life, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, February, 1920.) I I Company number. 1914. 1917. 1919. Feb., 1920. Men's furnishings: Hats Gloves Collars Hosiery Shirts Blue serge suiting (per yard) Blue serge suits Men's underwear Shoes Women's corsets f3 {I {I {I {I $5.00 2.00 1.75 1.65 .15 .10 .50 .25 1.50 1.15 '1.37% 15.00 17.50 20.00 1.00 2.25 1.00 3.75 1.00 5.00 $6.00 4.00 3.00 2.85 .15 .15 .50 .35 2.00 1.75 '2.00 '20.00 '23.00 "25.00 1.50 3.50 1.75 5.50 1.00 6.50 $7.00 4.50 4.50 4.35 .25 .20 .75 .45 3.00 2.00 3.00 4.50 2.50 '$4.90 50.00 55.00 70.00 8.50 2.50 8.50 'January. ''January, 1920. 'June. 21 AVERAGE RETAIL PRICES OF SELECTED YARD GOODS AND WEARING APPAREL IN JULY, 1914, AND IN NOVEMBER, 1919, AND PERCENTAGES OF INCREASE. (National Industrial Conference Board.) Article. July 1, 1914, price. Nov. 1, 1919, price. Percentage of increase between July, 1914, and Nov., 1919. Woolen Yard Goods : Serge Poplin Broadcloth Cotton Yard Goods: Percale . , Gingham Longcloth Fruit of the Loom . . . Voile Hosiery : Men's Women's Knit Underwear: Men's union suits Women's vests Muslin Underwear: Women's combinations Suits: Men'j^ Women's Overcoats : Men's Women's Shirts and Blouses: Men's work shirts Men's work shirts Men's negligee shirts. Women's btouses Overalls 3s: Men's Women's , Gloves: Men's dogskin Women's cape kid. ... , Hats: Men's felt Women's velvet $1.00 1.50 2.00 .07^ .10 .15 .25 .15 .25 .50 .10 1.00 15.00 15.00 10.00 10.00 .50 1.00 1.00 1.00 .75 3.50 3.00 1.25 1.00 2.00 1.50 $2.62 3.24 4.82 .32 .34 .34 .39 .55 .32 .57 1.28 .26 2.06 34.21 31.51 26.78 23.90 1.45 2.15 2.24 2.02 2.26 8.42 8.30 2.69 2.60 4.34 3.49 161.9 116.0 141.0 326.7 238.0 174.4 160.7 121.2 108.0 126.0 156.8 163.0 106.0 128.1 110.7 167.8 139.0 189.6 115.4 124.3 101.6 200.7 140.4 176.3 115.2 159.8 117.0 132.7 22 CHAPTER V. Wholbsale Prices. Wholesale price index numbers have been compiled and published for a number of years by various organizations. The best known of these index numbers are those of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Annalist, Bradstreet and Dun. These are all built upon the same general principle — namely, the averaging of the wholesale prices of various commodities (in some cases weighted prices) and expressing all changes in terms of some one year taken as a base. They differ widely, however, as regards the selection of commodi- ties and their system of weighting. The series compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics includes at the present time articles or grades of articles divided into farm products, foods, cloths and cloth- ing, fuel and lighting, metals and metal products, lumber and build- ing materials, chemicals and drugs, housefurnishings and miscellane- ous commodities. The Annalist series comprises 25 food articles. Bradstreet's index includes 96 commodities classed as breadstuffs, livestock, provisions and groceries, fresh and dried fruits, hides and leather, raw and manufactured textiles, metals, coal and coke, mineral and vegetable oils, naval stores, building materials, chem- icals and drugs, and miscellaneous. Dun's index contains 200 com- modities, divided into breadstuffs, meats, dairy and garden products, other foods, clothing, metals and miscellaneous. In the following table the four series of wholesale price index numbers noted are brought into comparison for selected dates from 1913 to 1920. The base in each case has been shifted to the same year, 1913, by dividing the index for 1913 in the original base into the original index for each subsequent year or month. The differences between the several index numbers are, of course, due to the different selection of commodities, as noted above. 23 INDEX NUMBERS OF WHOLi29!«f>ffi.WafCft5S.i'', (Base 1913 = 100.) •• • • » • Bureau of Labor Annalist. Brad- Dun. Statistics. street. 100 100 100 100 100 104 97 101 101 106 107 105 124 126 128 123 176 187 170 169 196 205 203 • 190 100 102 97 103 100 104 94 99 99 108 99 103 101 105 107 103 111 110 119 114 120 121 125 120 151 151 149 140 187 189 175 175 185 200 195 184 198 203 208 192 203 211 201 190 197 201 192 182 201 209 187 180 203 222 188 182 207 226 187 184 207 216 196 189 219 219 205 193 226 220 217 200 221 202 211 197 223 200 212 195 230 201 216 191 238 205 219 202 248 210 221 205 249 209 227 210 253 213 226 209 265 225 225 213 229^ 225 218 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1914: January . July 1915: January . . July . . . . 1916: January . , July .... 1917: January . . July 1918: January . . July . . . . 1919: January . . February . March . . .. April May June .... July .... August . . September October . November . December , 1920: January . . February . March . . . April May ^Week ending May 15. Wholesale Price Index Numbers for Selected Groups of Commodities. The wholesale price index numbers of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, as now constituted, include quotations for 326 commodities, the largest number covered by any of the index number 24 series. The index numbers as published by the Bureau are divided into nine main groups — farm products, food, clothes and clothing, fuel and lighting, metals and metal products, lumber and building materials, drugs and chemicals, housefurnishings and miscellane- ous. These index numbers by commodity groups offer an excellent indication of the trend of wholesale prices of the more important commodities during recent years. The following table gives these data in detail for selected dates from 1913 to April, 1920 : INDEX NUMBERS OF WHOLESALE PRICES BY COMMODITY GROUPS, 1913 TO APRIL, 1920. (Base 1913 = 100.) Year and Month Farm prod- ucts Food, etc. Clothes and clothing Fuel and lighting Metals and metal prod- ucts Lumber and building mate- rials Drugs and chem- icals House fur- nish- ings Miscel- laneous All com- modi- ties 1913 100 103 105 122 189 220 234 97 101 101 104 102 108 108 118 148 199 207 224 222 218 228 235 240 231 246 243 226 230 240 244 246 237 239 246 100 103 105 127 178 191 210 99 102 102 104 106 105 114 122 151 182 188 186 209 197 205 212 216 206 218 227 211 211 219 234 253 244 246 270 100 98 100 128 181 238 261 100 100 98 99 96 99 110 126 161 187 211 249 234 223 216 217 227 258 281 304 306 313 325 335 350 356 355 353 100 96 93 119 175 163 173 103 99 99 95 93 90 105 108 176 192 157 166 170 169 168 167 167 170 171 175 181 181 179 181 184 187 192 213 100 87 97 148 208 181 161 107 98 92 85 83 102 126 145 183 257 174 184 172 168 162 152 152 154 158 165 160 161 164 169 177 189 192 195 100 97 94 101 124 151 192 100 101 98 97 94 93 99 99 106 132 136 154 161 163 165 162 164 175 186 208 227 231 236 253 268 300 325 341 100 101 114 159 198 221 179 101 99 100 99 103 108 150 156 159 198 232 216 191 185 183 178 179 174 171 172 173 174 176 179 189 197 205 212 100 99 99 115 144 196 236 100 100 99 99 99 99 105 121 132 152 161 199 218 218 218 217 217 233 245 259 262 264 299 303 324 329 329 331 100 99 99 120 155 193 217 100 101 99 97 100 98 107 120 138 153 178 190 212 208 217 216 213 212 221 225 217 220 220 220 227 227 230 238 100 1914 100 1915 101 1916 124 1917 176 1918 196 1919 212 1913- Jan 100 July 100 1914- Jan 100 July 100 1915- Jan 99 July 101 1916- Jan July 111 120 1917- Jan 151 July 187 1918- Jan 185 July 1919- Jan 198 203 Feb 197 Mar 201 Apr 203 May 207 June 207 July 219 Aug 226 Sept 220 Oct 223 Nov 230 Dec 238 1920- jan 248 Feb 249 Mar 253 Apr 265 DAY AND TO $I.OO ON Tm. o '"''^ ''°^'''^" OVERDUE. ^'^ ^"^ SEVENTH DAY 416814 ^# UNIVERSITY OF CAUFORNIA LIBRARY