FINANCE FACTS - MARCH 1968 - Growth in Apparel Spending - City Income Taxes - Increase in Pension Enrollment - Industrial Production - Consumer Credit - Consumer Financial Behavior

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Rowan

Monthly consumer finance brief reporting major trends for March 1968. Apparel spending rose sharply since the early Sixties, driven by faster apparel price increases and faster real family income growth, plus shifting tastes toward higher quality and new styles. City income taxes are shown as largely a big-city phenomenon, with most cities imposing rates at or above 1%. Additional sections cover rising pension enrollment, movements in industrial production, changes in consumer installment credit, and shifts in consumer financial behavior including income, taxes, consumption, credit extension versus repayment, and personal saving indices.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

GROWTH IN APPAREL SPENDING

CITY INCOME TAXES

INCREASE IN PENSION ENROLLMENT

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

CONSUMER CREDIT

CONSUMER FINANCIAL BEHAVIOR

# FINANCE FACTS A Monthly Publication on Consumer Financial Behaoior Any o all the macteral n this publicoton may he quoted or reproduced. MARCH 1968 # GROWTH IN APPAREL SPENDING Apparel expenditures as a per cent of total personal spending has in-creased since the early Sixties.Studies by the National IndustrialConference Board reveal this trend contrasts with the previous long-term decline.Consumers spent $42.8 billion in 1967 on clothing andshoes(excluding the costs of upkeep),up 40%since 1963,comparedwith a 31%rise in their total personal consumption expenditures.Ap-parel outlays took 8.7ę of every dollar of consumption expenditures-the highest ratio since 1956-as against 8.2e in 1963.Per capita spend-ing on apparel reached $215 in 1967,33%above four years earlier. Faster increases since 1965 in the prices of clothing and shoes thanin those of consumer goods and services as a whole(7.6%vs.5.2%)account for part of the relative growth in apparel expenditures.(Inprior years,slower-than-average increases in apparel prices accountedfor part of the relative decline in apparel spending.)Three-fifths ofthe recent shift to purchases of apparel,however,represents realrelative growth in apparel outlays. More pronounced upward shift in real family income since 1962 islargely responsible for the spurt in apparel buying.Also importanthas been a trading-up to higher quality,and widespread popularityof new styles and products,possibly due to increased fashionconsciousness. Shifts in the age distribution of the population since the early Sixtiestoward a larger proportion of youths,a smaller growth in the propor-tion of infants,and slowed growth in the proportion of aged per-sons,have contributed only slightly to raising per capita clothingexpenditures. # CITY INCOME TAXES An American city's income tax rate,says Tax Foundation,Inc.,cor-responds roughly with its size.Some 88%of the nation's largest citiesand 56%of its smaller ones impose an income tax at a rate of 1%orhigher.Similarly,44%of the smaller cities but only 12%of the largerones have rates lower than 1%.Of all cities levying an income tax,64%impose a rate of 1%or higher. Great bulk of cities,which levy income taxes,have fewer than 25,000inhabitants,but the city income tax is primarily a big-city phe-nomenon.About 40%of cities with 500,000 or more population,butonly 9%of cities with 50,000 to 100,000 population had begun an in-come tax by 1967. FINANCE FACTS MARCH 1968 ## INCREASE IN PENSION ENROLLMENT Number of active and retired workers under private and governmentpension plans in 1966(the latest year for which figures are available)jumped more than 1.9 million-by far the biggest increase in over 10years.Figures do not include Social Security.Private plans of alltypes accounted for more than 70%of the 1966 gain. Estimates by the Institute of Life Insurance indicate that about 42 millionpersons,or about half of the nation's civilian work force,are now en-rolled.This would mean the number of persons covered has doubledsince the early 1950s. About one out of every eight covered by private and government plansat the beginning of 1967 was already retired and receiving a pension.Rolls of retired workers have been growing at a faster rate thancoverage of active workers. ## INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION Industrial production was 161.2%of the 1957-59 average in January ascompared with 161.8 in December and 158.2 a year earlier.Declinesin output were mainly in consumer durable goods and industrialmaterials. Auto assemblies,limited partly by work stoppages,decreased 7%to anannual rate of 8.3 million units.Production of television sets wasmaintained but output of home radios was curtailed sharply.Outputof business equipment changed little,as some further decline in in-dustrial machinery was offset by a recovery in output of farm equip-ment,following a strike settlement.Iron and steel productiondeclined in January but in early February raw steel output increased.In J

FAQs

What factors are cited for the growth in apparel spending?

Apparel spending rose as apparel prices increased faster than overall consumer goods and services and as real family income rose more strongly. The shift also reflects changes in purchases toward apparel and greater popularity of new styles and higher-quality products.

How prevalent are city income taxes, according to the report?

Income tax adoption is described as corresponding roughly with city size. A large share of the nation’s largest cities and a smaller share of smaller cities impose income taxes, with many cities levying rates at or above 1%.

What does the report say about consumer credit changes?

The December increase in outstanding consumer instalment credit was below the 1967 high but remained a major monthly increase. The report also breaks down total year-end outstanding credit into instalment and non-instalment categories and lists major instalment uses such as automobiles and home repair.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Rowan