News stories from Friday February 1, 1974
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- President Nixon sent his report on the economy to Congress. The Labor Department announced that unemployment has risen considerably. The President's report hints at decontrol of wages and prices. Inflation, unemployment, and economic growth all look gloomy for '74.
The nation's unemployment rate increased to 5.2% in January; the energy crisis was blamed. Unemployment in Los Angeles reached 6.8%. The plastics industry in Southern California has been hit hard by unemployment. Oil is needed for plastic production, so the energy squeeze has affected the employment picture. Car sales dropped 31% compared to last January. More unemployment is foreseen.
[CBS] - The President and his economic advisers warned of price increases. Checks of grocery stores prove that such warnings are valid. A monthly survey of four cities confirmed that prices are up from 10 to 20 percent since last March, and a significant part of that increase has occurred just within the past month. [CBS]
- The Cost of Living Council lifted price controls on major chain stores; other controls remained intact. [CBS]
- Some oil companies announced increases in wholesale gasoline prices; heating oil prices are expected to rise also. Texaco maintained prices at the January level. [CBS]
- Independent truckers went on strike; some violence occurred. Dozens of truckers stopped gasoline shipments to the Northeast. Many truckers complied with "requests" to shut off their trucks in an effort to avoid violence.
Pennsylvania Governor Milton Shapp placed the National Guard on alert in his state. Truckers travelled in groups to ward off violence. The Teamsters union insisted that its truckers work, however the Steel Hauler's Association said truckers should strike.
[CBS] - Thousands of motorists in the New York City metropolitan area with fuel-gauge needles close to "E" were denied their first tankful of February's gasoline allotments by picketing independent truck drivers who were protesting the fuel squeeze on their industry. Motorists who were lucky enough to find service stations selling gasoline had to wait in line and paid up to 6 cents more a gallon than they had last month. [New York Times]
- Mike Mansfield, the Senate Democratic leader, said that Congress and the courts must pursue their Watergate investigations "in order to cleanse the political processes of the nation." Senator Mansfield, responding on behalf of the Democratic majority in Congress to President Nixon's State of the Union Address Wednesday, pledged that his party would put "the regular business of the nation" ahead of Watergate, but he said that Congress would deal fully with the inquiry into the possible impeachment of the President, and he specifically rejected President Nixon's plea for an end to the Watergate investigations. [New York Times]
- A fire burned through the upper floors of a 25-story building in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and officials said that more than 150 people had died, many of them leaping out windows. A police inspector said that the building, completed less than a year ago, had no fire escapes. Flammable plastic was said to have been widely used in its construction. [New York Times]
- Europe's economic prospects look brighter than they did a few months ago because oil is now flowing more plentifully. While concern remains that recessionary forces could get out of hand, reflecting the deflationary impact of the fourfold increase in oil prices, experts in Paris, Brussels and Bonn are no longer forecasting a deep recession this year. They see only a downswing in the growth rate instead. [New York Times]
- A federal judge temporarily extended the life of the 119-year-old Rheingold brewery in Brooklyn, where workers were sitting-in to protest the plant's permanent closing. The stay prohibits the company from closing the brewery before midnight Monday to give lawyers for two unions representing brewery workers time to appeal a court decision issued this afternoon that refused to halt the brewery's closing. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 843.94 (-11.61, -1.36%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| January 31, 1974 | 855.55 | 96.57 | 14.02 |
| January 30, 1974 | 862.32 | 97.06 | 16.79 |
| January 29, 1974 | 852.32 | 96.01 | 12.85 |
| January 28, 1974 | 853.01 | 96.09 | 13.41 |
| January 25, 1974 | 859.39 | 96.63 | 14.85 |
| January 24, 1974 | 863.08 | 96.82 | 15.98 |
| January 23, 1974 | 871.00 | 97.07 | 16.89 |
| January 22, 1974 | 863.47 | 96.55 | 17.33 |
| January 21, 1974 | 854.63 | 95.40 | 15.63 |
| January 18, 1974 | 855.47 | 95.56 | 16.47 |