Business & Finance: Time’s Index of Production

Record Production:

TIME’S Index rose to 171.2 (estimated) in the Dec. 13 week, a new alltime high.

Final figure for the preceding week was 169.4. Steel output rose slightly to of capacity.

Although all-out defense will ultimately force; production still further upward, the tapering off of non-defense industries may offset it for a while. Some of them are being cut off short. Last week OPM’s tire ban ended for a time the bulk of the civilian sales of the rubber industry (200,000 employes, 200,000 tire outlets). The new auto quota cut foreshadowed no new passenger cars after Jan. 31. Washing machine output (7,000 employes) was cut to one-third of last year’s; makers of juke boxes, pinball machines, coin scales, etc, (about 12,000 employes) were cut 75% by Feb. 1.