The First Robin

Like a winter-weary farmer watching for the first robin, the auto industry has been nervously looking for signs of a spring upsurge in sales. Last week the robin appeared. New-car sales for the last week in February, announced Ward's Reports, "shot to the highest level in seven months, heralding the awaited spring market upturn." Ford announced that retail sales of Mercury, Lincoln, Ford and Continental for the first two months of 1957 totaled 293,008, the greatest in its history for the period.

The auto industry's good news was accompanied by other harbingers of a healthy spring for the nation's economy. Despite a seasonal decline, new construction in February set an alltime record for the month, 2% above the previous February record set last year. The Department of Commerce reported that manufacturers' sales increased to $28.7 billion in January, up $900 million from December and $2.3 billion greater than January last year. Personal income in January rose $1 billion over December.

The consumer, the Federal Reserve Board found, was also looking forward to a good year. Preliminary findings of the board's 1957 survey of consumer finances, released this week, reveal that the consumer is not only better off than ever financially but expects to improve his standing even more as the year continues. More important, the survey points out that U.S. consumers have no intention of cutting back in 1957, plan to spend as much money for major expenditures as they did last year.

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