Statement by the President on Reviewing Reports on the National Economy.

I HAVE just finished reviewing the reports on our national economy for the first 10 months of this year. The reports show that 1965 will be the most prosperous year in our history.

During these past 10 months we have achieved new records in almost every part of the economy. Some of those achievements are:

--Employment is at an all-time high, and nearly 10,000 new employees are being added to our payrolls every workday.

--The layoff rate for factory workers is now the lowest in more than 12 years, and production workers on manufacturing payrolls are averaging $3.49 more earnings each week than they were a year ago.

--Unemployment has dropped below 3 million for the first time in 8 years. Unemployment among teenagers is at the lowest level in 3 years, despite the record numbers in which they are now entering the labor force.

--Long-term unemployment is now below 1 percent of the labor force, the lowest in 8 years.

--Increased wages over the last 10 months have more than compensated for the slight increase in consumer prices, making it possible for the American worker to buy more with his earnings today than ever before.

--Small business failures have dropped to an 8-year low. After-tax earnings of small manufacturing companies were 41.7 percent higher in the first 6 months of 1965 than in the same period of 1964.

--Investment in new plants and equipment has risen 11 percent since the end of last year.

Between the closing months of 1964 and this past September, the personal income of Americans rose some 6 1/2 percent. Farm income is up some 16 percent over last year, and corporate profits, after taxes, are up more than 17 percent.

This month of October marks the 56th consecutive month of economic prosperity. At no time in our history have we enjoyed such an uninterrupted period of peacetime economic expansion. And during this entire expansion our prices have remained more stable than those of any industrial country in the world.

There is every reason to believe that this prosperity is going to continue. Automobile sales, for example, have an important effect on our whole economy--and during the first 20 days of October, automobile sales were the highest of any 20-day period in history.

This remarkable record is an outstanding tribute to our American system. It shows that where management and labor and Government work together, there are no limits to what they can accomplish.

Our free enterprise system has produced the greatest abundance in history. It is the strength of that economy, no less than our military might, which supports our defense of freedom in Viet-Nam and throughout the world.

The magnificent record of that economy during 1965 shows that we are moving steadily toward our ultimate goal: the end of want and the beginning of opportunity for all who seek it.