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lOroin 6-0193

Western Mill and Moulding Co, I 1615 Pormolee Avenue, Los Angeles 59, Coliforniq

Wholesole Only

New Gonstruclion Expenditures Mcrintoin Record Levels in August

Expenditures for new construction continued at record levels in August totaling slightly over $3.3 billion, according to preliminary estimates of the Building Materials Division of the U. S. Department of Commerce and the U. S. Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Dollar volume was about 7 per cent above the total for August 1952.

The July-August increase was somewhat less than expected for this time of year, largely because of a drop in private housing. Dollar outlays for private residential construction declined for the second successive time in August, reflecting a downtrend in housing starts during the preceding three months.

Commercial building, continuing the sl-rarp upward movement of the past several months, rose considerably more than seasonally. Private spending on industrial building leveled ofi, after having declined steadily since early Spring. Gains in roadbuilding and in privately owned public uLilities were about seasonal. Expenditures for military and naval facilities and for public industrial plant remained unchanged from July.

Private expenditures totaled $2.2 billion, and public $1.1 billion. Both amounts were slightly above the July totals.

The August figures probably slightly overstate the value of work actually put in place during the month, however, because estimating techniques currently in use do not take into account the full effects of work stoppages. In recent weeks, strike-associated idleness among construction workers has been unusually extensive in several parts of the country, especially in the New York City area where a truckers' strike has interrupted work on numerous construction projects.

For the first eight months of this year, new construction expenditures totaled nearly $22.7 billion, about 8 per cent above the amount for the same period in 1952. Physical volume (expenditures adjusted for price changes) also was up moderately from last year.

Despite the declines of the past two months, dollar outlays for new private residential building thus far in 1953$7.7 billion-were 9 per cent above the level of a year ago, and almost equaled the January-August peak in 1950. Commercial building (at $1.1 billion) exceeded last year's total by over 50 per cent, while private industrial building (at $1.5 billion) was slightly under the 1952 amount. The 92.8 billion spent by private firms for construction of public utilities this year represented a new record for the January- period, and was 10 per cent above expenditures last year. Private spending for all types of new construction amounted to $15.3 billion in the first eight months of 1953-9 per cent more than in the corresponding months of 1952.

Total public outlays of $7.4 billion for new construction were 6 per cent above a year ago in the January-August period, mostly because of increases for industrial plant (including atomic energy faciiities) and for highways. Road construction expenditures during the first eight months of 1953 totaled an all-time high of $1.9 billoin. Expenditures for military and naval facilities and for school construction were somewhat greater than in 1952, but outlays for public residential building and hospital construction were down substantially.