Construction Outlook For 1950

Total value of 'new construction to be put in place in 1950 is expected to equal the 1949 record of more than $19 billion.

According to a joint estimate of the Office of Domestic Commerce, U. S. Department of Commerce, and the U. S. Department of Labor's Bureau'of Labor Statistics, private construction outlays probably r,vill drop about $925 million from the total for this year, but indications are that public expenclitures for ner,v' constructiorr t'ill increase l>y a like amount.

The number of rvorkers employed by construction contractors during the peak month will be about the same. in 1950 as in 1949, around 2,400,C(],0. Somervhat more thau a fourth of the construction rvorkers rvill be employed on residential building at its peak next year, compared n'ith a third this year. Public construction rvill claim a third of the t'orkers at the height of the 1950 program, compared u'ith a fourth in 1949.

The total value of private construction to be put in place in 1950 probably will be about $13.1 billion, nearly 7 percent less than the anticipated total lor 7949. It now appears that the 7919 total for private construction will be above $14 billion, exceeding earlier expectations primarily as a result of the record volnme of housing.construction during the last half of this year.

A slackening of the recent unpreiedented pace in nerv homebuilding is foreseen for 1950. Nearly a million nerv nonfarm du'elling units have been started in 1949 by the close of the year, shattering all previous records. Indications are, hon ever, that with the higher priced market nearly saturated and costs not likely to decline materially, 1950 u'ill be only one of the better years in homebuilding, rvith about 900,000 units started. This is less than in the previous peak year, 7925 (937,O0O), and less than in 1948 (931,300) and 1949. Private housing in 1950 rvill account for around 830,000 units, compared n'ith ncarll' 960,000 this year-the all-time high-and 913,500 in 1948. From 60,000 to 80,000 new units are expected to be started next year under the provisions of the Housing Act of 1949.

The outlook is for a decrease in i950 in tlost types of private nonresidential building, except for commercial buildings, n'hich may increase slightly as a result of pressure for shopping facilities to serve netv residential areas. A substantial increase in l-rospital and institutional building is assurecl r-rnder the National Hospital Progranr.

Construction of ne'iv industrial plants ancl {acilities is cxpected to drop about 26 percent uext year, continuing the do*'ntrend that has been so marked during 1949, as immecliate post\var expansion plans l'ere completed. The

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