The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-08-29
NEA Service Writer

Washington.-The construction industry, largest in the United states except for agriculture, con- siders itself a faithful forecaster or general business conditions. Study | of depression and recovery snow that this industry has always led the way toward recovery from six months to 8 year ahead of ny gen-a I erl upturn and that declines in con- struction have uniformly been fol- lowed by general declines rom nine months to year later.
 Contractors now, however, nope lthat construction has temporarily h lost it's potency as barometer. They say the present volume or construction is about half what 1t was in 1928 before it began to de- cline and that the outlook for the near future is not encouraging. Even President Hoover's efforts to stimulate public works and the lead taken by the federal govern ment have failed to prevent a great decline in volume of public and lsemi-public construction.
 | The industry gets its figures from the r, w. Dodge corporation. whose Isurveys covering 37 states are used by the department of commerce and by the Constructor, organ or the Associated General Contractors or America. The Dodge organization surveys both contract awards and contemplated construction, looking six to nine months ahead on work la fuctuating percentage of which will be done. The volume of contemplated work in the first seven months of I1930 was $5,889, 100000 and the volume of contemplated work re- ported in the first seven months of 11931 was $3,166, 100000. It Is i'm possible to predict whether a great yer or lesser percentage of this years Contemplated construction will ac- itually be carried out.
 Contract award statistics. now ever, are more certain and $2,O92,- 100000 in contract awards Is re- ported for the first seven months of 1881 as compared with $3,OO5.- 100000 for the first seven months of 1880. Last year. however, was comparatively dull and the peak year was 1928 with $4,O28,OOO,OOC for the first seven months. Con- templated work volue reported Tn those seven months of 1928 was set at $6,127, 100000, so that there has been a reduction of somewhere near 50 per cent in both classifications
 Public and semi-public construc- tion contract awards dropped from about $1,71O,000,000 for the first seven months of 1880 to $1,250,- 900, ,00O for the first seven months of 1881, according to the Dodge re- ports. Thanks to the federal build ing program, the amount awarded for public buildings rose from 76 millions to 86 millions. But the amount awarded for public works and utilities-including highways, bridges, lighting systems, railroads and sewer systems-dropped from l1147 millions to 838 millions, in spite of greatly enlarged federal highway appropriations ond loans which proved only 0 drop in the bucket. Other declines for the same period were from 239 mill lions to 156 for educational build- ings, 108 to Fl for hospitals and in- stitutions, GA to 35 for religious and memorial buildings, 75 to 61 for so- cial and recreational establish lishments.
 Meanwhile, the Portland Ce- ment reports show that concrete surface pavement awards--foi streets, alleys and highways--wert
 39 per cent ahead of 1880 on May
 II, IS per cent on June 1. only Il
 per cent on July 1 and only four per cent on August 1. Congress in creased the federal aid highway ap' propriation from $75,000,000 tt
 $125,000. 900 and appropriated ESQ.,
 900. .0000 as an allocated loan to tho states to be matched back agains
 future highway appropriations.
 The contractors say that th'
 states, taking the federal money
 consequently put everything int !the contract award state during thu