Masonry Magazine August 1992 Page. 40
Construction Contracting Declined in April for Second Month
APRIL'S SETBACK OF HOUSING STARTS pulled the month's contracting for total new construction down three percent, reported the F. W. Dodge Division of McGraw-Hill. April's weakness, following a similar decline in March contracting brought the the seasonally adjusted Dodge Index of total construction contract back to 93 in the latest month, near where it was when the year began. The Dodge Index uses 1987 as its 100 base.
In April, an added sharp reduction in the depressed multi-family housing sector left the total of residential building five percent below March's value. Meanwhile, contracting for nonresidential buildings (commercial and institutional structures) and for nonbuilding construction (public works and utilities) held close to March levels.
"The recent loss of momentum underscores the dependence of the construction sector's recovery on homebuilding," said George A. Christie, Dodge's vice president and chief economist. "Normally, as one family housing approaches its limit, expansion is sustained by the revival of commercial building, but that won't happen this time around. Instead, it will be up to public construction-institutional building and infrastructure work-to provide the secondary support later in 1992 and in 1993."
April's apparent stability of the nonresidential side of the construction market concealed some offsetting developments, it was pointed out. The month's little changed total of newly started nonresidential buildings was the result of a modest gain in commercial projects that was nullified by a similar decline of institutional work. In a like manner, the "steadiness" of nonbuilding construction masked a decline of highway/bridge construction, which was offset by the start of a sizable electric power plant.
Through four months of 1992, the unadjusted total of newly started construction of all kinds was $76.4-billion, an eleven percent gain over the same period in 1991 when the recession was at its deepest. All major regions of the country are showing varying degrees of improvement this year. Closest to the national average so far in 1992 are the South Central, up thirteen percent, the Northeast, up nine percent, and the South Atlantic, up nine percent. At the extremes are the North Central, up twenty-two percent and the West, up four percent.
Critics of the racketeering law are cheering the court ruling. They contend RICO was designed to attack organized crime, not business disputes. It has been distorted by plaintiffs seeking awards three times greater than actual harm in commercial deals.
THE SUPREME COURT WILL DECIDE a key tax case about doing work at home. In a case that could affect thousands of taxpapers in various lines of work, the Supreme Court will rule on when self employed individuals who do some but not most of their work at home may deduct their home office expenses. The decision may well resolve conflicting lower court rulings on this issue.
THE COURT SAID IT WILL REVIEW a decision by a Federal appeals court, which affirmed a deduction claimed by a doctor who worked at home part-time. The Internal Revenue Service had denied the doctor's $2,500 tax deduction, contending that the home office was not his "principal place of business." The Tax Court ruled in favor of the doctor, stressing three major factors: His home office was essential to his business; he spent a lot of time there; and there wasn't another place available to do the jobs he did in the home.
The appeals court upheld the decision, with IRS challenging on the basis that the decision creates a huge loophole in the law.
Mango
Equipment Co. Inc.
SKY TRAK
USED
SKYTRAK FORK-
LIFT SPECIALISTS
THE MASON'S MACHINE
* Sales * Service * Rentals
* Parts * Used Parts * Rental Purchase
Anywhere in the USA
JACKIE SPARKS
Shreveport, LA (318) 221-5197
AL ISBERNER, P.E. CONSULTING MATERIALS ENGINEER
(608) 742-5684
1050 Thompson Street, P.O. Box 486
Portage, Wisconsin 53901-0486
Services Available:
Contract Document Review
Quality Assurance Assistance
Preventive Maintenance Plans
Laboratory Evaluation
Quality Control Assistance
Litigation/Expert Witness
Performance Evaluations and Inspections of Masonry, Concrete and Plaster/Stucco Structures
MASONRY
CONCRETE
PLASTER/STUCCO
40 MASONRY-JULY AUGUST, 1992