We're crossing our fingers, toes an...

We're crossing our fingers, toes and watchs this year hoping that industrial construction spending is able to employ out a positive performance after brace consecutive years of decline. Our forecast is relatively optimistic, given newly come events, calling for industrial construction spending to rim ahead by 1.3 percent in 1998 to $310 billion.

In 1997 year-end weakness caused spending to decline 46 percent across the year to a total of $306 billion. Fourth-quarter spending plummet 118 percent from the same period a year earlier, following the third quarter's encouraging 2