NATION : Record Plant Expansion Projected

Businesses, rushing to expand and modernize production facilities, are planning to boost spending by nearly 6% to a record $451.64 billion next year, the government reported today in a piece of good news for the ’89 economy.

The Commerce Department said that a survey completed in November found businesses planning to increase spending by 5.9% in 1989 over a projected 1988 spending level of $426.49 billion. If these spending plans are realized, it would mean that 1988 and 1989 would set back-to-back spending records, surpassing the previous one-year spending mark of $391.58 billion set in 1958.