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California Construction Up

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The volume of construction in California has been estimated at $42.8 billion for 1988, indicating a 6.5% increase from 1987’s $40.2 billion, while the outlook for 1989 projects a decline of 9.3% to $38.8 billion.

These figures, included in a forecast prepared by Ben Bartolotto, research director for the Construction Industry Research Board for UCLA’s Business Forecast Conference, reviewed state and local trends in the industry.

At least, in part, the unexpected 1988 increase in volume of construction was due to several very large projects in the non-residential and heavy construction sectors, and unsually high housing-permit activity in some areas with growth control initiatives on the June and November election ballots.

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In 1989, declines are projected in all three sectors: residential dollar volume, down 8.8%; non-residential dollar volume down 9.6% and heavy construction volume, down 11%.

Despite a decline in construction level, the report predicts that California construction employment is expected to remain at record levels in 1989 due to current projects that will take more than one year to build.

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