On the Rise

The construction industry is "well past the relatively mild recession.'' So last week reported F. W. Dodge Corp., the Boswell of building. May construction contracts--the best indicator of future building activity--rose to an alltime high of $3,403,000,000. Seasonally adjusted, awards ran at an annual rate of $35.9 billion, away up from last December's slump low of $25.3 billion. Sharpest gains came in publicly financed projects (up 14% from the year-ago level), a sign that the Government's highway-building program is picking up speed. Housing awards rose 4% above May 1957, though contracts for factory buildings fell 32% because of recession cuts in capital expansion plans.

Other signs of economic recovery:

P: U.S. manufacturers rang up their first sales increase since the recession began, from $24.9 billion in April to $25.1 billion in May, on a seasonally adjusted basis. Most cheering point: all the gain came in durable goods, which have suffered most in the recession. In addition, new orders for hard goods jumped $500 million during the month (to $11.3 billion).

P: Retail sales rose $100 million in May to $16.6 billion, but department store sales in June dipped 3% from last year's rate, the Federal Reserve Board said.

P: Inventories were liquidated at a slower rate in May, meaning that the time is coming closer when businessmen will have to replenish stocks and increase production. In May, total manufacturing and trade inventories stood at $87 billion, a decline of $650 million, v. $800 million drops in March and April.

The surge in sales and orders brought more jobs. The Labor Department reported that factory hirings rose from 25 per 1,000 workers in April to 29 in May, while layoffs tumbled sharply from 30 to 24 per 1,000. Insured unemployment has fallen for ten straight weeks, in the week ended June 21 went down 93,700 to 2,610,900, or 6.2% of the covered work force, v. 8.1% at the recession high in April.

The good news last week brought more optimism to Wall Street. The Dow-Jones industrial average rose in every trading session, went up almost 5 points for the week to close at 480.17, highest level reached so far in 1958.

Best stock gainers in April-June quarter were:

Farm equipment makers Up 24.4%

Motion pictures Up 15.2%

Drugs Up 14-7%

Air transport Up 13.9%

Rails Up 13.1%

Tobaccos Up 11.3%

Television Up 10.3%

Automobile equipment makers Up 10.0%

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.