EMBARGOED UNTIL: 12:01 A.M. EDT, JUNE 4, 1998 (THURSDAY)
Public Information Office CB98-96
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Charles Funk/Donna Hambric
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U.S. Businesses Invested $762 Billion
in Capital Goods in 1996
U.S. businesses invested $762 billion in new and used capital goods in
1996, according to a report released today by the Commerce Department's
Census Bureau.
The embargoed tabulations can be accessed at
http://www.census.gov/dcmd/www/embargo/embargo.html. After the release
time the data can be accessed at http://www.census.gov/csd/ace.
The report, Annual Capital Expenditures: 1996, ACE/96, defined capital
goods as items with an expected use that exceeds one year and are
ordinarily depreciated by businesses. They include buildings and other
structures, machinery and equipment, furniture, computers and vehicles.
Estimates of investment spending by businesses with employees and
businesses with no employees are separated for the first time in the 1996
survey. Businesses with one or more employees spent $662 billion on new
and used capital goods. Nonemployer businesses spent $100 billion on
capital goods.
Of the businesses with employees, those with five or more employees
spent $643 billion on capital goods in 1996, 7 percent more than in 1995.
Other highlights for these businesses were:
- Manufacturing led all other industry sectors in capital goods
expenditures, spending $191 billion, or 30 percent of the total
for businesses with five or more employees. Within manufacturing,
durable goods industries spent $110 billion, an increase of
13 percent over 1995. The motor vehicles and parts industry
increased these expenditures 12 percent, to $18 billion.
- The services sector ranked second, spending $142 billion or 22
percent of the total for these employer businesses. Some $50
billion was spent on structures and $92 billion for equipment. Of
the $137 billion in new capital expenditures within this sector,
automotive and truck rental and leasing accounted for $29 billion,
hospitals $21 billion and hotels and other lodging places,
including casino hotels, another $10 billion.
- The communications sector spent $57 billion, nearly all went for
new capital goods, a 24 percent increase in such spending from
1995.
- Expenditures in the utilities sector dropped to $37 billion, a
decrease of 4 percent from 1995.
The report shows capital investment spending by nonfarm businesses for
structures and equipment in 94 separate industry categories. The data are
used to identify trends in capital expenditures by businesses, analyze
business asset depreciation and improve estimates of capital stock for
productivity analysis.
The data in this report are subject to sampling variability, as well as
nonsampling error. Sources of nonsampling error include errors of
response, nonreporting and coverage. Further details concerning survey
design, methodology and data limitations are contained in the full report.
Editor's Note: The Public Information Office now has a media-access server
for embargoed news releases and data sets. It is available to accredited
media representatives only. To gain access, please contact us for a
username and password. The media-access server's Internet address is
. We would
appreciate any comments you may have about the site.
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more than 100 surveys annually and 20 censuses a decade, evolving from the
first census in 1790, the Census Bureau provides official information
about America's people, businesses, industries and institutions.
