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Charles Funk/Sara Prebble/John Seabold
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        U.S. Business Investment in Capital Goods Tops $1 Trillion
                     in 1999, Census Bureau Reports

  U.S. businesses invested a record $1.038 trillion in capital goods in
1999, a 7 percent increase from $971 billion in 1998, according to a
report released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau.

  The report, Annual Capital Expenditures: 1999, defines capital goods
as assets with an expected use of more than one year that generally are
depreciated by businesses.

  Businesses spent $977 billion, or 94 percent of all expenditures in
1999, on new equipment and structures.  More was spent on new equipment
($680 billion) than new structures ($297 billion).

  Businesses with employees accounted for 93 percent ($966 billion) of all
1999 capital investment. By comparison, businesses without employees
invested $72 billion.

  Industry highlights:

    - Manufacturing businesses with employees led all industry sectors by
      spending $196 billion on capital goods, down nearly 4 percent from
      1998. About $162 billion went for equipment. Durable goods manufacturers
      invested $116 billion; nondurable goods manufacturers invested $80
      billion.

    - The finance and insurance sector had the second highest capital
      expenditures: $127 billion. The leading industry spender in this
      sector was real estate lending, sales financing, and credit card
      issuing at $80 billion.

    - The information sector reported $120 billion in capital expenditures,
      up nearly 25 percent from 1998. Wired telecommunications carriers
      led this sector at $56 billion, up 10 percent; wireless carriers, at
      $14 billion, followed, up 75 percent.

    - The real estate and rental and leasing sector spent $98 billion on
      capital goods. The leaders in this sector were real estate ($37
      billion), automotive equipment rental and leasing ($37 billion), and
      commercial and industrial equipment rental and leasing ($21 billion).

    - Retail trade spent $64 billion on capital goods, with food and
      beverage stores, general merchandise stores and other retail stores
      (including gas stations) spending $49 billion.

    - The health care and social assistance sector invested $51 billion on
      capital expenditures. Hospitals accounted for more than half of this
      sector's total investment -- $29 billion.
   
    - The utilities sector's capital expenditures totaled $45 billion, up
      22 percent from 1998. More than three-fourths of this spending was
      by electric power generators and distributors.
  
  The report, from the Annual Capital Expenditures Survey, shows capital
investment spending for 130 separate industry categories based on the
North American Industry Classification System. It covers data on buildings
and other structures, machinery and equipment, furniture, computers and
vehicles. While the report shows estimates of investment by all nonfarm
businesses, only businesses with employees were asked to report investment
by industry.

  Data in the report are subject to sampling variability, as well as
nonsampling errors. Sources of nonsampling error include errors of
response, nonreporting and coverage. Further details concerning survey
design, methodology and data limitations are available in the full report.