BUSINESS MEMO: MISSOURI CONSTRUCTION

Missouri construction through 11 months of 1999 was up 12 percent, but November totals fell in residential and nonresidential building.

Total construction for the year topped $6.6 billion going into December, up from the $5.9 billion during the same period in 1998, according to the F.W. Dodge Division of McGraw-Hill Cos., which keeps tabs on the nation's construction.

Residential construction for Missouri increased 9 percent from last year's 11-month totals. Home building was down in November, from $164 million in 1998 to $136 million this year.

Total construction was up going into December, at $6,651,683,000, from $5,953,645,000 during the same period in 1998.

The big jump came in the nonbuilding division, which includes streets, highways, bridges, river and harbor development, airports, utilities and sewage and water. Totals in nonbuilding for 1999 was $1.5 billion, up 35 percent from the $1.1 billion during the same period a year ago.