STRICTLY BUSINESS: BUILDING PERMITS IN CAPE OFF TO BIG START

Builders have ignored bad weather to boost new home construction in Cape Girardeau during the first two months of the year.

The city's Division of Inspection Services said last week that new home construction was off to a better start this year than in 1995, when only 11 starts were reported during the first quarter.

Eleven new home permits were issued in January and February of this year, including three for more than $200,000, sending the overall totals to more than $1,600,000 for an average of about $150,000 per home.

Overall construction in the city is off to a big start thanks to a $7.5 million permit issued to Lone Star Industries Inc. for ground work in preparation for a new clinker storage tower. Ground work includes driving pilings deep into the ground for the base of the new tower.

The permit office reported issuing a total of 74 permits the first 60 days of the new year in the amount of $12,437,839.

A December 1995 decline in single-family home permits combined with weak home-building activity earlier in the year -- one start in January 1995, three in April and December -- to drive housing starts down last year, with a total of only 57, compared to the 105 starts of 1994.

Housing starts during the 1990s average 85 a year.

Apartment construction was up during 1995, with 37 buildings totaling 122 units, and is already off to a good start in 1996. A permit was issued last month for an 18-unit apartment building at a cost of $440,000. Permits also have been issued for two duplexes at a combined cost of $223,000.

Nationally, new construction of single-family residences rose 4.4 percent in January, and construction of apartments and condominiums shot up 16.7 percent.

The Commerce Department reported, however, that 1995 totals were down, the first drop since 1991.

Surprising developments

The January advance surprised most analysts who had expected a second straight loss because of the weather and consumer anxiety over job and income growth, which many believed would offset falling mortgage rates.

David Lereah of the Mortgage Building Association said it was surprising, given the January blizzard and weak economy, that starts were up in January.

Lereah and Frank Nothaft, an economist with the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., predict strong home sales in the spring through the summer due to low mortgage rates and an expected economic pickup in the second quarter.

Rick Murray, building inspector and supervisor of the city's Division of Inspection Services, agrees.

"I think we're set for good home sales the first two quarters of the year," he said. "Three or four new subdivisions in the city should boost new-home starts."

New-home mortgage rates averaged 7.03 percent in January, well below the 9 percent when 1995 started.

The monthly payment on a $100,000 mortgage with a 7 percent interest rate is $665, while the payment on the same loan with a 9 percent rate is $805 -- a savings of $140.

Nationally, those figures jumped a bit in March. A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.38 percent last week, according to a national survey released by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.

Another $1 million-plus permit

Another $1 million-plus permit was issued in late February for a $1.53 million sports complex concession building.

Two $300,000-plus commercial projects, along with the Lone Star permit, the concession building and some smaller contracts put commercial construction at well over $9.5. million during the first two months of the year, more than triple the amount during the same period in 1995.

Additional rooms, garages, storage sheds and other residential renovations added more than $140,000 to the early '96 totals, and 18 new commercial signs added another $110,000 to the totals.

Get ready for 1-888

Get ready for 1-888...it's coming.

The U.S. has almost run out of toll-free 800 numbers and consumers can start requesting the new 888 toll-free numbers by calling their respective carriers.

When the Federal Communications Commission realized last spring that it was about to run out of 800 numbers -- it was down to an eight-week supply -- a strict rationing system was instituted.

But the 800 numbers still will be exhausted by May or June of this year, so the new 888 toll-free prefix became available March 1.

Toll-free 800 dialing was introduced almost three decades ago. During the first 25 years, only 40 percent of the more than 7.6 million available numbers were used.

Then the information revolution took hold. Business large and small began to find it essential to have 800 numbers. The use of pagers, computers and cellular phones -- many of which have 800 numbers -- exploded, and even residential customers started requesting the 800 numbers.

The heavy demand for toll-free numbers is expected to continue, and the supply of 888 numbers likely will last only a few years.

But there's another toll-free prefix waiting in the wings -- 877. After that, the 866 toll-free prefix will be added, followed by the 855 and so on.

Seasonal employment lull

Missouri employment was down in January.

The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations cites cold temperatures, the end of the traditional holiday retail sales season and the break in educational semesters for the drop of 57,700 jobs from December to January.

The employment drop pushed the state's unemployment rate from 3.7 percent in December to 4.1 in January.

A total of 2,645,100 persons were employed in January, down from the 2,702,800 in December.

The largest employment increases statewide were in business services (23,900) and retail trade (22,100).

In the immediate Southeast Missouri area, the Cape Girardeau County unemployment numbers were still a respectable 3.4 percent, but the December unemployment rate was at 2.5 percent. Bollinger County's unemployment rate jumped up 2 percentage points, from 5.2 percent in December to 7.2 in January. Perry County, which is also included in the Cape Girardeau Job Service region, was up from 3.2 percent in December to 4.1 percent in January.