Capital appropriationss

Capital appropriations by the 1,000 largest manufacturing firms rose 8.5 percent in the last quarter of 1979 over the third quarter, the Conference Board reported March 11.

A majority (9 out of 17) of the industries posted increases in their appropriations despite high interest rates and widespread talk of recession. For 1979 as a whole, the nation's largest manufacturers registered $89.6 billion in appropriations, up some 33 percent over 1978. They lifted their actual speeding of $74.0 billion, up 27 percent over the previous year. Appropriations are expected to decline in 1980, however, although actual spending is projected to rise by 13 to 14 percent as companies work down large unspent backlogs.