EQUIPMENT COSTS RISE MODERATELY

Costs for four of the five equipment items which make up the Nelson-Farrar miscellaneous-equipment cost index rose moderately in the 1991-1992 period. The exception was the heat-exchanger category which dropped steadily from February to December of 1992. This index stood at 772.0 in January 1991, and at 711.4 at the end of December 1992. Greatest increase among the other four components was pumps and compressors, rising from 1153.8 to 1216.4, or 76.4 points. Electric machinery, with a 5.0 rise,