Government Spending

Construction spending hit the highest point in 10 months in November, the government reported Tuesday, and an analyst attributed the jump to lower interest rates and to rebuilding after Hurricane Hugo and the Bay Area Quake. "I think a reasonable argument can be made that some of the government spending was disaster related," said David Berson, chief economist for the Federal National Mortgage Corp. A 7% gain in government spending helped push total outlays up 1.

The lower house of Russia's parliament approved the draft 1999 budget in its third reading, but a top official said Russia will have to wait months for desperately needed foreign aid. First Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Maslyukov said the International Monetary Fund was prepared to give Russia loans only after the Cabinet has implemented the budget for three months to prove its feasibility.

Argentine workers staged the biggest nationwide work stoppage in years, closing shops and idling public transportation as they stayed home to protest government spending cuts. Interior Minister Federico Storani estimated that 60% of the nation's 14 million workers joined the walkout. The daylong protest kept thousands of bus, subway, railway and public employees off the job and forced hospitals, airports and public utility companies to run skeleton crews as most economic activity subsided.

Under pressure to curb government spending, Germany can no longer afford state aid to help buy lederhosen, Bavarian Gov. Edmund Stoiber said. He ignored outcries from folklore groups, some of which threatened to boycott the Munich Oktoberfest parade. Bavaria had previously provided the 300,000 members of its folklore groups with half a million euros (about $616,000) to help buy traditional attire. A pair of goat suede leather lederhosen could set one back $185.

Mimi Walters Party: Republican Occupation: State senator Age: 48, born in Dana Point City of residence: Laguna Niguel Personal: Husband David, four children Education: Bachelor's degree in political science, UCLA Career highlights: Investment banker, 1988-95. Laguna Niguel City Council member, 1996-2004. State assemblywoman, 2004-08. State senator, 2008 to present. Platform: Limit state borrowing, says California cannot afford more debt.

The federal budget deficit surged to $24.58 billion in February, four times higher than the January imbalance, the Treasury Department reported Friday. The department said the deficit for the first five months of the 1986 fiscal year is running 5.7% ahead of the deficit for the same period in fiscal 1985. However, the Administration is projecting that the deficit for the entire fiscal year will be $202.79 billion, down 4.5% from the record $212.