diff --git a/src/main/java/org/openmainframeproject/cobolcheck/features/interpreter/InterpreterController.java b/src/main/java/org/openmainframeproject/cobolcheck/features/interpreter/InterpreterController.java
index c9890cb3..28e75970 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/openmainframeproject/cobolcheck/features/interpreter/InterpreterController.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/openmainframeproject/cobolcheck/features/interpreter/InterpreterController.java
@@ -274,6 +274,7 @@ private void updateDependencies(CobolLine line) throws IOException {
 
         if (reader.isFlagSet(Constants.DATA_DIVISION)) {
             this.currentDataStructure = updateCurrentDataStructure(currentStatement, currentDataStructure);
+            line = line.convertCobolLinesToCobolLine(currentStatement);
             updateNumericFields(line);
         }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/openmainframeproject/cobolcheck/services/cobolLogic/CobolLine.java b/src/main/java/org/openmainframeproject/cobolcheck/services/cobolLogic/CobolLine.java
index b23901ab..549681d0 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/openmainframeproject/cobolcheck/services/cobolLogic/CobolLine.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/openmainframeproject/cobolcheck/services/cobolLogic/CobolLine.java
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 package org.openmainframeproject.cobolcheck.services.cobolLogic;
 
+import org.openmainframeproject.cobolcheck.features.interpreter.StringTokenizerExtractor;
+
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
@@ -111,4 +113,13 @@ private String removeSequenceNumberArea(String originalLine){
         else
             return "      " + originalLine.substring(index);
     }
+
+    public CobolLine convertCobolLinesToCobolLine(List<CobolLine> cobolLines) {
+        String line = "";
+        for (CobolLine cobolLine : cobolLines){
+            line += cobolLine.getUnNumberedString();
+        }
+        TokenExtractor tokenExtractor = new StringTokenizerExtractor();
+        return new CobolLine(line, tokenExtractor);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/openmainframeproject/cobolcheck/services/cobolLogic/Interpreter.java b/src/main/java/org/openmainframeproject/cobolcheck/services/cobolLogic/Interpreter.java
index e9f2e9cf..52d799d9 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/openmainframeproject/cobolcheck/services/cobolLogic/Interpreter.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/openmainframeproject/cobolcheck/services/cobolLogic/Interpreter.java
@@ -537,8 +537,18 @@ private static Integer determineCobolLevelNumber(String levelNumberString){
 
     private static String[] extractStatementWords(List<CobolLine> currentStatement){
     String statementString = "";
-    for(CobolLine loopLine: currentStatement){
-        statementString += loopLine.getTrimmedString();
+    boolean[] isContinuationLine = new boolean[currentStatement.size()];
+    Arrays.fill(isContinuationLine, false);
+    for(int i = 1; i < currentStatement.size(); ++i) {
+        if(currentStatement.get(i).getTrimmedString().startsWith("-")){
+            isContinuationLine[i] = true;
+        }
+    }    
+    for(int i = 0; i < currentStatement.size(); ++i){
+        statementString += currentStatement.get(i).getTrimmedString();
+        if(!isContinuationLine[i]){
+            statementString += " ";
+        }
     }
     statementString = statementString.trim().replace(Constants.PERIOD, "");
     String[] statementWords = statementString.split("\\s+");
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/openmainframeproject/cobolcheck/InterpreterControllerTest.java b/src/test/java/org/openmainframeproject/cobolcheck/InterpreterControllerTest.java
index 5aa9a6ee..8574c963 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/openmainframeproject/cobolcheck/InterpreterControllerTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/openmainframeproject/cobolcheck/InterpreterControllerTest.java
@@ -730,19 +730,19 @@ public void it_updates_numeric_fields() throws IOException {
         String str4  = "           05  OUTPUT-FILE-STATUS PIC XX.";
         String str5  = "               88  OUTPUT-OK      VALUE '00'.";
         String str6  = "           05.";
-        String str7  = "             08  WS-COUNT           PIC S9(5) COMP-3.";
-        String str8  = "           05  WS-DISPLAY-NUM2      PIC 9(04) OCCURS";
-        String str9  = "                         20.";
-        String str10  = "           05  TEMP-VAL                  PIC X(200) VALUE SPACES.";
-        String str11 = "       77   CHAR-CT                      PIC S9(3) COMP.";
+        String str7  = "             08  WS-COUNT   ";        
+        String str8 = "                      PIC S9(5) COMP-3.";
+        String str9  = "           05  WS-DISPLAY-NUM2      PIC 9(04) OCCURS";
+        String str10  = "                         20.";
+        String str11  = "           05  TEMP-VAL                  PIC X(200) VALUE SPACES.";
+        String str12 = "       77   CHAR-CT                      PIC S9(3) COMP.";
 
 
-        Mockito.when(mockedReader.readLine()).thenReturn(str1, str2, str3, str4, str5, str6, str7, str8, str9, str10, str11, null);
+        Mockito.when(mockedReader.readLine()).thenReturn(str1, str2, str3, str4, str5, str6, str7, str8, str9, str10, str11, str12, null);
 
         while (interpreterController.interpretNextLine() != null){
             interpreterController.interpretNextLine();
         }
-
         assertEquals("PACKED_DECIMAL",
                 interpreterController.getNumericFieldDataTypeFor("WS-COUNT").name());
         assertEquals("DISPLAY_NUMERIC",