Construction Economic News

Construction & Materials Outlook Presentation - November

Jim Young — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:52:28 +0000

View AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's presentation on the outlook for construction activity, materials and labor.

Construction Employment - October

Jim Young — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:54:41 +0000

CONSTRUCTION UNEMPLOYMENT SURGES TO 18.7 PERCENT AS ANOTHER 62,000 CONSTRUCTION WORKERS LOSE THEIR JOBS IN OCTOBER Extension of Home Buyers' Tax Credit, Expansion of Carryback of Net Operating Losses to Provide Some Help for the 1.6 Million Construction Workers who Lost Jobs Since December '07 Construction workers continued to suffer more job losses than any other sector [...]

Construction Spending - September

Jim Young — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:36:00 +0000

NO RECOVERY YET FOR CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AS LATEST FIGURES SHOW DOUBLE DIGIT DROPS IN SPENDING COMPARED TO LAST YEAR Congress and Administration Must Embrace Pro-Growth Measures to Stem Private Spending Declines of Over 20 Percent to Avoid Greater Job Losses, Nation's Contractors Urge The construction industry continues to suffer from significant declines in privately-funded construction investments, with [...]

Metropolitan Area Construction Employment - September

Jim Young — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:46:31 +0000

CONSTRUCTION EMPLOYMENT SHRINKS IN 325 OF THE NATION'S 337 LARGEST METRO AREAS IN SEPTEMBER, PHOENIX LOSES MOST JOBS Indiana's Columbus and Anderson See Largest Percent Increase, while Reno, NV and Kokomo, IN see Largest Percent Decrease in Construction Employment ARLINGTON, VA - All but 12 communities nationwide saw declines in construction employment between September 2008 and 2009 [...]

Beige Book, McGraw-Hill report fall in construction; PPI slips but some materials jump

Jim Young — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:29:23 +0000

"Reports from the 12 Federal Reserve Districts indicated either stabilization or modest improvements in many sectors since the last report, albeit often from depressed levels," the Fed reported on Wednesday in the Beige Book (so named for the color of its cover), a summary of informal soundings of business conditions conducted in each district from [...]

State Construction Employment - September

Jim Young — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:51:52 +0000

CONSTRUCTION EMPLOYMENT DECLINES IN 49 STATES & DC IN SEPTEMBER COMPARED TO LAST YEAR AS INDUSTRY AWAITS STIMULUS, RECOVERY Nevada and Arizona Experience Largest Declines and 41 States Experience Double-Digit Job Losses; Only Louisiana Adds Construction Jobs During the Past Year Construction employment again declined in large numbers in all but one state this September compared to [...]

Producer Price Indexes (PPIs) for Construction Materials and Components - September

Jim Young — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:11:36 +0000

PRODUCER PRICE INDEX FIGURES SHOW LIMITED-TIME CONSTRUCTION COSTS SALE COMING TO AN END, TOP CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST SAYS September Data Shows Costs for Most Construction Materials Higher with Copper, Aluminum and Steel Seeing "Significant" Increases Construction costs, which had been relatively low for much of the past year, are beginning to climb at an increasing rate, signaling the [...]

MHC, Reed foresee partial construction upturn; IP, CPI rise for month but lag '08 levels

Jim Young — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:39:18 +0000

"The level of construction starts in 2010 is expected to climb 11%," McGraw-Hill Construction (MHC) forecasted on Frday, "following the 25% decline predicted for 2009. 'The U.S. construction market in 2010 will be helped by growth for several sectors, following three straight years of decline that brought total construction activity down 39% from its mid-decade [...]

Stimulus Snapshots Show Slowly Developing Picture

Jim Young — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:44:47 +0000

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act-the stimulus legislation that President Obama signed in February-contained 61 separate programs with money for construction, by AGC's count, with a wide range of administering agencies, formulas and rules. Not surprisingly, there is a lot of variation in how quickly the agencies have awarded the money. Here are some glimpses [...]

Construction supply purchases, ISM activity rise; bad news floods income properties

Jim Young — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:03:37 +0000

New orders for U.S. manufactured goods (excluding semiconductor manufacturing) fell 0.8% in August, seasonally adjusted, after four consecutive monthly increases, the Census Bureau reported on Friday. Orders for construction materials and supplies rose 0.6% in August, following increases of 0.8% in July and 1.7% in June. Orders for construction machinery, a normally volatile series, tumbled [...]