At its nadir during the recession, construction employment fell below 5.5 million nationwide. No industry felt the squeeze of that period in the late 2000s-early 2010s quite like construction, and the climb back has been slow. However, with total construction employment in Summer 2016 sitting a bit below 6.7 million -- still 1 million below its peak in 2007 -- construction employers have encountered a new problem. They have more work available than people to complete projects. The National Association of Homebuilders released a report saying there are roughly 200,000 open jobs in construction as of August 2016. An increase ...
Trulia’s latest American Dream survey reveals consumer optimism about homeownership is rebounding as the housing market recovers, even among young adults who were often pegged as renters for life during the recession. Meanwhile, rising prices will encourage some homeowners to sell in 2013. Continue reading at Builder Online
The headline from the Commerce Department report on new home sales this morning was that August delivered a 7.9% increase over July. The Commerce Department numbers for August surprised analysts just like the existing home sales data last week because it seems that many folks have bought into the idea that rising interest rates are choking off the nascent housing recovery. Once again I stand by the opinion that no conclusive data exist that show we are seeing sales decline. The only declines we are seeing consistently are typical seasonal declines in activity. Our more detailed insights into new home ...
One school in Mississippi is offering a hands-on approach to a new generation of construction professionals. The classroom looked like a construction site, and the instructors were experienced equipment operators. Forty career and technology students from George County High School spent Friday morning learning lessons like crane capacity and the proper way to hook-up a load. "It's always good to have it underneath your belt, so if you ever want to work out there and do this kind of stuff, it's not a bad job at all," said George County High senior Juan Davis. It was the first time Glenn ...
The United States economy added a reported 155,000 jobs in December, a number that 30,000 new hires in the construction sector buoyed. Substantial hiring improvements in construction could partially reflect the rebuilding effort after the fall's devastating Superstorm Sandy. The 30,000-job gain is the construction industry's most growth in 15 months. Continue reading at Tulsa World .
Construction employment expanded in 194 metropolitan areas, but it declined in 88 others and was stagnant in 57 between August 2012 and August 2013, according to an analysis of federal employment data by the Associated General Contractors of America. The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale metro in California added the largest number of construction jobs in the past year -- 8,900 jobs, an 8 percent gain. California's San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro also experienced considerable growth, adding 13% to its construction labor market over the past year. In the East, Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, Fla., and Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Conn. both experienced 15% ...
A survey of contractors in 339 cities showed improved hiring in construction to close 2014. Only 43 cities posted job losses year over year in December. “The industry should continue to add jobs in 2015 as private and public sector demand continues to grow,” Ken Simonson, AGC’s chief economist, said in a prepared statement. The association’s recently released construction outlook for 2015 showed 60 percent of contractors nationwide expect construction activity to grow this year. Almost three of every four contractors expects to add employees. Contractors expect the construction growth to be driven by the private sector, with retail, warehouse ...
Construction hiring will be modest with the majority of firms expecting to add 15 or fewer workers during the course of the year, Associated General Contractors CEO Stephen Sandherr said in a conference call with the media. The ACG published results of a survey on Monday exploring employment outlook for 2013. Among its findings are that 31 percent of contractors said they planned to add staff, while 9 percent planned staff cuts. “While the outlook for the construction industry appears to be heading in the right direction for 2013, many firms are still grappling with significant economic headwinds,” Sandherr said. ...
The government shutdown slowed employment, but construction weathered the storm—a positive sign for a sector still catching up from losses sustained during the recession. The September jobs report showed that some higher-paying industries added jobs at a healthy pace. Construction companies, for example, added 20,000. Josh Feinman, global chief economist at Deutsche Asset and Wealth Management says: "The labor market is continuing to create jobs. ...It's just frustratingly slow." Construction hiring has improved every month since April 2013, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports . CONTINUE READING AT SEATTLE TIMES
In the past year, construction hiring increased in 61% of US metropolitan statistical areas, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released by the Associated General Contractors of America. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) states that last month, 12,000 jobs were added in this sector, with employment gains coming mostly from residential specialty trade contractors. Over the year, 231,000 jobs have been added in construction. Despite rising employment, there remains a shortage of workers. Officials of the Associated General Contractors of America said that "as firms expand their payrolls, many are finding a limited supply ...