Construction loses 3,000 jobs in Dec. but employment remains up from 2015
After reaching an 8-year high in November, employment in the U.S. construction industry fell slightly, losing 3,000 jobs in December.
According to preliminary data from the Labor Department, construction now employs 6.699 million Americans. Despite the loss, construction employment remains at its highest point since December 2008
Since this is preliminary data, job data for 2016 likely won’t be finalized until March. However, if the current numbers hold, total employment will have risen 1.5 percent with the addition of 102,000 jobs during 2016, an average of 8,500 jobs per month.
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Construction spending up 0.9% in Nov.
U.S. construction spending rose 0.9 percent in November thanks to gains in both homebuilding and nonresidential projects across the public and private sectors.
Spending rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.182 trillion and was 4.1 percent above the November 2015 mark, according to preliminary data from the Commerce Department.
Private homebuilding spending rose 1 percent in November to a rate of $463 billion and was up 3 percent over the year-ago figure. The increase was due to improved spending on single-family homes which rose 1.8 percent during the month to a rate of $248 billion. Multifamily projects on the other hand fell 2.7 percent to $62 billion.
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Terex completes sale of MHPS business to Konecranes
Terex has announced that it has completed the sale of its Material Handling and Port Solutions Business to Finnish manufacturer Konecranes.
Announced in May 2016, the sale finished at a price of $595 million plus €200 million in cash, and 19.6 million newly issued class B shares representing a 25-percent interest in Konecranes, Terex reports.
Terex says the final transaction in the MHPS sale to Konecranes is subject to post-closing adjustments for cash, debt, working capital, MHPS actual 2016 EBITDA and the closing of the sale of the Stahl CraneSystems business.
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IronDirect opens Customer Experience Center in Asheville, N.C.
Online equipment seller IronDirect has officially opened its Customer Experience Center in Asheville, North Carolina, most recently holding a dealer recruitment event in mid-December.
The facility, encompassing 100-acres, is designed to allow customers and dealers to “operate and evaluate” equipment from the equipment brands the company offers, including Berco, Lonking, Paladin, Sakai and Shantui.
IronDirect reports up to 300 people can be hosted at the site, which includes a 9,600-square-foot indoor product pavilion, deck, grandstand and staged worksites for indoor, outdoor and virtual product demonstrations.
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McCann Industries adds Carlson Paving Products to lineup
McCann Industries, with seven locations in the Chicago area, has added Carlson Paving Products’ pavers and accessories to its equipment lineup.
“We are excited to introduce our customers to the Carlson paving line,” says Jim McCann, president at McCann Industries. “These machines are not only easy to operate and maintain, but their reliability and quality is unmatched in the industry. With our other lines, we now have everything required for any road building project.”
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