Tag: business: Page 64

Business

Builder confidence reaches highest level since 2006

For the first time since April 2006, more U.S. home builders say they view the market  as “good” rather than “poor.” The sentiment comes through the June edition of the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. The Index’s rating of builder confidence rose eight points in June to a 52. The NAHB says […]

June 20, 2013

Workforce

$1.5B University of Connecticut expansion to create 30k construction jobs

Lawmakers in Connecticut have approved a $1.5 billion expansion of the University of Connecticut that will create 30,000 construction jobs, according to the Associated Press. Dubbed “Next Generation Connecticut” the plan and praised by UConn President Susan Herbst as “Nothing short of transformational,” the project will build new classrooms, labs and housing. Construction will take place […]

June 12, 2013

Business

CNH board to hold final vote on Fiat Industrial merger July 23rd

CNH announced today that its Board of Directors will hold the final vote concerning the pending merger with Fiat Industrial on July 23. Fiat Industrial, which owns 87 percent of CNH’s outstanding shares has committed to vote in favor of the merger. The news comes about three and half months after CNH’s Board of Directors […]

June 4, 2013

Workforce

European neighbors look to Germany’s vocational training system in order to combat high youth unemployment rates

As of late, Germany has been receiving a lot of attention and praise for its dual-education system. A system the country credits for its very low 8-percent youth unemployment rate. For comparison, as outlined in a great new article from The Economist, European counterparts Spain and Italy have youth unemployment rates of 56 percent and […]

June 4, 2013

Business

Construction spending up 0.4% in April despite another dip in government spending

Spending on construction projects in the United States rose 0.4 percent in April, continuing a volatile trend in 2013 of ups and downs, according to data released by the U.S. Commerce Department Monday. After dropping 4 percent in January, spending rose in February only to drop again in March. But in April things are back […]

June 3, 2013

Workforce

Women breaking through construction industry’s “concrete ceiling”

While women still hold the same percentage of the 8.4 million construction jobs in the United States as they did in 1983—a low 2.6 percent—a new report from CNN Money/Fortune shows that the number might be a bit misleading. The latest data shows that while women aren’t occupying carpentry, plumbing or the other intensive labor occupations […]

May 23, 2013

Safety

Utah leads U.S. in decline of construction deaths, D.C. tops list of injury declines

Construction deaths declined at a faster rate in Utah between 2008 and 2011 than in any other state, according to new rankings from the Association of General Contractors of America. Derived from an analysis of federal safety data, the AGC’s ranking compared the number of construction deaths for each state with available data and Washington, D.C. in […]

May 21, 2013

Business

Bloomberg profile of Caterpillar CEO focuses on gap between profits and worker pay

Bloomberg Businessweek recently profiled Caterpillar CEO Doug Olberhelman, pulling very few punches in the process. The profile refers to Olberhelman as a man with a “serious demeanor” and calls him the “mouthpiece” of American manufacturing. It details his work to loosen trade restrictions, lower the corporate tax rate and increase infrastructure spending, as well as his […]

May 20, 2013

Business

Builder confidence up on strengthening housing market, but majority rate still rate it “fair” or “poor”

Though the reading is not at a point where more home builders view the current market for newly-built, single-family as “good” than “poor,” builder confidence improved three points to a 44 on the May edition of the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.   The monthly survey asks home builders to rate current […]

May 15, 2013

Business

John Deere reports record profits in 2nd quarter; construction equipment expected to continue decline

Attributing the news to higher sales of farm equipment, John Deere is reporting its highest ever quarterly net profit of $1.084 billion in the second quarter ending April 30. Compared to the same quarter a year ago, profit was up 2.6 percent from $1.056 billion. For the first six months of the fiscal year starting […]

May 15, 2013

Business

Bobcat R&D expansion brings total Bismarck investment to $35 million

Bobcat recently broke ground on a new $20 million renovation and expansion at the Northern Plains Commerce Centre in Bismarck, North Dakota. Comstock Construction Inc. of Wahpeton, North Dakota is building the new facility and expanding the original building built in 2005. When complete, Bobcat will have invested $35 million total in Bismarck. The new building, […]

May 14, 2013

Technology

Google Glass won’t revolutionize the construction industry. Not yet anyway.

If you put aside all the coverage of Apple’s stock price and the company’s “uncertain future,” the biggest tech story going right now is Google Glass. Just in case you’re unfamiliar with it, Glass is Google’s wearable computer currently in development. It’s a device that looks a bit like a pair of glasses without the […]

May 14, 2013