Tag: Economy: Page 11

Business

Home sales rise to best in 5 years

Despite falling below November’s pace, December sales of previously-owned homes were up 12.8 percent year-over-year, CNN Money reported. Full-year sales increased 9 percent over 2011 to 4.65 million, the highest they’ve been since 2007, when 5 million homes were sold before the recession. Among causes for this boost in sales are near record low mortgage […]

February 5, 2013

Business

Recession results in evolving construction markets

Prolonged periods of economic difficulty add velocity to evolutionary changes in many industries. The Great Recession and the long shadow it continues to cast on the construction industry is certainly an example. Within the construction industry, the most obvious evolutionary change has been cautious, conservative business management strategies, but there have been many others as […]

February 1, 2013

Business

Construction spending up 7.8 percent annually in December

Construction spending increased by 7.8 percent in the year between December 2011 and December 2012, to a three-year high of nearly $885 million, according to seasonally-adjusted data released by the United States Census Bureau. Month-to-month, the preliminary spending figure of $865.9 million was down 0.9 percent from November 2012’s revised figure of $877 million. The […]

February 1, 2013

Business

Economist forecasts construction to add 140k jobs in 2013

Piggybacking off of news earlier this month that the construction industry added 30,000 jobs in December, a report from the Associated Press cites a forecast that projects the industry adding 140,000 jobs in 2013. Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight, made the projection, noting what a massive improvement it would be over 2012 […]

January 29, 2013

Workforce

U.S. jobless claims fall to five-year low

The number of initial jobless claims in the United States fell to a five-year low in mid-January, a sign of an improving labor market, the Wall Street Journal reported. The week ending January 19, initial jobless claims decreased by 5,000 to a seasonally, adjusted 330,000—the lowest it’s been since January 2008. The four-week moving average […]

January 25, 2013

Business

PCA: 2013 is construction’s real turnaround year

Ed Sullivan, the Portland Cement Association’s chief economist, is not one to be overly optimistic. While others were saying that construction in 2011 — then 2012 — would break out, he was saying “not so fast.” So when PCA released it’s “strong growth rates” cement consumption forecast Thursday, it’s reason for good cheer. Sullivan says […]

January 18, 2013

Construction Equipment

Manfredi predicts rental industry to surpass $32 billion in 2013

In the February issue of RER magazine, industry consultant Frank Manfredi says the U.S. equipment rental industry will surpass $32 billion in 2013, an increase of 16 percent over 2012. Rental will benefit from global economic uncertainty, says Manfredi with Manfredi & Associates, as more contractors choose to rent instead of buy. Manfredi expects rental […]

January 10, 2013

Business

Construction employment declines in 151 metro areas between Nov. 2011 and Nov. 2012

The latest examination of construction employment in U.S. metro areas is out from the Associated General Contractors of America. After analyzing federal employment figures, the AGC found that construction employment declined in 151 out of 337 metropolitan areas between November 2011 and November 2012. Hiring was stagnant in 60 of those areas while 126 saw […]

January 9, 2013

Business

New York reviews methods to prepare, respond to future disasters

The NYS 2100 Commission, a panel put in place to issue recommendations for how New York should spend some of the $60 billion it received to recover from superstorm Sandy that hit October 29, released its preliminary report on ways to harden infrastructure in case of future emergencies, The Wall Street Journal reported. Rockefeller Foundation […]

January 8, 2013

Business

Construction job growth means hope for U.S. economy

A new report from the Washington Post calls the construction industry one of the “bright spots” in the recovering labor market, noting that the industry’s addition of 30,000 jobs in December accounted for one-fifth of all jobs added in the U.S. that month. The Post makes mention of the labor shortage that construction faces. Noting […]

January 7, 2013

Workforce

Construction adds 30k jobs in December

Preliminary figures from the U.S. Labor Department show that the construction industry added 30,000 jobs in the month of December. That’s the highest gain for the industry since September 2011 and makes for nearly 1/5 of all jobs added in the country during December. In all, construction companies employ 5.564 million Americans as of December. […]

January 4, 2013

Business

U.S. needs new bridges but states lack funding

The average age of the 600,000 bridges in the United States is 43 years old, according to a new report from the Washington Post. And considering that bridges are built to last about 50 years, that means a great deal of them will soon need to be replaced. In fact, as the Post reports, 70,000 […]

January 3, 2013