Tag: Economy: Page 4

Business

Mike Rowe opens up about opera, skilled trades and Dirty Jobs (EXCLUSIVE)

All of the new machines are obviously the star of a show like ConExpo. But one of the highlights for the Equipment World team last week at the show was getting to sit down with TV host and newly-minted author Mike Rowe for a conversation on the importance of skilled trades and vocational education. Just […]

March 11, 2014

Business

Obama proposes $302 billion, 4-year transportation bill, announces $600 million in competitive grants

President Barack Obama has proposed a $302 billion, four-year transportation reauthorization bill with the aim of avoiding the Highway Trust Fund’s looming insolvency as well as providing a much-needed boost to the infrastructure improvements he promised during 2013’s State of the Union address. Through a White House announcement, Obama also announced that the U.S. Department of […]

February 26, 2014

Business

FIU professor says Florida’s worker shortage is temporary due to likelihood of wage increases

Like their peers across the U.S., contractors in Florida are facing a shortage of skilled workers, as a report from Florida Watchdog details. In Florida, housing inventories are drying up which means that new ones will need to be built as demand rises. Problem is, as we’ve seen in many other places, many of the skilled veterans […]

February 25, 2014

Business

Six-week Massachusetts construction crash course prepares low income, minority workers for the industry

As the U.S. construction industry continues to explore ways to battle the current skilled worker shortage, a training program in Massachusetts is introducing the industry to many folks who had never previously considered it. According to the Daily Hampshire Gazette, the city of Holyoke is seeing an influx of construction projects as of late including a […]

February 24, 2014

Business

Housing starts fall 16% in January after major revision to December estimate

Housing starts in the U.S. suffered a large fall in January, according to preliminary data from the Commerce Department. Housing starts were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 880,000, 16 percent below the revised December estimate of 1.048 million. The January figure is 2 percent below the January 2013 figure of 915,000. That December figure […]

February 19, 2014

Business

Construction industry loses 16k jobs in December, unemployment rate jumps

Diverging greatly from hopeful reports that came earlier in the week, the U.S. construction industry lost 16,000 jobs in December, snapping a streak of six consecutive months of job gains. A total of 5.833 million Americans are employed in the construction industry, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The report revised […]

January 10, 2014

Business

Construction booming in Texas thanks to solid economy

A recent report from Business Investors Daily takes an in-depth look at the booming construction industry in Texas, saying the state’s expanding economy is driving the boom. Noting the fact that the state “sat out of the housing bubble” and is currently enjoying the benefits of an energy boom as well, the report notes that […]

November 14, 2013

Business

Construction industry adds 11k jobs in October, though unemployment rate ticks back up

Despite several predictions that the government shutdown would lead to job decreases, the construction industry and U.S. economy as a whole had a positive month of job growth in October. The construction industry added 11,000 jobs during October. October’s gains marked the fifth consecutive month of job growth. The October gains were a bit more […]

November 8, 2013

Business

Three construction economists forecast growth in construction spending through 2017, note causes for concern

Giving their opinions on how they see things shaking out in the remainder of 2013 and how things will shape up for 2014, three construction industry economists painted a fairly positive picture of growth with a tinge of uncertainty, according to a report from SmartBlogs. Kermit Baker, chief economist at the American Institute of Architects, […]

October 28, 2013

Business

Forecast for U.S. construction value at year’s end dropped due to 3 political uncertainties

Citing three different political situations it expects to cause continued shifting in construction markets, FMI has again revised downward its forecast for overall construction value. FMI, a management consulting and investment banking provider for the engineering and construction industry, dropped its forecast for the U.S. value of construction-put-in-place to end at $909 billion this year. That’s […]

September 23, 2013

Business

Will recruiting Millennials to the construction and manufacturing industries prove impossible?

Last week we told you about a survey by Associated General Contractors of America in which 74 percent of contractors across the U.S. reported having trouble finding skilled workers. The problem, well-known at this point, is that during the recession many of the most skilled operators and craftsmen in this industry either left for more […]

September 12, 2013

Business

Phoenix contractors unable to meet demand of construction rebound due to skilled worker shortage

After losing nearly half of its construction jobs in the throes of the recession, Phoenix, Arizona is now in the middle of a construction rebound—but unable to hire enough skilled workers to meet demand. “To hire someone right now, you have to offer them more money to draw them away from another company,” construction supervisor […]

August 27, 2013