Tag: Economy: Page 5

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Home starts rebound 6 percent in July as permits and builder confidence soar

We’ll say this for the current home construction recovery: it doesn’t stay down for long. Following a 10-percent drop in June, new home starts in July rose 6 percent to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 896,000, according to data from the Commerce Department Friday. It’s a good sign, as home starts inch closer to regaining the […]

August 16, 2013

Roadbuilding

The Roads to a City’s Bankruptcy

Here’s an interesting look at data about what its accumulator calls “unnecessary infrastructure.” What he/she (a bio, with no name, says the blogger is a professional Urban Planner and Designer) is doing is trying to find a link between a big city’s bankruptcy (Detroit apparently triggered this entry) and the lane miles per capita within […]

August 9, 2013

Business

Construction spending falls 0.6% in June as government spending falls to lowest level since 2006

Snapping two consecutive months of increases, U.S. construction spending fell 0.6 percent in June to $884 billion due to larger decreases in nonresidential and government spending. The decline is the biggest seen in the last five months. Government construction spending fell 1.1 percent in June to $261 billion—it’s lowest level since 2006. Public residential construction […]

August 1, 2013

Business

Construction company mergers, acquisitions increase as recession-weary contractors weigh the future

It’s well established that the effects of the recession are still being felt by the construction industry. The most visible evidence of that has been the skilled labor shortage. Thousands of skilled workers were laid off in the downturn, some retired, and a lot of those folks simply aren’t coming back even though things seem […]

August 1, 2013

Business

Opinion: If Obama wants job growth, he should start by asking the EPA to calculate how many jobs they’ve destroyed

The president spent an hour last week giving a speech detailing yet another jobs program. During the last election cycle we were promised a new era of green jobs facilitated by the hand of government. Now it’s “infrastructure,” he says. That’s where the jobs are! Obama’s been talking about infrastructure for six years now and […]

July 31, 2013

Roadbuilding

Yo Congress: Transportation infrastructure is a job-creating investment

There is an argument about transportation infrastructure that is not made enough–not anywhere near enough. It boosts economic choices and economic growth: two major flag waving issues for almost everyone in public life, especially the conservatives. But why do we see so little coverage of the details of how it works? Perhaps because it’s a […]

July 31, 2013

Business

Home starts stumble 10% in June while single-family permits hit highest rate in 5 years

In what’s beginning to become a sustained pattern of ups and downs, the start of construction on new homes in the U.S. fell 9.9 percent in June, according to data from the Commerce Department Wednesday. June’s stumble likely resuscitates fears that the housing recovery isn’t as healthy as many thought a few months ago. May […]

July 17, 2013

Business

Southeast Wisconsin construction projects delayed by skilled labor shortage

Add southeast Wisconsin to the list of places in the U.S. feeling the impact of a skilled labor shortage in construction. The Janesville Gazette reports that contractors in that area are “busier than they’ve been in a long time,” thanks to numerous housing starts popping up. The Gazette interviewed contractor Kevin Ferguson, owner of Ferguson […]

July 15, 2013

Business

Report: U.S. construction to increase 40% by 2025, global construction to increase 70%

A new report forecasts extreme acceleration in global construction, saying that the industry will account for 13.5 percent of the world’s output by 2025. The “Global Construction 2025” report, as detailed in a piece by CNBC, says that the U.S. construction industry will continue its recovery, growing by 40 percent while construction output in the […]

July 2, 2013

Business

Construction spending up 0.5% in May to nearly 4-year high behind rise in government spending

Spending on construction projects in the U.S. saw a second consecutive month of gains in May, rising 0.5 percent to a nearly four-year high, according to new data released by the U.S. Commerce Department Monday. Spending rose from the revised April figure to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $875 billion. That mark is 5.4 percent higher […]

July 1, 2013

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

Business

Home prices see biggest gains in 7 years

In May, home prices saw their biggest gains in 7 years, according to a report from the New York Times citing data from the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller home price index. The index of home prices, which covers 20 U.S. cities, indicated a 10.9-percent gain over last year at the same time. That’s the biggest increase […]

June 12, 2013