Tag: economic recovery: Page 2

Business

Senate bill would create incentives for private transportation investment

As the federal government continues to search for ways to grapple with the country’s slowly crumbling infrastructure, two Senators have introduced a bill to the U.S. Senate that would establish a Department of Transportation fund designed to create incentives for private investment into transportation, our sister site CCJ reports. Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and John […]

March 5, 2013

Business

Construction spending up 7.1% annually as nine-month streak of increases is snapped

A nine-month string of increases in revised construction spending figures was snapped in January, falling 2.1 percent from December 2012 to a preliminary figure of $883.2 billion. Despite the dip, spending remains 7.1 percent higher than January 2012, according to seasonally-adjusted data released by the United States Census Bureau. Residential construction stalled from December to January, […]

March 1, 2013

Business

Growth slows in U.S. exports of construction equipment

After enjoying surges of 43 percent in 2011 and 28 percent in 2010, growth in U.S. exports of construction equipment slowed in 2012 to 13 percent, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. Construction equipment exports grew to $26.7 billion in 2012. Despite the slowing in growth, things are much better now than they were […]

February 27, 2013

Business

New home sales surge 16% to nearly 3-year high

New home sales made a huge leap in January, rising nearly 16 percent from December 2012, according to data from from HUD and the United States Census Bureau. New single-family homes were sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 437,000 in January, besting the consensus estimates of 381,000. It is the highest monthly total […]

February 26, 2013

Business

Ritchie Bros. president sees turnaround for construction; unsure on value of Tier 4

The Ritchie Bros. equipment auction is in full swing here in Kissimmee, Florida, and given the robust nature of the sales company, President Rob Mackay sees things getting better for the future of the construction economy. The company saw its sales increase worldwide to $3.9 billion last year and Mackay says recent auctions in Houston, […]

February 21, 2013

Workforce

Economists forecast housing-fueled construction job growth

Goldman Sachs economists recently forecasted a housing recovery-fueled increase to the pace of added jobs each month to between 25,000 and 30,000, CNBC reported. In 2012 that pace averaged out at 14,000 per month. Due to the 1.5 million jobs lost in residential construction between 2006 and 2011, the economists warn that even with the […]

February 20, 2013

Business

Obama stresses importance of construction, infrastructure, skilled labor in State of the Union

In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Barack Obama stressed the great importance of construction, housing, infrastructure, manufacturing and energy in creating new jobs and aiding the ongoing recovery of the American economy. Obama spent several minutes of the address discussing the sad state of the country’s infrastructure, which he said is […]

February 12, 2013

Business

POLL: Are you optimistic about the construction industry in 2013?

There are plenty of people who get paid to make forecasts regarding how successful or unsuccessful our industry will be. We report on some of those forecasts and predictions right here. However, we wanted to see what you, the reader think about the year ahead. Answer in our poll below and tell us why you […]

February 12, 2013

Business

Nonresidential construction index stagnates year-to-year, mixed outlook for 2013

The FMI Nonresidential Construction index rose to 58.1 in the first quarter of 2013, up 2.6 points from Q4 2012’s 55.6. The index sits at the same mark of 58.1 as one year ago, but up greatly from the 35.6 in Q1 2011. With the fiscal cliff and great political uncertainty of 2012 behind it, […]

February 12, 2013

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

PCA Pres: “Pendulum is swinging back” for construction industry (WOC 2013)

You don’t usually get a pair of sunglasses at a press conference. And, given the recent tough years for the construction industry, receiving a pair at Portland Cement Association’s World of Concrete press event as a way of saying “a bright future is ahead,” was a bit of a suprise. Chief Economist and new PCA […]

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