Tag: construction business: Page 25

PCA, Wells Fargo 2016 construction forecasts: positives outweigh negatives

Two construction activity forecasts issued today cite positive short term outlooks, while indicating concerns for long-term sustained growth. PCA will likely adjust its fall forecast to “at most” a 5 percent growth in cement consumption in 2016, a revision that will take into account the recently-passed FAST highway funding bill and the continuing downward spiral […]

February 2, 2016

Construction spending jumps 10% to 8-year high in 2015

Gains in homebuilding edged out losses in nonresidential spending, propelling total U.S. construction spending to an eight-year high in December. Total spending rose 0.1 percent during the month to $1.1 trillion, according to preliminary data from the Commerce Department. The total represents a 10.5-percent jump 2014 total and the largest amount of activity in the industry since […]

February 2, 2016

shutterstock_120925525

From digging graves as a boy to relocating a construction business during the recession, Tim Humerick built a career staring down the odds

Tim Humerick has spent little of his life doing things he didn’t want to do. There was the one time he got a job in high school at Kroger that lasted all of a couple of weeks. “It was kind of hard to get hours at my other job during the winter, so I went […]

January 18, 2016

As smartphones, tablets become more necessary on jobsites, more contractors plan to increase IT spending

Though the adoption of technology among U.S. construction firms has been somewhat disappointing in the past, there does appear to be an uptick occurring as mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets become more commonplace–and more necessary—on jobsites. According to the Associated General Contractors of America’s 2016 Construction Industry Outlook, 42 percent of the more […]

January 14, 2016

A contractor browses the Getable equipment rental service from an iPad. Photo courtesy of Getable.

Contractors tell AGC worker shortage remains their top concern despite half having already increased base pay

As we reported yesterday, a majority of construction firms in the U.S. are optimistic about 2016 volumes and plan to hire more workers to meet likely increased demand. But their optimism is significantly tempered by two still-lingering factors: a shortage of available workers to hire and the quality of worker they’re seeing walk through their […]

January 12, 2016

shutterstock_55365469

Nearly 2/3 of U.S contractors plan to hire in 2016 due to optimism in several markets, AGC study finds

The vast majority of U.S. contractors have voiced a positive outlook for 2016 and are expecting to hire more workers to meet demand, according to a new survey from the Associated General Contractors of America. Receiving responses from 1,580 construction firms across the country, the AGC’s 2016 Construction Outlook Survey found that 71 percent of […]

January 11, 2016

Courtesy of the AGCA

Construction spending falls 0.4% in November

Despite continued increases in single-family homebuilding, total construction spending in November dipped 0.4 percent to $1.122 trillion. Spending remains 10.5 percent above the year-ago mark, according to preliminary data from the Commerce Department. Total residential spending rose 0.2 percent to $434 billion in November and is up 11 percent year over year. Private residential rose […]

January 4, 2016

Fluor to diversify offerings with purchase of Netherlands-based Stork

Headquartered in Irving, Texas, construction giant Fluor Corporation is buying Stork, one of Europe’s oldest industrial companies, founded in 1827. The purchase price for Stork is estimated at $755 million, for a company which specializes in maintenance and modification of large industrial facilities in the oil and gas, chemical, petrochemical, and power generation markets. Stork […]

December 21, 2015

Contractors mulling lawsuit against city of New Orleans over local-hiring ordinance

City officials in New Orleans are contending with the ire of both supporters and opponents of a new law in the city that requires contractors on city jobs to hire more local workers. According to a report from The Times-Picayune, the City Council approved the law in October, requiring contractors to “make a good faith […]

December 8, 2015

Intern awards showcase students who will shape construction industry’s future

When contractors talk about the lack of skilled construction labor, they’re usually referencing laborers and equipment operators. But there’s another lack that is just as troubling to many of the contractors I talk with: the people needed to run a company, especially when there’s no apparent next generation. Which is why I found being […]

November 27, 2015

Chase Ekstam, a construction management major at Missouri State University, won this year’s Construction Intern Award. Ekstam is currently an intern with APAC-Springfield in Missouri.

You probably pay your operators more than the Navy pays SEALs. So why don’t you get more out of them?

In a recent conversation with a group of contractors the subject of operator pay came up. As is typical, the contractors thought they were paying top dollar, but often getting lackadaisical performance in return. So I asked if anybody knew what the average Navy SEAL makes. As it turns out, the pay difference between SEALs […]

November 26, 2015

Caterpillar 313F L GC excavator

Construction adds 31,000 jobs in October

After four months of relatively small employment gains, the U.S. construction industry had a big October, adding 31,000 jobs to its total workforce. The industry now employs 6.434 million Americans, according to preliminary data from the Labor Department. October’s gains mark the seventh-consecutive month of gains for construction, which has added jobs each month of […]

November 8, 2015

Total jobs since January 2005.

Page 25 of 31