Construction’s unemployment rate jumped from 17.4% in June to 18.2% in July, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The July rate was 10% above a year ago and well above the average July unemployment rate of 6% between 2004 and 2007. July’s unemployment rate represents 1.687 million blue-collar and white-collar workers who are out of work. SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Construction unemployment rate for July
The value of new construction starts climbed 8% in July, helping to counteract sharp year-to-year declines, according to new statistics released by McGraw-Hill Construction. Through the first seven months of this year, the total dollar value of new construction starts was $236 billion, which was down 35% from the same period a year ago. “Since March, there has been an up-and-down pattern for construction starts, supporting the belief that a leveling-off process is now under way,” Robert Murray, MHC’s chief economist, points out. “Single-family housing, while still at extremely low volume, has shown improvement in five out of the past
As equipment manufacturers stare into the second half of 2009 and see 30% to 50% fewer annual sales, a “Cash for Clunkers”-style program for dozers, backhoes and excavators may be just what the economy ordered. Or is it? Suppliers say they have been kicking the idea around internally since C4C started winding down this month. This year’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has done little to shore them up: Peoria, Ill.-based Cat alone has shed 34,000 jobs since late last year, it says. Photo: Tudor Van Hampton / ENR Photo: NADA Equipment makers say infrastructure spending under ARRA has been
Contractor teams vying for the latest round of a long-term National Science Foundation contract—worth at least $2 billion to manage site logistics and science support for its huge polar research program in Antarctica—would like to hear from the agency soon about who the winner will be. But many of the contenders would just like to hear from the agency, period. Photo: National Science Foundation South Pole research facilities have grown since the 1960s, when site construction and logistics contractors were first hired. This photo shows the McMurdo station in Antarctica, but the research facility is on the polar plateau, where
Construction spending in the six Gulf Cooperative Council nations is expected to rise from about $315 billion this year to $350 billion in 2010, according to new data from Proleads Global released on Aug. 13 in a SmartMarket Executive Brief, by McGraw-Hill Construction, the publisher of ENR, along with the Chartered Institute of Building. + Image Image: McGraw-Hill Construction Rapid spending on construction has been affected by the downturn in development in the United Arab Emirate of Dubai, says the report. Overall, residential and commercial activity in the GCC, which consists of Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and
State highway agencies have taken the term “shovel-ready” to heart, so far devoting nearly half of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars to pavement improvements, according to a recent report from the U.S Government Accountability Office. That information has drawn a mixed response in Congress. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.) says the focus on such projects was expected. But Rep. John Mica (Fla.), the committee’s top Republican, wants to see more stimulus funds used for large projects. Source: GAO analysis of FHWA data Highway obligations by project type In another stimulus development, the U.S. Dept.
The White House Office of Management and Budget on July 29 issued new guidelines that require all federal agencies to reduce contracts by 3.5% in 2010 and another 3.5% in fiscal 2011. Agencies must also reduce cost-reimbursement contracts by 10% in 2010 and for the first time track contractor performance. The guidance is part of an effort to streamline federal contract acquisition as outlined by President Barack Obama. OMB says it plans to release more detailed guidance in September.
As the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act approaches its sixth month on the books, the General Services Administration’s $5.5-billion ARRA-funded program to build or upgrade scores of federal buildings suddenly has begun to take off. But critics continue to complain that other agencies are not turning their construction stimulus money into jobs-producing contracts fast enough. Photo: Grunley Construction Co. Commerce Dept. job tops list. After taking about six weeks just to produce its list of stimulus projects, GSA has shifted into overdrive. It has awarded contracts totaling nearly $1.1 billion for projects involving about 120 buildings. Twenty of those projects
The dollar value of construction starts during the first half of this year was $195 billion, or 36% less than the same period a year ago, according to McGraw-Hill Construction. The residential market continues to be a drag, showing a 46% decline from last year’s already depressed market. However, the nonresidential building market also is in a steep decline, falling 41% below 2008’s first-half total. “Non-residential building, hampered by the weak economy and tight bank lending, would see further erosion,” says Robert Murray, chief economist for MHC. “On the plus side, the boost to public works from the federal stimulus
Single-family housing permits increased 5.9% in June to an annual rate of 430,000 units, with permits increasing in the South and West and remaining unchanged in the Northeast and Midwest, according to the U.S. Dept. of Commerce. Multifamily permits improved for the first time in 11 months after sinking to an all-time low in May, according to Commerce. “This was the most positive housing report in ages,” says Patrick Newport, an economist with IHS Global Insight, Lexington, Mass. “Based on June’s numbers, we should continue to see improving housing starts nationally and across all regions over the next two months,”
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