Chart: Walter Konefal for ENR New construction starts in September were down 7% from the previous month and 3% from the cumulative first three quarters of last year, according to McGraw-Hill Construction. “The monthly pattern shows construction starts stabilizing at a low level but not reaching the point where renewed expansion is taking hold,” says Robert Murray, MHC’s chief economist. “A sustained upturn for overall construction remains several quarters away,” he says. The lift to public works from stimulus spending is subsiding, vacancy rates for commercial properties remain high, the tough fiscal climate for states makes it difficult for institutional
Single-family housing fared far worse than expected this year but could rebound in the coming years, according to the National Association of Home Builders. During NAHB’s Construction Forecast Conference on Oct. 27, chief economist David Crowe estimated that 2010 will close with an 8% increase in single-family home construction starts to 479,000 units. That is a major adjustment from NAHB’s May forecast, which predicted a 25% increase this year. Multifamily housing has fared better than expected: Although its May analysis called for an 18% drop in starts, NAHB now forecasts a 12% rise for the year to 125,000 units. Crowe
The construction market has yet to see signs of recovery from the current recession, but it’s coming next year, according to a forecast released by McGraw-Hill Construction. Photo: Bruce Buckley for ENR Robert Murray says the recovery has been delayed by a stalled economy, but should change next year. Robert Murray, vice president of economic affairs, foresees an 8% increase in total construction starts to $445.5 billion in 2011. Much of that prediction is based on the single-family housing market finally seeing substantial growth with starts rising 27% to $126.7 billion. Similarly, multifamily housing starts are predicted to rise 24%
What’s ahead for TIGER grants? With its latest round of Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant awards, announced on Oct. 20, the U.S. Dept. of Transportation brought good news to state and local agencies that won funds for 75 projects. But DOT disappointed dozens of other agencies whose proposals failed to make the cut. Photo: Courtesey Ned Ahrens, King County Department of Transportation Replacement for Seattle’s 81-year-old South Park Bridge won a $34-million TIGER grant. There is support in Congress to continue the discretionary TIGER grants, which are aimed at projects that will have major national or regional benefits. But
Voters around the U.S. will decide the fate of $4.8 billion in construction bond proposals on Nov. 2. The largest share of that total, nearly $3 billion, comes from local bond measures in Texas. There is more at stake than state and local bond proposals to fund infrastructure: Several policy questions on ballots could affect the construction climate in several key states. + Image Ten of the nation’s 12 statewide bond issues, totaling $1.3 billion, appear to be construction-related. The $1.9-billion volume for all statewide bond measures is down sharply from the $18.4 billion proposed in the 2008 elections, according
In its latest analysis of global capacity expansion, issued on Oct. 15, Bank of America Merrill Lynch says industry is “likely past the bottom in 2010,” but that economic recovery in 2011 “remains relatively muted.” The report notes that the positive capacity projections in the federal government and global metals and mining sectors “continue to surprise” and that the outlook in industral production is “better than expected.” But its analysis expects “little change” in global oil and gas sector capacity expectations despite oil pricing at steady levels through 2010. Furthermore, the analysts say U.S. power generation may also remain “dormant,”
When results are in from the Nov. 2 elections, they are widely predicted to show Republican gains in the House and Senate. Election analysts project that the GOP will win a majority in the House and also pick up Senate seats but not enough to wrest the majority from Democrats. What already was shaping up as a difficult year for the struggling construction industry promises to be even more difficult, as the likelihood of passing strong infrastructure spending measures would be even more remote. Those bills include the delayed reauthorization of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: a
Experts agree it’s going to be a new world once the U.S. emerges from the current economic slump. But what will that look like? GSA's Les Shepherd: 'We do call references.' The past once was a good predictor of the future. No more. Patterns and preferences of all sorts are shifting in economics, housing, infrastructure, culture and demographics. The question when trying to predict the future is which of those patterns are “cyclical recessionary impacts” and which are “underlying seismic shifts” that will continue indefinitely, said James Chung, president of Reach Advisors, Slingerlands, N.Y. Chung and two panels, one featuring
Graphic: Walter Konefal div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Despite being recorded during the construction industry's peak season, unemployment in the industry remains at record-high levels. Construction's unemployment rate in September was 17.2%, which was higher than August’s 17% rate and the 17.1% recorded for September 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The stubbornly high unemployment rate leaves 1.46 million white- and blue-collar construction workers looking for work. Among construction segments, specialty trade contractors lost 20,900 jobs in September. Firms involved in the construction of buildings gained 500 positions, while heavy and civil construction firms lost 200
Construction's unemployment rate edged upward in September, to 17.2% from August's 17.0%, as the industry lost 21,000 jobs last month. Related Links: U.S. Dept. of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics release The Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest monthly employment report, released on Oct. 8, also showed that construction's unemployment rate last month was slightly worse than the September 2009 rate of 17.1%. Construction's jobless rate this year has generally improved month-to-month since February, before worsening in September. But looking at the numbers from another angle, the industry's 2010 unemployment rates have been higher than the comparable 2009 figures in every
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