A mid high unemployment and a credit freeze that has delayed or eliminated construction plans, a dip in cement consumption drove down prices during the first half of 2010. Cement prices have fallen in six of the last seven months, including relatively large monthly declines of 1.5% in April and 1.4% in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ producer price index. Related Links: ECONOMICS: With Stimulus Spending Running Out Recession Will Keep Grip on Costs CONFIDENCE SURVEY: Industry Firms Begin To Believe The Worst May Soon Be Over COMPENSATION: Recession Squeezes Salaries HIGHWAYS: Soaring Asphalt and Fuel Prices
The recession everyone hoped would end quickly has now lasted for two years, at first causing fear and concern that now has turned to grit and determination to hold on until better times. While no one sees the current market as ready to take off, major firms are beginning to think the market may soon hit bottom and slowly begin to pull itself back from the brink in 2011. Image Related Links: ECONOMICS: With Stimulus Spending Running Out Recession Will Keep Grip on Costs COMPENSATION: Recession Squeezes Salaries CEMENT: Weak Demand Undercuts Prices HIGHWAYS: Soaring Asphalt and Fuel Prices Spike
Associated Builders and Contractors members are lobbying Congress to stimulate construction, not with stimulus funds but by pushing financial regulators and banks to restore lending to private-sector projects and firms. To push jobs, the open-shop construction group calls for unfreezing project lending for more access to capital, examining federal guidelines on write-downs and curtailing financial institutions from “unnecessarily restricting, reducing or calling in lines of credit” to contractors and suppliers. “Freeing up credit is how to create a real economy,” said James W. Elmer, president of the Spokane, Wash.-based construction firm that bears his name and ABC’s chairman. Also speaking
With revenue continuing to be a significant struggle for many contractors, salaries for construction staff are languishing at levels not seen in decades. Salary increases fell from 4.1% in 2008 to 3% in 2009 among companies that offered raises, and contractors estimate they could dip to 2.9% in 2010, according to a recent survey by PAS Inc., a construction-compensation consulting firm in Saline, Mich. Related Links: ECONOMICS: With Stimulus Spending Running Out Recession Will Keep Grip on Costs CONFIDENCE SURVEY: Industry Firms Begin To Believe The Worst May Soon Be Over CEMENT: Weak Demand Undercuts Prices HIGHWAYS: Soaring Asphalt and
President Obama has directed agencies to dispose of unneeded office space and to take other steps to economize in the federal government's sprawling real-estate portfolio. Related Links: White House Executive Order Memo The goal is to save at least $3 billion by Sept. 30, 2012, said Obama. In an executive order issued on June 10, Obama said, "For decades, the federal government, the largest property owner and energy user in the United States, has managed more real estate than necessary to effectively support its programs and missions. Both taxpayer dollars and energy resources are being wasted to maintain these excess
The total dollar value of new construction starts through the first four months of this year were $125 billion, which was the same amount as a year ago. Image Source: McGraw-Hill Construction Analytics. Construction contract value cumulative year-to-date throught April 2010. While the overall numbers were stable, they mask a large swing in market activity. The housing market is up 34% over last year�s dismal low, while the non-residential building market was down 18% and heavy and highway work was down 2% from a year ago, according to McGraw-Hill Construction data for new construction starts. Leading the decline in the
The fiscal year starting on July 1 will be another tough one for states, with more spending cuts expected. A new survey by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) says one area likely to be trimmed in some states is transportation. The latest biannual NGA-NASBO �Fiscal Survey of the States,� released on June 3, says that, for fiscal 2010, which ends for 46 states on June 30, state general-fund expenditures will fall an estimated 6.8%, to $612.9 billion. For 2011, governors� proposed budgets foresee a 3.6% spending rise, but that still would
The fiscal year starting July 1 will be another tough one for states, with more spending cuts expected, says a new survey by the National Governors Association and National Association of State Budget Officers. Photo: National Governors Association NGA's Scheppach (left) and budget officers' Pattison discuss states dire fiscal picture. The groups' latest biannual “Fiscal Survey of the States,” released June 3, says that for fiscal 2010, which ends for 46 states on June 30, their total general-fund expenditures will be down by an estimated 6.8%, to $612.9 billion. For 2011, governors’ proposed budgets are forecasting a 3.6% pickup in
While the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has buoyed high-profile sectors such as transportation and energy, in Indian Country—the sovereign lands of 562 American Indian tribes across the United States—$3 billion in stimulus funding quietly has moved into development backlogged road improvements, hospitals, correctional facilities and schools. Many of the projects were planned but remained unfunded for years, in some cases for more than a decade. Photo: Kumin Associates/Mahlum Architects A $91-million stimulus-funded tribal hospital project on the Seward Peninsula in Nome, Alaska, is raised 4-ft above grade to avoid permafrost. The ARRA windfall gave cash-strapped tribes more capital than
Construction equipment vendor Deere & Co. posted a second-quarter net income of $547.5 million, jumping 16%, on sales of $7.1 billion, up 6%, over the same period last year. Construction and forestry machine sales rose 52% for the quarter and earnings shifted into the black due to increased shipments, favorable currency exchange rates and price increases of about 2%. Deere’s construction and forestry division, bouncing back from last year’s anemic lows, booked an operating profit of $36 million for the quarter, compared with a quarterly loss last year of $75 million. The Moline, Ill.-based company upped its earnings forecast for
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