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Click on image to view more information.Construction employment in November, spending in October climb brisklyEditor’s note: Construction Citizen is proud to partner with AGC America to bring you AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's Data DIGest. Check back each week to get Ken's expert analysis of what's happening in our industry.Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 211,000 in November, seasonally adjusted, and by 2,637,000 (1.9%) year-over-year (y/y), while the unemployment rate held steady at a 7-1/2 year low of 5.0%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. Construction employment rose by 46,000 for the month (to 6,490,000) and by 259,000 (4.2%) over 12 months. The employment level was the highest since January 2009. The number of unemployed jobseekers who last worked in construction decreased from 629,000 in November 2014 to 536,000 in November 2015, the lowest November total since 2000.
Reshaping the Construction Industry
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The design of new speculative office buildings will now shift. We are about to see sensors embedded in walls and floors around elevator cores and entry doors that will scan for chemicals and explosives.
December 07, 2015
Determination, dedication and diligence…Those words seemed to be the trending topic amongst industry leaders on Thursday, November 19, 2015 as construction industry and educational leaders joined together at the ABC & CMEF Workforce Development Luncheon held at the NRG Center in Houston, Texas. Their goal, you may ask? To inform fellow Houstonians about current workforce development activities, construction career opportunities and the benefits of the NCCER curriculum.The presenters list included Michael Gremillion, Vice President—Houston Office, ISC Constructors, LLC; Mike Holland, Chief Operating Officer for Marek; Donnie McCoy, Senior Operations Manager at Austin Industrial; Renea Dillon, Director at Goose Creek Consolidated ISD and Career & Technical Education Principal at the Stuart Career Center; Ezequiel Garcia, CTHS CTE Department Chair and Welding Instructor at Pasadena ISD; and Eleazar Hinojosa, Fabrication Division Welder at Turner Industries Group.
December 04, 2015
The following article originally appeared in the December newsletter to clients of Kiley Advisors, LLC for the purpose of providing the latest leading indicators and industry issues to those clients. Reprinted with permission.On November 12th, Dr. Bill Gilmer gave his forecast for 2016, and despite Houston's attempts to diversify since the 1980's, oil remains a dominant factor in the Houston economy. As such, the price of oil will directly impact how fast Houston recovers from the recent downturn. And while Dr. Gilmer does not yet see a recession for the Houston area, he does expect continued slow growth going forward, with lower job growth and population growth projections in 2016.
December 03, 2015
To the surprise of many observers, construction spending jumped in October across the nation. The federal government announced this week that construction spending was up 1 percent in October from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of more than $1.1 trillion. It hasn’t been at that level since December of 2007.From the Associated Press:The construction of single-family homes and apartments climbed 1 percent in October, also reaching their highest level since December 2007. Manufacturers boosted their construction spending by 3 percent. And federal government building soared 19.2 percent, the biggest increase since October 2006.
December 02, 2015
Click on image to view more information.Value of starts jumps in October, Dodge says; costs edge up in November, IHS findsEditor’s note: Construction Citizen is proud to partner with AGC America to bring you AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's Data DIGest. Check back each week to get Ken's expert analysis of what's happening in our industry.The value of new construction starts in October increased 13% from September's level at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, Dodge Data & Analytics reported on November 20, based on data it collected. "The increase follows the lackluster performance for construction starts during August and September, when activity fell to the lowest levels reported so far in 2015. Much of October's gain for total construction was due to a sharp [32%] rebound by nonresidential building, with additional support coming from a moderate [9%] upturn for housing as the result of further strengthening by multifamily housing...The nonbuilding construction sector (public works and electric utilities/gas plants) settled back [-3%] in October, reflecting a decreased amount of power plant projects. During the first 10 months of 2015, total construction starts on an unadjusted basis were...up 10% from the same period a year ago. Leaving out the volatile electric utility and gas plant category, which was boosted in early 2015 by the start of several massive liquefied natural gas terminals, total construction starts during the first 10 months of 2015 would be up 4% relative to last year," with nonbuilding up 2%, residential building up 15% and nonresidential building down 6%.
December 01, 2015
With the Gulf Coast area petrochemical industry needing more than 50,000 new workers within the decade, nine community colleges have set out to find and train this “next generation” of skilled workers, enabled by a grant from the ExxonMobil Foundation.Now in its third year, the Community College Petrochemical Initiative has spread the word across the region that average salaries in this expanding industry average $99,700. It’s not surprising that enrollments in training programs, such as those at San Jacinto College, are growing significantly.In August, representatives from all nine partnering community colleges in the Texas Gulf Coast region, along with ExxonMobil, met in the Nolan Ryan Center on the Alvin Community College campus to present more than $60,000 in scholarships to 43 selected students.San Jacinto College process technology students Gladys Jackson, Laura Plazibat, and Austen Riche; along with instrumentation student Jonathan Gallo, were all at the recent event where they each received $1,000 or $2,000 scholarships.
November 30, 2015
Our construction industry has always needed legal access to immigrants, never more so than today. We all need to rally behind the efforts to obtain some legal status for those here now and those we need to bring tomorrow. Immigrants make outstanding citizens, in most cases, and build organizations that prosper, continuously create jobs and make our industry stand very tall.
November 27, 2015
The mission at Construction Citizen is straightforward but it is not simple at all: “the advancement of a socially responsible, sustainable and value added construction industry” cannot happen without our industry sponsors, community organizations, and others working diligently on a daily basis.The Construction Citizen team has made great strides in recent years by bringing to light the scourge of worker misclassification, putting in focus the workforce challenges of the Gulf Coast, championing solutions like the Construction Career Collaborative, and featuring the great work of community colleges and service organizations like Community Family Centers and Neighborhood Centers.Our sponsors make all this possible and we cannot thank them enough.
November 25, 2015
