Highway construction prices appear to be rising. The National Highway Construction Cost Index increased 4.2% from March to June 2017 and 3.4% from June to September, according to data the Federal Highway Administration posted in late January. These were the highest quarterly increases since September 2014. The 3.8% increase from September 2016 to September 2017 followed a decrease of 1.6% in the previous 12 months and -1.7% in the 12 months ending in September 2015.
Nonfarm payroll employment in January increased by 200,000, seasonally adjusted, from December and by 2,114,000 (1.5%) year-over-year (y/y) in all of 2017, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday. The unemployment rate remained at a 17-year low of 4.1% for the fourth month in a row.
February 06, 2018
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will have diverse impacts on contractors' after-tax income and on demand for construction. In general, contractors taxed as C corporations will benefit immediately from a reduction in the top corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%.
January 30, 2018
There were 210,000 job openings in construction, not seasonally adjusted, at the end of November (up from 178,000 in November 2016), BLS reported on Wednesday in its latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) release. This was the largest November total since the series began in 2000. The industry hired 256,000 employees in November, very close to the November total in each of the previous 10 years
January 19, 2018
Nonfarm payroll employment in December increased by 148,000, seasonally adjusted, from November and by 2,055,000 (1.4%) year-over-year (y/y) in all of 2017, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. The unemployment rate, 4.1%, matched the 17-year low reached in October and November.
January 12, 2018
Seasonally adjusted construction employment rose in 40 states year-over-year (y/y) from November 2016 to November 2017, declined in 10 states and held steady in the District of Columbia, an AGC analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data released on December 22 showed.
January 05, 2018
The producer price index (PPI) for final demand in November, not seasonally adjusted, increased 0.1% from October and 3.1% y/y from November 2016, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Tuesday. AGC posted tables and an explanation focusing on construction prices and costs.
December 18, 2017
The Dodge Momentum Index surged again in November, climbing 13.9%...from the revised October reading," Dodge Data & Analytics reported on Thursday. The index "is a monthly measure of the first (or initial) report for nonresidential building projects in planning, which have been shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year.
December 12, 2017
Detailed figures on Census's construction spending website show that commercial spending segments exhibit a wide range of growth patterns. Warehouse construction leaped 37% YTD as the mini-storage component has roughly doubled for four years in a row. Shopping mall construction increased 29% YTD and shopping center construction grew 20%.
December 05, 2017
The value of new construction starts decreased 9% in October at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, following a 14% jump in September, Dodge Data & Analytics reported on Tuesday. "Over the past two months the pattern for total construction starts was shaped by nonresidential building, which fell 30% in October after soaring 37% in September.
November 29, 2017
