Seasonally adjusted construction employment rose year-over-year (y/y) from September 2023 to September 2024 in 40 states and declined in 10 states and the District of Columbia, according to AGC’s analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data posted on Tuesday. Texas added the most construction jobs (42,300 or 5.1%), followed by Florida (37,100, 5.9%), Ohio (16,400, 6.9%), Michigan (12,600, 6.6%), and Indiana (12,500, 7.7%). The largest percentage increases were again in Alaska (21%, 3,700 jobs) and Hawaii (12%, 4,500), followed by Oklahoma (9.4%, 7,800), and Nevada (8.8%, 10,000). The largest loss again occurred in New York (-6,900, -1.8%), followed by Oregon (-4,800, -4.1%), and Maryland (-4,600, -2.9%). Oregon had the largest percentage loss, followed by Maryland and Maine (-2.6% -900 jobs). For the month, construction employment rose in 24 states and D.C., declined in 23 states, and was unchanged in Minnesota, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Texas added the most jobs (8,100 or 0.9%), followed by Ohio (6,700, 2.7%), Florida (3,600, 0.5%), South Carolina (2,900, 2.4%), and Colorado (2,000, 1.1%). Ohio had the largest percentage gain, followed by South Carolina, Alaska (1.9%, 400), and Nebraska (1.9%, 1,200). Tennessee lost the most construction jobs in the month (-1,600, -1.0%), followed by Oregon (-1,500, -1.3%) and Louisiana (-1,500, -1.1%). North Dakota lost the highest percentage of jobs (-2.1%, -600 jobs), followed by Oregon and West Virginia (-1.2%, -400). (For D.C., Delaware, and Hawaii, BLS posts combined totals for mining, logging, and construction; AGC treats the changes as all from construction.)
The value of construction starts rose 1.8% y/y in September but edged down 0.9% year-to-date in the first nine months of 2024 compared to January-September 2023, data provider ConstructConnect reported on Thursday. Nonresidential building starts rose 1.0% for the month but fell 7.5% year-to-date. Engineering (civil) starts jumped 48% and 19%, respectively. Residential starts tumbled 24% y/y and 7.3% year-to-date, with single-family down 7.6% y/y but up 2.3% year-to-date and apartment starts down 53% and 24%, respectively. Among the 25 largest categories (by 2023 starts dollars), the best-performing year-to-date are: electric power infrastructure, +77%; airports, +61%; special and vocational schools, +51%; amusement, +39%; and prisons, +37%. Underperforming categories include military, -50%; manufacturing, -42%; multifamily, -24%; warehouse, -22%; and hotels, -18%. The largest year-to-date percentage increases by state are in Rhode Island, 175%; Wyoming, 117%; Alaska, 109%; Virginia, 78% and South Carolina, 76%.
Total construction starts fell 6% from August to September at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, Dodge Construction Network reported on October 17. Nonbuilding starts slumped 11%, nonresidential building starts slid 6% and residential starts dipped 1%. On a year-to-date basis through September, total construction starts were up 2% from the first nine months of 2023. Nonbuilding starts slipped 3% year-to-date, with miscellaneous nonbuilding starts up 10%, environmental public works starts up 7%, highway and bridge starts up 3%, and utility/gas starts down 23%. Nonresidential building starts rose 2% year-to-date, with institutional starts up 13%, commercial starts down 2%, and manufacturing starts down 22%. Residential starts were up 7% year-to-date, with single-family starts up 17% and multifamily starts down 11%.
The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) was unchanged from August to September with a reading of 45.7, seasonally adjusted, staying below the breakeven 50 mark for the 20th-straight month, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported on Wednesday. AIA calls the index “a leading economic indicator of construction activity, providing an approximately 9-to-12-month glimpse into the future of nonresidential construction spending activity.” The ABI is derived from the share of responding architecture firms that report a gain in billings compared to the previous month less the share reporting a decline in billings, presented on a 0-to-100 scale. Readings for practice specialties, which are based on three-month averages, were all below 50 and varied little from August: institutional, 48.5, down from 49.2; mixed practice, 47.8, up from 47.4; commercial/industrial, 44.2, down from 45.1; and residential, 41.7, down from 43.1. The reading for an index for newly signed design contracts was 48.3, up from 47.3 in August but the sixth month in a row below 50.
“On balance, economic activity was little changed in nearly all districts since early September, though two districts reported modest growth,” the Fed reported on Wednesday in its latest Beige Book, which “characterizes regional economic conditions and prospects based on a variety of mostly qualitative information, gathered directly from each district’s sources….Commercial real estate markets were generally flat, although data center and infrastructure projects boosted activity in a few districts…. contacts noted that it remained difficult to find workers with certain skills or in some industries, such as technology, manufacturing, and construction.”
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