A Sustainable Workforce Starts With You
The producer price index (PPI) for final demand in January, not seasonally adjusted, increased 0.6% from December and 2.7% year-over-year (y/y) from January 2017, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Thursday. [node:read-more:link]
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. [node:read-more:link]
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. [node:read-more:link]
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%. [node:read-more:link]
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. [node:read-more:link]
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. [node:read-more:link]
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%. [node:read-more:link]
