Half of metros add construction jobs; starts drop, MHC says;
ABI stays barely favorable
Construction
employment increased in 169 (50.1%) out of 337 metropolitan areas (including
divisions of 11 large metros) between January 2011 and January 2012, decreased
in 111 and stayed level in 57, according to a March 20
Associated General Contractors of America
analysis of
Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That
was the first time since 2007 that a majority of metro areas had year-over-year
construction employment gains. (BLS does not seasonally adjust metro data. The
agency combines mining and logging with construction for many metros to avoid
disclosing data about industries with few employers.)
Atlantic
City-Hammonton, N.J. added the highest percentage of new construction jobs
(45%, 1,700 combined jobs), followed by Bakersfield-Delano,
Calif. (31%, 4,000 construction
jobs). Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash. added the
most jobs (5,300 construction jobs, 13%), followed by Denver-Aurora-Broomfield,
Colo. (5,000 combined jobs, 8%); Atlanta-Sandy
Springs-Marietta, Ga. (5,000 construction
jobs, 6%); and Indianapolis-Carmel,
Ind. (4,600 construction jobs,
14%).
The
largest job losses were in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.
(-7,100 construction jobs, -14%), followed by the Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill. division (-5,200
construction jobs, -5%). Springfield,
Mass.-Conn. (-23%, -1,800 combined jobs) lost the highest percentage, followed
by Anniston-Oxford, Ala.
(-20%, -200 combined jobs) and Oshkosh-Neenah,
Wis. (-19%, -600 combined jobs).
Click
here to view January metro construction
employment numbers.
New construction
New
construction starts declined 7% from January to February at a seasonally
adjusted annual rate,
McGraw-Hill Construction reported March
20, based on data it collected. “The nonbuilding construction sector, comprised
of public works and electric utilities, lost considerable momentum in February,
and diminished activity was also reported for nonresidential building.
Meanwhile, residential building in February was able to register modest growth.
For the first two months of 2011, total construction starts on an unadjusted
basis [were] down 14% from a year ago. For the 12 months ending February 2012
vs. the 12 months ending February 2011, which lessens the volatility present in
year-to-date comparisons of just two months, total construction starts were
down 2%.”
MHC
Vice President of Economic Affairs
Robert Murray
stated, “Renewed expansion for the construction industry is still struggling to
take hold, with gains for a few project types such as multifamily housing being
outweighed by declines for project types that are largely publicly financed.
This was especially the case in February, when much of the downward pull came
from weakness for public works and institutional building.”
“Led
by the commercial sector, the Architecture Billings Index has remained in
positive territory four months in a row,” the
American Institute of Architects
reported March 21. The February ABI score was 51.0, essentially unchanged from
the previous three months. The index measures the difference between the
percentage of architects who say billings rose less and those who say billings
declined in the previous month, with 50 being a neutral score.
“‘This
is more good news for the design and construction industry that continues to
see improving business conditions,’ said AIA Chief Economist
Kermit
Baker. … ‘The factors that are preventing a more accelerated
recovery are persistent caution from clients to move ahead with new projects,
and a continued difficulty in accessing financing for projects that developers
have decided to pursue.’”
Three
of the four practice specialty subindexes, which are based on three-month
moving averages of responses from the 700 survey participants, remained
positive: commercial/industrial (55.1), multifamily residential (53.3), and
institutional (50.3); mixed practice (46.3) was the exception.
Green jobs
“In
2010, 3.1 million jobs in the United
States were associated with the production
of green goods and services [GGS],” the BLS reported March 22. GGS jobs “are
found in businesses that produce goods and provide services that benefit the environment
or conserve natural resources. GGS jobs accounted for 2.4% of total employment
in 2010. The private sector had 2.3 million GGS jobs and the public sector had
860,300….Construction had 372,100 GGS jobs [second among industries after
manufacturing], comprising 6.8% of construction employment [second highest
share of industry employment after utilities].
“Among
the GGS activities performed within this industry are the construction of
plants that produce energy from renewable sources, and weatherizing and
retrofitting projects that reduce household energy consumption … .
“The
BLS green jobs definition contains two components, an output-based approach and
a process-based approach. Output-based jobs are jobs associated with producing
goods or providing services that benefit the environment or conserve natural
resources. Process-based jobs are jobs in which workers’ duties involve making
their establishment’s production processes more environmentally friendly or use
fewer natural resources. This news release covers the output approach only. The
process approach data will be released later this year.”
Click
here to view presentations from Textura
Economic Luncheon.
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