Construction spending in various type-of structure categories is driven by economic circumstances within specific industrial subsectors. For example, manufacturers set the pace in industrial construction.
Good health in the leisure and hospitality sector provides the backing for new hotel and motel work. And jobs levels in information and financial services, as well as in more rapidly expanding fields of endeavor such as computer systems and design services, establish the need for additional office space and commercial tower square footage. (See, “Shifts in Office Jobs and Implications for Commercial Tower Construction“.) This article is the fourth in a series of seven that examines key industrial sectors to determine where they are most prominent regionally. Rankings of state strength in each industrial subsector are based on both ‘weight’ and ‘concentration’ of relevant employment. ‘Weight’ is simply the number of jobs in the industrial subsector in each state. ‘Concentration’ is each state’s number of jobs in the subsector divided by the state’s population. In effect, it’s a ‘per capita’ figure, except that it’s expressed as number of jobs per million population. By ‘weight,’ the states with the largest populations are almost always high in the rankings. The rankings by ‘concentration,’ however, often deliver a jolt of surprise or two.
State Tiers: It’s important to know that three clear groupings of states emerge from an analysis of the Census Bureau’s latest (i.e., through July 1, 2018) population statistics. Those groupings are: (A) the four frontrunner states by nominal levels of population – California, Texas, Florida, and New York; (B) the three states with the fastest year-over-year gains in population – Nevada, Idaho, and Utah; and (C) another tier of six states with both strong nominal increases and percentage changes in resident counts over the past several years – Washington, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Colorado, and South Carolina. (See, “Latest State Population Statistics, Maps, & Tables – Six Dark Horse Winners.”)
Also read, “Series (1 of 7): Rankings of States by Industrial Subsector Jobs – Manufacturing,” “Series (2 of 7): Rankings of States by Industrial Subsector Jobs – Financial Services,” and “Series (3 of 7): Rankings of States by Industrial Subsector Jobs – Information Services.”
