Posts Tagged ‘Housing’
Friday, February 22nd, 2019
Article source: ConstructConnect
This article is the seventh, or final one, in a series of seven that examines key industrial sectors to determine where they are most significant regionally. Rankings of state strength in each industrial sub-sector are based on both ‘weight’ and ‘concentration’ of relevant employment.
‘Weight’ is simply the number of jobs in the industrial sub-sector in each state. ‘Concentration’ is each state’s number of jobs in the sub-sector 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 expose some unexpected winners.
(more…)
Tags: Alex Carrick, ConstructConnect, Economic, Economics, Growth, home, Housing, interest rate, job, money
Comments Off on Series (7 of 7): Rankings of States by Industrial Sub-Sector Jobs – Construction
Wednesday, February 6th, 2019
Article source: ConstructConnect
There are 51 metropolitan statistical areas (CMAs) in the United States with population levels above one million. Drawing from ConstructConnect’s data pool for those 51 cities, Table 1 ranks the Top 25 markets in America for educational facility construction starts last year. (Map 1 showcases the Top 20.)
| Educational Facility Construction Starts |
| Top 25 Markets among Biggest U.S. Cities* |
| 2018 |
| Rank by |
|
|
|
|
|
| 2018 |
|
2017 |
2018 |
|
% Change |
| $ Value |
City / MSA |
($billions) |
|
2018/2017 |
| 1 |
New York, NY-NJ |
$3.290 |
$3.367 |
|
2.3% |
| 2 |
Dallas-Ft Worth, TX |
$2.355 |
$3.100 |
|
31.7% |
| 3 |
Los Angeles, CA |
$2.416 |
$2.626 |
|
8.7% |
| 4 |
Houston, TX |
$2.778 |
$2.592 |
|
-6.7% |
| 5 |
Seattle-Tacoma, WA |
$1.970 |
$1.560 |
|
-20.8% |
| 6 |
Chicago, IL |
$1.188 |
$1.219 |
|
2.6% |
| 7 |
Boston, MA |
$2.023 |
$1.217 |
|
-39.8% |
| 8 |
San Francisco – Oakland, CA |
$1.014 |
$1.145 |
|
13.0% |
| 9 |
Portland, OR-WA |
$0.370 |
$1.117 |
|
201.8% |
| 10 |
Philadelphia, PA |
$0.790 |
$1.090 |
|
38.0% |
| 11 |
Atlanta, GA |
$0.807 |
$0.991 |
|
22.8% |
| 12 |
Washington, DC – VA – MD – WV |
$1.279 |
$0.966 |
|
-24.5% |
| 13 |
San Diego, CA |
$0.543 |
$0.907 |
|
67.2% |
| 14 |
Baltimore, MD |
$0.917 |
$0.866 |
|
-5.6% |
| 15 |
Sacramento, CA |
$0.291 |
$0.852 |
|
193.0% |
| 16 |
Austin, TX |
$0.961 |
$0.762 |
|
-20.7% |
| 17 |
San Antonio, TX |
$1.142 |
$0.735 |
|
-35.6% |
| 18 |
Las Vegas, NV |
$0.286 |
$0.654 |
|
128.7% |
| 19 |
Orlando, FL |
$0.640 |
$0.613 |
|
-4.1% |
| 20 |
Salt Lake City, UT |
$0.660 |
$0.609 |
|
-7.7% |
| 21 |
Cleveland, OH |
$0.369 |
$0.586 |
|
59.0% |
| 22 |
Raleigh, NC |
$0.372 |
$0.574 |
|
54.3% |
| 23 |
Denver, CO |
$0.422 |
$0.573 |
|
35.8% |
| 24 |
Minneapolis – St Paul, MN – WI |
$0.843 |
$0.561 |
|
-33.4% |
| 25 |
Providence, RI-MA |
$0.306 |
$0.551 |
|
80.1% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| *There are 51 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the U.S. with populations exceeding onemillion. |
|
|
|
|
|
| Data source and table: ConstructConnect ‘Insight’. |
|
|
|
|
|
(more…)
Tags: Alex Carrick, ConstructConnect, Construction industry, Economic, Economist, Growth, house, Housing, market, material, US
Comments Off on Top 25 U.S. Cities for School Construction Starts
Friday, January 25th, 2019
Article source: ConstructConnect
U.S. Census Bureau workers are off the job due to Washington’s partial funding shutdown. As a result, current statistics on housing starts, retail purchases and foreign trade are not available.
This is no minor matter. It will be difficult to accurately calculate national output – i.e., the important gross domestic product (GDP) measure – without reliable data on many of its key components. GDP growth, or lack thereof, is one key determinant of Federal Reserve interest rate moves. The Fed will struggle over whether to be ‘hawkish’, ‘dovish’, or stick with neutral.
Furthermore, the ramifications of economic data omissions are not solely limited to the U.S.
The U.S. and China are engaged in a trade skirmish, with tariffs on Chinese goods entering the U.S. slated to increase to 25% from 10% at the end of March, if there is no resolution. The U.S. has been running a huge trade deficit with China for years. In many months, it has been in a range of 40% to 50% of the total U.S. merchandise trade shortfall with all nations.
(more…)
Tags: Alex Carrick, ConstructConnect, Economics, Economist, Economy, election, employ, employment, Growth, home, house, Housing, job, jobless, Labor, market, material, money, real estate, residential, shutdown, US
Comments Off on Ramifications of U.S. Shutdown Ripple outwards to China and Canada
Wednesday, January 16th, 2019
Article source: ConstructConnect
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 second 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.
(more…)
Tags: Alex Carrick, ConstructConnect, Construction industry, Economic, Economics, Economist, employment, house, Housing, job, jobless, jobs, Labor, market, material, money
Comments Off on Series (2 of 7): Rankings of States by Industrial Subsector Jobs – Financial Services
Thursday, January 10th, 2019
Article source: ConstructConnect
The dollar volume of ConstructConnect’s ‘grand total’ construction starts in full-year 2018 was -5.0% compared with full-year 2017. The percentage change for nonresidential work was -2.0%.
How significant were the largest project initiations in those overall percentage changes? Each month, to update clients on showcase project activity, ConstructConnect publishes a Top 10 groundbreakings list. The summation of the Top 10 projects for every month in 2018 (i.e., 120 projects in total) was $85.4 billion, +1.3% versus 2017’s comparable figure of $84.2 billion.
Many of 2018’s biggest project starts are set out in two accompanying infographics and tables. While there were other type-of-structure categories with multiple extra-large projects last year, six that stood out were: high-tech data and fulfilment centers; hotels and conference centers; bridges; manufacturing and distribution centers; medical facilities; and law enforcement.
(more…)
Tags: Alex Carrick, ConstructConnect, Construction services, Economic, Economics, Economist, Economy, employ, Growth, Housing, job, jobless, Labor, market
Comments Off on U.S. 2018 Large Project Starts by Type of Structure – 2 Infographics
Tuesday, October 2nd, 2018
Article source: ConstructConnect
In 2017, as calculated by the Census Bureau, total U.S. put-in-place construction activity was +4.5% year over year (y/y), with all the strength coming from residential, +12.2%, since nonresidential work was a little worse than flat, -0.5%. (‘Put-in-place’ as a concept captures work-in-process or progress payments as projects proceed.)
Over the past five years, 2013 through 2017, the annual total of U.S. put-in-place construction has averaged +8.0% y/y, led by exceptional growth in residential, +14.0%, with nonresidential doing okay, +4.5%, but not shattering any records.
The latest data from the Census Bureau, for August 2018, shows year-to-date results (i.e., versus the first eight months of last year) being +5.2% for total; +6.5% for residential; and +4.3% for nonresidential, +4.3%.
(more…)
Tags: Alex Carrick, ConstructConnect, Housing
Comments Off on 2 Leading Monitors of U.S. Construction Activity, 1 Public and 1 Private – Fall 2018
Thursday, September 13th, 2018
Article source: ConstructConnect
ConstructConnect announced today that August’s volume of construction starts, excluding residential activity, was $33.1 billion − a month-to-month change of -18.9%. The long-term history of the starts data records a ‘normal’ change of -3.5% from July to August, due to seasonality. (Starts are traditionally strongest in Spring and early Summer.)
Compared with August of last year, this year’s latest-month nonresidential starts volume was -9.5%. Relative to the nonresidential five-year average for August, from 2013 through 2017, this year’s latest-month starts volume was +2.7%. Year-to-date nonresidential starts in 2018 compared with the same January-August time frame of 2017 have been -1.9%.
The starts figures throughout this report are not seasonally adjusted (NSA). Nor are they altered for inflation. They are expressed in what are termed ‘current’ as opposed to ‘constant’ dollars.
‘Nonresidential building’ plus ‘engineering/civil’ work accounts for a larger share of total construction than residential activity. The former’s combined proportion of total put-in-place construction in the Census Bureau’s July report was 55%; the latter’s share was 45%.
View this information as an infographic.
ConstructConnect’s construction starts are leading indicators for the Census Bureau’s capital investment or put-in-place series. Also, the reporting period for starts (i.e., August 2018) is one month ahead of the reporting period for the investment series (i.e., July 2018.)
The all-jobs increase for the U.S. economy in August was +1.6% year over year, according to the latest Employment Situation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Hiring by the construction sector has been more robust, +4.3% year over year. The month-to-month nominal jobs increase in construction in August was +23,000, the same as the average monthly gain since the beginning of this year. Construction hiring on average for January-August 2018 is up by one-third versus 2017’s +18,000 monthly average for the first two-thirds of 2017. Construction’s current unemployment rate is 3.4%, the same as in July, but down from 4.7% in August 2017. Construction’s jobless rate is lower than the ‘headline’ figure for the whole economy, 3.9%.
(more…)
Tags: Alex Carrick, build, ConstructConnect, Construction, Construction industry, Construction services, Economic, Economist, Economy, employment, Growth, Housing, market, material, money, oil, real estate
Comments Off on ConstructConnect’s August Nonresidential Starts -19% M/M, But Only -2% YTD
Monday, August 20th, 2018
Article source: ConstructConnect
The U.S. quarter-to-quarter annualized advance in gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter of this year was an outsized +4.1%. It was the fastest leap forward since 2014’s third quarter jump of +4.9%. Some of the strength has been attributed to exports that were shipped early to beat target dates for the imposition of tariffs.
Nevertheless, it’s fair to say that America’s economy is presently firing smoother on more cylinders than it has in a long time. And even when problems do crop up, such as a potential Turkish currency crisis, they are – to all outward appearances − being dealt with and hustled aside quickly.
The foregoing is not to imply that there are no nagging points of concern. After all, inflation is shaking off its long slumber and preparing to possibly initiate trouble. The all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI) in July was +2.9% year over year. Even the ‘core’ rate (+2.4%), which omits volatile food and energy components, exceeded the +2.0% level favored by the Federal Reserve.
(more…)
Tags: Alex Carrick, construct, ConstructConnect, Construction, Economist, Economy, employment, Growth, Housing, oil, retail
Comments Off on 12 Mid-August Economic Nuggets
Friday, July 13th, 2018
Article source: ConstructConnect
ConstructConnect announced today that June’s volume of construction starts, excluding residential activity, was $39.8 billion – a month-to-month change of -24.7%. The one-quarter drop was not due to market conditions. Rather, the comparison of June versus May suffered from the latter including Foxconn Technology’s $10 billion industrial plant in Wisconsin. June relative to May exclusive of that single mega project was still down, but by only -7.2%. The historical May-to-June change, aided by favorable ‘seasonality’, has been +4.5%.
June 2018 versus the same month of last year was -6.3%. June 2018 versus the five-year average for June, from 2013 through 2017, was +3.2%.
Year-to-date starts in 2018, compared with first half (H1) 2017 starts, have been -5.5%.
The starts figures throughout this report are not seasonally adjusted (NSA). Nor are they altered for inflation. They are expressed in what are termed ‘current’ as opposed to ‘constant’ dollars.
View this information as an infographic.
(more…)
Tags: Alex Carrick, ConstructConnect, Construction, Construction services, Economic, Economist, Economy, employment, Growth, Housing, market
Comments Off on July 2018 issue based on June starts statistics. 1st half 2018 results.
Tuesday, April 3rd, 2018
Article source: ConstructConnect
This article provides a ranking of America’s Top Dozen States according to their goods export volumes in full year 2017.
Total U.S. goods exports last year amounted to almost one-and-a-half trillion dollars.
The background foreign trade data comes from the Census Bureau’s web-based site entitled USA Trade Online. While it’s relatively easy to open a free account, if one is not familiar with ‘pivot tables’, there is a bit of a learning curve to access the statistics.
The type-of-product designations follow the definitions in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
(1) Texas:
Texas, with export shipments of $264.1 billion and a 17.9% share of the nation’s total, was the leader among U.S. states for foreign sales in 2017. The NAICS category at the top of the Lone Star State’s exports list was ‘computer and electronic products’ ($47.0 billion), but close behind were ‘petroleum and coal products’ ($44.0 billion), ‘chemicals’ ($40.0 billion) and ‘oil and gas’ ($32.0). ‘Chemicals’ exports were dominated by synthetic rubber.
While Texas has a high level of computer-product exports, it would be more accurate to say that the State is especially strong in energy-product export sales. Energy products as a catch-all would combine refined petroleum (e.g., gasoline), chemicals, crude oil and natural gas for more than $100 billion.
In 2017, there were substantial increases in oil exports from Texas to China, Canada and South Korea. Other major customers for Texas crude last year were Mexico and Brazil.
(more…)
Tags: Alex Carrick, architect, build, Economic, Economics, Economist, Economy, election, employ, Housing, interest rate, Labor, market, material, money
Comments Off on Ranking and Reviewing America’s Top Dozen Exporting States
|
