Construction employment rose in 28 states and the District of Columbia between January 2011 and January 2012, while 20 states lost construction jobs and two held steady—the best net positive showing for state construction employment since 2007, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of Labor Department data. Thirty-five states and D.C. added construction jobs between December 2011 and January, while 13 states had decreases for the month and two states had no change. “There is accumulating evidence that construction has passed its low point in a majority of states, although shrinking public construction will hold … Read more

The construction industry lost 13,000 jobs between January and February, but continued a string of year-over-year job increases, according to an analysis of new federal employment data released by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said that short-term factors such as weather contributed to the monthly loss even as longer-term trends are becoming a bit more positive. “Since many firms were able to either get an early start, or a late finish, to construction activity in December and January because of mild conditions, this month’s job decline is probably more of a seasonal correction than the start of … Read more

RALEIGH, N.C., February 24, 2012 — FMI recently released its Nonresidential Construction Index report for the first quarter of 2012. The NRCI gained 7.8 points over last quarter to 58.1 this quarter. This positive move to start the New Year is not exactly the sign of a bull market for construction, but continuing confirmation that panelists believe that the construction activity is following the lead of the slowly improving economy. There are good signs in hiring plans for 2012, as well as construction-put-in-place predictions. However, panelists indicate that low project pricing and high competition are still driving the market place. … Read more