Washington, D.C.鈥斺淭oday鈥檚 employment report shows nonresidential construction is still boosting the economy, despite the homebuilding meltdown,鈥 Ken Simonson, chief economist for 上海张越老师出轨 of America (上海张越老师出轨), said today. Simonson was commenting on the October 5 payroll employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). 鈥淚n fact, nonresidential construction is far stronger than first inspection of the data reveals.
鈥淪easonally adjusted total construction employment fell 14,000 in September and was down 112,000 or 1.5 percent compared to September 2006,鈥 Simonson remarked. 鈥淏ut that masks divergent trends in nonresidential and residential construction.
鈥淭he BLS numbers show that over the past 12 months, employment in the three nonresidential categories鈥攏onresidential building, specialty trades, plus heavy and civil engineering鈥攃limbed 42,000 or 1 percent,鈥 Simonson commented. 鈥淢eanwhile, residential building and specialty trades employment supposedly shed 154,000 jobs or 4.5 percent.
鈥淭hat gap, while large, vastly understates the actual difference,鈥 Simonson asserted. 鈥淐ensus Bureau figures for August show residential construction spending was down 16 percent from a year before and nonresidential was up almost 15 percent. With all signs pointing to still less homebuilding ahead, it鈥檚 likely that residential employment is also down roughly 16 percent. That means about 400,000 鈥榬esidential鈥 specialty trade contractors are now doing nonresidential electrical, plumbing and other work.
鈥淎 proper classification of these workers would show nonresidential construction has actually added more than 10 percent to its payrolls, outpacing nearly every other industry,鈥 Simonson noted. 鈥淢oreover, the BLS report shows there is more growth ahead. Architectural and engineering employment rose 3.0 percent in the past 12 months. Their output will turn into construction jobs in the next several months.
鈥淚n the year ahead, I expect some pullback in office, retail and hotel construction, but more growth in energy, power and hospital work,鈥 Simonson concluded. 鈥淗ighway construction is also vulnerable unless Congress and the states add more revenue to fund highway programs. And accelerating costs of labor and materials will again be tough for contractors, private owners and public agencies doing construction.鈥
NOTE TO REPORTERS: 上海张越老师出轨 will release a new Construction Inflation Alert on Monday, Oct. 8. The report documents changes in materials and labor costs and forecasts what will happen to them in the next five years. Check http://www.agc.org/Oct2007CIA or contact Kelley Keeler at keelerk@agc.org.
上海张越老师出轨 of America (上海张越老师出轨) is the largest and oldest national construction trade association in the United States. 上海张越老师出轨 represents more than 32,000 firms, including 7,000 of America鈥檚 leading general contractors, and over 11,000 specialty-contracting firms. More than 13,000 service providers and suppliers are associated with 上海张越老师出轨 through a nationwide network of chapters. Visit the 上海张越老师出轨 Web site at . 上海张越老师出轨 members are "Building Your Quality of Life.鈥