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Lackluster Construction Employment Report09-17-15 | News

Lackluster Construction Employment Report
Numbers Decline in Many U.S. Metro Regions

Fewer than half of the major metropolitan areas in the nation saw their building-trade jobs increase from July 2014 to July 2015, while 39 percent of the metro regions actually saw a decline in their construction industry positions.

Construction industry employment in major metropolitan areas dwindled considerably during the 12-month period that ended July 31, 2015, the Associated General Contractors reports.

The U.S. Department of Labor compiles construction employment data for 358 metro areas, and of those, only 168, or 47 percent, showed an increase in building trades workers for the year.

Employment declined in 138 metro areas, a drop of 39 percent, and the numbers remained relatively unchanged in 52 metros, or 15 percent. Nationally, construction employment increased by 231,000 positions, or 3.8 percent, for the year.

"Although construction employment and spending are still expanding well overall, the gains are increasingly spotty," Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist, said.

At the same time, Congress has failed to act on several federal infrastructure-funding measures, and chief among those is the surface transportation program.

"Uncertainty over funding for transportation infrastructure, a contraction in oil and gas drilling, and turmoil in international markets have left many local construction markets behind even as others grow strongly," Simonson said. Association officials are urging lawmakers to approve the federal surface transportation bill and funding for many other federal construction programs. Without these measures, more areas of the country are likely to sustain drops in construction jobs, the AGC said.

The metro area with the largest loss from July 2014 to July 2015 was Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas, which shed 3,300 positions. New Orleans-Metairie, La., lost 2,700 jobs. Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, Miss., dropped 2,100 workers. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash., added the most construction jobs in the past year, 10,300 positions.

Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich., gained 9,100 jobs, while Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo., came in third with 8,900 new workers.

Website link: https://tinyurl.com/ob7yvcr CoreLogic, a leading global property information, analytics and data services provider, said in its most recent Home Price Index (HPI) that home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased by 6.9 percent in July 2015, compared to July 2014.

On a month-to-month basis, home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 1.7 percent in July 2015, compared to June 2015.

Fifteen states reached new price peaks since January 1976 when the index began, including Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas. Only two states experienced home price depreciation: Massachusetts, minus 2.1 percent, and Mississippi minus 0.8 percent.

CoreLogic has also released its HPI Forecast and predicts that home prices, including distressed sales, will climb 0.5 percent month-to-month from July 2015 to August 2015. The forecast also suggests a growth rate of 4.7 percent year-to-year from July 2015 to July 2016.

Excluding distressed sales, home prices are projected to increase 0.4 percent month-to-month from July 2015 to August 2015, and 4.6 percent year-to-year from July 2015 to July 2016, according to CoreLogic's report.

Website link: https://tinyurl.com/plk79q5