.jpeg?itok=6uFZXEBH)
The producer price index (PPI) for final demand in October, not seasonally adjusted, increased 0.5% from September and 2.8% y/y from October 2016, BLS reported on Thursday. AGC posted tablesand an explanation focusing on construction prices and costs. Final demand includes goods, services and five types of nonresidential buildings that BLS says make up 34% of total construction.
Reshaping the Construction Industry
.jpeg?itok=4Vi_1nJG)
These ordinances, well-meaning but not well-informed, are being pushed in cities across the country as well as at the national level. The Obama Administration instituted a pilot program under the Department of Transportation that would lead to the inclusion of the requirement in all DOT funded projects. The Trump Administration has since ended consideration of that requirement.
November 17, 2017
With an expedited scheduled described as “unprecedented,” a special Texas House committee on Wednesday got down to work examining a wide variety of challenges facing the state as lawmakers study ways to preserve its economic edge.
November 16, 2017
“The construction industry has a critical shortage of skilled workers,” said ABC President and CEO Michael Bellaman, who this week participated in his first meeting as an appointee of the Trump administration’s newly created Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion.
November 15, 2017
On October 25, 2017, the Construction Education Foundation of North Texas (CEF) held their 7th Annual Construction Career Day at their campus located in Irving near the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. As in past years, over 1400 high school juniors and seniors representing 41 high schools from regions 10 and 11 in the north Texas area were led in groups of 12-15 students throughout the CEF complex where they were exposed to different crafts, exhibits, and employment opportunities available in the construction industry.
November 14, 2017
Impacts on construction have been spotty from the hurricanes (including Maria, which devastated Puerto and the U.S. Virgin Islands in September) and four severe wildfires in California (with more than 8,300 buildings severely damaged or destroyed).
November 13, 2017
Minimum wage earners are always trying to make enough to pay the monthly bills and to put clothes on the backs of their children. One of the first questions asked by most construction companies in the interviews for field workers is, “Do you have a car or a way to get to the jobsite every day?” If the answer is no, then the company will either help find a way or usually not hire the worker.
November 10, 2017
Finding workers to rebuild homes and other structures damaged or completely destroyed by Hurricane Harvey this year on the Gulf Coast is a challenge compounded by the fact that the United States does not have a way for undocumented residents to gain legal status.
November 09, 2017
While Harvey remains a popular topic of conversation, the numbers surrounding the devastation from Harvey continue to be revised downward. The latest revised numbers from Moody Analytics bring the number down to $65 billion, much less than originally reported. Unlike storms from the past, which brought wind damage and prolonged power outages, Harvey was a rain event, primarily affecting residences. Most businesses were down only a handful of days, minimizing their losses.
November 08, 2017
Our Houston area construction industry lost two good men in the last couple of months: Jerry Lowry and Damon Gowan. They were similar in make-up: leaders who were quiet doers. Both held many profiled industry leadership roles, but both remained grateful and humble; they were givers above all, and led very parallel lives.
November 07, 2017
