News

Construction Employment, Spending and Optimism All on the Rise for 2018

Despite some mixed messaging by the Trump Administration this week, Congress and the President are determined to pass through an infrastructure bill.  With that, industry numbers indicate a robust construction economy for 2018.

CNBC reports that, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Labor, the construction industry added 30,000 jobs in December, construction industry spending set a record at $1.257 trillion in November and construction contractor optimism is also at an all time high.

“For all of 2017, construction added 210,000 jobs, a 35 percent increase over 2016,” CNBC went on to report.

Other indicators for a healthy construction market include:

  • Three quarters of construction firms reported that they play to increase payrolls in 2018.
  • Contractors are most optimistic about office construction in the job market.

However, the primary concern among contractors remains that there will be a severe worker shortage for what promises to be a busy construction season.  A point that Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), countered in a recent letter to the editor in The Washington Post.  The Building Trades stand ready and are committed to put the required amount of men and women to work through recruitment and training, as along as there is a fair day’s pay at the end of the job waiting for these workers.

Read the CNBC article HERE.