Words With Wayne 07-17-2020
On today's Words With Wayne, learn what our advocacy efforts during the pandemic look like, and what we've been doing to keep America building.
On today's Words With Wayne, learn what our advocacy efforts during the pandemic look like, and what we've been doing to keep America building.
Divergent trends are emerging for construction costs, as indicated by producer price indexes (PPIs) for June that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) posted on Friday. AGC posted tables showing PPIs relevant to construction. The PPI for new nonresidential building construction—a measure of the price that contractors say they would charge to build a fixed set of buildings—declined 0.3% for the month, following a 0.1% dip in May. The year-over-year (y/y) increase of 2.2% compared with a rise of 5.5% a year earlier and was the smallest y/y increase since June 2017.
Nonfarm payroll employment in June jumped by 4.8 million, seasonally adjusted, following a 2.7 million gain in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday, based on the payroll period covering June 12.
Each year the AGC Education and Research Foundation offers undergraduate and graduate level scholarships to students enrolled in ABET or ACCE accredited construction management or construction related engineering programs. The application opened July 1, 2020 and closes November 1, 2020.
Construction employment, not seasonally adjusted, increased between April and May in 329 (92%) of the 358 metro areas (including divisions of larger metros) for which BLS provides construction employment data, decreased in 14 (4%) and was unchanged in 15, according to an analysis AGC rele
Data from AGC’s latest online survey documents a recent increase in construction firm employment but ongoing concerns about future work.
The Census Bureau on Thursday released the results of its sixth Small Business Pulse Survey, with responses from May 31 to June 6, that “is intended to provide crucial weekly data on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the nation’s businesses.” There was modest improvement in several metrics for construction firms. The share that added employees was the highest yet (11.5%, vs. 10.1% in the May 24-30 survey). For the fifth-straight week there were declines in the share with a decrease in employees (12.1% vs. 12.4% a week before) or supply-chain disruptions (31.4% vs. 33.3%). The share of construction respondents that closed a location for at least one day was unchanged at 17.8%. More construction firms than in the five previous surveys reported “little or no effect on…normal level of operations relative to one year ago” (17.1% vs. 13.5% one wee k earlier).
On today's Words With Wayne, Wayne showcases member community mural, reminds you to be on the lookout for your Membership Directory and copy of BuildingIdaho, and introduces a few new features of your Idaho AGC website.