Construction market loads up

There are signs the construction market is loading up workers to meet coming demand. Construction accounted for nearly one out of three net new jobs in March--56,000 out of 180,000 in the entire nonfarm payroll sector, even though the industry represents less than 6 percent of total employment, according to Ken Simonson, chief economist for The Associated General Contractors of America. "But the real news lies buried deeper," Simonson said. "The three categories of nonresidential construction--nonresidential building, specialty trade contractors, and heavy and civil engineering--have added 3.4 percent to their ranks over the past year. That is more than double the all-industry rate of 1.4 percent. The 146,000 nonresidential construction jobs added in that time outpaces the 125,000, or 3.6 percent, lost in residential building and specialty trades. I expect nonresidential hiring to continue, if companies can find qualified workers. Costs are a significant concern, however, especially for public projects. More worrisome are recent jumps in prices of steel, stainless, copper and diesel fuel. Materials and components are likely to wind up the year at least 6 to 8 percent higher than in December 2006." Your comment?