According to the US government census on construction spending, growth in construction industry is both increasing and decreasing. The total estimated spending in January 2015 landed at $971.4 billion. This shows a 1.8 percent growth from the January 2014 spending estimate, which totaled $954.2 billion. On the other hand, it is 1.1 percent lower than December 2014 estimate, which was $982.0 billion.
So, you may be wondering; what does this mean and how does it affect your construction company? On a long term scale, the construction industry appears to be flourishing. But, the decrease in month over month spending shows a small setback in this growth. Construction companies across America should keep these results in mind when making skilled labor staffing decisions.
We’ve provided a breakdown of the specific numbers by industry and construction type to give a full picture of how the construction industry is doing. Find out below which niche industries within construction are growing and which are slowing.
Private Construction Spending:
• Private construction spending was placed at $697.6 billion, .5 percent below the December 2014 estimate
• Residential construction was estimated to be $351.7 billion, .6 percent higher than the December 2014 estimate of $349.5 billion
• Nonresidential construction reached an estimate of 345.9 billion, 1.6 percent below the December 2014 estimate of $351.5 billion
Public Construction Spending:
• The estimated public construction spending was $273.8 billion, 2.6 percent below the December 2014 estimate of $281.1 billion
• Educational construction was calculated to be $58.9 billion, 3.4 percent below the December 2014 estimate of $60.9 billion
• Highway construction was around $88.3 billion, .6 percent above the December 2014 estimate of $87.8 billion
Final Notes
Because these numbers easily fluctuate, it often takes at least two months for a steady trend to emerge in the construction industry. It can take up to eight months for a trend to emerge in the specific areas of construction. So, the month over month decrease may be unfortunate but it does not make as strong of a case as the year over year growth.
As the industry does grow and your workload grows along with it, partner with Tradesmen International to secure the skilled labor you need to meet project demand. Use the same labor strategy that thousands of contractors are adopting nationally: Run with a lean permanent workforce comprised only of your best trade employees. As your sales or workload increase, don’t add to your full-time workforce. Instead, supplement your core workers with Tradesmen International’s skilled craftworkers who emphasize Safety, Productivity and Craftsmanship. As work slows, send Tradesmen employees back with the goal of sustaining a profitable balance of work-to-skilled workers. The result will be optimized workforce productivity and profit margins.
Learn about Tradesmen International’s skilled labor staffing solutions, which help you take full control over your labor and labor-related expenditures.
For those who are interested in keeping up with the construction industry, you can find the February data, released on April 1st, at http://www.census.gov/constructionspending.