Construction + Economy

The economic environment facing electrical equipment manufacturers continued to show strong improvement in April, according to respondents to NEMA’s latest business confidence survey. While the Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI) for current North American conditions was unchanged in April at 71.7, it matched its highest monthly level since May 2004. Readings above 50 are typically [...]

As a former magazine guy (editor and later publisher of Architectural Lighting Magazine from 1995-2001), this is really depressing … In July 2009, Reed Elsevier announced that the RBI-US controlled circulation magazines and certain other print titles, representing approximately 45% of the revenues of RBI-US, were to be divested. Since then, a number of titles [...]

Reed’s construction economist Jim Haughey looks at the economic data and speculates that hotel construction is near the bottom for this building cycle after a 64% collapse since mid-2008. But a real recovery may not begin until 2012. See his column here.

From the film The Lake House. http://www.youtube.com/v/YDcGIyaj5sM&hl=en_US&fs=1&

In response to growing conversation around architecture’s role in achieving project business goals and an economy that demands it, aReturnOnDesign.com has launched. The website will play host to a community interested in how architecture and design can and should contribute to the effectiveness of a project, the good of the community in which it is [...]

Construction employment expanded in 26 states and the District of Columbia between February and March 2010, yet only Arkansas and North Dakota have more construction workers than they did a year ago according to a new analysis of federal employment figures by the Associated General Contractors of America. The new figures, while offering room for [...]

Work is proceeding briskly to complete the reflecting pools at the site of the World Trade Center attacks in time for September 11, 2011, the tenth anniversary of the attacks. But planners still have to figure out how to provide access to the memorial while construction continues on the larger site… The Wall Street Journal [...]

In FMI’s Construction Outlook: First Quarter 2010 Report, the outlook for put-in-place construction for 2010 remains bleak. Total construction in 2010 will be down after declining in 2009, according to FMI construction economist Heather Jones. Residential construction is expected to begin recovering in 2010, while nonresidential construction will continue to decline in 2010. Nonbuilding construction [...]

The business environment has improved markedly since December 2009, according to electrical equipment manufacturers polled in NEMA’s most recent business confidence survey. The Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI) for current North American conditions rose sharply in March 2010 for a third straight month, increasing 7.2 points to 71.7–its highest level since May 2004. Nonetheless, though [...]