February Jobless Rate Down in Construction
Declining jobless rate signals opportunities for contractors and lenders.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the jobless rate in the construction sector is continuing to decline. This February, we saw the number of unemployed in this sector drop to 10.6 percent, a notable improvement over February 2014’s rate of 12.8 percent. Total construction employment is now at 6.35 million individuals, the highest level we’ve seen in 6 years.
The numbers are especially encouraging considering what a rough winter we have had in most of the country. To add 29,000 jobs in February despite record-setting snowfalls shutting down work in many northern states is significant.
According to the Associated General Contractors of America, construction workers are also getting more hours and more pay despite the challenging winter weather. Average weekly hours were up to 39.6 compared to 39 in January, and average weekly wages showed a modest increase from $1,052 to $1,066 in that same period.
Another positive indicator is that architectural and engineering services jobs also increased in February. About 4,900 new jobs were added to this sector, which is counted separately from the construction sector. The need for more workers on the design and engineering side should spell more projects coming down the pipeline and a continuing steady supply of work for the construction industry.
Are You Ready to Grow with the Industry?
If you are involved in the construction industry, either as a contractor/builder or as a lender, it is very important to be poised to take the fullest possible advantage of this growth. ECL Software can help.
Services for Contractors
Our Construction Management Information System is the ideal piece of software to help contractors/builders streamline their operations and keep projects on schedule and on budget. This single-entry system will save your support staff time and effort while improving accuracy. It also features robust tools for all your management, administration, and accounting activities so you can improve your cash flow. One very important feature of our CMIS software is that it enables you to link real-time progress reports with payments to reduce the risk of overpaying a supplier or getting underpaid by a client.
Services for Lenders
We also offer a fund control suite for lenders that gives you increased oversight of all vital loan administration activities in one single online software portal. Our Fund Control software can easily be configured to suit any kind of construction or renovation lending. You can also use it as FHA Renovation disbursement software solution. No matter what kind of lending you’re focusing on, you’ll appreciate our fund control software’s abundance of time-saving templates, accurate at-a-glance reports, and proactive risk management functionalities.
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