Engineering Inc. - May/June 2006 - (Page 8)

M a R k E t WatCh Engineering Employment Surges with Construction Market By Joe Salimando C onstruction spend- a real-world glimpse of indus- tablE tWo Contracts for New Construction ing, on an upward try activity by tracking actual in billions track in the past contracts for new construction 2002 2003 2004 2005 few years despite projects see Table Two . concerns about the economy, Clearly, residential work Residential $247.9 $283.3 $332.5 $378.4 is poised for continued growth, has dominated the post-2002 Non-residential $154.4 $155.3 $163.4 $171.9 according to recently released construction recovery, with Non-building $99.8 $92.1 $94.5 $101.2 public- and private-sector that sector accounting for 58.1 studies. percent of last year's dollar vol- Total $502.1 $530. $590. $51.5 Among the new data is a ume. Contracts for new home Source: McGraw-Hill Construction; www.construction.com. report from the U.S. Census construction in 2005 were up Bureau showing that con- struction MHC reported that data is news from the U.S. 52.6 percent over 2002. struction spending in 2005 contracts for new construction Department of Labor on full- In the office construction increased 30 percent over the rose 10 percent last year, after time engineering employment category, FMI predicts an past three years far outpacing an 11-percent gain in 2004. see Table One . In 2005, increase of 10 percent in 2006, growth in the Gross Domestic And FMI Corp., a leading employment figures for the followed by gains of 9 percent, Product GDP or inflation. consulting firm in the con- industry were up 7.5 percent 8 percent and 8 percent out Separately, McGraw-Hill Con- struction industry, predicts a compared to 2003 a low year to 2009. This growth track 7 percent dollar-value increase on average and 2 percent from comes at a good time, since for construction in 2006. FMI 2001 a recent high year . the government's construction tablE oNE also forecasts increases of 8 spending figures for the office Full-Time Employment Residential Leads the Way percent in 2007, 8 percent in category show 2005 at $35.2 in Engineering & 2008 and 7 percent in 2009. The McGraw-Hill study is illu- billion, a dip from the $35.1 Drafting Services Working in tandem with minating because it represents billion spent in 2002 after YEaR aNNUal avERaGE inflation is considered. tablE thREE 1990 622,400 Future Projections Selected Categories Show Me the Money Percentage Gains from Previous Years 1991 599,600 FMI projects 8 percent annual 2006 2007 2008 2009 gains overall in non-residential 1992 598,100 Residential 6% 7% 8% 7% construction through 2009, 1993 610,200 which is more good news Single-Family 6% 7% 8% 6% 1994 622,500 for the built environment. Multi-Family 7% 7% 8% 7% The educational segment is 1995 651,300 expected to be the most robust, Non-Residential 8% 8% 8% 8% 1996 665,100 while other categories also are 10% 8% 8% 8% lodging slated for double-digit growth 1997 683,600 years see Table Three . office 10% 9% 8% 8% 1998 7 1 1 ,200 FMI also believes that non- Commercial 9% 8% 7% 7% 1999 744,800 building projects will perform 5% 8% 9% 8% health Care well in the future. Power 2000 793,600 construction, for instance, is Educational 8% 10% 12% 12% 2001 814,400 expected to go from $37 bil- 10% 10% 9% 9% Manufacturing lion last year to nearly $61 2002 788,900 billion in 2009. And highway/ Non-Building 8% 8% 8% 8% 2003 775,200 street work will expand from Power 12% 13% 15% 13% $68 billion in 2005 to more 2004 796,900 6% 6% 5% 5% highway & Street than $84 billion in 2009. n 2005 833,200* 7% 8% 7% 7% Sewage & Waste Disposal Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Joe Salimando covers the con- U.S. Department of Labor. Water Supply 6% 7% 6% 6% struction industry and writes a * 2005 figure subject to further revision. Source: www.fmisource.com. daily blog at www.eleblog.com. ENGINEERING INC. MaY / JUNE 2006 http://www.fmisource.com http://www.eleblog.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Engineering Inc. - May/June 2006

From ACEC to You
News & Notes
Market Watch
Legislative Action
Firm Footing
Bush Addresses ACEC Members
Engineering Excellence Awards
Minimize Risks from Phase 1 ESA Scope Limitations
Business Insights
Managing Sales Ethics . . . Avoiding a Slippery Slope
Members in the News
One on One

Engineering Inc. - May/June 2006