Excerpts from Houston Chronicle article: “Houston area ranks No. 1 for construction job growth”
Houston is hiring construction workers at a fast clip, and there’s plenty of work to keep them busy.
The Houston region led the nation for construction job growth over the last 12 months, adding 25,600 jobs through October, the Associated General Contractors of America said Thursday. That’s nearly twice as many as the Dallas area, which added 13,100 jobs.
The new construction projects totaled $3.45 billion in October, up from $1.92 billion in October 2017. Year to date through October, new construction projects totaled $19.45 billion, a 21 percent rise over $16.01 billion during the first 10 months of 2017.
“Construction activity is starting to pick up again,” said Patrick Jankoswki, senior vice president of research for the Greater Houston Partnership. “The only sector we really see struggling in Houston is the office sector.”
Construction activity is picking up in the chemical plant sector, and the industrial and retail sectors remain strong, Jankowski said.
“That bodes well for Houston’s economy,” Jankowski said. “Construction jobs tend to pay well, and they’re one of the fundamentals which drives our growth.”
Construction employment grew from October 2017 to October 2018 in 78 percent of the 358 metro areas tracked by the Associated General Contractors of America.
The Houston construction jobs represented a 12 percent jump over October 2017, the contractors group said. Midland posted the largest percentage gain, adding 7,200 jobs for a 25 percent gain during the period.
A number of commercial construction projects have been announced recently, including Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s new offices in Springwoods Village.
Nonresidential buildings, such as office, retail, hotels, warehouses, manufacturing, educational, health care, religious and other buildings, totaled $2.59 billion in October, up from $1.16 billion in October 2017.
New residential projects totaled $859.8 million in October, up from $764.9 million in October 2017. The figures include the value of single-family and apartment construction.
Although homebuilding has slowed in some regions of the country, Houston has been resilient. The city ranked second in the U.S. behind Dallas, with 29,370 homes started in the last year, according to housing information firm Metrostudy.
Article originally posted in The Houston Chronicle – read the entire article
