Construction + Economy

While activity for institutional projects should hover near 2010 levels, there is likely to be a construction spendingmodest decline in commercial construction in 2011, according to the AIA Consensus Construction Forecast Panel. Overall nonresidential construction spending is expected to decrease by 2% for the year. The Panel believes 2012 will produce stronger gains, however, with [...]

NEMA’s Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI) for current North American conditions continued to point to a broadly improving environment in January. The index measured 63.6, down slightly from December’s 68, but near the high end of the range of readings recorded since the beginning of the third quarter of 2010. A reading above 50 indicates [...]

On the heels of its highest mark since 2007, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) jumped more than two points in December 2010. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate 9- to 12-month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the December [...]

Shipments of metal halide high intensity discharge (HID) lamps grew by 4.6 percent to 87.1 during the third quarter of 2010. The index showed solid year-over-year growth increasing 5.7 percent. Conversely, sodium vapor HID lamp shipments retrenched 10.4 percent during the quarter to 82.1, the second lowest level on record for the index. Mercury vapor [...]

NEMA’s shipment indexes for linear fluorescent T5, T8, and T12 lamps increased during the third quarter of 2010. T5 lamps showed the largest rate of growth, advancing 6.6 percent, while T8s and T12s registered more modest gains of 0.6 and 0.1 percent, respectively. The T5 index grew 48.7 percent from a year ago and has [...]

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Hanley Wood, LLC have unveiled the first issue of the recently revamped Architect magazine. Now the new official publication of the AIA, Architect will be the largest of the four titles published as part of the partnership. The other magazines include Residential Architect, EcoHome and Eco-Structure. In addition, [...]

NEMA’s Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI) for current North American business conditions climbed for a second consecutive month in December, rising 5.5 points to 68, its highest level since June. A reading above 50 indicates more panelists than not reported conditions improved during the month. Forty percent of survey panelists reported improved conditions in December, [...]

After stepping back in October reversing into the negative territory, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) rose more than three points in November to reach its highest mark since December 2007. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. [...]

Info on electrical contractors from the 2007 Economic Census, and official government projections for electrician needs in 2018–printed in six 2010 issues of tED magazine–was recently posted to The EleBlog, operated by a guy I’m proud to call friend and colleague, Joe Salimando, a freelance writer/editor for TED. “After the December issue posted, I noticed [...]