Construction employment falls after 10 month rally.Nonfarm payroll employment was little changed in February, rising by a seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted Mathematically adjusted by moderating a macroeconomic indicator (e.g., oil prices/imports) so that relative comparisons can be drawn from month to month all year. 21,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) A research agency of the U.S. Department of Labor; it compiles statistics on hours of work, average hourly earnings, employment and unemployment, consumer prices and many other variables. last week. Since August 2003, total payroll employment has risen by 364,000 (0.3%). Job gains in January and December were revised downward by small amounts but remained positive. Construction employment fell slightly (by 24,000 or 0.4%) to 6,784,000, the first drop in 10 months, but remained 123,000 above the February 2002 level. Construction employment gains in the past year accounted for all of the 122,000 growth in nonfarm employment. Average weekly hours in construction (not seasonally adjusted) moved up from 37.7 a year ago to 38.5, and average hourly earnings climbed 1.8% to $19.04, 22% higher than the all-private sector average for nonsupervisory or production workers, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. data collected by Kenneth D. Simonson, Chief Economist The Chief Economist is a single position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of responsibility encompassing the , Associated General Contractors Associated General Contractors of America is the nation's oldest and largest trade association representing the construction industry. It was formed in 1918 following a request by President Woodrow Wilson. of America. The value of construction put in place slipped slightly in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $931 billion, Census reported. That total was 0.3% below the record $934 billion (initially estimated as $933 billion) set in December. The total was 5.4% higher than in January 2003. Private nonresidential construction in January fell 1.7% from the month before and 1.5% from the year-ago month. Public construction was 0.2% higher * than in December and less than 0.1% below the January 2003 level. Private residential construction was even with December but up 11.4% from the previous January. Factory orders slipped 0.5%, seasonally adjusted, in January, following an upwardly revised 1.8% rise in December (initially 1.1%), the Census Bureau reported Thursday. Orders for construction machinery climbed 2.8% in January, following a drop of 9.3% in December (initially -17.9%) and a jump of 16.7% in November. Orders for construction materials and supplies edged down 0.9% in January, following a gain of 2.5% (initially 0.7%) in December and a decline of 1.7% in November. The "Beige Book Beige Book A commonly used name for the Fed report entitled "Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District." It is published just before the FOMC meeting on interest rates and is used to inform the members on changes in the economy since the last " summarizing informal surveys of economic conditions showed "economic activity continued to expand in January and February" in each of the 12 Federal Reserve Districts Federal Reserve District (Reserve district or district) One of the twelve geographic regions served by a Federal Reserve Bank. , the Fed reported Wednesday. However, "Commercial real estate market conditions have shown little change in most Districts. |
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