HOUSING ACTIVITY UP 20% IN MARCH.Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer Home-building activity across California California (kăl'ĭfôr`nyə), most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W). jumped 20 percent during March, putting the sector on track for its best year since 1989, an industry tracker reported Thursday. Meanwhile another report showed state construction activity is up 6.1 percent during the first quarter, totaling $16.9 billion in construction spending Construction Spending An economic indicator that measures the amount of spending towards new construction. Released monthly by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Census Bureau, it looks at residential and non-residential construction in the private sector, and state and federal at . Both reports, which track permit activity, are seen as good news for the construction trades. Builders typically do not pull permits until they are ready to start construction, so hiring in this sector should increase, said Jack Kyser, 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 at the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County Economic Development Corp. ``This is all good news. There are more and more favorable fa·vor·a·ble adj. 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. indicators for the economy and I think people are feeling better about the California economy,'' he said. Including apartments, residential permit activity increased an annual 18 percent, said the Sacramento-based California Building Industry Association. In the first quarter, single-family home building activity is up an annual 6.4 percent. The Burbank-based Construction Industry Research Board now expects a total of 201,500 housing unit permits to be issued this year, up 3.1 percent from last year. It could be the first time since 1980 that the home-building sector has produced more than 200,000 units. More housing is needed, though, the association maintains. ``The fact remains that our industry will not build enough homes and apartments this year to meet the growing demand for housing, let alone enough to start cutting away at the states accumulated ac·cu·mu·late v. ac·cu·mu·lat·ed, ac·cu·mu·lat·ing, ac·cu·mu·lates v.tr. To gather or pile up; amass. See Synonyms at gather. v.intr. To mount up; increase. housing deficit,'' association president Sherman D. Harmer Jr. said in a statement. The broader construction picture was also positive in the quarter, the CIRB CIRB Centre D'informatique Pour La Région Bruxelloise (French) CIRB Canada Industrial Relations Board CIRB Construction Industry Research Board CIRB Compensation Insurance Rating Board CIRB Crop Insurance Research Bureau said. Ben Bartolotto, the board's research director, said that March had four more business days and is typically the start of the summer construction period. In the quarter private nonresidential building - mainly commercial and industrial structure costs - totaled $3.19 billion, up 2.7 percent from last year. That's the first annual increase since the first half of 2001 for the sector. This is seen as a signal of better economic times ahead. ``It's largely a function of the business economy,'' Bartolotto said of the construction activity increase. ``It's been a long time in the doldrums doldrums (dŏl`drəmz) or equatorial belt of calms, area around the earth centered slightly north of the equator between the two belts of trade winds. .'' Gregory J. Wilcox, (818) 713-3743 greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com |
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