Massachusetts ranked No. 3 among the states in the number of construction jobs created in February, according to the Associated General Contractors of America.
All together, 147,000 workers were employed in the construction trades, up 11% since a year ago. Greater Boston's numbers were strong, too, reports the Boston Business Journal. The region's construction employment was up 10% in January year-over-year.
This comes as the nationwide trend for both manufacturing and construction is upward. After a slow Q4, data from the Institute for Supply Management shows manufacturing stabilized in February and production accelerated—signaling we may be through the worst of the manufacturing downturn.
The ISM said its index of national factory activity climbed 130 bps to 49.5 last month, the second month in a row the index increased. We’re not out of the woods yet, though. Anything under 50 on the index indicates a contraction in manufacturing. The US has been under 50 for the past five months, undercut by weak global demand, a strong dollar and crude oil’s collapse, Reuters reports. [BBJ] [Reuters]
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