40%
Percentage of small- and mid-sized manufacturing professionals responding to the eighth “Prime Advantage Group Outlook (GO) Survey” who indicated that their companies expect revenue increases in the last half of this year. Nearly 25% of the manufacturing procurement officers who took the survey reported that their companies expect capital spending increases in the second half of 2011.
Source: Prime Advantage
571,000
Number of new housing units (seasonally adjusted) started in August, which is a 5% decline from July. Overall, home building fell to its lowest level in 50 years in 2009, when builders began work on just 554,000 homes — not a far cry from the number posted in August.
Source: Associated Press and the Commerce Department
-1
Number of points builder confidence dropped for newly built, single-family homes, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for September. Sitting at 14, the index has now held between 13 and 16 for six consecutive months. “The fact that the HMI continues to hover within such a narrow, low range reflects builders’ awareness that many consumers are simply unwilling or unable to move forward with a home purchase in today’s uncertain economic climate,” says NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “While some bright spots are beginning to emerge in about a dozen select metro areas, the broader picture remains fairly bleak due to the weak economy and job market.”
Source: National Association of Home Builders
-10%
Percentage decline in the number of construction fatalities between 2009 and 2010, according to analysis of federal data by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). According to Stephen E. Sandherr, AGC’s CEO, the number of construction fatalities in 2010 was 751, down from 834 in 2009 and 1,239 in 2006. He added that the number of construction fatalities was declining faster than the total amount of money invested in construction projects during the past five years. While construction spending declined by 31% between 2006 and 2010, the number of fatalities declined by nearly 40%.
Source: AGC
30.2%
Percentage increase in NEMA’s shipment index for T5 linear fluorescent lamps, during the first half of 2011 compared to the same period last year. T8 lamps showed a 12.5% increase, while T12 lamps declined 11.1% on a year-over-year basis.
Source: NEMA
