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Facts & Figures
Facts and Figures
According to the U.S. Department of Labor:
Current employment statistics estimates show total annual average construction employment is rising from 5,813,000 in 1997 to an all-time high of 7,689,000 in 2006, surpassing the previous high achieved the previous year.
Average weekly hours of production workers in construction were 39.0, well above the 2006 private industry average of 33.9 for production and non-supervisory workers.
The average hourly earnings of production workers in construction were $20.02 in 2006, compared to an average of $16.76 for production and non-supervisory workers in all private industry.
Employment Projections data indicate that construction employment will increase 11.4 percent over the 2004-14 period. Construction is the only goods-producing sector in which employment is projected to grow. Total employment for all industry sectors is projected to grow 14.8 percent.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
Almost 2 out of 3 wage and salary jobs in construction were with specialty trade contractors; primarily plumbing, heating, and air conditioning; electrical; and masonry contractors. Around 1 out of 4 jobs were with building contractors, mostly in residential and nonresidential construction. The rest were with heavy and civil engineering construction contractors.
There were about 818,000 construction establishments in the United States in 2004: 247,000 were building construction contractors; 57,000 were heavy and civil engineering construction or highway contractors; and 514,000 were specialty trade contractors.
One million skilled workers will be needed to fill construction jobs by 2012.
According to the Associated General Contractors of Washington, the construction industry has played a powerful role in sustaining economic growth and helping the recovery.
Construction makes a disproportionately large contribution to GDP. The value of construction put in place in 2004 was approximately $1 trillion—8% of gross domestic product (GDP), considerably higher than the construction industry’s share of employment.
Construction is a major purchaser of manufactured products. In 2004, shipments of construction materials and supplies totaled approximately $470 billion—nearly 11% of total manufacturing shipments. Shipments of construction machinery accounted for 10% of total machinery shipments.
Small business is big in construction. In 2002, more than 91% of construction firms had fewer than 20 employees. Only 1% had 100 or more, and only 467 firms (0.07%) had 500 or more.
According to the National Center for Construction Education and Research:
There are 6.9 million Americans in construction.
There are 240,000 jobs available each year in construction.
There will be 8.7 million craft professionals by 2014.
The average craft professional is 47 years old.
The construction industry is among the economy’s top 10 largest sources of growth.
Opportunities to own your own firm is better in construction than any other industry