Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 211,000 in November, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.0 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in construction, professional and technical services, and health care. Mining and information lost jobs.
Read more at the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Based on the recently released 2012 Economic Census data, new NAHB research shows that residential construction remains the industry of independent entrepreneurs with 81 percent of homebuilders and specialty trade contractors being self-employed independent contractors. Even among establishments with paid employees, the industry is dominated by small businesses, with two-thirds of homebuilders and three out of four specialty trade contractors generating less than 1 million dollars in total business receipts.
Read more at NAHB Eye On Housing
NAHB reports in NAHBNow that the House has “approved NAHB-supported legislation that would reform the role of the Department of Energy (DOE) in the development of energy codes and encourage meaningful savings for residential construction that are achievable and cost-effective.” The North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act of 2015 (H.R. 8) would specifically require that a) any DOE-supported code or code-change proposal to have a minimum 10 year payback period, b) all DOE code-change proposals be made available to the public, c) DOE not advocate on behalf of certain products or technologies, and d) a state’s right to adopt any code, standard or version deemed appropriate be protected. Read More in NAHBNow >
Nationally, housing accounted for 15.31% of the real GDP in the second quarter of 2015, with home building and remodeling (residential fixed investment) contributing to 3.21 percentage points of that total. It is also worthwhile to know the importance of the construction sector to local economies.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis provides the geographic distribution of economic output due to construction sector, which includes both residential and nonresidential construction. Based on the most recent 2014 BEA data and NAHB estimates, construction made up 3.77% of economic output in 2014 as the housing market gradually recovers from the Great Recession, coupled with a steady increase in construction spending.
Read more at NAHB Eye on Housing
Large or small, coastal or heartland, custom or high-volume, here’s our outlook on the inflection points we see impacting home builders the most in the 12 months ahead.
Read more at BUILDER
Lloyd Atler, design editor for Treehugger, reports that heavy timber or mill decking, now being referred to as Nail Laminated Timber (NLT), could very well be a viable alternative to Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) in wooden building construction. Though CLT is “great stuff,” it’s a fairly new to North America, it’s expensive, and it’s not fully understood by building inspectors. On the other hand, NLT has been around for a long time. It was used to build warehouses and factories 150 years ago. And NLT is recognized in the building codes in both Canada and the U.S. It’s being used in a 210,000 square foot, seven story office building in Minneapolis, MN where, according to Atler, the developer “wanted ‘the warmth of wood and the embrace of green construction techniques and materials’ to attract the tech and creative sector of the market. It also goes together much faster than a conventional steel or concrete building.” Read More in Treehugger >
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today announced that the maximum conforming loan limits for mortgages acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2016 will remain at existing levels, except in 39 high-cost counties where they will increase. In most of the country, the loan limit will remain at $417,000 for one-unit properties. Read More >
Anthony Grisolia, managing director of Innovation Programs at IBACOS, writes an article in Builder about a new home comfort rating system by IBACOS that he states will “objectively measure, predict, and compare a home’s overall ability to deliver comfort to its occupants.” It’s called the Thermal Comfort Rating Metric, or a TCRM, which IBACOS believes will help builders deliver on their commitment to high performance homes. According to Grisolia, because thermal comfort and energy efficiency are not the same, one can’t accurately predict a home’s thermal comfort using only energy-efficiency metrics. IBACOS also doesn’t think that “the complex ways comfort is measured by building scientists translate well for builders and home buyers.” Find out more about this new rating system and the plan for this project over the next few years. Read More in Builder >
2016 UID Registration Limited
Register Early
Register today for
2016 University of Innovative Distribution
March 6-9, 2016. Indianapolis, Indiana
JW Marriott Indianapolis Hotel
Download the 2016 brochure for full course details.
Register Early Before Program Courses Sell Out!
WMA members receive a $1,000 savings on the registration fee
with WMA being a sponsoring association!
The registration fee will increase by $200 on January 6, 2016.
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NFRC Extends Certification Cycle to Five Years
NFRC’s Board of Directors has approved extending the NFRC product certification cycle from four years to five years. This change takes effect on March 1, 2016. The five-year certification cycle will apply only to products certified or recertified on or after March 1, 2016.
For more information, please refer to the NFRC bulletin distributed November 12, 2015.
New Home Sales Rise 10.7 Percent in October
Sales of newly built, single-family homes rose 10.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 495,000 units in October, according to newly released data from HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau.
Read more at NAHB
8 Ways to Fill Your Employee Pipeline for 2016
The labor pool is shrinking, projects are coming out of mothballs, and business volume is picking up. Here are 8 ways to make sure your distributorship has the manpower to handle business in the year ahead.
Read more at The Electrical Distributor
Consumer Confidence Retreated in November
The Conference Board released the Consumer Confidence Index for November, reporting that the index dropped sharply to 90.4 in November, following a moderate decrease in October. Both subcomponents contributed to the decline. The present situation index declined to 108.1 from 114.6 in October; the expectations index slipped to 78.6 from 88.7 in October.
Read more at NAHB Eye On Housing
World Millwork Alliance (WMA) 54 TH Annual Convention & Tradeshow will hold its’ premier event at the Memphis Cook Convention Center from September 11-15, 2018. WMA will offer Veterans and Students complimentary access to the exhibit hall during Millwork Career Day on Friday, September 14, 2018 during the show hours of 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
WMA welcomes Veterans and Students to explore a career in the millwork industry. Learn from worldwide millwork professionals while viewing the finest millwork products. Meet with industry distributors and manufacturers about the opportunities in a millwork career.
Pre-registration for a name badge is available by completing a WMA Registration Form. Any local Student or Veteran who has pre-registered will pick up their complimentary “Expo – One Day Pass” with a valid student ID or Veteran ID at the WMA registration desk in the Memphis Cook Convention Center.
Veterans must show a Veteran’s Administration (VA) identification card to receive an “Expo-One Day Pass” and to gain entrance into the exhibit hall on Friday, September 14, 2018.
Students must show a valid Student photo I.D. card to receive an “Expo-One Day Pass” and to gain entrance into the exhibit hall on Friday, September 14, 2018.
Pre-registration is open until August 13, 2018; thereafter, registration is onsite at the WMA registration desk in the Memphis Cook Convention Center.
