Although unemployment in the construction industry is still high, the mortgage financing company Freddie Mac believes the number of available jobs will begin to rise by the end of the year, reports the International Business Times. Growth in the housing industry will play a major role in bringing construction crews back to work, the company projects.
According to the report, approximately 12.8 percent of construction workers were unemployed in the month of June. Of this group, 48 percent have been unemployed for more than six months. Both of these figures are well above the national averages in other industries.
Jobs in the construction industry have been growing at a slower-than-average pace as well. Across all industries over the past 12 months, approximately 1.8 million paid jobs have been added. Yet just 13,000 of these were in the construction industry. Considering 4.3 percent of all jobs are in construction, that's an extremely low figure.
Help appears to be on the way, however. Compared to June 2011, the unemployment rate for the industry has improved by 2.8 percentage points. With home sales and housing starts both on the rise, Freddie Mac believes the housing sector will begin to pull the construction industry out of the basement.
"While housing may not have played its traditional role coming out of the Great Recession, at the end of the day, it has turned a very large corner and now it's time to get this sector back to work whether through construction jobs, remodeling, or home brokerage," said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist for Freddie Mac.
The recent reports on housing statistics have given home builders reason to believe in a strong second half of 2012. In fact, the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo recently reported that home builder confidence reached a five-year high in June of 2012. Meanwhile, low interest rates are expected to continue to create demand for houses across the country.
Construction companies expecting to go back to work will need to ensure they have the proper construction equipment in order to take on any job. Having excavators, cranes and other in-demand pieces of equipment could be the difference between finding work and being passed over. Contractors should keep in mind that they can save money by purchasing used construction equipment as opposed to new machines.
