-4.2%
Percentage decline in state tax revenues for the fourth quarter of 2009 compared to the same quarter a year earlier (and an 8.6% decline from the same period two years earlier) — a trend that is not good news for state funding of future construction projects.
Source: Rockefeller Institute of Government
1.1%
Percentage increase in NEMA’s Lighting Systems (LSI) Index (on a quarter-to-quarter basis) during the first quarter of 2010. On a year-over-year basis, the index posted a similar increase of 1.2%, marking the first time since the second quarter of 2006 that the LSI has registered an appreciable gain compared to the same period a year ago.
Source: NEMA
11%
Percentage increase in the value of construction starts in January through April as compared with the same period the previous year.
Source: Reed Construction Data
24,600
Number of jobs added in April as a result of stimulus construction funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This total was preceded by 36,500 jobs created in March from stimulus money.
Source: Associated General Contractors of America
-10%
Percentage drop in housing starts in May, bringing the total to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 593,000 units, which is the slowest pace since December 2009.
Source: Census Bureau
