Construction industry showing little growth

Locally and across the country, construction jobs are becoming harder to find.

According to a press release from the Associated General Contractors of America, the national construction unemployment rate hit 22.5 percent in January 2011.

Since December 2010, the sector has lost more than 30,000 jobs.

"Seems like (customers) are getting their year-end taken care of, and just kind of holding on to money right now," said Coeur d'Alene-based contractor Jeff Candela. "It seems to have slowed down a little bit. December and January were kind of slow."

In Kootenai County, average annual construction jobs declined 12 percent over the past year, from roughly 4,135 in 2009 to 3,700 in 2010, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.

The IDL office had 11 construction jobs listed in December 2010, the latest month data was available. Winter weather is partly responsible for the decline, IDL noted; construction normally falls off when temperatures drop.

But the shortage of building jobs in North Idaho appears to be the result of a wider national issue.

Throughout the U.S., construction spending dropped 2.5 percent in December, falling to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $788 billion - the lowest spending level in 10 years, the Associated General Contractors said.

The association analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data to arrive at those numbers, the release said.

"These dismal results show that the agony of the recession continues for millions of construction workers and their firms," Ken Simonson, the Associated General Contractors' chief economist, said in the release. "Construction spending fell again in the last two months of 2010, and the preliminary total for the year was the lowest since 2000."

Mark Seath, owner of ACB General Contractors in Coeur d'Alene, said he hired some new workers last October, but now they're only working part time.

Spending has been up and down lately, Seath said - slow in December, then a little better, then slow again. He said business is beginning to pick up, though.

"Things look like they're starting back," he added.

Ginno Construction, also headquartered in Coeur d'Alene, has a few local projects under way. But crews are traveling farther than before, often heading up to Sandpoint for jobs.

"Actually, it's loosened up a little bit," said Ginno Vice President Rich Wells. "We've been fairly busy throughout the entire downturn. I actually hired a new superintendent last week."

He said Ginno has a bunch of jobs "in the hopper," but projects just aren't breaking ground. Owners and developers are leery of the economic situation, Wells surmised. In a time of uncertainty, nobody wants to spend a lot of cash all at once.

"You don't want to put the cart ahead of the horse," Wells said. "I understand."

Most of the recent job losses occurred in the non-residential construction sector, the Associated General Contractors said. In December 2010 and January of this year, in communities around the nation, 35,300 non-residential jobs fell by the wayside. However, the residential sector added 3,500 jobs.

There were other "bright spots" in December, Simonson noted.

"Power construction climbed for the fifth straight month and finished the year 13 percent higher than in December 2009, due to a mix of oil- and gas-fired power plants, renewable power projects such as solar and wind generation, and transmission lines," he said in the press release. "Spending on transportation facilities, such as truck terminals, airports and transit projects, was up slightly from November and from year-ago levels."

The city of Coeur d'Alene Building Department has issued 210 building permits this fiscal year to date (October 2010 to January 2011). During the same period last year, the department issued 200 permits.

This year's batch of permits is valued at $14,842,000; last year's totaled $16,410,000, according to building services director Ed Wagner.

"We just don't have the big projects coming in," he explained. "The big commercial projects."

In Post Falls, building official Russell Cornell said construction numbers have fluctuated in recent months.

"They've been up and down," he said. "Our total number of houses built last year was 169," but that number was at 303 the year before.

"I think in 2009 we had some big jobs that the financing was already in place," Cornell said.

The national contractors' association has collected and reported a wealth of data, much of it grim. Local builders are dealing with various scenarios, based on their personal situations.

The question is: What does the future hold?

"The (national) outlook for 2011 is very mixed," Simonson said. "Spending on rental housing, warehouses, hospitals and factories should pick up. Power construction should stay strong. But public school construction and other state and local projects will keep shrinking, while single-family homebuilding, retail and office construction are likely to remain feeble."

Steve Reid is the owner of Diversified Construction Services. His company is listed in Coeur d'Alene, but he's often out of town, working on diverse projects in many different locales.

"(Construction) is still slow, and it's going to remain slow," Reid predicted. "I know contractors, and I talk with a lot of contractors still. I've done everything that's out there, and it's all slow."

Even renewable energy projects - building wind turbines, for example - are scarce these days, Reid added. And numerous property foreclosures are stalling projects that could otherwise provide jobs for unemployed workers.

Right now, Reid said, he doesn't think the construction sector is improving.

"My opinion is, it's probably not to any extent. I just can't see it," he added. "Lot of commercial developers have a whole lot of inventory just out there sitting. I don't know. I think it's going to be kind of a long, hard thing."