Who are NAHB Builder Members T Construction jobs making up for lost time D espite lower residential construction permits in 2016, Connecticut builders are on track to increase their ranks at the fastest pace of any industry over the next few years, with continued low interest rates combining with stock market gains to unleash pent-up demand for home improvements and upgrades to commercial facilities. A recent surge in hiring has helped fill in an employment chasm that developed over six years following the 2008 collapse in the housing market. Over that stretch, only the manufacturing and finance sectors terminated more jobs in Connecticut than construction, with the sector’s employment down by more than 10,000 jobs as noted in a state Department of Labor report, despite major residential developments in downtown Stamford, Norwalk and the Danbury area. Between the summers of 2014 and 2016, however, construction staged the biggest employment rally in Connecticut, the Labor Department noted, with builders bringing on nearly 4,500 people. And many projects were able to get an early jump heading into 2017 thanks to unseasonably mild weather throughout much of the winter. Behind only a “mining” category in Connecticut that relates largely to gravel and sand quarries operated by companies like Tilcon — resources directly hitched to construction — the Labor Department believes builders will lead the state in hiring through 2018, bolstering their combined workforces by 2.5 percent against a 0.8 percent increase in overall employment. Read More MAY 2017 | HBRA of Fairfield County 25 he 2016 annual member census conducted by NAHB reveals that 60% of our builder members are singlefamily builders, 23% are residential remodelers, 6% are commercial builders, 5% are multifamily builders and 4% are land developers. Commercial remodelers and manufacturers of modular/ panelized/log homes each comprise 1% of the builder members. Read More Kitchens edge baths as top remodeling projects A recent survey conducted by NAHB shows that kitchens squeaked past baths as the top remodeling jobs performed by NAHB Remodelers in 2016. As NAHB Senior Economist Paul Emrath shows in this Eye on Housing blog post, 81% of remodelers said kitchen remodeling was a common job for them last year, compared to 80% who cited bathroom remodeling. Read More
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