June Jobs Crash

Despite President Obama's insistence that the economy is still "headed in the right direction," the June jobs report shows the addition of 83,000 private sector jobs was more than offset by loss of 225,000 temporary Census jobs, for a June net loss of 125,000 jobs from the economy.

Industrial Construction Spending Declines Again

According to the North American Industrial Spending Index, construction projects for industry declined again in August, for the ninth consecutive month. The only sector with positive growth is the manufacturing sector, with a $3 billion increase in projects over last year. Leaders in the declining sectors are oil and gas transmission, down 79%; oil refining, down 75%; pulp and paper plants, down 69%; alternative fuels, down 65%; oil and gas terminal construction, down 55%, and chemical processing construction, down 47%. Ouch!

Fourteen Dollar Item Tells Construction Economy's Tale

Where did you buy your last hard hat? W. W. Grainger, Inc.? Probably. That fourteen dollar item is as telling a measure of the miserable state of the construction sector economy as anything the Ph.D. economists may take into consideration. Lake Forest, Illinois based Grainger reports its 2009 August sales are down 13% compared to August 2008. Grainger, with annual sales of $6.9 billion last year, is one of the world's largest sellers of such products in the U. S., Canada, Mexico, India, China and Panama. As Grainger goes, so goes the construction economy.