The number of people working in construction in
Pennsylvania is up 4.5 percent from a year ago, the largest increase of any
sector of the economy, according to new data from the state Department of Labor
& Industry.
Pennsylvania added 10,400 construction jobs in the 12
months ended in June, bringing the total to 242,600 jobs. On a percentage
basis, that outpaced gains in leisure and hospitality (up 1.5 percent),
education and health services (up 1.4 percent) and professional and business
services (up 1 percent), the labor department said Friday.
Pennsylvania's 4.5 percent jump topped the increase
nationally, which was 3 percent during the same period, said Kurt Rankin, an
economist with PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania's
hiring spurt reflects construction activity such as new natural gas pipelines
and office towers rising in Pittsburgh, Rankin said.
The improved jobs picture for construction is good news
for an industry that was hammered when home building and commercial
construction projects slowed in the wake of the recession that ran from
December 2007 to June 2009.
With the work picking up, construction firms are hiring.
Wagman Construction has added about 100 employees in the
past six months, including foremen, equipment operators and carpenters, said
Kevin Snoke, the company's president and chief operating officer. That has
boosted the size of the company's workforce to 450 people.
Wagman's projects include an extensive renovation to the
York Jewish Community Center on the border of York and Spring Garden townships.
"We have a lot of work," Snoke said.
"We're very busy,"
Kate McCaslin, the new president and CEO of Keystone
Associated Builders & Contractors, said work has been picking up for her
members in two sectors in particular: assisted living facilities and other
residences for seniors, as well as health care facilities, including
physicians' offices and hospital additions.
"Overall, everyone is cautiously optimistic that
we've finally turned the corner and things have started to improve," said
McCaslin, whose members build commercial and industrial buildings.
The increase in new projects is putting a premium on
finding workers.
"You can buy the equipment but you can't find people
to put in the seats," said Jonathan Kinsley, president and chief operating
officer of Kinsley Construction.
Jerry Watson, president of Keystruct Construction in
Manchester Township, said his company is looking to hire carpenters, welders,
and estimators.
It is more difficult to fill construction jobs than it
used to because some construction workers retired or found jobs in other fields
in the aftermath of the recession, said Watson, whose company's projects
include construction of a more than 423,000 square-foot distribution center in
Springfield Township called Susquehanna Logistics Center.
York County is seeing its share of construction of health
care facilities and residences for senior citizens.
Presbyterian Senior Living is building a 50-unit
apartment building for seniors on Pauline Drive in York Township targeted to
open in October. It is one of three new residential facilities for seniors the Dillsburg-based
nonprofit will open in 2015, said CEO Steve Proctor. Two others — in Oxford,
Pa., and Ross Township, outside Pittsburgh — opened earlier this year.
Meanwhile, WellSpan York Hospital is building new $50
million emergency room which is expected to open in late 2017 or early 2018,
said Brett Marcy, a WellSpan spokesman.
WellSpan is also in the midst of a $28.4 million
construction and renovation project at WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital that
includes enlarging the nine existing operating rooms and adding a tenth.
In the York-Hanover area, 10,700 people were employed in
the logging, mining, and construction industries in June, according to the
Department of Labor & Industry, with the vast of majority of those working
in construction. That's up from 10,400 in May 2010 but down from 12,700 workers
in May 2007, which was before the recession hit.
By the numbers
Pennsylvania's jobless rate was 5.4 percent in June, the
same as in May but an improvement from 5.7 percent a year ago.
June 2014: 5.7 percent
July 2014: 5.5 percent
August 2014: 5.4 percent
September 2014: 5.3 percent
October 2014: 5.2 percent
November 2014: 5.1 percent
December 2014: 5.0 percent
January 2015: 5.1 percent
February 2015: 5.2 percent
March 2015: 5.3 percent
April 2015: 5.3 percent
May 2015: 5.4 percent
June 2015: 5.4 percent (This is a preliminary
number.)
Source: Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry
Source: YDR.com
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