From Deseret News archives:
Construction booming in Utah
With no end in sight for regional building projects, workers are in hot demand
It's growing fast, and though the pace may slow to a trot instead of a frothing gallop, industry watchers say Utah's construction market will continue to see healthy growth for years, perhaps decades.
"From 1990 to 2000, construction employment grew by 200 percent," said Mark Knold, senior economist at the Utah Department of Workforce Services. "We went from 23,000 people employed (in construction) in January 1990 to 67,500 in January 2000. In January 2007, we project that number at 96,600."
Now, with home construction fading again, the nonresidential sector is entering what is shaping up to be a record-setting period, according to James Wood, director of the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Utah.
"On the nonresidential side, we'll set an all-time record in 2007 and most likely again in 2008," Wood said. "We're going to have probably the two best years ever, coming in the next two years. In real terms, adjusted for inflation, we're back to the pre-Olympic years."
Record growth
In the first two months of 2007, nonresidential construction permits were up 43 percent over the same period last year, Wood said. To set an all-time record in the commercial building sector, the industry would have to reach the $1.8 billion mark.
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Anonymous | April 10, 2008 at 2:16 p.m.
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