Economic Impact of Investment in Nonresidential Construction:

• An additional $1 billion invested in nonresidential construction would add $3.4 billion to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), $1.1 billion to personal earnings and create or sustain 28,500 jobs.

1. About one-third (9,700) of these jobs would be on-site construction jobs.
2. About one-sixth (4,600) of the jobs would be indirect jobs from supplying construction materials and services. Most jobs would be in-state, depending on the project and the mix of in-state suppliers.
3. About half (14,300) of the jobs would be induced jobs created when the construction and supplier workers and owners spend their additional incomes. These jobs would be a mix of in-state and out-of-state jobs. Conversely, investments elsewhere would support some indirect and induced jobs in the state.

Nonresidential Construction Spending:

• Nonresidential spending in the U.S. in 2013 totaled $562 billion ($265 billion public, $296 billion private).
• Private nonresidential spending in Florida totaled $7.7 billion in 2012. (Public spending is not available by state.)
• Nonresidential starts in Florida totaled $11.3 billion in 2012, according to Reed Construction Data.

Construction Employment (Seasonally Adjusted):

• Construction (residential + nonresidential) employed 5.9 million workers in January 2014, an increase of 183,000 (3.2%) from January 2013 and a decrease of 1.8 million (23%) from April 2006 when U.S. construction employment peaked.
• Construction employment in Florida in January totaled 386,500, an increase of 9.2% from January 2013 and a decrease of 44% from the state’s peak in June 2006.

Construction Industry Pay:

• In 2012, annual pay of all construction workers in the United States averaged $52,300, 6% more than the average for all private sector employees.
• Construction workers’ pay in Florida averaged $41,500, 2% less than all private sector employees in the state.

Small Business:

• The United States had 657,700 construction firms in 2011, of which 92% employed fewer than 20 workers.
• Florida had 43,200 construction firms in 2011, of which 93% were small (<20 employees).

*The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports employment for construction, mining and logging combined for metro areas in which mining and logging have few employers. To allow comparisons between states and their metros, the table shows combined employment change for these metros. Not seasonally adjusted statewide data is shown for both construction-only and combined employment change

Source: Ken Simonson, Chief Economist, AGC of America, simonsonk@agc.org, from Prof. Stephen Fuller, George Mason University (investment); Census Bureau (spending); Reed Construction Data (starts); Bureau of Labor Statistics (jobs, pay); Small Business Administration (small business).