Construction Numbers Take a Wrong Turn

NEW YORK CITY-Gradual pickup in the economy notwithstanding, the construction sector hasn’t always been reaping the benefits, as a trio of new reports indicate. Locally, the New York Building Congress says the number of stalled development sites citywide has crept up 17% since this past February, effectively wiping out the improvements seen in this metric during 2011, while accounting and advisory firm Marcum LLP, also headquartered here, sees a wide gap between the residential and nonresidential sectors when it comes to year-over-year construction spending nationally.

And although the Associated General Contractors of America earlier this month reported a one-month gain in employment for the industry, the association more recently said that jobs in the sector were down Y-O-Y in 28 states and the District of Columbia between October ‘11 and October of this year.