NEWS Mixed signals as market picks up US engineers
l Private housebuilding up during second quarter
The most recent Construction Trade Survey shows that market conditions during the second quarter of the year improved across all construction sectors, thanks partly to a leap in private house building. Small and medium-sized businesses reported their first rise in activity since 2007. Seventy-two percent of contractors reported a rise in workload following a severely depressed first quarter. Forty-two per cent of contractors working on private housing developments, and 40% of those engaged on public housing projects, reported rises in output year-on-year. However, tender prices fell during the quarter, according to 26% of specialist contractors; and 31% of companies said their profit margins also declined due to rising costs, compared with the first three months of the year.
Job prospects for the sector are also improving, according to the Reed Job Index, which covers 150,000 employment vacancies across the UK.
Opportunities in the construction and property sector were up by 92% on the same period last year, hugely outperforming the rest of the job market, which has grown by 17% since July 2012.
‘The jobs market is one of the first indicators of the health of the economy and it has shown continued growth during 2013. We
are now seeing wider signs that the UK is on the road to recovery and these numbers underline that,’ said James Reed, chairman of reed.
co.uk.
However, he said it was a serious concern that growth had not yet translated into salary increases. ‘Salaries have continued to decline – year on year they are down 1.5% – so household spending will be impacted. Once workers are more generally experiencing improvements in their standard of living, it will be a recovery worth celebrating,’ added Reed.
get top pay Salaries paid to graduate
engineers in the US are rising steadily. Seven of the top 10 highest-paid college degrees are in engineering, according to a National Association of Colleges and Employers report. Topping the list is petroleum
engineering, with an average starting salary of US$93,500. Other top degrees include computer, chemical and aerospace engineering, which offer starting salaries ranging from US$64,400 to US$71,700. Engineers are rewarded with
high salaries because of the great demand for qualified, skilled professionals in these fields, the report says. Engineering jobs, as a whole,
are expected to climb by 11% up to 2018, according to the US Department of Labor. ‘We’re seeing the largest, most
diverse demand for engineers,’ said Vita Como, senior director of professional development at the University of Houston’s Cullen College of Engineering Career Center.
www.cibsejournal.com
September 2013 CIBSE Journal
11
ANT CLAUSEN / SHUTTERSTOCK
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