Washington, D.C. (AP) (Nov. 5, 2019)—The United States trade deficit fell in September to the lowest level in 5 months, as imports dropped more sharply than exports and America ran a rare surplus in petroleum.
The Commerce Department said Tuesday that the September gap between what America buys from abroad and what it sells shrank by 4.7% to $52.5 billion. That was down from the August deficit of $55 billion and was the smallest imbalance since April.
London, England (Nov. 4, 2019)—Global construction and real estate industry deals for September 2019 totaled $21.7 billion, according to GlobalData’s deals database.
The value marked a decrease of 5.7% over the previous month and a rise of 44.2% when compared with the last 12-month average of $15.06 billion. In terms of number of deals, the sector saw a drop of 4.4% over the last 12-month average with 194 deals against the average of 203 deals. In value terms, North America led the activity with deals worth $9.63 billion.
Irving, Texas (Oct. 31, 2019)—Fluor Corporation has announced financial results for its third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2019. Third quarter results were a net loss from continuing operations attributable to Fluor of $782 million, or $5.57 per diluted share, compared to net earnings of $69 million, or $0.49 per diluted share, one year ago.
Miami, Florida (Nov. 1, 2019)—Brightline, soon to be Virgin Trains, has been selected as the “Project of the Year” by the Urban Land Institute Southeast Florida/Caribbean (ULI) as part of its 2019 Vision Awards. The award recognized Brightline for advancing the future of mobility and transit-oriented development in South Florida. One of five finalists, Brightline was awarded the honor during a ceremony Oct. 30, 2019, in Miami, Florida.
Dodge Data & Analytics released its 2020 Construction Outlook last week, which called for a slowing economy but no full-blown recession—and construction business owners everywhere breathed a sigh of relief. The outlook referenced the ongoing skilled labor shortage and trade wars as two of the main drivers behind a slight downturn in construction starts.
After a $555 million net loss in Q2 2019, Fluor Corporation’s earnings didn’t have good news to report in Q3 either. The contractor (No. 2 on ENR’s 2019 Top 400) reported a net loss of $782 million in Q3.
In the midst of a growing labor shortage, companies are looking to creative ways to get work done. For many, that also means taking a hard look at what the future of work will look like for employees across all industries.
Birmingham, Alabama (Nov. 5, 2019)—Construction Business Owner, the leading business magazine for contractors, is pleased to announce a free webinar presented in partnership with Procore.
Chicago, Illinois (Oct. 31, 2019)—Dodge Data & Analytics has released its 2020 Dodge Construction Outlook, a tool for construction industry forecasting and business planning. The report predicts that total United States construction starts will slip to $776 billion in 2020, a decline of 4% from the 2019 estimated level of activity.
