Editorial Staff

Pioneer Report Spotlights Decade-long Building Boom in Massachusetts Construction Industry

/in , , , , , /by Editorial Staff
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

BOSTON – In the lead-up to the COVID-19 crisis, the Massachusetts construction industry enjoyed a boom in select subsectors, though employment numbers had yet to recover from the setbacks of the Great Recession, according to a new report from Pioneer Institute that draws data from the MassEconomix web tool.

“The market volume data certainly belies the popular saying about Boston’s two seasons: winter and construction,” said Andrew Mikula, who co-authored the report with Serena Hajjar. “But we’re not necessarily seeing the building boom of the 2010s translate into consistent job gains in the construction industry over the period.”

In “A Snapshot of Massachusetts’ Construction industry during a Decade-long Building Boom,” data from 1998 through 2018 show variations in employment and the number of businesses within the construction industry throughout Massachusetts. The report even includes a map of employment concentration in the construction industry by town.

Most construction employees in the state work in local real estate development, as opposed to construction products and services. Some 70 percent of employees in the state’s construction sector are concentrated in firms with fewer than five employees. The largest employer in the sector in 2018 was Eversource Energy.

The distribution of construction industry establishments in the Commonwealth is starkly imbalanced. On the county level, touristy coastal enclaves like Nantucket and Cape Cod boast the highest concentration of construction firms, while much of Western and Central Massachusetts lag well behind the state average in this category. Somewhat counterintuitively, Suffolk County, which includes Boston, has the fewest construction establishments per capita, but that may be because firms working with construction materials and equipment need more ground-level space than downtown office buildings can provide.

While the total number of both employees and business establishments in the industry has consistently increased from 1998 to 2018, shutdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have the potential to significantly alter these trends.

“The construction industry represents an important middle ground between some of the hardest-hit industries from the pandemic, like brick-and-mortar retailers, and those that could most easily move online, like financial services,” said Mikula. “Industries like construction may be important bellwethers for the overall health of the economy during the COVID-19 recovery period.”

All the reports in Pioneer’s MassEconomix series use the same Your-economy Time Series data to develop aggregated numbers for statewide growth. These data are recorded by Infogroup and compiled by the Business Dynamics Research Consortium (BDRC) at the University of Wisconsin System Institute for Business and Entrepreneurship in Madison, Wisconsin.

The report is the third in a series that presents employment and business establishment trends in the Commonwealth’s industries, using Your-economy Time Series data to release regular publications that create “snapshots” of particular industries and geographies.

About the Authors

Andrew Mikula is a Research Assistant at Pioneer Institute. Mr. Mikula was pre­viously a Lovett & Ruth Peters Economic Opportunity Fellow at Pioneer Institute and studied economics at Bates College.

Serena Hajjar is the Roger Perry Government Transparency Intern at the Pioneer Institute, focusing on the effects of the coronavirus response on the state economy, emerging industries, and tax structures. Ms. Hajjar is a recipient of the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Grant to Russia for the 2020-21 cycle. She has a B.A. in international relations and Russian and Eastern European studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

About Pioneer

Pioneer’s mission is to develop and communicate dynamic ideas that advance prosperity and a vibrant civic life in Massachusetts and beyond.

Pioneer’s vision of success is a state and nation where our people can prosper and our society thrive because we enjoy world-class options in education, healthcare, transportation and economic opportunity, and where our government is limited, accountable and transparent.

Pioneer values an America where our citizenry is well-educated and willing to test our beliefs based on facts and the free exchange of ideas, and committed to liberty, personal responsibility, and free enterprise.

Get Updates on Our Economic Opportunity Research

Related Posts

Report Finds “Reopening Day” in the Commonwealth Will Likely Include Phasing in Businesses and Contact Tracing

New study compares the reopening of three European countries – Austria, Denmark, and Germany – to highlight approaches that could inform the Commonwealth’s reopening strategy.

Hospitality, Retail Trade, Healthcare Among ‘Most Vulnerable Industries’ in Terms of Unemployment due to COVID-19

Recent data provided by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development show that hospitality, retail trade, healthcare and social assistance, and construction are the industries that have suffered the most unemployment as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, according to the new Pioneer Institute report, “A Look at the Massachusetts Industries that are Most Vulnerable Due to COVID-19.”

Report: MA Likely to See Sharp Spike in Unemployment Rate

The COVID-19 recession could cause Massachusetts’ unemployment rate to skyrocket to 25.4 percent by this June, according to a new policy brief published by Pioneer Institute. The authors recommend that the state join others in lobbying Congress for large block grants to avoid a severe fiscal crisis.

Pioneer Launches Report Series Highlighting Massachusetts Job Growth and Business Trends Since 1998

In “Some Big, Broad Economic Trends in Massachusetts,” Pioneer analysis of two decades of data shows fluctuating employment changes across the state, as well as firm size information and the largest employers. The report is part one of aa series that aims to provide deeper insight into COVID-19's economic impact.

Pioneer Report Offers Framework for Improving Greater Boston’s Global Competitiveness

Pioneer’s new report, Greater Boston as a Global Competitor, provides useful metrics to help Massachusetts formulate a strategy to become an even more attractive place for innovators and talent.

Pioneer Institute Announces New Economics Data Tool: MassEconomix

A new addition to Pioneer Institute’s Mass Watch data tool suite, MassEconomix, provides time-series data on job and business growth for all of Massachusetts. Pioneer has partnered with the Business Dynamics Research Consortium (BDRC), which is housed at the University of Wisconsin’s Institute for Business and Entrepreneurship, to acquire an employment database known as “Your-economy Time Series”, or YTS. This database provides a year-by-year look at companies and jobs that have existed in the Commonwealth since 1997.

Pioneer Urges MassDOT to Reconsider At-Grade Throat Option for I-90 Allston Multimodal Project

Pioneer's new Public Comment calls on the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to revise its Scoping Report on the I-90 Allston Multimodal Project and recommend an additional option to the Federal Highway Administration.

New Study: Excessive Occupational Licensing Hurts State Economy, Reduces Tax Revenue

Overly burdensome occupational licensing requirements not only slow down the Massachusetts economy and cost the state tens of thousands of jobs, but also reduce state and local tax revenue, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute

Study Calls for Easing MBTA Procurement Restrictions and Beefing Up Project Management Capacity

Reforms needed if T is to achieve increased capital spending…

Co-author of Landmark Longfellow Bridge Study Optimistic about State Infrastructure Maintenance Investments

BOSTON - Reconstruction of the Longfellow Bridge is now complete,…

Study: Boston-Area Communities Should Loosen Restrictions for Accessory Dwelling Units

Additional units could help ease housing shortage BOSTON—A…

Inadequate Inflation Adjustment Factor Will Subject Increasing Numbers of People to So-Called “Millionaires” Tax

Would take particular toll on those relying on home value appreciation…

Proposition 80 Won’t Generate $1.9 Billion Annual Projected Revenue

Passage of November 2018 ballot measure will make Massachusetts…

Proposition 80 Will Increase Out-Migration of High Earners and Businesses

Passage of November 2018 ballot measure would jeopardize Massachusetts’…

Study: New Federal Tax Law Would Exacerbate Economic Damage of Prop 80

0 Comments
/
This report earned media coverage on WGBH radio, WBZ radio,…