Housing starts shoot upwards as construction industry adds 42,700 jobs in May

Last Friday (June 7) the federal government announced that some 95,000 new jobs were created in the month of May.

And 42,700 of them are in the construction industry. That’s almost half the new jobs appearing the entire economy.

Remember when getting an information technology education was supposed to be a passport to job security for young people? It seems that concrete, steel, lumber and drywall is still the engine of the Canadian economy, as much as digital technology is making construction more efficient.

Yesterday (June 10), the CHMC published housing statistics that show April housing starts at 200,200 – high above predicted 179,000 level. Much of these starts involve high-rise condo construction, rather than single-family homes, but the shelter industry will take the good news any way it can get it.