RockBlog
Home Prices are Climbing at the Fastest Pace Since March 2006
Posted by Graniterock on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am
by Mamta BadkarNationwide home prices including distressed sales were up 10.5% year-over-year in March, according to CoreLogic's latest home price report. On a monthly basis home prices were up 1.9%.This was the thirteenth straight monthly rise, and the fastest pace of increase since March 2006. Ex-distressed sales, home prices were up 10.7% year-over-year and 2.4% on the month.“For the first time since March 2006, both the overall index and the index that excludes distressed sales are ... Read More
San Francisco Building Boom Brings Change
Posted by Graniterock on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am
By Carolyn Said, San Francisco ChronicleApril 29, 2013A chorus line of more than two dozen skeletal construction cranes looms over San Francisco's skyline. A stroll down Market Street - or sections of Mission or Octavia or many other major thoroughfares - is punctuated by the clatter of pile drivers and jackhammers. Around the city, thousands of workers are busily erecting more than 140 building projects, big and small, that will yield about 4,000 new housing units. ... Read More
Stone, the Original Green Building Material
Posted by Graniterock on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am
From Building Greenhttp://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm/2013/3/29/Stone-The-Original-Green-Building-Material/Stone was one of our first building materials. It has been used to construct everything from humble dwellings to our most iconic structures. As a building material, stone requires virtually no manufacturing and is so durable that stone structures built thousands of years ago are still used today—characteristics few contemporary “green” products can equal. Yet stone has been largely overlooked by the green building movement, while ephemeral products made of recycled plastic often carry ... Read More
Salinas Update: Building, Farming Lead Positive Job Trends
Posted by Graniterock on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am
This fromD.L. Taylor of the Salinas Californian, , March 29, 2013Jobless numbers for both Salinas and Monterey County continued to decline during February, according to data released Friday by the state Employment Development Department. It marks the second straight month the local economy has seen jumps in the number of employed residents.The unemployment rate for Monterey County stood at 13.5 percent in February, down nearly a full percentage point from February 2012’s mark of 14.4 percent, ... Read More
Construction Coming Back to Life
Posted by Graniterock on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am
On the front page of Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle, writer Carolyn Said heralds a rebound in San Francsico's construction job market.The housing downturn and recession clobbered the construction industry, wiping out 2.2 million jobs nationwide and about 380,000 in California. But now, those jobs are coming back — and the Bay Area with its current building boom, is the epicenter of a recovery in solid, blue-collar employment for skilled tradespeople, as we investigate here.Construction provided the ... Read More
Salinas Unveils New Economic Development Plan
Posted by Graniterock on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am
From the March 29 issue of the Monterey County Business Council '"Friday Facts":The city of Salinas (BCM) this week unveiled a new strategy to entice new companies, expand existing companies and grow local startups with the hope of bringing badly needed jobs to the Salinas Valley.Components of the economic development strategy include a new logo, a new website, marketing materials and a lot of shoe leather invested in educating the world about Salinas.The strategy will focus ... Read More
Workers Saving Too Little to Retire
Posted by Graniterock on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am
This from the Tuesday, March 19 issue of the Wall Street Journal:Workers and employers in the U.S. are bracing for a retirement crisis, even as the stock market sits near highs and the economy shows signs of improvement. New data show that powerful financial and demographic forces are combining to squeeze individuals and companies that are trying to save for the future and make their money last.Fifty-seven percent of U.S. workers surveyed reported less than $25,000 ... Read More
Rail Transportation - Protecting Our Environment Now and for the Future
Posted by Graniterock on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am
Trains are one of the nation's most environmentally friendly modes of moving freight, generating a carbon footprint that is 75 percent less than trucks. In recent decades, the railroad industry has developed new “green” technologies and environmentally responsible operating practices which have led to improved fuel efficiency. Since 1980, railroad fuel efficiency has increased 99 percent. In fact, today’s railcars can move a ton of freight 469 miles on a single gallon of fuel. At Graniterock, ... Read More
Carbon Tax Would Wallop Our Economy
Posted by Graniterock on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am
Posted this week by Manufacturers.net:WASHINGTON -- Today, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) released a study conducted by NERA Economic Consulting that shows a carbon tax would have a devastating impact on manufacturing and jobs. The report, titled Economic Outcomes of a U.S. Carbon Tax, found that levying such a tax would impact millions of jobs and result in higher prices for natural gas, electricity, gasoline and other energy commodities. Manufacturing output in energy-intensive sectors could ... Read More
Hearing Highlights Federal Role in Infrastructure and Economic Importance of Transportation System
Posted by Graniterock on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am
On Febraury 13, 2013, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure began hearings. For more please go to http://transportation.house.gov/press-release/hearing-highlights-federal-role-infrastructure-and-economic-importance-transportationWashington, DC – The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held its first hearing of the 113th Congress today focusing on the importance of infrastructure to the U.S. economy and examining the role played by the Federal Government in ensuring safe, efficient, and reliable infrastructure.Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) highlighted how the quality of the Nation’s infrastructure affects the lives ... Read More
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