January 2011

New Construction Starts in December Jump 19 Percent

January 31, 2011

New construction starts in December climbed 19% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $450.2 billion, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies.  Nonresidential building rebounded after a weak November, and nonbuilding construction was lifted by the start of several large electric utility projects.  Meanwhile, residential building in December showed slight growth, [...]

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Bill Gates invests in firm to streamline oil & gas exploration

January 19, 2011

For decades, oil and gas companies have faced the same problem: Where to drill? Now, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is tossing his financial support behind a Houston company which hopes to utilize detailed analytics and measurement technologies to take some of the guesswork out of onshore oil and gas exploration. NEOS GeoSolutions — whose investors [...]

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US construction sees further monthly growth

January 5, 2011

Seasonally adjusted US construction spending increased +0.4% in November according to the US Census Bureau. The total value of the industry stood at US$ 810 billion for the 12 months to the end of November, compared to US$ 807 billion for the year to October. However, the figure was still -6.0% lower than that of [...]

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