EconomicsUSA: Construction: Indicators: volume of contracts and number of uneployed are pr+m indicators

It's one of my working rules of economic analysis of the nooz that the construction industry is a pr+m indicator of the overall economy's health (I'm thinking USA and Canada, but the rool seems to be the same also in UK).  Jim Puzzanghera, reporting for Los Angeles T+mz, gives us this boildown:

Government data released Thursday showed that economic output dropped 2.2% last year in California, one of 38 states that saw declines in its output as the nation's real gross domestic product fell 2.1%.

The drop in GDP nationwide was caused by downturns in construction and the manufacture of durable goods, according to a report by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis. Real GDP by state, which generally tracks the nation's GDP, increased 0.1% in 2008. [Updated at 11:25 a.m.:An earlier version of this post incorrectly said that 2008's increase was 0.9%.]

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