![]() The new year is getting off to a rousing start employment-wise, as the latest job report coming out of Washington shows payrolls nationally increasing by a very healthy 517,000 in January. Conversely, the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest point since the early months of Richard Nixon’s presidency in the spring of 1969 at 3.4%. The new numbers, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, were particularly surprising for analysts who had forecast a gain of no more than 187,000 jobs for the month. According to a release issued by the BLS, “Job growth was widespread, led by gains in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, and healthcare.” The 517,000-job gain was the largest recorded since July of last year, when the country was still emerging from the Covid 19 economy and new jobs totaled 537,000. Since then, the new monthly job totals have ranged from 223,000 to 292,000. According to the BLS report, the leisure and hospitality industry added 128,000 jobs last month, with professional and business services up by 82,000; and scientific and technical services seeing an increase of 41,000. More than 25,000 new jobs were seen in the construction industry. According to an analysis released by the Associated General Contractors of America, non-residential contractors added 19,300 new employees last month, with residential contractors up by 5,500. Said the Wall Street Journal: “The unexpectedly strong hiring gains raise questions about whether the economy, which had been losing momentum over the past several months, is starting to pick up steam again.” The financial publication Barron’s observed that the new numbers “surprised and baffled economists on Wall Street,” adding that the figures “suggest diminished risks of recession.” In a statement, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh remarked: “With unemployment down, and infrastructure and manufacturing investments moving forward across the nation, we are truly seeing what it looks like to build an economy from the bottom up and the middle out.” By Garry Boulard
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![]() Work on the rehabilitation of an existing secondary runway at the Grand Junction Regional Airport is now getting the support of an important State of Colorado grant. Located 3 miles north of the city at 2828 Walker Field Drive, the airport has long needed having the runway updated. Hopes for the project have now become reality with an award of some $4 million in state funding, just announced by Colorado Governor Jared Polis. The grant was approved by the Colorado Aeronautical Board and, according to Polis, will allow for more capacity for larger aircraft to use the commercial service airport. The Governor additionally noted that the grant is the largest of its kind to be approved by the board for this fiscal year. In a press release sent from the Governor’s office it was noted that “as this airport grows, the administration continues to support the local vision to expand capacity both for travel and as a freight hub.” The airport is also receiving a $3.7 million low-interest loan through the Colorado Department of Transportation to expand its parking lot located at the main terminal. Meanwhile, the airport is in the process of building a $150 million new main runway, which is expected to be completed in 2030. By Garry Boulard ![]() New planned facility changes to the popular Isotopes Park in Albuquerque could see the upgrading of locker rooms for both players and coaches, among other improvements. Officials with the park, which is located at 1601 Avenida Cesar Chavez SE, are asking members of the New Mexico State Legislature to give a green light to up to $2 million in capital outlay funding for the projects. Officially opened in the spring of 2003, what is officially known as the Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park is the home to the Albuquerque Isotopes baseball team. Built at a cost of $25 million, the park has seen several upgrades through the years, with the overall facility required to be up to Minor League Baseball standards. Additional changes expected to be funded via the requested capital outlay: new changing rooms for women players, an expansion of an existing weight room, and upgraded players’ dining facilities. Cooling and heating system upgrades to the park were among the facility projects undertaken in 2020 and paid for in part by the city’s Lodgers’ Tax. By Garry Boulard ![]() Hailing a late 2022 and early 2023 slowing down of inflation, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has now announced the need for a quarter percentage point rise in interest rates. With the rate set to reach 4.7%, the highest in 5 years, Powell warned that despite recent progress, inflation still has the potential to enfeeble the nation’s economy. “Inflation data received over the past three months show a welcome reduction in the monthly pace of increase,” remarked Powell in a news conference. While such developments are encouraging, he added, “we will need substantially more evidence to be confident that inflation is on a sustained downward path.” “Price stability is the responsibility of the Federal Reserve and serves as the bedrock of our economy,” remarked Powell. “Without price stability, the economy does not work for anyone.” Added Powell: “In particular, without price stability we will not achieve a sustained period of labor market conditions that benefit all.” The FED rate has been on a steady upward climb for the most part of a year now, from 0.5% in March of 2022 to 4.0% in September and 4.5% at the end of last year. The Federal Reserve’s rate hike, notes the Wall Street Journal, comes as the agency “signaled it was on track to do so again at its next meeting next month, while officials consider whether and when to pause increases late this spring.” “The shift to a quarter-point increase marked a return to a slower, more orthodox pace of rate rises after the Fed rapidly ratcheted up borrowing costs last year,” remarked the Financial Times, “and reflected the fact that inflation appears to have peaked while the economy is starting to slow.” In his press conference remarks, Powell also noted that it will “take time for the full effects of monetary restraints to be realized, especially on inflation.” Restoring price stability, Powell added, “is essential to set the stage for achieving maximum employment and stable prices over the longer run. This historical record cautions strongly against prematurely loosening policy. We will stay the course, until the job is done.” By Garry Boulard ![]() Plans are now underway for the construction of a new bat research facility that will go up on the Foothills campus of Colorado State University. The school is internationally known for its Center for Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, which was founded in 1984 and houses a captive breeding colony of bats for research purposes. In the fall of 2021 the National Institutes of Health awarded the school just under $7 million for the further study of bats. At the time of the NIF award, a press release from CSU noted that “sometimes animals carry pathogens that cause diseases that harm humans, also known as zoonotic diseases.” The press release continued: “Bats can harbor corona viruses, so proper care and study of bats and pathogens is critical to protect global public health.” Work on the new 14,000 square foot facility could begin sometime this summer and will go up on the south side of the campus, adjacent to the existing main Center for Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases. A rough completion date is anticipated for the fall of 2024. By Garry Boulard ![]() A Denver neighborhood with a poverty rate substantially higher than the rest of the city may soon see the construction of a new multi-purpose project that will most importantly include a grocery store. Plans have now been submitted to the City of Denver for a complex that will also include up to 200 affordable residential units, as well as a coffee shop and library. The project will go up in the Globeville neighborhood on a 2.7-acre site at 4995 N. Washington Street, around 5 miles to the north of downtown Denver. That site for decades has served as the home to a series of car dealerships. The City purchased the property for around $6 million some four years ago and has since been engaged in efforts to redevelop the site for its affordable housing potential. Late last year, an agreement was reached between Denver’s Department of Housing Stability and Department of Finance with the Globeville Redevelopment Partners, also of Denver, to build three-and four-bedroom units, along with community meeting space. Globeville Redevelopment is a partnership between the affordable housing development company Rocky Mountain Communities of Denver and the Chicago-based Evergreen Real Estate Group. The inclusion of the grocery store in the project is particularly important to area residents. A historic neighborhood dating to the 1880s, Globeville has been defined as a food desert. That designation comes if more than a third of a given area’s population lives more than a mile away from a large grocery store or supermarket. Food deserts impact the health of communities simply because they lack produce and natural food offerings for surrounding residents. By Garry Boulard ![]() Sweeping the nation as the latest in chat conversation via text, a new service called Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer, or Chat GPT, is emerging as a vital tool for the nation’s realtors. Launched last November by the company OpenAI, the chatbot can instantaneously provide strikingly detailed information on topics ranging from business to science to sports, and everything else. But unlike Internet search engines it can think in the sense of providing details to architects on how to design a building, or try to reimagine, with the goal of a different outcome, a particular historic event. The artificial intelligence-powered tool signed on 57 million users in just the month of December. Now, according to news sources, the subscriber figures for January are expected to exceed 100 million. Among those users are realtors. According to the site CNN Business, real estate agents are reporting that the service has “changed the way they work, from writing listings and social media posts to drafting legal documents.” Other realtors have gone so far as to say that they cannot imagine life without the chatbot. The quickening realtor and overall business interest in Chat GPT has also spurred a series of books released within the last month, including Realtors Unleashed: Unlocking the Power of Open AI/Chat GPT for Maximum Efficiency and Profit; Chat GPT for Financial Freedom; and How to Use Chat GPT For Your Business. How and in what way Chat GPT will ultimately change the real estate industry remains an unanswered question. According to Yahoo!News, real estate agents should feel that what they do is secure and that the chatbot can only aid in their work. But the service could easily take away “potentially thousands of real estate assistants,” whose jobs have been defined by gathering information. By Garry Boulard ![]() In an effort to identify potential brownfield issues, the San Carlos Apache Tribe is receiving federal funding to undertake an extensive survey of its lands. Located in southeastern Arizona, the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation was established in 1872, encompasses some 1.8 million acres, and is today the home to around 16,200 people. The just over $166,000 in funding is coming out of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and will pay for an inventory of brownfield sites on the Tribe’s land, while also comprising a cleanup plan. In a statement, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly said the funding will both help in the process of cleaning up contaminated lands as well as in creating “development opportunities for economic growth.” The identification and remediation of any brownfield site makes possible the “construction of schools, hospitals, recreation centers, and more,” according to a press release from Kelly’s office. By Garry Boulard ![]() Construction could begin later this year on a long-desired new park in Horizon City, some 20 miles to the southeast of El Paso. The project will go up on a nearly 5-acre site off Linwood Drive near Benfield Court and will see the building of a pavilion, picnic shelters, a biking and hiking trail, and new lighting, among other amenities. Funding to the tune of $1.5 million has just been secured for what is being called the Horizon View Park Project through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission. Altogether, the commission awarded nearly $10 million in competitive financing for just under two dozen park projects across the Lone Star state. Additional work at the Horizon City Park is expected to result in soccer fields, multi-sport courts, and accessible outdoor fitness equipment. All of the facilities in the park, according to El Paso County officials, will be built with an eye to Americans with Disabilities Act compliance. A two-foot-tall rock wall will separate the park from a parking area to the north of the site, while a garden space will decorate the east side of the development. By Garry Boulard ![]() President Biden has announced the funding of nearly $1.2 billion in Mega Grant Awards for infrastructure projects across the country. “This is just the beginning,” Biden said during a New York appearance in which he talked about the benefits of the Gateway Hudson Tunnel Project, which is intended to improve travel between New York and New Jersey. He added that it the project represented the “beginning of finally constructing a 21st century rail system.” Federal support for the Hudson Tunnel project amounts to a “signature moment for the development,” notes the New York Times, adding that even with the funding out of Washington, “construction is expected to take years.” The Mega Grant program was made reality via passage in late 2021 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and has so far seen funding ranging from $60 million to $292 million for big bridge and highway projects. By design, the Mega Grant initiative is designed to fund projects that are both too large as well as too complex for traditional funding programs. On that list: $250 million for improvements to the Brent Spence Bridge which crosses the Ohio River and connects Cincinnati, Ohio with Covington, Kentucky; and $150 million to replace the Interstate 10 Calcasieu River Bridge in southwestern Louisiana. According to the Transportation Department, a total of around $5 billion in funding is expected to be awarded between now and 2026 through the Mega Grant program. The Department received more than one hundred applications for the first round of funding. Projects eligible for funding include everything from bridge and highway construction and upgrades, to port, freight, passenger rail, and public transportation projects. Those eligible projects must be a part of the National Multimodal Freight Network, the National Highway Freight Network, or the National Highway System. By Garry Boulard |
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