NACBE's Boilermaker work hour projections

February 26 2010

Below you will find an update to the National Association of Construction Boilermaker Employers (NACBE) Boilermaker workhour projections for 2010 and 2011.

NACBE would like to thank those of you that helped in this effort by submitting your projections (which are kept confidential). All NACBE members are encouraged to participate when the process of updating this information begins in the third quarter of 2010.
The 2010 projection at the beginning of the year is for a very slight decline from 2009 of 1.80 % in Boilermaker manhours, and then an increase of 4.04% for 2011. The market volatility has altered the projections significantly since the last study that was conducted by NACBE in the third quarter of 2009. The fourth quarter of ’09 was lower than had been anticipated resulting in an actual 2009 decrease of 15.9% (versus mid year projections of a 14.4% decrease).

However, 2010 now looks slightly brighter with a further deterioration in manhours of only 1.80% as compared to a decrease of 12.4% that was previously projected for 2010. In an attempt to keep this in perspective, 2008 was the highest Boilermaker workhour year over the last 20 years. Even with the significant decline, 2009 was still the fifth highest workhour year during that period. The present 2010 and 2011 projections would be the sixth and seventh highest Boilermaker workhour years since 1990.