建筑工业是美国经济的三大支柱之一。全国有合同的建筑工人将近三百万名。约等于汽車工人的三倍,鋼铁工人的四倍半,占美国劳动力总数的4%。近年来,美国全国新建公私建筑价值都在五百多亿美元左右,相当于国民生产总值的10%,仅全国建筑业的維修费每年就有二百五十亿到三百亿美元,约等于国民总产值的5%。建筑工业是一門重要的綜合性工业,它的活跃和呆滞不但直接影响到美国經济的盛衰,而且还影响到其它很多工业部門的生产和就业。例如,鋼铁、水泥、木材、运输,以及 The construction industry is one of the three pillars of the U.S. economy. Nearly three million construction workers are contracted across the country. About three times as much as car workers, four and a half times as many steel workers, or 4% of the total workforce in the United States. In recent years, the value of newly-built public and private buildings in the United States has reached about 50 billion U.S. dollars, equivalent to 10% of the GNP. Only the national construction industry has a maintenance fee of 25 to 30 billion U.S. dollars each year. Equal to 5% of gross national product. The construction industry is an important and comprehensive industry. Its activity and sluggishness not only directly affect the economic prosperity in the United States, but also affect the production and employment in many other industrial sectors. For example, steel, cement, timber, transportation, as well