More residential construction may be on the way in Alabama.
Governments authorized permits for about 6,500 new housing units in the first half of 2014, new data from the Census show. That's up about 16 percent from the first half of last year.
Permits are a good indicator of future construction activity, although permits don't always turn into projects. Permits in Alabama peaked in the first half of 2005, at the height of the construction boom, with nearly 15,500 residential units authorized for construction.
Since that peak, permits have fallen off statewide, but after bottoming out in the second half of 2010, appear to be making a recovery.
The latest reading is the state's best since the first half of 2008, when the nationwide construction bubble was bursting. Before that, the last time Alabama issued permits for fewer than 7,000 new units was in 1993.
An increase in permit activity may portend an increase in construction hiring, although it's not a perfect relationship. Still, often in the past when permits increase, total construction jobs numbers increase soon after.