Construction certainly plays an important role here in the United States, there is certainly no doubt about it. From the homes that we live in the buildings that we work in to the bridges that we cross, the use of the construction industry has proved absolutely instrumental for the modern development of the world as we know it, particularly in countries like our own, the United States.
In just the year of 2016 alone, billions upon billions of dollars worth of various commercial buildings were put into place in locations found all throughout the country. In fact, this number totaled more than $74 billion by the time that the year of 2016 had finally drawn to a close. In the years that have followed, the amount of construction has only continued to be quite impressive, to say the least. And there are certainly many of different construction projects being built here in the United States, projects that come in at all different budgets and span all different sizes.
For instance, the rates of construction surrounding the building of hotels has been consistently on the rise for a number of years here in the United States, let alone in many of the other parts of this world where such growth is also likely to have been seen as well. In fact, the spending for construction on hotel premises and for new hotel building increased by very nearly 60% in the short span of time between the December of 2014 and the December of 2017, a mere three years in total.
After all, people love to travel, and having nice accommodations to travel to can make the experience all the better. And with even more hotels looking to go green as much as is possible, these new hotel buildings are likely to be of a higher quality than ever before. But hotel construction is not the only type of construction that has seen a considerable increase here in the United States.
In addition to hotel construction, office construction has also been on the uphill climb. In fact, spending for such types of construction increased by more than 40% in that same three year span of time. With more and more people entering the workforce than ever (not only is unemployment at a low, but there are currently five generations working here in the United States as of the current date), the need for office buildings and other such office structures has risen considerably, thus pushing forward the need for new office buildings constructed in various places all throughout the United States as a whole.
This means that he average construction company is seeing a good deal of success here in the United States. Construction companies are quite commonplace in this country, and it is more likely than not that you have at least one construction company near you, if not more than one such construction company in your area. The typical construction company will handle big projects as well as small ones, and a reputable and skilled construction company can make a world of difference in the quality of the structures and the buildings that are created.
And the construction industry is on the rise, with more a construction company and more general contractors than ever before here in the United States. As a matter of fact, the data that has been gathered on the subject more than backs up this claim, showing that 2017 alone saw various construction companies hiring a total of more than 200,000 new people. In the December of that year, as many as 30,000 people were hired, which is certainly a considerable number and represents the thriving of the typical construction company here in the United States at the current point in time and in the recent past.
And construction companies come in all shapes and sizes. While some construction companies are much larger and even run by various corporations, many a construction company is very much on the smaller side of things, meaning that they are integral and important to the network of the nearly 30 small businesses in America.