Construction is a favourite, accounting for three-quarters of recent private Chinese investment in Africa.

ECONOMIST: The Chinese in Africa

For the year to date, the Challenger employment report announced employers have announced 587, 592 job cuts, down 8.1% from 639, 229 announced at this point last year, with housing-related losses in the financial, construction, and real estate sectors accounting for 97, 509 of the pink slips.

FORBES: U.S. Jobs Outlook: Weak, Not Dreadful

Employment increased in professional and business services such as accounting, health care and construction.

WSJ: Economy Adds 88,000 Jobs

No expense is harder to control than labor, typically accounting for 25% to 35% of costs in such mine construction and most of the overruns.

FORBES: The World's Billionaires

The construction industry is an important source of political funds, and a big employer, accounting for a lot of voters.

ECONOMIST: Japanese banks

Construction Sector DataThrough its cooperative data model, Sageworks collects financial statements for private companies from accounting firms, banks and credit unions, and aggregates the data at an approximate rate of 1, 000 statements a day.

FORBES: Private Builders' Sales Are Rising and So Are Their Costs

Meanwhile, uncorrupt, globally competitive companies like Matsushita, Toyota and Sony are accounting for an ever greater share of Japan's GDP while inefficient, corrupt sectors like construction, distribution and agriculture wither.

FORBES: Japan's Dirty Secrets