Orlando, with 26.42 building permits pulled per 1,000 non-agricultural jobs, slipped to sixth place from the No. 2 position last year. The Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill hub, ranked fifth in 2000, pulled 28.91 permits per 1,000. Las Vegas maintained its hold as the leader with 36.78 permits pulled per 1,000.

The rankings are called the index of private construction intensity. The index relates the number of authorized permits to the payroll jobs base in each metro area. The permits are for single and multifamily dwellings

"This procedure provides both a locally oriented measure of construction vigor and serves as a leading indicator of confidence by local building contractors in the economic strength of the region," Dr. David F. Scott Jr., executive director of the Dr. Phillips Institute for the Study of American Business Activity, and Phillips-Schenck, chairholder at the University of Central Florida, tells GlobeSt.com. "A higher index suggests greater vigor and confidence."