Economic uncertainty and inflation impact construction Sector BY CP STAFF As we begin the new year, there are concerns surrounding the health of the economy and whether a recession is in the near future. Amongst the uncertainty, industry economists have revealed that the impact of high interest rates and inflation is already being felt within the construction sector. “The Federal…
Read MoreSources: Associated Builders & Contractors, Washington, D.C.; CP staff New U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index data confirms rampant inflation (> 50 percent) levels among eight of 11 Nonresidential Construction input subcategories. An Associated Builders & Contractors analysis finds segment prices up 21.9 percent year over year through May, and 44.4 percent since February 2020. Plumbing Fixtures and…
Read MoreSources: Associated Builders & Contractors, Washington, D.C.; CP staff
Nonresidential construction fell for a second consecutive month. An ABC analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data shows seasonally adjusted, annualized spending of $687 billion in August, 1.1 percent and 1.3 percent lower than prior month and August 2015 levels, respectively. Four of the five largest nonresidential subsectors—power, highway and street, commercial and manufacturing—combined to fall 2.2 percent on a monthly basis in August 2016.
Read MoreSource: Associated Builders and Contractors, Washington
The ABC Construction Confidence Index (CCI), which reflects nonresidential construction industry prospects using three measured categories—revenues, profit margins and hiring—increased across all indices during the first six months of 2014.
Read More
“A combination of low interest rates; wealth effects stemming from a booming stock market and rising home prices; surging energy production; and expanding industrial output has helped position the U.S. economy for more rapid growth during the next several quarters,” says Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “This will lead to more robust recovery in the U.S. nonresidential construction industry, which has also been aided by stable materials prices and improving commercial real estate fundamentals.”
Read MoreConstruction employers added 6,000 workers in May as the industry’s unemployment rate dropped to 8.6 percent, its lowest mid-spring level in six years, according to an Associated General Contractors of America analysis of federal government data.
Read MoreSources: Associated General Contractors of America, Washington, D.C.; CP staff
Sustaining momentum from April and May, construction employers added 6,000 workers to payrolls in June as the industry’s unemployment rate dropped to 8.2 percent, its lowest level for the month in six years, according to an AGC analysis of new government data.
Read More