Economy

As the construction industry rounds the halfway mark of the decade, the rearview looks a bit blurry. In just five short years, a global pandemic upended the way the world works, a supply-chain crisis sent material costs soaring and social justice protests forced leaders to reexam...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3—National nonresidential construction spending decreased 0.2% in December 2024, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending tot...

What We Learned in December: Construction Industry Momentum Slows Construction industry momentum faltered somewhat in the final months of 2024. Spending slowed and is roughly flat over the past year after accounting for inflation, while industrywide job growth underwhelmed in De...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14—Associated Builders and Contractors reported that its Construction Backlog Indicator inched down to 8.3 months in December, according to an ABC member survey conducted Dec. 20 to Jan. 6. The reading is down 0.3 months from December 2023. View ABC’s Constructi...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10—The construction industry added just 8,000 jobs on net in December, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has increased by 196,...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2—National nonresidential construction spending declined 0.1% in November, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.234 ...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 — Construction input prices were unchanged in November compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data released today. Nonresidential construction input ...

On Dec. 11, 2024, Construction Executive presented its final economic webinar of the year. Hosted by Anirban Basu, ABC’s chief economist, “Construction Executive’s 2025 Construction Economic Forecast” revealed many things for contractors to be on the lookout for next year—and not...

The Fed’s change in stance and the expectation of lower rates over the next year certainly set the stage for that. The Dodge Momentum Index, which tracks nonresidential building projects from the initial planning stages, has been steady over the last six months, indicating that d...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 2—National nonresidential construction spending decreased 0.4% in October, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $...