Construction + Economy

Despite the adverse weather conditions that curtailed design and construction activity in the first quarter of the year, the overall construction market has performed extremely well to date. The greatest amount of activity was seen in the building of commercial properties – most notably offices and hotels – with an unusually high spike in manufacturing [...]

The U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce recently announced that construction spending during May 2015 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,035.8 billion, 0.8% (±1.5%) above the revised April estimate of $1,027.0 billion. The May figure is 8.2% (±2.0%) above the May 2014 estimate of $957.6 billion. During the first [...]

Paced by continued demand for projects such as new education and healthcare facilities, public safety and government buildings, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) increased in June following fluctuations earlier this year. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate 9- to 12-month lead time between architecture billings and construction spending. [...]

Construction activities are expected to grow at 5% in 2015, leveling off from the previous forecast of 8 percent in Q1 2015, according to FMI Corporation’s Q2 Construction Outlook. Although the prediction is significantly lower than last quarter, the outlook reports the highest total for construction put in place since 2008. “Construction spending continues to [...]

The Lighting Controls Association recently published a whitepaper I wrote about the 2012 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey, published in stages this year by the Department of Energy. The 2012 CBECS provides an estimated profile of the U.S. commercial building stock based on an interviewed sampling. Information includes number of buildings, floorspace, age, building type, [...]

Riding a stretch of increasing levels of demand for 13 out of the last 15 months, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) dropped in April for the second month this year. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate 9- to 12-month lead time between architecture billings and construction spending. The [...]

The U.S. Department of Commerce recently released its estimate of construction spending for April 2015. The annual rate of construction spending is projected to top $1 trillion for the year, the highest level of spending since the 2008 financial crisis and resulting economic downturn. Construction spending increased 2.2% in April. Private nonresidential construction increased 3.1% [...]

A first-quarter survey by the Business Roundtable indicates CEOs expect U.S. GDP to increase 2.8% in 2015, up from 2.4% last quarter. Reuters has the story here.

Total construction put in place (CPIP) for 2015 is predicted to grow 8%, according to FMI’s recently released Q1-2015 Construction Outlook. This supports that earlier FMI predictions that CPIP will top $1 trillion in 2015, which the market has not seen since 2008 and indicates that the economy is on track for a resilient recovery. [...]