"The COVID-19 pandemic has already created and accelerated a host of challenges for the construction industry, including a skilled workforce shortage, rising material costs, supply chain disruptions, jobsite shut-downs, additional health and safety protocols and new government regulations. The forthcoming ETS only adds to this long list of concerns," the statement read.
Higher materials prices and labor costs have put more projects on hold and, in many cases, rendered projects infeasible, ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu said.
Dr. Anirban Basu, chief economist with Associated Builders and Contractors, shares the latest construction confidence index and backlog indicator results, plus what they mean. He also covers a big area of opportunity for restoration and remediation contractors: adaptive reuse of existing structures.
ABC’s Construction Confidence Index readings for sales, profit margins and staffing levels all fell modestly in July but remain above the threshold of 50.
The not seasonally adjusted national construction unemployment rate was down 2.6% in June 2021 from a year ago and 45 states had lower unemployment rates over the same period.
Think of a life-sized LEGO project. Now, imagine all the tiny crevices between LEGO bricks. This is the future of construction, which will present structural drying challenges for restorers.
All three indices (sales, profit margins, staffing levels) remain above the threshold of 50, indicating expectations of growth over the next six months.
The construction industry lost 20,000 jobs on net in May, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
