Construction + Economy

After improving by more than 20 points in July, NEMA’s Electroindustry Business Conditions Index (EBCI) for current conditions in North America declined by 15 points in August to settle at 52.5. Meanwhile, the EBCI for future North American conditions held steady at 55, following a modest improvement in July. Thirty-five percent of panelists expect business [...]

Residential, industrial and power sector construction has boosted construction spending to its highest projected level in seven years, based on Commerce Department numbers issued in July. Commerce said construction spending rose 0.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.08 trillion, the highest level of spending since 2008. Total construction spending has increased 13.7% in [...]

A new 2015 market research report by Research and Markets provides an in-depth evaluation of the architectural services industry in the United States. Sample findings: * In 2011, industry sales were $27 billion. * Over the past 3 years, the industry has grown at an annual rate of 3.5%. * There are 19,731 companies in [...]

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 [...]