Every two weeks, Oldcastle Building Solutions Business Intelligence prepares a report focused on understanding and analyzing construction market data and trends.
This in-depth report is developed primarily for internal distribution, but Oldcastle Building Solutions exists to inform construction professionals like you, so we're making this report available for anyone who's interested in reading it.
What's New In This Report?
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HighlightsThe third estimate for real GDP for Q1 2017 was 1.4%; after 2.1% growth in Q4 Construction Backlog Indicator (CBI) rose 8.1% to 9.0 months in Q1 2017 |
Construction UpdateU.S. Construction Put-in-Place up 4.5% annually to $1.23T in May 2017 June 2017 Engineering & Construction Cost Index dipped again to 51.5 |
Economic UpdateEmployment situation remained tight with 4.4% unemployment and 222K additions 36 of 51 large MSAs show 12-month unemployment decreases |
Key Takeaways
- The third estimate of real GDP growth for Q1 2017 was 1.4%, an improvement on the first (0.7%) and second (1.2%) estimates
- The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) reported an 8.1% rise from their previous quarter in their Construction Backlog Indicator (CBI), up to 9.0 months
- Construction Put-in-Place was $1.23T in May 2017, 4.5% above year ago activity
- In June 2017, the current pricing component score of the Engineering & Construction Cost Index (ECCI) again lost momentum dipping to 51.5; however, the score remained above the neutral mark (50) indicating that construction costs continue to rise
- In June 2017 the employment situation remained tight, the unemployment rate, though little changed was 4.4% with 222K non-farm jobs added
- 36 of the 51 large MSAs (1M+ population) showed year-over-year unemployment rate decreases in May 2017, with Denver and Nashville having the lowest rates of 2.3%
