ConstructConnect Blog

There is much to discuss in this latest mid-month Nuggets report, so let’s dive right in.

Currently, there’s no letup in the rising tide of construction material costs. Graph 1 shows that the average year-over-year increase for two material cost indices published along with Producer Price Index results by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is forging ahead more than twice as speedily as bid prices (i.e., +26.6% y/y vs +12.4%).

The accompanying table records the top 10 project starts in the U.S. for November 2021.

A Less Than Impressive Megaproject Revival ConstructConnect announced today that December 2021's volume of construction starts, excluding residential work, was $25.8 billion (see shaded green box, bottom of Table 10), a decrease of -16.8% compared with November 2021's level of $31.0 billion (originally reported as $30.4 billion).

Clichés are often true and it is the case that a picture can be worth a thousand words.

All in all, 2021 was an okay year for the commercial construction industry. Overall construction spending was up, with residential construction put-in-place seeing an increase but nonresidential experiencing its second year of decline.  

Construction doesn’t stop when winter weather strikes, so it’s important to know what steps to take to keep your workers warm and safe. Before the next major winter storm starts to impact your area with snow and ice accumulation, be prepared and review these winter weather safety tips for keeping your workers safe.

+199,000 Net Jobs Gain in the United States The increase in the total number of jobs in the United States between the two finishing months of 2021, November and December, according to the latest Employment Situation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), was +199,000.

Omicron! A word that is perfect for the times. It would be easy to imagine it originating in some fictitious techno-saturated supervillain universe that has risen to prominence in popular culture. Seemingly, it’s a virus label chosen to generate maximum angst.

North America’s four major stock market indices experienced another year of outstanding success in 2021. Never mind the pandemic or the fact rampant inflation is causing central banks to consider bringing forward interest rate hikes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index and the S&P 500 both established new record highs in December. NASDAQ and the Toronto Stock Exchange ended the year down only a little from the all-time peaks they set a month earlier in November.