For the first time in nearly a year, the four major stock market indices featured in Table 1 fell into a rough patch in September, all declining in a range that extended from -2.5% for the TSX to -5.3% for NASDAQ.

U.S. Housing Starts Stay Elevated Construction activity in the United States is currently being sustained almost exclusively by residential work. Year to date through August, the put-in-place capital spending figures from the Census Bureau show the residential dollar volume to be +25.8% compared with Jan-Aug 2020 and nonresidential to be -6.7%. The grand total is +7.0%.

Finding reputable, dependable subcontractors can be challenging.

Due to its complexity, much of the subject matter concerning the economy requires detailed editorial commentary, often supported by relevant tables and graphs.

Two of the major themes that will be governing U.S. construction activity as the coronavirus-caused downturn recedes into legend will be electrification and decarbonization. In most ways, they are two sides of the same coin, with the former seen by many in public governance, with environmental think tanks, and even among the general populace, as the best way to achieve the latter.   

General contractors find work in several ways: open bidding, negotiated contracts, submitting proposals, design-build contracts, etc. Regardless of the solicitation method, they all have one thing in common, the general contractor will need to subcontract out some, or all, of the work to trade contractors and other vendors.

The accompanying table records the 10 largest construction project starts in Canada in August 2021. Also included is the latest trend graph on starts. This looks at 12-month moving totals of the civil and nonresidential building categories in Canada.

Due to its complexity, much of the subject matter concerning the economy requires detailed editorial commentary, often supported by relevant tables and graphs.

Due to its complexity, much of the subject matter concerning the economy requires detailed editorial commentary, often supported by relevant tables and graphs.

It would be comforting to think the post-pandemic economic recovery will proceed along the same path as other post-recession recoveries. No doubt there will be some similarities; but there will also be major differences.