Anirban Basu, chairman and CEO at the Sage Policy Group, Inc., joins the podcast and discusses the economic trends and leading indicators that contractors need to watch in order to be successful. Basu, who serves as the chief economist for the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) and the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA) notes that while the short-term outlook for the construction industry remains solid, overall indicators point to a potential slowdown over the next couple of years. Effective cash flow management is critical to enduring a recession, and Basu points to new technologies that maximize efficiencies, boost productivity and replace traditional processes. Hear why he doesn’t see a traditional way out of the skilled labor shortage and why a technological revolution is necessary to fill the gaps and keep contractors productive.

Podcast originally appeared on the Viewpoint blog

Key Takeaways

• Nonresidential construction spending, which totaled $750.5 billion on a seasonally adjusted annual rate for December, remained flat when compared to the previous month and is a 4% increase over the same time last year.
• Public sector nonresidential spending declined 0.6% for the month
• In 2019, “there are many variables to watch, including interest rates, worsening skilled worker shortages, rapidly rising construction compensation costs and the U.S. economy’s broader trajectory in the context of a slowing global economy."

Press Release from Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc.

WASHINGTON, March 4 — National nonresidential construction spending remained virtually unchanged in December, according to Associated Builders and Contractors’ analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data released today. Nonresidential spending totaled $750.5 billion on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis in December, up 4 percent year over year.

Survey Says: Contractors Committed to Tech, Industry Still Faces Hurdles

Highlights from JBKnowledge’s 2018 Construction Technology Report

Article written by Andy Holtmann on the Viewpoint blog.

Now in its seventh year, the annual Construction Technology Report compiled by JBKnowledge is one of the most impressive surveys in the industry, providing the latest trends on everything from construction software, IT budgets and workflows, mobile apps, emerging technologies and more. The 2018 Construction Technology Report is now available and we recommend checking it out.

Here are some of the key highlights and themes we saw throughout:

According to data released last week by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national construction industry added 52,000 net new jobs in January. Industry employment is up by 338,000 net jobs year-over-year, a 4.7% increase.

Press Release from Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc (ABC)

Construction Employment Surges to Start Year, Says ABC

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1— Construction employment expanded by 52,000 net new jobs in January, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Industry employment is up by 338,000 net jobs on a yearly basis, which represents an increase of 4.7 percent. Nonresidential construction employment grew by 28,600 net new positions on a monthly basis, although the nonresidential building subsector lost 800 net positions.

Key Takeaways

• Nonresidential construction spending, which totaled $751.5 billion on a seasonally adjusted annual rate for November, declined 0.1% and is a 5.5% increase over the same time last year.
• Despite the annual increase, 12 of the 16 nonresidential subsectors experienced monthly declines.
• “The dip in November spending should not be viewed as a leading indicator of coming decline.”

Press Release from Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1— National nonresidential construction spending declined 1 percent in November, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data released today. The release of November data, originally scheduled for Jan. 3, was delayed by the partial government shutdown.

Total nonresidential spending stood at $751.5 billion on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, which represents a 5.5 percent increase over November 2017. However, 12 of the 16 nonresidential subsectors experienced monthly declines.

Press release from AGC

Seventy-nine percent of construction firms plan to expand their payrolls in 2019 but an almost equal percentage are worried about their ability to locate and hire qualified workers, according to survey results released today by the Associated General Contractors of America and Sage Construction and Real Estate. The findings are detailed in Contractors Remain Confident About Demand, Worried About Labor Supply: The 2019 Construction Hiring and Business Outlook Report.

“Construction executives appear to remain confident about their market prospects for 2019 and plan to add headcount to cope with the added workload,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association's chief executive officer. “Even as they are optimistic about growing demand, contractors are concerned about finding qualified workers to execute projects.”

According to data released last week by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national construction industry added 38,000 net new jobs in December. During the past 12 months, the industry has added 280,000 net new construction jobs, which translates into a 4 percent increase in total industry-wide employment.

Press Release from Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc (ABC)

Construction Employment Rises to Close Out 2018, Says ABC

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4—According to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released by today the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction employment expanded by 38,000 net new jobs in December. Across the industry, employment is up by 280,000 year-over-year, an increase of 4.0 percent.

According to data released last week by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national construction industry added 5,000 net new jobs in November. During the past 12 months, the industry has added 282,000 net new construction jobs, which translates into a 4 percent increase in total industry-wide employment.

Press Release from Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc (ABC)

Nonresidential Construction Employment Slows Down in November, Says ABC

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7—Construction employment expanded by 5,000 net new jobs in November, according to an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data conducted by Associated Builders and Contractors today. During the past 12 months, the industry has added 282,000 net new construction jobs, which translates into a 4 percent increase in total industry-wide employment.

Key Takeaways

• Nonresidential construction spending, which totaled $763.8 billion on a seasonally adjusted annual rate for October, increased 0.1% and is a 7.3% increase over the same time last year
• Water supply (+23 percent), lodging (+18.9 percent) and amusement and recreation (+16.2 percent) have generated the largest increases among nonresidential construction segments over the past 12 months.
• “While demand for construction services remained strong throughout the year, many contractors indicate that profit margins are under pressure. Given the ongoing dearth of available, skilled construction workers, that is likely to continue into 2019. However, materials price dynamics could be far different given a slowing global economy and expectations for a strong U.S. dollar next year.”

Press Release from Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4—Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu forecasts another strong year for construction sector performance, yet warns about inflationary pressures, according to a 2019 economic outlook published today in Construction Executive magazine.

Job growth, high backlog and healthy infrastructure investment all spell good news for the industry. However, historically low unemployment has created a construction workforce shortage of an estimated 500,000 positions, which is leading to increased compensation costs.

“U.S. economic performance has been brilliant of late. Sure, there has been a considerable volume of negativity regarding the propriety of tariffs, shifting immigration policy, etc., but the headline statistics make it clear that domestic economic performance is solid,” said Basu. “Nowhere is this more evident than the U.S. labor market. As of July, there were a record-setting 6.94 million job openings in the United States, and construction unemployment reached a low of 3.6 percent in October.”