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Construction Analytics Outlook 2024

February 9, 2024 2:26 pm / 2 Comments on Construction Analytics Outlook 2024

Construction Analytics Economic Outlook 2024 includes Construction Data – DEC 2023 Data 2-7-24

2-22-24 At the bottom of this article is a downloadable PDF of the complete 2024 Outlook

Here is a summary of construction spending through December 2023, Inflation through 4th qtr. or Nov where available, and resulting constant dollar volume. 2023 spending will be revised three times in 2024, Mar1, Apr1 and Jul1, and then again on Jul1 2025. Historically, almost all revisions are up.

Construction spending preliminary total for 2023 is up 7.0%. But nearly 80% of that total is inflation. Except for Nonresidential Bldgs, spending increased 23%, so inflation is only 25% of that. Even deducting inflation still leaves 75% of spending as volume growth Most of that growth is in Manufacturing buildings.

Spending is up a total of 42% since 2019; up 8% in 2020, 10% in 2021, 12% in 2022 and now 7% in 2023. But volume after adjusting for inflation is up only 5% total. You can see the Constant$ line, with one lower dip in 2022, has ranged between Constant$1400bil. to $1500bil. since mid-2019.

Construction spending total forecast for 2024 is up 10.7%. Nonresidential Buildings is forecast up 8.8%, Non-building Infrastructure up 15.8% and Residential up 9.7%. Lower inflation in 2024 means more of that spending is counting towards real volume growth. I’m expecting only 4% to 5% inflation for 2024, so real volume growth could reach 6% for the first time since 2015. From 2012-2016, volume growth averaged 6%/yr. For the last four years, 2020-2023, 42% spending growth vs 37% inflation growth netted only 5% total real volume growth. Since 2017, volume growth averaged less than 1%/yr. Non-building Infrastructure volume could increase 10%+ in 2024.

New Construction Starts

Dodge Construction Network (DNC) monthly news article of construction starts by sector provides the data from which the following is summarized.

Total construction starts for 2023 ended down 4%, but Nonresidential Buildings starts finished down 7% and Non-building Infrastructure starts were UP 16%. Residential starts decreased 12% in 2023.

Total construction starts for 2024 are forecast up 7%. Nonresidential Buildings starts are forecast up 5% and Non-building Infrastructure starts up 8%. Residential starts are forecast up 10% in 2024.

In recent years, Nonres Bldgs new starts averaged $300 billion/year. In the 2nd half of 2022, starts averaged near $500 billion/year. For the 1st half 2023 starts dropped to a rate of $390bil./yr., which is still well above the recent average. Then, for 2nd half 2023, starts came back up to average $430 billion/year, the 2nd highest half year average. A 50% increase in new nonresidential building starts in 2022 has a positive impact on the rate of construction spending in 2023 and 2024. It will continue to add lesser impact into 2025. Projects starting in 2nd half of 2023 could have midpoint of construction, point of peak spending, in 2024 or into 2nd half of 2025, some real long duration starts even later. So, the major spending impact from starts is sometimes one or two years later.

Residential construction (Dodge) starts posted the five highest months ever, all in the 1st 6 months of 2022. In the second half of 2022, residential starts fell 15%. In Q1 2023, residential starts dropped another 12% below 2nd half 2022, the lowest average since Q1-Q2 2020. Finally in July and August, starts regained some strength coming in 33% higher than the lows in Q1. Residential starts finish 2023 down 12% vs 2022. Forecast is up about 10% in 2024.

Nonresidential Buildings, in 2022 posted the largest ever one-year increase in construction starts, up 50%. Some of these starts will be adding to peak spending well into 2025. Nonres Bldgs starts in the 2nd half 2022, averaged 67% higher than any other 6mo period in history. Starts fell 20% in the 1st half 2023 but still posted the 2nd highest 6mo average ever. After two years of outstanding growth, Nonres Bldgs starts close 2023 down 7%. Although 2023 is down 7%, that’s still by far the 2nd best year ever. The forecast for 2024 is +5%.

Manufacturing starts, the market with the largest movement, gained 120% from 2020 to 2023. Manufacturing projects can have a moderately long average duration because some of these are multi-billion$ projects and can have schedules that are 4 to 5 years.

Educational, Healthcare, Lodging and Public Buildings all had starts of 20% or more the last two years.

Non-building starts for the 6 month period Mar-Aug 2023 posted the best 6 months on record, up 30% from the average of 2022. The 2nd half 2022 was up 50% over 1st half 2022. For 2023, Highway/Bridge and Power have the strongest gains. Total Non-building Starts for 2023 are up 16% and they were up 25% in 2022. These starts will help elevate spending through 2025. Non-building starts for 2024 are forecast up 8%.

Power starts are up 25% the last two years. Highway starts and Environmental Public Works are both up 33% the last two years and up 50% the last three years.

Starts data captures a share of the total market or only a portion of all construction spending, on average about 60% of all construction. The easiest way to understand this is to compare total annual construction starts to total annual spending. National starts in recent years about $800 billion/year, while spending in this period ranges from $1,300 billion/year to $1,500 billion/year. From this simple comparison we can see starts captures a share of about 60% of the total market. The actual share for each market varies from as low as 35% to as high as 70%. Before using starts data to forecast spending, starts here were first adjusted for market share.

Starting Backlog

Starting backlog is the estimate to complete (in this analysis taken at Jan 1) for all projects currently under contract. The last time starting backlog decreased was 2011. If new construction starts in the year are greater than construction spending in the year, then for the following year starting backlog increases. It’s when new starts don’t replenish the amount of spending in the year that backlog declines.

80% of all nonresidential spending in any given year is from backlog and could be supported by projects that started last year or 2 to 4 years ago. Residential spending is far more dependent on new starts than backlog. Only about 30% of residential spending comes from backlog and 70% from new starts.

The table below, Forecast Starting Backlog, is model generated by Construction Analytics. Adjusted starts are spread over time to generate cash flow. A sum of spending each month/year, subtracted from start of year plus new starts provides Backlog.

Construction Backlog leading into 2024, in every sector, is at all-time high, in total up 46% from Jan 2020. For the years 2022 and 2023, backlog is up 11% and 12%. Reaching new highs in Backlog could mean contractors are comfortable adding some backlog, or it could mean not enough labor, subcontractors or suppliers to support advancing growth so quickly, so growth advances slower and more of the work is retained in backlog for longer, essentially dragging out the timeline, or it could be long term workload, 4yr.-6yr. long projects from new starts, such as Manufacturing, where a very large amount enters backlog and gets spent over 4-6yrs., so, although the monthly drawdowns reduce the amount remaining in backlog, it remains in backlog for a long time.

Residential backlog in 2024 is down 0.5%, but from such a previous high, essentially, starts are riding flat along the top. Starts are up 55% since Jan 2020.

Nonresidential Bldgs starting backlog for 2024 received a boost from all the starts in 2022 and 2023. Backlog is up 12% from 2023 and up 50% from Jan 2020.

Nonbuilding Infrastructure starting backlog is up 12% each of the last two years boosted by strong starts in 2022 and 2023. For 2024, backlog is up 40% from Jan 2020.

Manufacturing backlog increased nearly 300% from 2020-2024, from $117bil going into 2020 to $300bil beginning 2024. No other market has ever been close. Manufacturing was responsible for 60% of all the Nonres Bldgs spending growth in 2023. It was also responsible for 60% of the Backlog growth leading into 2024. Nonres Bldgs has a total 3.6 million jobs and has never increased by more than 150,000 jobs in one year. Manufacturing is 30% of all Nonres Bldgs spending, so assume 30% of Nonres Bldgs jobs. That’s 1.2million jobs supporting just Manufacturing projects. So Backlog of $300bil, at 5000 jobs per billion per year, would need 1,500,000 jobs for a year. With a 1,200,000 jobs share of the workforce, that backlog would provide support for 15 months. Of course, new starts add to support throughout the year, but the calculation of how long backlog would support that market segment is valuable.

Backlog at the beginning of the year or new starts within the year does not give an indication of what direction spending will take within the year. Backlog is increasing if new starts during the year is greater than spending during the year. An increase in backlog could immediately increase the level of monthly spending activity, or it could maintain a level rate of market activity, but spread over a longer duration. In this case, there is some of both in the forecast. It takes several years for all the starts in a year to be completed. Cash flow shows the spending over time.

Current Rate of Spending

The current seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of spending gives an indication of how spending will perform in the following year. As we begin 2024, the current rate of spending (SAAR) for Nonresidential Buildings in Q4’23 is $709bil., already 4.5% higher than the average for 2023 ($677bil). If spending stays at the current level and no additional growth occurs, Nonresidential Bldgs spending will finish 2024 up 4.5%. Spending would need to have more monthly declines than increases to finish the year up less than 4.5%. The current forecast shows a monthly SAAR rate of growth for Nonresidential Bldgs. averaging about 0.5%/mo in 2024, so we have a minimum, but we can expect 2024 total spending to rise considerably higher than the current rate.

Non-building Infrastructure current rate of spending is now 3.7% higher than the average for 2023, however the forecast is indicating steady growth of 1%/mo for all of 2024.

Residential current rate of spending is 2.4% above the 2023 average and is forecast to average an increase of just under 1%/mo for 2024.

2024 Construction Spending Forecast

Starts lead to spending, but that spending is spread out over time. Starts represent a contract award. Spending takes the amount of that contract award and spreads it out by a cash flow curve over the duration of the job. An average spending curve for the sum of nonresidential buildings is 20:50:30 over three years. Only about 20% of new starts gets spent in the year started. 50% gets spent in the next year and 30% in YR3/4. An average spending curve for Non-building Infrastructure is more like 15:30:30:20:5. The effect of new starts does not show up in spending immediately. For example: If 2024 posts an additional $100 billion in new starts for Infrastructure, only about $15 billion of that would get put-in-place in 2024. The cash flow schedule for that $100 bil of new starts would extend out over 3 to 5 years. Most of that $100 bil would get spent in 2025 and 2026.

Total Construction Spending $2,190 billion +10.7% over 2023.

Nonresidential Buildings $737 billion +8.8% over 2023.

Non-building Infrastructure $493 billion +15.8% over 2023.

Residential Buildings $960 billion +9.7% over 2023.

This forecast does not include a recession.

The largest increases to construction spending in 2023 are Manufacturing +$80bil, Highway +$20bil, Public Utilities (Sewage and Waste, Water Supply and Conservation-Rivers-Dams) +$15bil and Educational +$14bil.

Residential regains the top growth spot in 2024 with a forecast spending increase of +$68bil. Manufacturing is forecast to add +$32bil. Highway gains +$26bil, Power +$24bil and Educational gains +$15bil.

One big question is how did the forecast for Manufacturing increase so much since the beginning of 2023. Since January 2023, the starts forecast for 2023 increased by 35%. How much of that 35% is real growth in starts vs an increase in the capture rate of data gathering is yet to be determined, but has an impact of 2023-2024 spending. Also, starts for future years were increased by 50%. Starts (contract awards) drives up the spending forecast, since spending is a function of the future monthly cash flow (spending) of starts.

As we begin the year, Manufacturing SAAR current rate of spending is already 8% higher than the average for 2023. The current rate of spending is increasing at an average of near 2%/month for the next 6 months, then slows or dips slightly for the remainder of the year, indicating total spending for 2024 will finish well above the current rate of 8%. I’m forecasting 16% growth for the year.

Highway SAAR rate of spending begins the year 6.5% higher than the average for 2023, with the current rate increasing at an average of 1%/month for all of 2024, indicating total spending for 2024 will finish well above the current rate of 6.5%. Starts have increased +15%/yr the last three years. My forecast is for 19% growth in 2024 spending.

Power SAAR rate of spending begins the year 4% higher than the average for 2023, with the current rate increasing at an average over 1%/month for 2024, indicating total spending for 2024 will finish much higher. My forecast is for 20% growth in 2024.

Public Utilities SAAR rate of spending begins the year 6% higher than the average for 2023, with the current rate increasing at an average over 1%/month for 2024. Public Works averaged +15%/yr new starts the last three years. My forecast is for 13% spending growth in 2024.

Residential regains the top spot in 2024 with a forecast spending increase of $68bil. Residential SAAR rate of spending in Q4’23 was up 2.5% over 2023, but December was up 5%. So we begin the year 2.5% to 5% higher than the average for 2023. The rate of spending is forecast to increase 1%/month for 6 months, then fall 0.5%/mo for H2 2024. My forecast is for 10% growth in 2024.

Educational SAAR rate of spending begins 2024 7% higher than the average for 2023, and the current rate is increasing at an average of 0.7%/month for 2024. My forecast is for 13% growth.

Inflation

Construction Inflation differs from other common types of inflation, i.e., Consumer Price Index. It must be accounted for in order to make reasonable calculations for business volume and past or future costs.

30-year average inflation rate for residential and nonresidential buildings is 3.7%. Excluding deflation in recession years 2008-2010, for nonresidential buildings is 4.2% and for residential is 4.6%.

Deflation is not likely. Only twice in 50 years have we experienced construction cost deflation, the recession years of 2009 and 2010. That was at a time when business volume dropped 33% and jobs fell 30%. During two years of the pandemic recession, volume reached a low down 8% and jobs dropped a total 14%.But we gained back far more jobs than volume. That means it now takes more jobs to put-in-pace volume of work. That increases inflation.

The following Construction Inflation plot (for Nonresidential Buildings only) shows three elements: 1) a solid grey bar reflecting the max and min of the 10 indices I track in my weighted average inflation index, 2) a solid black line indicating the weighted average of those 10 indices, and 3) a dotted red line showing the Engineering News Record Building Cost Index (ENR BCI). Notice the ENR BCI is almost always the lowest, or one of the lowest, indices. ENR BCI, along with R S Means Index, unlike final cost indices, do not include margins or productivity changes and in the case of ENR BCI has very limited materials and labor inputs.

Final cost indices represent total actual cost to the owner and are generally higher than general indices. Producer Price Index (PPI) INPUTS to construction reflect costs at various stages of material production, generally do not represent final cost of materials to the jobsite and do not include labor, productivity or margins. Even with that, a PPI Inputs index +20% for a material could be only a +5% final cost. PPI Final Demand indices include all costs and do represent actual final cost. The solid black line (above) represents the Construction Analytics Building Cost Index for Nonresidential Bldgs and is a final cost index.

This short table shows the inflation rate for each year. Useful to compare to last year, but you would need to mathematically do the compounding to move over several years. The plot below shows the cumulative inflation index, or the cumulative compounded effect of inflation for any two points in time.

Typically, when work volume decreases, the bidding environment gets more competitive. We can always expect some margin decline when there are fewer nonresidential projects to bid on, which typically results in sharper pencils. However, when labor or materials shortages develop or productivity declines, that causes inflation to increase. We can also expect cost increases due to project time extensions or potential overtime to meet a fixed end-date.

Current$ Spending, Inflation, Constant$ Volume

Volume = spending minus inflation. Spending includes inflation. Inflation adds nothing to the volume.

Inflation adjusted volume is spending minus inflation, or to be more accurate, spending divided by (1+inflation). Inflation adds nothing to volume growth. The following table shows spending, inflation and volume (spending without inflation) for each year. Spending is current to the year stated. The values in the constant table are indexed to a constant value year, 2019. This shows business volume year to year, can be a lot different than spending would indicate. When inflation is positive, volume is always less than spending by the amount attributed to inflation.

Lower inflation in 2024 means more of that spending is counting towards real volume growth. Expecting only 4% to 5% inflation for 2024, real volume growth could reach 6% for the first time since 2015. From 2012-2016, volume growth averaged 6%/yr. For the last four years, 2020-2023, 42% spending growth vs 37% inflation growth netted only 5% total real volume growth. Since 2017, volume growth averaged less than 1%/yr. Non-building Infrastructure volume could increase 10%+ in 2024.

Spending during the year is the value of business volume plus the inflation on that volume. When inflation is 12%, volume plus 12% = total spending. Revenue is generally measured by spending put-in-place during the year. Revenue does not measure volume growth. In 2022, Nonresidential buildings inflation was 12%, so business volume was 12% less than spending, or 12% less than revenue. Residential volume was 15% less then spending.

When referencing Constant $ growth, remember the dollars for all years are reported here as 2019$. If the baseline year is changed to this year (divide all indices by this year’s index), the resulting comparison would be all years reported as 2024$. The dollars would all be greater, but the percent change would be the same. In this table, nominal spending is divided by the inflation INDEX for the year. You can also deduct the percent inflation from any individual year of spending to find inflation adjusted $ for that year alone, however that method would not allow comparing the adjusted dollars to any other year. A baseline year is necessary to compare dollars from any year to any other year.

Reference Inflation Data Construction Inflation 2024

Through December 2023, Total Construction Spending is up 40% for the four years 2020-2023, but, during that same period inflation increased 35%. After adjusting for 35% inflation, constant $ volume is up only 5%. So, while the current $ spending plot shows a four-year total increase of 40% in spending, the actual change in business volume is up only 5% and has just in the last few months returned to the pre-pandemic peak in Feb-Mar 2020.

Jobs are supported by growth in construction volume, spending minus inflation. If volume is declining, there is no support to increase jobs. Although total volume for 2023 is up 2.3%, Residential volume is down 9%, Nonresidential Bldgs volume is up 16% and Non-building volume is up 8%. Inflation was so high in 2021 and 2022 that it ate away most of the spending gains in those years.

Jobs vs Volume

Construction Jobs increased 2.75% in 2023. We added 214,000 jobs (avg’23-avg’22). There are currently 8,056,000 construction jobs. The largest annual increase post 2010 is 321,000 jobs (+4.6%) in 2018. The average jobs growth post 2010 is 200,000 jobs per year.

Since 2010, average jobs growth is 3%/yr. Average volume of work growth since 2010 is 2.3%/yr. This plot shows Jobs and Volume growth closely match from 2011 to 2018. With few exceptions for recession periods, this pattern can be seen throughout the historical data.

What’s remarkable about the growth is this, since 2016, spending has increased 63%, volume after inflation increased 6% and jobs increased 19%. In the last 7 years, 2017-2023, jobs increased 2.5%/yr. Volume of work increased only 0.8%/yr. Volume and jobs should be moving together.

It takes about 5000 jobs to put-in-place $1 billion of volume in one year. It could easily vary from 4000 to 6000. So, an add of $100 billion+ in one year would need 500,000 new jobs. Jobs should track volume, not spending growth. Volume = spending minus inflation.

Normal construction jobs growth is about 250,000 jobs per year and maximum prior growth is about 400,000. From the table above, Nonresidential Bldgs and Non-building Infrastructure added $100bil of volume in 2023 and will add $60bil in 2024. The workload discussed above would theoretically require 500,000 new jobs in 2023 and 300,000 more in 2024. That’s an expansion of the industry workforce by 10% in two years, for just half the industry, in an industry that normally grows in total 3%/yr. This industry can’t grow that fast. This may have some impact if over-capacity growth results in a potential reduction or extension in future forecast. You can’t increase spending that fast if you can’t also expand the labor force and the suppliers to the industry that fast.

In the last 12 months, Dec’22 to Dec’23, Nonres Bldgs jobs are up 4%. Nonres Bldgs spending is up 23%, by far driven by Manufacturing, but after ~5.4% inflation, volume of nonres bldgs workload is up 16%. So, we have a 4% increase in jobs versus a 16% increase in volume.

The last year has shown a huge increase in the volume of nonres bldgs work, without an equal increase in jobs. Is this excess nonres bldgs jobs for the past three years now absorbing added workload, (a 4% increase in jobs but a 16% increase in volume), without collapsing the labor force or canceling the volume?

Non-building, over the next two years, could experience the same kind of growth spurt as Nonres Bldgs., a forecast increase in volume the next two years without an equal increase in jobs. Volume which was lower than jobs since 2021, is now increasing faster than jobs. Non-bldg volume is forecast up 6% to
8%/year the next 3 years. Jobs increase at an avg. 3.5%/year.

Residential volume has exceeded residential jobs all the way back to 2011. The recent decline in volume brings the two even, if the jobs hold the pace.

For as long as I can remember, the construction industry has been complaining of jobs shortages. And yet, as shown in the data mentioned above, jobs have increased multiples times greater than volume of work. With an exception for recession years, (2007-2010 and 2020), jobs increase at a rate of 2.5% to 3% per year. The greatest disparity between jobs and volume occurred in late 2022, when jobs growth had already resumed normal pace, but volume of work was still reeling from the effects of new construction starts that were canceled dating back to late 2020-early 2021. Recent volume growth at a much faster rate than jobs growth is now closing the gap.

When jobs increase without an equal increase in the volume of work, productivity declines. This recent increase in volume and the projected increase in volume in 2024, several points stronger than jobs, will offset some of the disparity which has been negative for a long time.

Reference Inflation Data Construction Inflation 2024

Reference Article The Next Forecast Challenge

Reference Article Midyear ’23 Jobs Outlook

Reference Article Reliability of Predicted Forecast

Reference Link to Web Dodge Construction News

Below is a downloadable 24 page PDF of the complete 2024 Outlook

CONSTR OUTLOOK 2024 Feb 2024 Download

Construction Data Briefs AUG Data 10-6-2023

October 2, 2023 5:09 pm / Leave a comment

Total Construction Spending in 2023 is forecast at $1,950 billion, an increase of 5.5% over 2022.

Nonresidential Buildings spending is leading Construction spending growth. With eight months in the year-to-date (ytd) for 2023, total all construction spending ytd is up 4.2%. Nonresidential buildings spending is up 22% ytd compared to Jan-Aug 2022, the fastest rate of nonres bldgs growth in over 30 years. Only 2006 & 2007 come close at 13% & 19% growth years. Commercial/Retail spending peaked in January 2023 and has dropped every month since. It will drop from a ytd of 8.5% down to a yearly total of 5%. Manufacturing is up 74% ytd and will hold on to finish the year up 66%.

Nonbuilding spending ytd is up 12%. The largest advances are in Highway, up 16% ytd, and Public Utilities. Sewage/Waste Water is up 24% ytd, Water Supply is up 15% ytd and Conservation/Rivers/Dams is up 26% ytd .

Residential Spending ytd compared to Jan-Aug 2022 is still down -8.7%. Residential spending peaked in Mar 2022 and had a recent bottom in Apr 2023. Since April, the annual rate of residential spending is up 5.6%, almost entirely due to an 8% increase in the largest segment, single family spending, 45% of all residential spending. Multifamily spending is is up 6%, but it’s only 15% of residential spending.

Spending Forecast

Total Construction Spending in 2023 is forecast at $1,950 billion, an increase of 5.5% over 2022.

Nonresidential Buildings spending is forecast at $662 billion, an increase of 20.6% over 2022.

Non-building Infrastructure spending is forecast at $421 billion, an increase of 12.9% over 2022.

Residential Buildings spending is forecast at $867 billion, a decline of -6.5% less than 2022.

This forecast does not include a recession.

Spending by Sector Current $ and Inflation Adjusted Constant $

In 2023, it’s Nonresidential Buildings leading growth. In 2024, it will be Non-building Infrastructure leading spending growth. Both are expected to post spending growth greater than the inflation index, so there will be real volume growth. In 2020+2021, residential volume grew 10%/yr. For 2023, residential volume drops 10%. Nonresidential Bldgs will post a 13% increase in volume in 2023 and flatten out at that level through 2024. Non-building volume increases 6% to 7%/yr for the next few years.

New Construction Starts

The rate of construction spending in 2023 will be influenced predominantly by a 50% increase in new nonresidential building starts in 2022. In recent years, new nonres bldgs starts averaged $300 billion/year. In the 2nd half of 2022, starts averaged near $500 billion/year. From Mar-Aug 2023 starts averaged $400 billion/year. Many of those projects will have peak spending in 2023 or 2024.

Residential construction (Dodge) starts posted the five highest months ever, all in the 1st 6 months of 2022. In the second half of 2022, residential starts fell 15%. In Q1 2023, residential starts dropped another 12% below 2nd half 2022. Finally in July and August, starts regained some strength coming in 33% higher than the lows in Q1. Residential starts are still down 17% year-to-date vs 2022.

Nonresidential Buildings, in 2022 posted the largest ever one-year increase in construction starts, up 50%. Nonres Bldgs starts in the 2nd half 2022, averaged 67% higher than any other 6mo period in history. Starts fell 20% in the 1st half 2023 but still posted the 2nd highest 6mo average ever. Nonres Bldgs starts are down 17% ytd.

Growth in Manufacturing construction starts for 2022 far surpasses growth in any other market, up over 150%.

Non-building starts for the 6 month period Mar-Aug 2023 posted the best 6 months on record, up 30% from the average of 2022. The 2nd half 2022 was up 50% over 1st half 2022. The 6 months Mar-Aug 2023 is up 18% from 2nd half 2022. For 2023, Highway/Bridge and Power have the strongest gains. Total Non-building Starts for 2023 are forecast up 25%. Non-bldg starts are up 22% ytd.

Current $ Spending, Inflation and Constant $ Volume

SEE Construction Inflation 2023

Spending during the year is the value of business volume plus the inflation on that volume. When inflation is 12%, volume plus 12% = total spending. Revenue is generally measured by spending put-in-place during the year. Therefore, Revenue does not measure volume growth. In 2022, Nonresidential buildings inflation was 12%, so business volume was 12% less than spending, or 12% less than revenue. Residential volume was 15% less then spending.

Through August 2023, Overall Construction Spending is up 28% in the 42 months since the onset of the pandemic, but, during that same period inflation increased 33%. After adjusting for 33% inflation, constant $ volume is down 5%. So, while the plot on the left shows three years of increases in spending, the actual change in business volume is still down and has not yet returned to the pre-pandemic peak in Feb-Mar 2020.

Does Volume of Work Support Jobs Growth?

or, Can jobs growth support volume of work?

Jobs should track volume, not spending growth. Volume = spending minus inflation. Volume is down, although now increasing, while jobs are up. Nonres Bldgs volume, in constant $, fell 25% from Feb 2020 to Sept 2021, and hit a second deeper low in mid-2022. Since then, the actual change in nonres bldgs volume has increased 18%. Yet nonres bldgs jobs increased only 3.5%. That still leaves volume nearly 10% lower than the pre-pandemic high. If the same production levels ($ put-in-place per worker) as 2019 were to be regained, theoretically, nonresidential volume would need to increase 10% with no increase in nonresidential jobs. For now, productivity is well below that of 2019, but it is improving because volume is increasing rapidly and jobs are increasing slowly.

Nonresidential Buildings spending in 2023 is forecast at $660 billion, an increase of 20.6%, or an increase of $113 billion in 2023. Non-building Infrastructure spending is forecast up 13% ($50bil) in 2023 and 10% ($40bil) in 2024.

Generally, it takes 5000 jobs to put-in-place $1 billion in one year. It could easily vary from 4000 to 6000. So an add of $100 billion+ in 2023 would need 500,000 new jobs. Adding $200 billion over two years would need 1,000,000 new jobs.

Construction Jobs vs Construction Volume

These plots updated to jobs report 10-6-23

Since Q1 2020, pre-pandemic high, spending increased 28%, but inflation was 33%, so real volume of work is down 5%. In that time jobs increased 5%. Jobs are way ahead of volume, but volume is backfilling in the void, especially in nonres bldgs.

This plot with baseline Jan 1, 2011 shows that jobs increase pretty consistently at about 3% to 4% per year. Except for the spike down in 2020, rate of growth (slope of the jobs line) is consistent for 13 years.

If we were to grow the labor force to meet the newly identified workload added from new starts, we would need to double the prior maximum rate of construction jobs growth. Normal construction jobs growth is about 250,000 jobs per year and maximum prior growth is about 400,000. The workload discussed above would require 500,000 new jobs/yr., back to back. That’s an expansion of the industry by 15%, in an industry that normally grows 3%/yr. This industry can’t grow that fast. (Which means we may all need to account for over-capacity growth as a potential reduction in future forecast. You can’t increase spending that fast if you can’t also expand the labor force and the suppliers to the industry that fast).

My first thoughts were, Jobs may not be able to increase fast enough to put-in-place the forecast spending. This impediment needs to be accounted for and could reduce overall construction spending forecast over the next two years. The most likely markets where a reduction might occur are Manufacturing, Highway and Public Utilities.

However this is what happened the past year. In the last 12 months, Aug’22 to Aug’23, Nonres Bldgs jobs are up 3.8%. Nonres Bldgs spending is up 21%, by far driven by Manufacturing, but after ~6% inflation, volume of nonres bldgs workload is up 15%. So, we have a 3.8% increase in jobs to accomodate a 15% increase in volume.

The last year has shown a huge increase in the volume of nonres bldgs work, without an equal increase in jobs. This shows the excess nonres bldgs jobs for the past three years is now absorbing new workload, (a 3.8% increase in jobs to accomodate a 15% increase in volume), without collapsing the labor force or canceling the volume. However, the ability to absorb work into the existing workforce cannot continue.

Non-building, over the next two years, could experience the same kind of growth spurt as Nonres Bldgs., a forecast increase in volume the next two years without an equal increase in jobs. Volume which was lower than jobs since 2021, is now increasing faster than jobs. Non-bldg volume is forecast up 6% to 8%/year the next 3 years. Jobs increase at an avg. 3.5%/year.

Residential volume has exceeded residential jobs all the way back to 2011. The recent decline in volume brings the two even, if the jobs hold the pace.

SEE more discussion on Volume and Jobs

here 2023 Construction Volume Growth

here 2023 Midyear Jobs Outlook

and here Infrastructure Construction Expansion – Not So Fast

Construction Data Briefs JUN 2023

June 16, 2023 8:31 am / Leave a comment

Nonresidential Buildings spending is leading Construction spending growth. For the first four months of 2023, total construction spending year-to-date (ytd) is up 6.1%. Nonresidential buildings spending is up 30% ytd compared to the same four months 2022, the fastest rate of nonres bldgs growth in over 20 years. Nonbuilding spending ytd is up 11%. Residential spending peaked in March 2022. Since then the annual rate of residential spending has dropped 11%.

SPENDING FORECAST

Total Construction Spending in 2023 is now forecast to reach $1,915 billion, an increase of 6.4% over 2022.

Nonresidential Buildings spending in 2023 is now forecast at $660 billion, an increase of 26.2% over 2022.

Construction Spending through April is up 6.1% ytd. Spending is forecast to finish 2023 up 6.4%.

Total construction spending for 2023 is on track to increase +6.4%. Residential -8.1%, Nonres Bldgs +26.2%, Nonbldg +14.4%.

SPENDING BY SECTOR CURRENT $ AND INFLATION ADJUSTED CONSTANT $

In 2023, it’s Nonresidential Buildings leading growth. In 2024, it will be Nonbuilding Infrastructure leading spending growth. Both are expected to grow greater than the inflation index.

Current $ Spending, Inflation and Volume

SEE Construction Inflation 2023

Inflation adjusted volume is spending minus inflation, or to be more accurate, spending divided by (1+inflation). Inflation adds nothing to volume growth. The following table shows spending, inflation and volume (spending without inflation) for each year. All $ are current to the year stated. The values in this table are not indexed to a constant value year. This simply shows business volume in any given year is not as high as spending would indicate. When inflation is positive, volume is always less than spending by the amount attributed to inflation.

Spending during the year is the value of business volume plus the inflation on that volume. When inflation is 12%, volume plus 12% = total spending. Revenue is generally measured by spending put-in-place during the year. In 2022, Nonresidential buildings inflation was 11.9%, so business volume was 11.9% less than spending, or less than revenue. Residential volume was 15.5% less then spending.

SPENDING TOTAL CURRENT $

VOLUME CURRENT $ = SPENDING MINUS INFLATION

CONSTANT $ = VOLUME OVER TIME

Overall Construction Spending is up 25% in the 38 months since the onset of the pandemic, but, during that same period inflation increased 31%. After adjusting for 31% inflation, constant $ volume is down 4%. So, while the plot on the left shows three years of increases in spending, the actual change in business volume is still down and has not yet returned to the pre-pandemic peak in Feb-Mar 2020.

NONRESIDENTIAL SPENDING (CURRENT $) AND VOLUME (CONSTANT $)

Nonresidential Buildings spending in 2023 is forecast at $660 billion, an increase of 26.2%, or $137 billion.

In 2022 we realized the largest ever one-year increase in new nonresidential buildings construction starts, up 40%. Starts were also up 15% in 2021.

The AIA Consensus Construction Forecast, December 2022 predicts only a 5.8% increase in spending for nonresidential buildings in 2023. My beginning of year forecast for comparison was 15.8%. My current forecast is +26.2%. The current year-to-date spending through April is up 30%.

We began the year with record new starts indicating an increasing spending rate. The monthly rate of spending is up 12 of the last 14 months, has increased for 6 consecutive months and is up 20% in the last 6 months. The rate of spending is predicted to increase 10 out of 12 months in 2023, a total increase of 11% over the year. Barring any unforeseen negative occurrence, the trajectory in the rate of spending is increasing.

Year-to-date nonresidential buildings spending for Apr is up 30%. This is driven by Manufacturing, up 84% ytd, but also supported by Lodging up 40% ytd and Commercial/Retail up 23% ytd. Every nonresidential building market except Public Safety (up only 8%) is up greater than 10% ytd.

Nonresidential buildings spending fell 17% from March 2020 to Sept 2021, then increased 48% from Sept 2021 to Apr 2023. Currently, as of Apr 2023, spending is 24% higher than the pre-pandemic peak in Feb 2020. But nonresidential buildings inflation over that same 36 months increased 27%. Business volume in constant $ actually fell 25% from Feb 2020 to Sept 2021, and hit a secondary low in mid-2022. Since then, the actual change in business volume has increased 31%, but that still leaves volume nearly 2% lower than the pre-pandemic high.

Non-building Infrastructure spending for 2023-24 is forecast up 25%, up $50 billion/year for two years. Non-building Infrastructure will post the 1st year of sizable gains since 2019, forecast at $418bil, up 13.5% in 2023. In 2022, Highway and Public Utilities posted strong gains of 9.1% and 16.6%, but those gains were offset by a 8.7% decline in Power. For 2023, Highway and Transportation recorded the strongest starts in five years. All markets post spending gains in 2023, with Highway up 26%, Transportation up 6% and Public Utilities up 18%.

Non-building Infrastructure spending is up 6% since Feb 2020. After adjusting for 27% inflation, constant business volume is down 16%.

RESIDENTIAL SPENDING SF-MF-RENO CURRENT $ AND CONSTANT $

Residential starts are forecast down or flat in 2022 and 2023. Spending grew 44% in the last 2yrs, but inflation was 30% of that 44%. With no growth in starts forecast for 22-23, spending will struggle to keep up with inflation. Residential spending is forecast to fall 8% in 2023. Most of the decline is single family. Single family is down 24% over 12 consecutive down months. Multifamily is up 24% over the same 12 months. But, it’s not an even swap. There’s 3x more spending in SF than in MF. Renovations gained 25% in 2022 but spending varies +/- 10% throughout the year. Midyear there is potential for 6 consecutive down months that could send residential spending down another 7% before year end.

DOES VOLUME OF WORK SUPPORT JOBS GROWTH? or, Can jobs growth support volume of work?

Jobs should track volume, not spending growth. Volume = spending minus inflation. Volume is down, although now increasing, while jobs are up. Nonres Bldgs volume, in constant $, fell 25% from Feb 2020 to Sept 2021, and hit a secondary low in mid-2022. Since then, the actual change in nonres bldgs volume has increased 18%. Yet nonres bldgs jobs increased only 3.5%. That still leaves volume nearly 10% lower than the pre-pandemic high. If the same production levels ($ put-in-place per worker) as 2019 were to be regained, theoretically, nonresidential volume would need to increase 10% with no increase in nonresidential jobs. For now, productivity is well below that of 2019.

Nonresidential Buildings spending in 2023 is forecast at $660 billion, an increase of 26.2%, or an increase of $137 billion in 2023. Non-building Infrastructure spending for 2023-24 is forecast up 25%, up $50 billion/year each year.

Normally, it takes 5000 jobs to put-in-place $1 billion in one year. So an add of $100 billion in 2024 would need 500,000 new jobs. 2023 would need 750,000 new jobs.

If we were to grow the labor force to meet the newly identified workload added from new starts, we would need to double the prior maximum rate of construction jobs growth. Normal growth is about 250,000 jobs per year and maximum prior growth is about 400,000. The workload discussed above would require 750,000 + 500,000 new jobs back to back. That’s an expansion of the industry by 15%, in an industry that normally grows 3%/yr. This industry can’t grow that fast. (Which means I need to account for over-capacity growth as a potential reduction in future forecast. You can’t increase spending that fast if you can’t expand the industry that fast).

My first thoughts were, Jobs may not be able to increase fast enough to put-in-place the forecast spending. This impediment needs to be accounted for and could reduce overall construction spending forecast over the next two years. The most likely markets where a reduction would occur are Manufacturing, Highway, Commercial/Retail and Office.

However this is what happened the past year. In the last 12 months, Mar’22 to Mar’23, nonres bldgs jobs are up 3.5%. Nonres Bldgs spending is up 21%, but after ~7% inflation, volume of nonres bldgs workload is up 14%. So, we have a 3.5% increase in jobs to accomodate a 14% increase in volume.

The last year has shown a huge increase in the volume of nonres bldgs work, without an equal increase in jobs. This shows the excess nonres bldgs jobs for the past three years is now absorbing new workload, (a 3.5% increase in jobs to accomodate a 14% increase in volume), without a cry of jobs shortages.

SEE more discussion on Volume and Jobs

here 2023 Construction Volume Growth

and here Infrastructure Construction Expansion – Not So Fast

Construction Data Briefs APR 2023

April 7, 2023 3:04 pm / Leave a comment

Construction is booming. Nonresidential buildings is leading growth. For the first two months of the year, total construction spending year-to-date (ytd) is up 5.9%, but nonresidential buildings spending is up 23% ytd, the fastest rate of nonres bldgs growth in over 20 years. Nonresidential buildings annual rate of spending has increased 19% in the last six months. Nonbuilding spending ytd is up 8%. Nonbuilding annual rate of spending increased 10% in the last four months. Residential spending peaked in March 2022. Since then the annual rate of residential spending has dropped 11%.

Total Construction Spending in 2023 is now forecast to reach $1,894 billion, an increase of 5.3% over 2022.

Nonresidential Buildings spending in 2023 is now forecast at $629 billion, an increase of 20.3% over 2022.

STARTS

Growth in Manufacturing construction starts for 2022 far surpasses growth in any other market, up over 150%. Office is up 36% (datacenters), Healthcare up 17%, Comm/Rtl up 23% (warehouses).

Non-building starts increased more than 100% in July 2022. The 2nd half 2022 was up 50% over 1st half 2022. Starts for 2023 are forecast up 15%. For 2022, Highway up 25%, Transportation up 45%, Power up 30% and Public Works up 15%.

SPENDING FORECAST

Construction Spending through February 2023 is up 5.9% ytd. Spending is forecast to finish 2023 up 5.3%.

While residential falls back nearly 7% in 2023, Nonresidential buildings is leading with a forecast of 20% spending growth.

Total construction spending for 2023 is on track to increase +5.3%. Residential -6.7%, Nonres Bldgs +20.3%, Nonbldg +13.5%.

SPENDING BY SECTOR CURRENT $ AND INFLATION ADJUSTED CONSTANT $

In 2023, it’s Nonresidential Buildings leading growth. In 2024, it will be Nonbuilding Infrastructure leading spending growth. Both are expected to grow greater than the inflation index.

Current $ Spending, Inflation and Volume SEE Construction Inflation 2023

Inflation adjusted volume is spending minus inflation, or to be more accurate, spending divided by (1+inflation). The following table shows spending, inflation and volume (spending without inflation) for each year. All $ are current to the year stated. This table shows that inflation adds nothing to volume growth. All values in this table are current to the year stated. The values in this table are not indexed to a constant value year. This is an attempt to show that business volume in any given year is not as high as spending would indicate. When inflation is positive, volume is always less than spending by the amount attributed to inflation.

Spending during the year is the value of business volume plus the inflation on that volume. When inflation is 12%, volume plus 12% = total spending. Revenue is generally measured by spending put-in-place during the year. In 2022, Nonresidential buildings business volume was 12.2% less than spending, or less than revenue. Residential volume was 15.7% less then spending.

SPENDING TOTAL CURRENT $ AND INFLATION ADJUSTED CONSTANT $

Overall Construction Spending is up 22% in the 36 months since the onset of the pandemic, but, during that same period inflation increased 31%. After adjusting for 31% inflation, constant $ volume is down 7%. So, while the plot on the left shows three years of increases in spending, the actual change in business volume is still down and has not yet returned to the pre-pandemic peak in Feb-Mar 2020.

NONRESIDENTIAL SPENDING (CURRENT $) AND VOLUME (CONSTANT $)

Nonresidential Buildings spending in 2023 is forecast at $629 billion, an increase of 20.3%, or $100 billion and add another $50 billion in 2024.

In 2022 we realized the largest ever one-year increase in new nonresidential buildings construction starts, up 40%. Starts were also up 15% in 2021.

Year-to-date nonresidential buildings spending for Jan+Feb is up 23%. This is driven by Manufacturing, up 53% ytd, but also supported by Lodging up 38% ytd and Commercial/Retail up 23% ytd. Every nonresidential building market except Educational (up only 8%) is up greater than 10% ytd.

Nonresidential buildings spending fell 17% from March 2020 to Sept 2021, then increased 36% from Sept 2021 to Feb 2023. Currently, as of Feb 2023, spending is 14% higher than the pre-pandemic peak in Feb 2020. But nonresidential buildings inflation over that same 36 months increased 26%. Business volume in constant $ actually fell 25% from Feb 2020 to Sept 2021, and hit a secondary low in mid-2022. Since then, the actual change in business volume has increased 18%, but that still leaves volume nearly 10% lower than the pre-pandemic high.

Non-building Infrastructure spending for 2023-24 is forecast up 25%, up $50 billion/year for two years. Non-building Infrastructure will post the 1st year of sizable gains since 2019, forecast at $415bil, up 13.5% in 2023. In 2022, Highway and Public Utilities posted strong gains of 9.1% and 16.6%, but those gains were offset by a 8.7% decline in Power. For 2023, Highway and Transportation recorded the strongest starts in five years. All markets post spending gains in 2023, with Highway up 26%, Transportation up 9% and Public Utilities up 8%.

Non-building Infrastructure spending is up 4% in 36 months since Feb 2020. After adjusting for 26% inflation, constant business volume is down 17%.

RESIDENTIAL SPENDING SF-MF-RENO CURRENT $ AND CONSTANT $

Residential starts are forecast down or flat in 2022 and 2023. Spending grew 44% in the last 2yrs, but inflation was 30% of that 44%. With no growth in starts forecast for 22-23, spending will struggle to keep up with inflation. Residential spending is forecast to fall 7% in 2023. Most of the decline is single family. Single family is down a total of 23% over 10 consecutive months. Multifamily is up 22% over 13 consecutive months. Renovations gained 25% in 2022 but spending varies +/- 10% throughout the year. Midyear there is potential for 6 consecutive down months in residential spending.

DOES VOLUME OF WORK SUPPORT JOBS GROWTH? or, Can jobs growth support volume of work?

Jobs should track volume, not spending growth. Volume = spending minus inflation. Volume is down, although now increasing, while jobs are up. Nonres Bldgs volume, in constant $, fell 25% from Feb 2020 to Sept 2021, and hit a secondary low in mid-2022. Since then, the actual change in nonres bldgs volume has increased 18%. Yet nonres bldgs jobs increased only 3.5%. That still leaves volume nearly 10% lower than the pre-pandemic high. If the same production levels ($ put-in-place per worker) as 2019 were to be regained, theoretically, nonresidential volume would need to increase 10% with no increase in nonresidential jobs. For now, productivity is well below that of 2019.

Nonresidential Buildings spending in 2023 is forecast at $629 billion, an increase of 20.3%, or $100 billion and another $50 billion in 2024. Non-building Infrastructure spending for 2023-24 is forecast up 25%, up $50 billion/year each year.

This growth amounts to an increase of $150 billion in 2023 and $100 billion in 2024. It takes 5000 jobs to put-in-place $1 billion. So $100 billion in 2024 would need 500,000 new jobs. 2023 would need 750,000 new jobs.

4-16-23 update- Everything forecast above is predicated on the normal cash flow of forecast new starts. As of yet, this forecast has not been reduced to reflect the inability of the industry to expand jobs fast enough to absorb the volume of spending generated from forecast starts. Whether new starts get canceled or delayed, spending needs to be reduced annually for at least the next two years simply because jobs cannot increase fast enough to put-in-place the forecast spending. This impediment needs to be accounted for and could reduce overall construction spending forecast by approximately $40-$60 billion in 2023 and $25-$40 billion in 2024. The most likely markets where a reduction would occur are Manufacturing, Highway, Commercial/Retail and Office.

SEE more discussion on Volume and Jobs

here 2023 Construction Volume Growth

and here Infrastructure Construction Expansion – Not So Fast

Construction Briefs Nov’22

November 2, 2022 9:39 am / Leave a comment

Construction is Booming. Well, OK, construction is setting up to be booming in 2023-2024. New construction starts for Sept are down 19% from August and yet starts are still near the highest levels ever. Sept is 4th highest total starts ever, all four of the highest ever months of new starts are in 2022. July and Aug were the two highest months of new starts ever. Total growth in starts over 2021-2022 > Nonres Bldgs +50%, Nonbldg Infra +40%, Residential (all in ’21) +22%.

STARTS

Construction Spending will not be participating in a 2023 recession. Except, residential might. Residential starts in 2021 were up +21% to a really high new high. But starts are forecast flat in 2022 and 2023. Spending grew 44% in the last 2yrs, but inflation was 30% of that 44%. With zero growth in starts forecast for 22-23, spending struggles to keep up with inflation. Residential will post only an increase of 3% in 2023 spending, but midyear there is potential for 6 consecutive down months.

Current and predicted Inflation SEE Construction Inflation at Year-End 2022

Inflation adjusted volume is spending minus inflation.

Total volume for 2022 falls 1%. Rsdn +3%, Nonres Bldgs -1%, Nonbldg -9%.

Total volume for 2023 is up 1%. Rsdn -3%, Nonres Bldgs +8%, Nonbldg +2%.

SPENDING TOTAL ALL $ CURRENT $ AND INFLATION ADJUSTED CONSTANT $

Overall Construction Spending is up 15% since the onset of the pandemic, but, after adjusting for 25% inflation, volume is down 10%. Residential jobs are near even on track with volume, but Nonres and Nonbldg have volume deficits of approx 20-25% vs jobs.

Feb 2020 to Aug 2022
Resdn spend +42%, vol +6.5%, jobs +7%
Nonres Bldgs spend -8%, vol -24%, jobs -3%
NonBldg spend -7.5%, vol -24%, jobs +1%

JOBS VS CONSTRUCTION VOLUME VS SPENDING (VOL = SPENDING MINUS INFLATION

Labor Shortage? Jobs should track volume, not spending growth. Vol = spending minus inflation. Volume is down while jobs are up. If the same production levels ($ put-in-place per worker) as 2019 were to be regained, theoretically, nonresidential volume would need to increase 20% with no increase in nonresidential jobs. I don’t expect that to occur, therefore, productivity will remain well below that of 2019.

LABOR PRODUCTIVITY

Over the next year or two, there could be several billion$ of construction spending to repair hurricane damaged homes in Florida. That spending will NOT be reported in Census spending reports. Renovations to repair natural disaster damage are not recorded in construction spending. Construction spending to replace homes entirely lost to damage IS reported in Census spending, but is reported as renovations/repair, not new SF or MF construction.

RESIDENTIAL SPENDING SF-MF-RENO CURRENT $ AND CONSTANT $

Construction Economics – An Eye on Forecasts

May 5, 2021 12:52 pm / Leave a comment

5-5-21

How can you tell if your preferred construction economic forecast is on track to finish the year as predicted?

For comparison, in the following link I’ve collected initial 2021 construction spending forecasts from nine different sources. Measuring Forecasting Methodology & Accuracy

As of 5-3-21, three months of actual data are in. The first step is to compare that current actual data to the predictions. The next step is to use a bit of math to answer the question, Can we get there from here?

Here’s examples:

First let’s look at Lodging. In the AIA initial 2021 Outlook, ABC forecast -13% and Moody’s forecast -52%. Current spending year to date through March is -25%. Are either of these forecasts achievable?

Lodging construction starts dropped 11% in 2019 and dropped another 50% in 2020. The seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of spending fell from $33bil in Q1 2020 to $24bil in Q1 2021, down 27%. The current rate of spending is coming in between 25%-30% below same month last year (yoy).

Now do the math.

Look at the ABC forecast for lodging. To finish the year down -13%, monthly spending needs to average -13% for all 12 months of 2021. 12 months x -13% = -157. But 3 months, down cumulatively 25%, are already known. 3 months x -25% = -75. What would need to occur for the last 9 months to reach a total 2021 spending down -13%?

12 x -13% = -157 minus 3 x -25% = -75, therefore -157 minus -75 = -82. In the remaining nine months, Lodging would need to fall a cumulative 82%, or 82/9 = an average of 9%/month.

Well, the current rate of spending is down 25% yoy and construction starts the previous two years are down 60%. Cash flows seem to indicate spending will not increase this year. There is little hope of seeing an increase in monthly spending in 2021. Since new starts are less than half of only two years ago, spending is unlikely to increase from a monthly rate down 25% to a monthly rate down only 9% for the next nine consecutive months. Therefore this forecast is unlikely to play out. The ABC forecast is too optimistic.

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Now let’s look at the Moody’s forecast for lodging. To finish the year down -52%, monthly spending needs to average -52% for all 12 months of 2021. 12 months x -52% = -624. But 3 months, down cumulatively 25%, are already known. 3 months x -25% = -75. What would need to occur for the last 9 months to reach a total 2021 spending down -52%?

12 x -52% = -624 minus 3 x -25% = -75, therefore -624 minus -75 = -549. In the remaining nine months, Lodging would need to fall a cumulative 549%, or 549/9 = an average of 61%/month.

Well, the current rate of spending is down 25% yoy and construction starts the previous two years are down 60%. Cash flows are indicating monthly spending will drop 3% to 4% per month this year. Spending would need to decline 61-25=36% in one month and stay at that rate for the remainder of the year, OR, spending would need to start falling at a rate of 12%/month and continue 12% lower every month for the remainder of the year. By December, spending would be down over 100%, so this is not even feasible. Therefore this forecast cannot play out. The Moody’s forecast is far too pesimistic.

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Second, let’s look at Manufacturing. In the AIA initial 2021 Outlook, ABC forecast +6.5% and Moody’s forecast -3.4%. Current spending year to date through March is -9%. Are either of these forecasts achievable?

Manufacturing construction starts dropped 10% in 2019 and dropped another 57% in 2020. The seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of spending fell from $78bil in Q1 2020 to $71bil in Q1 2021, down 10%. The current rate of spending is coming in between 7%-11% below same month last year (yoy).

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Look at the ABC forecast for manufacturing. To finish the year up +6.5%, monthly spending needs to average +6.5% for all 12 months of 2021. 12 months x +6.5% = +78. But 3 months, down cumulatively 9%, are already known. 3 months x -9% = -27. What would need to occur for the last 9 months to reach a total 2021 spending up+6.5%?

12 x +6.5% = +78 minus 3 x -9% = -27, therefore +78 minus -27 = +105. In the remaining nine months, Manufacturing would need to gain a cumulative 105%, or 105/9 = an average of +12%/month.

Well, the current rate of spending is down 9% yoy and construction starts the previous two years are down 67%. Cash flows seem to indicate spending will continue to drop at a rate of 2% to 3% per month this year. There is little hope of seeing an increase in monthly spending in 2021. Since new starts are down 67% from two years ago, spending is unlikely to increase from a monthly rate down 9% to a monthly rate up 12%, a swing of 21%, for the next nine consecutive months. Therefore this forecast is highly unlikely to play out. The ABC forecast is far to optimistic.

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Now let’s look at the Moody’s forecast for manufacturing. To finish the year down -3.4%, monthly spending needs to average -3.4% for all 12 months of 2021. 12 months x -3.4% = -41. But 3 months, down cumulatively 9%, are already known. 3 months x -9% = -27. What would need to occur for the last 9 months to reach a total 2021 spending down +3.4%?

12 x -3.4% = -41 minus 3 x -9% = -27, therefore -41 minus -27 = -14. In the remaining nine months, Manufacturing would need to fall a cumulative -14%, or -14/9 = an average of -1.5%/month.

Well, the current rate of spending is down 9% yoy and construction starts the previous two years are down 67%. Cash flows are indicating monthly spending will drop 2% to 3% per month, every month this year. Spending would need to begin falling at a rate of only -1.5%/month and continue -1.5% lower every month for the remainder of the year. A decline of 67% in starts over the previous two years solidifies a rate of decline beyond that at near 3%/month. This scenario would depend on cutting the rate of decline in half for the remainder of the year, but the lack of starts in previous years provides no help to achieve that goal. The Moody’s forecast is too optimistic.

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It’s in your best interest to know how to assess the plausibility of forecast components before you question an analysis that varies widely from your preferred forecast. It may be your preferred forecast that is way off.

2021 Construction Economic Forecast – Summary

February 16, 2021 3:00 pm / Leave a comment

Initial Construction Outlook 2021, 2-5-21, based on data from:

Actual Jobs data includes BLS Jobs to Jan 16^th, issued 2-5-21
Forecast includes US Census Dec 2020 year-to-date spending as of 2-1-21
Forecast includes Dodge Outlook 2021 and Dec construction starts 1-19-21

SUMMARY – CONCLUSIONS

Construction Spending drives the headlines. Construction Volume drives jobs demand. Volume is spending minus inflation. Current outlook shows the most recent peak volume was 2017-2018. Total Volume is forecast to decline every year out to 2023, but Residential is rising, Nonresidential is falling.

When spending increases less than the rate of inflation, the real work volume is declining. Nonresidential buildings spending for 2020 is down -2%, but with 3% to 5% inflation, volume is down 5% to 7%. The extent of volume declines would impact the jobs situation.

STARTS – BACKLOG – SPENDING

By far the greatest impact of the pandemic on construction is the massive reduction in new nonresidential construction starts in 2020 that will reduce spending and jobs in that sector for at least the next two years. Residential continues to increase.

2020 new starts declined -8%. Res +7%, Nonres Bldgs -24%, Nonbuilding -14%.
New starts for residential reached an all-time high in 2020. Expect up +5% in 2021.

Nonresidential construction starts in backlog at the beginning of the year provide for 75% to 80% of all spending in 2021. New starts in 2020 were down 24% for buildings and 14% for non-buildings, so backlog is down. It would be difficult to show any scenario that has these sectors up in 2021.

Starting Backlog for 2021 is forecast down -10%. Backlog for 2022 is forecast down -5%.

Construction has yet to experience the greatest downward pressure from the pandemic. After hitting a post-pandemic spending high in December, spending and jobs losses won’t hit bottom until 2022. Nonresidential declines outweigh Residential gains.

Spending forecast for 2021 is up +1.4%, but nonresidential buildings is down -11%.
Almost all gains in spending are due to large 12%/yr gain in residential.

The largest declines in 2021 spending are Lodging -37%, Amusement/Recreation -26%, Manufacturing -19% and Power -15%.

PROJECT COST ESCALATION – INFLATION

Inflation for nonresidential buildings near 4% the next few years. Residential 5% to 6%.

VOLUME – JOBS

Construction Jobs annual average for 2020 is down 220,000 jobs. The current spending forecast is indicating that December 2020 was the highpoint for jobs. Residential jobs will be up in 2021, but Nonresidential Buildings jobs are down steep. Net jobs will be down 15 of next 18 months. Forecast 2021 net annual average jobs losses of -200,000. Nonresidential Buildings 2021 jobs losses will outweigh residential gains.

Selected slides from Feb 2021 Construction Outlook Presentation

EdZ Econ Feb 2021 SAMPLE SLIDES PDF

2021 Construction Economic Forecast

February 2, 2021 1:14 pm / 5 Comments on 2021 Construction Economic Forecast

Initial Construction Outlook 2021, 2-5-21, based on data from:

Actual Jobs data includes BLS Jobs to Jan 16^th, issued 2-5-21
Forecast includes US Census Dec 2020 year-to-date total spending as of 2-1-21
Forecast includes Dodge Outlook 2021 and Dec construction starts 1-19-21

This analysis utilizes Dodge Data & Analytics construction starts data to generate spending cash flow to then determine how spending may affect future construction activity.

When spending increases less than the rate of inflation, real work volume is declining. In 2020, nonresidential buildings spending is down -2%, but with 3% inflation, volume declined 5%. The extent of volume declines negatively impacts the jobs situation. A 5% decline in Nonresidential Buildings volume impacts $22 billion worth of work and more than 100,000 jobs. In 2021, spending is forecast down 11%, volume down 14%.

2021 Residential spending will climb about 13%, up $80 billion to $695 billion. Nonresidential Buildings spending is forecast to drop -11% to $410 billion, a decline of $50 billion. Non-building spending drops -2% to $343 billion, a decline of only $8 billion.

By far the greatest impact of the pandemic on construction is the massive reduction in new nonresidential construction starts in 2020 that will reduce construction spending and jobs for at least the next two years. Although nonresidential buildings spending is down only -2% for 2020, the 15% to 25% drop in 2020 new construction starts will mostly be noticed in lower 2021 spending.

New Construction Starts

Total construction starts for 2020 ended down -8%, but Nonresidential Buildings starts finished down -24% and Non-building Infrastructure starts are down -14%.

Residential starts finished the year up +7% from 2019.

Most nonresidential buildings markets and residential new starts are forecast to increase 5% in 2021. Nonbuilding starts will increase 10% in 2021.

In the Great Recession, beginning in Q4 2008, nonresidential buildings new construction starts fell 5%, then fell 31% in 2009 and 4% in 2010. Spending began to drop by Dec 2008, then dropped steadily for the next 24 months. Spending dropped 40% over that next two years. During that period, residential starts and spending fell 70%.

In 2020, nonresidential buildings starts fell 24%, but the six months from Apr-Sep, starts fell 33%. Starts are forecast to fall 4% in 2021. Nonres Bldgs spending began to decline in Aug, is now down 10% from Feb high and is forecast to drop steadily the next 20 months, for a total decline of 25%. This time around residential starts and spending are increasing.

Over the final 5 months of 2020, new Residential construction starts posted 4 of the 5 highest monthly totals since 2004-2006. Residential new starts finished 2020 at a 15-year high, with almost 50% of new activity for the year posting in the final 5 months, which will put a lot of that spending into 2021. Total 2020 residential starts are up 7%, but the average for the last 5 months is up 10% from the same period 2019. There is a large portion of 2021 spending from that last 5 months of starts, that will be up 10%.

Nonresidential Buildings new construction starts in 2020 averaged down 24%: Manufacturing -57%, Lodging -46%, Amusement/Recreation -45%, Education -12%, Healthcare -7%. Most of the spending from those lost starts would have taken place in 2021, now showing up as a major decline in spending and work volume.

Manufacturing starts in 2020 fell 57%. Manufacturing projects can have a moderately long average duration, because some projects are 4-5 years. So, projects that fell out of the business plan starting gate in 2020 caused a drop in starting backlog of -32% for 2021 and -33% for 2022. It should not be hard to see how that leads to a huge decline in construction spending the next two years. The same thing happened with Amusement/Recreation and Lodging, although lodging tends to have shorter duration, so affects mostly 2021.

Commercial/Retail starts in 2020 dropped 16%. But this group includes warehouses which finished the year up +1% and warehouses is 60% of the total market. All other Commercial/Retail ended 2020 down 35%.

Non-building Infrastructure new construction starts in 2020 averaged down -13%. Power -37%, Transportation -22%. Highway (along with residential) was the only market to gain new starts in 2020, +8%.

Power new starts fell 37% in 2020, but Power backlog has not increased since 2018. Even though Power new starts in 2021 are forecast to increase 13%, that’s not enough to push spending to positive.

Transportation starts declined -22% in 2020. But Transportation backlog increased 50% over the last three years. There is a large volume of Transportation projects currently in backlog, and although backlog does drop slightly for 2021, spending is supported by the large volume of starting backlog and a forecast for increased new starts in 2021.

The following NEW STARTS table shows, for each market, the current forecast for new construction starts. With exception of residential, spending in all other markets, due to longer schedules, is most affected by a decline in new starts, not in the year of the start, but in years following. As we begin 2021, some effects of reduced starts have not even begun to show up in the data. A 24% decline in new nonresidential starts in 2020 results in a huge decline in spending and jobs in 2021-2022.

Almost every nonresidential construction market has a weaker spending outlook in 2021 than in 2020, because approximately 50% of spending in 2021 is generated from 2020 starts, and 2020 nonresidential starts are down 24%, with several markets down 40%. Starts lead to spending, but that spending is spread out over time. An average spending curve for nonresidential buildings is 20:50:30 over three years. Only about 20% of new starts gets spent in the year they started. 50% gets spent in the next year. The effect of new starts does not show up immediately. If new nonresidential buildings starts in 2020 are down 24%, the affect that has in 2020 is to reduce spending by -24% x 20% = – 4.8%. The affect it has in 2021 is -24% x 50% = -12%. In 2022-2023 the affect is -24% x 30% = -7.2%.

Starting Backlog

Starting backlog is the estimate to complete (in this analysis taken at Jan 1) for all projects currently under contract. The last time starting backlog decreased was 2011.

Backlog leading into 2020 was at all-time high, up 30% in the last 4 years. Prior to the pandemic, 2020 starting backlog was forecast UP +5.5%. Due to delays and cancelations, that has been reduced to +1.8%, still an all-time high. Starting Backlog, from 2011-2019, increased at an avg. rate of 7%/year.

If new construction starts are greater than construction spending in the year, then for the following year starting backlog increases. It’s when new starts don’t replenish the amount of spending in the year that backlog declines. And that is the case this year.

Total starting backlog is down -10% for 2021 and -5% for 2022. 2021 Starting Backlog is back to the level in 2018. In 2022, backlog drops to the level of 2017.

Nonresidential Buildings new starts declined by -24% in 2020 resulting in starting backlog drops -19% for 2021 and drops -9% for 2022.

For Non-building Infrastructure, a drop of -14% in 2020 starts results in a drop of 9% in 2021 starting backlog and -5% for 2022.

Residential starting backlog for 2021 is up +12%. New starts are up 6%.

2021 backlog declines in every nonresidential market, except Highway.

80% of all nonresidential spending in any given year is from backlog and could be supported by projects that started last year or 3 to 4 years ago. Residential spending is far more dependent on new starts than backlog. Only about 30% of residential spending comes from backlog and 70% from new starts.

Projects in starting backlog could have started last month or last year or several years ago. Many projects in backlog extend out several years in the schedule to support future spending. Current backlog could still contribute some spending for the next 6 years until all the projects in backlog are completed.

Reductions in starts and starting backlog lead to lower spending. Residential construction is going counter to the trend and will post positive results for new starts, backlog and spending for the next two years. Nonresidential buildings will experience the greatest reductions in new starts, backlog and spending through 2022.

Spending Forecast 2021

Most all the change in this forecast from previous is an increase to residential spending. Both recent starts and spending increased substantially since previous forecasts. When looking at Total Construction Spending for 2021, residential growth obscures the huge declines in nonresidential.

The monthly rate of spending for residential increased 33% in the 7 months from May to December. The last time we had growth like that was 1983. The last time we had rapid growth in residential work, 2013-2014 and 2004-2005, it took 2 years to increase 33%. Residential spending in Dec 2020 is 21% higher than Dec 2019.

Nonresidential Buildings spending drops -2% to -3% each quarter in 2021. Nonresidential Buildings spending as of Dec. 2020 is down 10% From Feb. 2020 and 8% from Q4 2019. By 3rd quarter 2021, nonresidential buildings spending is forecast down another 12% lower than Dec. 2020, or 20% below the Feb. 2020 peak. This tracks closely with the 24% decline in new construction starts in 2020.

Nonresidential Buildings construction will take several years to return to pre-pandemic levels. Although nonresidential buildings spending is down only -2% for 2020, the 15%-25% drop in 2020 construction starts will mostly be noticed in lower 2021 spending. Project starts that were canceled, dropping out of new backlog between April and September 2020, would have had midpoints, or peak spending, March to October 2021. Nonbuilding project midpoints could be even later. The impact of reduced new starts in 2020 is reduced spending and jobs in 2021 and 2022.

Almost every market has a weaker spending outlook in 2021 than in 2020, because of lower starts in 2020. Starts lead to spending, but on a curve. A good average for nonresidential buildings is 20:50:30 over three years. 20% of the total of all starts in 2020 gets spent in 2020 (yr1) and that represents also about 20% of all spending. 50% of the total value of 2020 starts gets spent in the following year, 2021. So, 50% of spending in 2021 is generated from 2020 starts. If starts are down 20% and 50% of spending comes from those starts, spending will be down 20% x 50% of the work.

For 2020, the biggest declines are Lodging (-14%), Manufacturing (-10%) and Amuse/Recreation (-7%). Commercial/Retail finishes up +4.2%, but this is entirely due to Warehouse, 60% of the total Commercial/Retail market. Office and Educational are down -4% and -1%. Nonresidential buildings takes the brunt of declines in both 2020 and 2021.

In 2021, every nonresidential building market is down from 2020, some markets down -10% to -20%. Educational, Healthcare and Office are all down -3% to -6%. Non-building infrastructure Power market is down -15%, but Transportation spending is up +10% due to strength in backlog from several multi-billion$ starts over the past few years.

Manufacturing projects have a moderately long duration. So, projects that fell out of the business plan caused a drop in starting backlog of -32% for 2021 and -33% for 2021. It should not be hard to see how that leads to a huge decline in construction spending the next two years. The same thing happened with Amusement/Recreation and Lodging, although lodging tends to have shorter duration, so affects mostly 2021.

A recent AGC survey of construction firms asked, how long do you think it will be before you recover back to pre-COVID-19 (levels of work)? The survey offered “longer than 6 months” as an answer choice. Less than 6 months was the right answer for residential, but my current forecast for full recovery of nonresidential buildings work is longer than 6 years.

Construction Spending drives the headlines. Construction Volume drives jobs demand. Volume is spending minus inflation. Inflation $ do not support jobs. Current outlook shows (recent) peak volume was 2017-2018. Volume is forecast to decline every year out to 2023.

Before we can look at the effect on jobs, we need to adjust spending for inflation. The plot above “Spending by Sector” is current dollars. Below that plot is adjusted for inflation and is presented in constant $. Constant $ show volume. Notice future residential remains in a narrow range after adjusting for inflation. No sector shows improvement in volume through Jan. 2023.

When we see spending increasing at less than the rate of inflation, the real work volume is declining. For example, with construction inflation at 3% annually, a nonresidential buildings spending decline of -2.1% in 2020 would reflect a work volume decline of 5.1%. The extent of volume declines would impact the jobs situation.

While 2021 Residential spending will climb about 13%, Nonresidential building spending is forecast to drop -11% and Non-building spending drops -2%.

But with 4% inflation, after inflation Residential Volume is up only 9%, Nonresidential Building is down 15% and Non-building is down 6%.

By far the greatest decline in volume is in the nonresidential buildings sector. The greatest losses in 2020 are Lodging, Manufacturing, Amusement/Recreation and Commercial/Retail (without warehouse). In 2021, every major nonresidential building market drops in volume, with staggering 30% declines in Lodging and Amusement/Recreation. Commercial/Retail and Manufacturing will drop -13% to -15%.

Here’s the same graphic as above, but in Constant $, so it’s inflation adjusted. That provides the change in volume of work.

Volume of Work

Residential construction volume dropped 12% from the January 2020 peak to the May bottom, but has since recovered 22% and now stands at a post Great Recession high, 10% above one year ago. Although residential spending remains near this high level for the next year, volume after inflation begins to drop by midyear.

Nonresidential volume has been slowly declining and is now down 10% from one year ago. By 3rd quarter 2021, nonresidential buildings volume is forecast down another 15% lower than December, or 25% below the Feb 2020 peak. This tracks right in line with the 24% decline in new construction starts in 2020. Most of the spending from those lost starts would have taken place in 2021, now showing up as a major decline in spending and work volume.

While construction spending in 2021 is forecast up 1.3%, after inflation construction volume is expected to decline 2.5%. Residential construction spending is forecast up 13%, volume up almost 9%, but 2021 nonresidential buildings spending is forecast down -11% leading to a decline in volume after inflation of -14%. Nonbuilding Infrastructure spending in 2021 declines -2.5%, volume drops -6%.

Nonresidential buildings volume declines of 14% project to a loss of over 400,000 jobs next year and non-building infrastructure is projected to drop 60,000 jobs, but Residential could experience growth next year of 250,000 jobs. That could net annual average jobs losses to -200,000. Job losses continue into 2022 with net volume declines of 4%.

Jobs are supported by growth in construction volume, spending minus inflation. We will not see construction volume return to Feb 2020 level at any time in the next three years. This time next year, volume will be 5% lower than today, 10% below the Feb 2020 level.

Download the complete 2021 Initial Forecast here

Construction Outlook 2021 2-5-21 Download

Along with this forecast document, See these related articles

2021 Construction Economic Forecast – Summary

2021 Construction Inflation

Measuring Forecasting Methodology & Accuracy

Public/Private Construction Spending Forecast 2020-2021

Behind the Headlines – Construction Jobs in 2021

Construction Jobs 2020 down 207,000

Where is Construction Outlook Headed?

December 7, 2020 9:54 am / Leave a comment

The greatest impact to construction spending from fewer new starts in 2020 comes in 2021 or early 2022, when many of those projects would have been reaching peak spending, near the midpoint of the construction schedule. Nonresidential starts in 2020 are down 15%-25%. Residential starts are up 2%.

Construction Spending for October https://census.gov/construction/c30/pdf/release.pdf…

Up 1.3% from Sept. Sept rvsd up 0.4%. Aug rvsd up 1%

Year to date (ytd) spending is up 4.3% over Jan-Oct 2019. Oct SAAR is now only 2% below Feb highpoint.

However, residential spending ytd is up 9.6%, nonresidential building spending is down -1.2%. Both are expected to keep heading in the direction currently established.

Nonresidential Buildings construction will take several years to return to pre-pandemic levels. Although nonresidential buildings spending is down ytd only -1.2% (as of October data), the gapping hole left by the 15%-25% drop in 2020 construction starts will mostly be noticed in 2021 spending. Project starts that were canceled, dropping out of revenues between April and September 2020, would have had midpoints April to September 2021. Nonbuilding project midpoint could be even later. The impact of reduced new starts in 2020 is reduced spending and jobs in 2021 and 2022.

Construction Jobs are projected to fall in 2021. While 2021 Residential spending will climb about 10%, Nonresidential building spending is forecast to drop -10% and Non-building spending drops -4%.

After adjusting for inflation, Residential volume is up about 4% to 5%, Nonresidential buildings volume is down about -14% and Non-building volume will finish down -8%. Jobs should follow suit.

If jobs increase faster than volume, productivity is declining. Also that means inflation is increasing.

Spending is approximately 50% residential, 30% nonresidential buildings and 20% nonbuilding infrastructure.

Tag Archives: outlook

New Construction Starts

Starting Backlog

Current Rate of Spending

2024 Construction Spending Forecast

Inflation

Current$ Spending, Inflation, Constant$ Volume

Jobs vs Volume

Below is a downloadable 24 page PDF of the complete 2024 Outlook

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Spending Forecast

Spending by Sector Current $ and Inflation Adjusted Constant $

New Construction Starts

Current $ Spending, Inflation and Constant $ Volume

SEE Construction Inflation 2023

Does Volume of Work Support Jobs Growth?

or, Can jobs growth support volume of work?

Construction Jobs vs Construction Volume

These plots updated to jobs report 10-6-23

SEE more discussion on Volume and Jobs

here 2023 Construction Volume Growth

here 2023 Midyear Jobs Outlook

and here Infrastructure Construction Expansion – Not So Fast

See also Midyear Construction Forecast Update 8-12-23

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SPENDING BY SECTOR CURRENT $ AND INFLATION ADJUSTED CONSTANT $

See also Construction Spending Outlook – Feb 2023

STARTS

Current $ Spending, Inflation and Volume

SEE Construction Inflation 2023

SPENDING TOTAL CURRENT $

VOLUME CURRENT $ = SPENDING MINUS INFLATION

CONSTANT $ = VOLUME OVER TIME

NONRESIDENTIAL SPENDING (CURRENT $) AND VOLUME (CONSTANT $)

RESIDENTIAL SPENDING SF-MF-RENO CURRENT $ AND CONSTANT $

DOES VOLUME OF WORK SUPPORT JOBS GROWTH? or, Can jobs growth support volume of work?

SEE more discussion on Volume and Jobs

here 2023 Construction Volume Growth

and here Infrastructure Construction Expansion – Not So Fast

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STARTS

SPENDING FORECAST

SPENDING BY SECTOR CURRENT $ AND INFLATION ADJUSTED CONSTANT $

See also Construction Spending Outlook – Feb 2023

Current $ Spending, Inflation and Volume SEE Construction Inflation 2023

SPENDING TOTAL CURRENT $ AND INFLATION ADJUSTED CONSTANT $

NONRESIDENTIAL SPENDING (CURRENT $) AND VOLUME (CONSTANT $)

RESIDENTIAL SPENDING SF-MF-RENO CURRENT $ AND CONSTANT $

DOES VOLUME OF WORK SUPPORT JOBS GROWTH? or, Can jobs growth support volume of work?

SEE more discussion on Volume and Jobs

here 2023 Construction Volume Growth

and here Infrastructure Construction Expansion – Not So Fast

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STARTS

See also Construction Year-End Spending Forecast Dec’22

SPENDING BY SECTOR CURRENT $ AND INFLATION ADJUSTED CONSTANT $

SPENDING FORECAST

Current and predicted Inflation SEE Construction Inflation at Year-End 2022

SPENDING TOTAL ALL $ CURRENT $ AND INFLATION ADJUSTED CONSTANT $

JOBS VS CONSTRUCTION VOLUME VS SPENDING (VOL = SPENDING MINUS INFLATION

LABOR PRODUCTIVITY

RESIDENTIAL SPENDING SF-MF-RENO CURRENT $ AND CONSTANT $

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New Construction Starts

Starting Backlog

Spending Forecast 2021

Volume of Work

Along with this forecast document, See these related articles

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