ABC Predicts Construction Sector Will Remain Strong in ’19

In their 2019 construction economic forecast, the Associated Builders and Contractors predicts that the construction sector will remain strong in 2019, however they do warn about inflationary pressures on the horizon.  They say job growth, high backlog and healthy infrastructure investment all spell good news for the industry. In addition they add that 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…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.”  Said the ABC’s Chief Economist Anirban Basu.

Click here to read the full release at Associated Building and Contractors.