Fall 2016 issue of Horizons

CONSTRUCTION

Construction is on the Rise, but Labor Issues Cause Concern by Chris Daues, CPA

W hen you think of the economy, how do you think it is doing? Everyone, from Wall Street to your neighbor, seems to have an opinion. Specifically relating to the construction industry, here are the facts so you can form your own opinion. National Construction Spending Since 2011, construction spending in the U.S. has steadily increased to approximately $1.2 trillion in 2015, which is a 9.6% increase from 2014 to 2015. Specifically, private (portion of the economy controlled by private individuals or organizations) construction spending has increased 11.4% from 2014 into 2015, while public (portion of the economy controlled by the government) construction spending only increased 4.4%.

In a March 2016 press release from the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), a trade association in the U.S. construction industry, construction spending for the rolling 12 months in January 2016 totaled $1.14 trillion, which is an approximate 3.0% increase from the rolling 12-month total in December 2015.

Spending on multi-family residential construction increased 2.6%, private

non-residential construction increased 1.0%, and public construction increased 4.5% from December 2015 to January 2016.

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