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Introduction
The US construction industry is finally setting records again, after more than a decade below peak.
Growth is continuing so far in 2018 but so are doubts about how long the expansion will last.
The previous peak in construction spending was US$1.21 trillion at a seasonally adjusted annual
rate, achieved in early 2006. (Seasonal adjustment is a statistical technique to remove the fluctuations
due to recurring patterns, such as weather or holiday-related variations. Annual rate means the
monthly total has been multiplied by 12 to allow ready comparison of full-year figures.) Spending
surpassed the 2006 level in late 2016, but then stalled until mid-2017 before rising for six months in a
row through to January 2018.
Similarly, construction employment increased each month from July 2017 through February
2018, after stagnating earlier in 2017. However, employment remains more than 7% below its
previous high, which occurred in April 2006.
Ken Simonson, Associated
General Contractors of America,
discusses the past, and the future
of the US construction industry.