November 25, 2019
Third Quarter Construction Economics: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Issue 29 – Third Quarter 2019
Despite the lack of a coherent federal infrastructure strategy and the looming insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund, there is no recession in infrastructure spending in America. Public construction spending increased 1.5 percent in September 2019 and was up 6.6 percent year-over-year. With state and local government finances as healthy as they’ve been in more than a decade, spending has surged over the past year in categories like water supply (+20.2 percent), sewage and waste disposal (+18 percent), public safety (+8.5 percent), and highway/street (+6.4 percent).
Table of Contents
- Third Quarter Construction Economics: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
- Joe’s View
- Exhibit 1. Construction Spending by Segment, Annual Percentage Change, September 2019
- Exhibit 2. Prices for Inputs to Construction Industries, 12-Month % Change, 2017-2019
- Exhibit 3. National Monthly Job Growth (SA), September 2003—September 2019
- Exhibit 4. Construction Employment Growth, 20 Largest U.S. Metropolitan Areas, Sep. 2018 v. Sep. 2019
- Exhibit 5. National Monthly Job Growth (SA), Construction, October 2011—October 2019
- Third Quarter 2019 Performance
