Marcum Commercial Construction Index Finds Nonresidential Construction in Vigorous Recovery
New York City, NY – The Marcum Commercial Construction Index for the second quarter of 2015 found that nonresidential construction is in vigorous recovery, with $686.9 billion spent in June on a seasonally adjusted basis. While this was unchanged month-over-month from May, it was 11.5 percent higher than one year ago. June also brought the total increase in nonresidential construction spending to 9.8 percent for the first half of 2015, the fastest such growth since the Census Bureau began tracking construction spending in 2002.
The 16 nonresidential construction sectors were evenly split in June in terms of growth, with lodging, water supply, highway and street, amusement and recreation, communication, transportation, sewage and waste disposal, and public safety experiencing increases for the month. While the remaining eight sectors experienced monthly declines in June – including education, power, commercial construction, health care, manufacturing, office, conservation, and religious construction – all except power registered gains year-over-year.
“Nonresidential construction would have reached historic highs this year were it not for stagnation in the power spending category, which is the largest of the 16 subsectors that comprise the industry,” said Marcum Chief Construction Economist Anirban Basu, author of the report. “Aggregate public nonresidential construction spending experienced its most rapid year-over-year growth since the recovery began in June, increasing 7.6 percent The fact that public nonresidential spending has increased by at least 4.5 percent on a yearly basis during each of the last three months for which data are available serves as further reason to be optimistic about the second half of 2015.”
“As the demands for commercial construction grow, our resources become taxed. So, scarcity ought to be a threat on which we keep watch,” said Joseph Natarelli, national leader of Marcum’s Construction Industry Practice group and partner-in-charge of the Firm’s New Haven office. “To manage our growth and keep it sustainable, we, the members and beneficiaries of the great American construction trade, should do what we can to nurture the development of skilled labor. I’m often heard to say that Marcum’s greatest asset goes home every night. I believe the same is true on the job site, on the roads and highways, at the drafting tables and at the docks. Let’s invest in all of our futures by making sure that young people can learn the skills that will be required to sustain growth and to have their own successes in the future.”
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