The amount contractors pay for a range of key construction materials declined in August, but contractors continue to be squeezed as materials cost increases have outstripped the price of finished buildings over the past year, according to a recent analysis of producer price index figures released by the Associated General Contractors of America. “The disparity between contractors" materials costs and their selling prices threatens to push some firms and their hard-pressed workers out of business,” said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. “Contractors just aren"t catching any breaks when it comes to current market conditions.” Simonson noted that the monthly … Read more

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Institute of Architects recently issued a comprehensive look at the built environment's role in economic recovery, highlighting six specific policy steps that will generate jobs and help grow the American economy. The policy document, “The Built Environment's Role in the Recovery,” is being issued on the eve of President Obama's major jobs initiative to be unveiled next Thursday in a speech before a Joint Session of Congress. The AIA white paper was delivered to the White House and to Congressional leadership on both sides of the political aisle. The report notes that the value of … Read more

Construction spending continued to show a mixed and volatile pattern in July as large monthly declines in public spending, residential improvements and factory construction exceeded increases in other private nonresidential, home and apartment construction, the Associated General Contractors of America reported in an analysis of new Census Bureau data. Association officials said the data reflects continued weakness in the overall construction market. “The construction spending pendulum is likely to keep swinging between gains and losses, given the spotty increases that are occurring in private investment and sharp declines in federal, state and local construction budgets,” the association's chief economist, Ken … Read more