Total construction spending in January posted the steepest year-over-year increase since 2006, with growth in public construction, as well as private residential and nonresidential spending, according to an analysis of new Census Bureau data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials warned that federal investments in highway repairs could decline rapidly this summer because of funding shortfalls, undermining the sector’s recovery. “Overall construction spending increased in January compared with both December and January 2013 despite uncommonly adverse weather conditions,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist.   “The monthly gains were limited to homebuilding and multifamily residential construction, […]

Exports of U.S.-made construction equipment dropped 25 percent in 2013 compared to the previous year for a total of $20 billion shipped to global markets, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, citing U.S. Commerce Department data it uses in trend reports for members. All world regions recorded declines.     AEM noted that the 25 percent decline for 2013 follows three years of export growth (13 percent in 2012, 43 percent in 2011 and 28 percent in 2010), after a 2009 decline of 38 percent in the depths of the recession. Exports to Europe declined 19 percent for a […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation recently released the February 2014 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry. Designed to collect leadership data, the index reports a qualitative assessment of both the prevailing business conditions and expectations for the future as reported by key executives from the $827-billion equipment finance sector. Overall, confidence in the equipment finance market is 63.3, the second highest index in two years and off slightly from last month's two-year index high of 64.9.   When asked about the outlook for the future, MCI survey respondent Valerie Hayes Jester, president, Brandywine Capital […]