Associated Builders and Contractors’ Construction Executive has painted a rosy outlook
Craig Martin, Construction Attorney, Lamson Dugan & Murray, LLP
for the upcoming year. ABC’s Chief Economist predicts a 7.4 percent increase in total nonresidential spending for 2015. This is great news for a construction industry that has climbing out of the recession through fits and starts over the last several months.

Perhaps the most telling statistic was ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator, which reached an all time high in the third quarter of 2014. The back-log indicator reflects the amount of work that will be performed by commercial and industrial contractors in the months ahead. ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator showed substantial growth in the northeast of 8.7% and middle states of 7.9%. The west and south lagged at 1.1% and 2.2% respectively. These figures also correspond to larger backlogs for construction companies. In the West and Northeast, the back log increased by two months.

ABC’s economist anticipates that growth will be spread over several industries with projects relating to energy leading the way. Other strong sectors expected in 2015 include lodging, manufacturing and professional services, such as office space.

Perhaps typical of an economist’s conservative nature, even with these remarkable projections, ABC’s economist concludes that:

the next year should be a decent one for the U.S. economy.

Here to all of us having a “decent” 2015 with more than 7% growth.