Blogs > Construction Grade | For Construction Pros

Highway Construction 5e16546fd77f5

House Approves Continuing Resolution that Funds Highway Bill through 2021

The House of Representatives approved by a 359-to-57 vote a resolution that would fund federal government programs beginning through December 11, and extend surface transportation funding legislation through fiscal 2021

Adobe Stock 78882585

Why Contractors Risk Getting Stuck With the Bill for the Social Security Payroll Tax Deferral

Adobe Stock 357742925

Vandalism of Black Foreman’s Office Stops Work at Las Vegas Convention Center Jobsite

Closed Sears Store With Label Scar Over Entrance, Hudson Valley Mall, Kingston, Ny

Amazon.com on the Verge of Pouring Money into Mall Remodeling

Treasury Confirms Paycheck Protection Loans Under $2M are in “Good Faith”

Getty Images 1217857321

House and White House Fighting for Highway Spending as Coronavirus Stimulus

Highway Construction 5e16546fd77f5

House Approves Continuing Resolution that Funds Highway Bill through 2021

The House of Representatives approved by a 359-to-57 vote a resolution that would fund federal government programs beginning through December 11, and extend surface transportation funding legislation through fiscal 2021

Maxresdefault 5f6b941f51f09

Soil to Stadium Time-Lapse: Raiders' Allegiant Stadium in 3 Minutes

Time-lapse video details 32 months of construction of the Las Vegas Raiders new home, Allegiant Stadium, highlighting unique features of the domed stadium that make it an architectural and engineering marvel

Adobe Stock 189934147

We Need to Talk About Suicide in the Construction Industry

An often-overlooked part of workplace safety is mental health; and as the leading occupation for death by suicide, it is time to take psychological safety in the construction industry seriously.

Agc Ppp Survey

Contractors Take Lion’s Share of the First Round of Paycheck Protection Loans

UPDATED April 24, 2020 -- We know more about obstacles to the smallest businesses getting these forgivable funds just in time for a second round of PPP funding coming to replenish the pot

Getty Images 641610568

Fed Cuts Rates Half a Point to Combat Coronavirus Fear

Wall-Street selloff continues after rare inter-meeting move that slashed the federal funds rate more than any single action since the financial crisis

The autonomous Built Robotics machines Sunstate is renting today.

Meet Some of Today's Working Construction Robots

Disappointed that our Jetsons childhood hasn't yet matured into flying cars? Take heart, construction robots working around us today are a good sign that those condos in space aren't far off

Regionally, the Southwest recorded the highest growth rates for the first quarter of 2019 at 4.8%.

Construction Lets GDP Down in Q1 2019

Real US GDP grew 3.1% in the first quarter lead by strength in finance and insurance, retail trade and health care and social assistance

The 2.3% average annual economic growth of the current decade-long expansion compares with 2.9% during expansion from late 2001 to 2007, and 3.6% in the 10-year expansion ended in early 2001.

US GDP Growth Slowed in Q2 2019; 2018 Revised Down to 2.9%

Second quarter gross domestic product growth beat consensus forecasts but data is not encouraging. Here’s what it might mean for interest rates

With the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017 delivering a drop in 2018 corporate tax revenue of $92 billion, Over the next decade, the CBO projects the gap between Federal outlays and revenues will be large and persistent.

Economy Looks Solid; Here’s Why the Fed Plans to Risk a Rate Cut Anyway

An ‘insurance cut’ sugar high may be able to stretch the longest US recovery in history but politics tainting the decision obscure the action’s proven risk

Over 12 months, this index of nonresidential building planning is down 10.1%, suggesting a slowdown in construction activity through 2019.

Nonresidential ‘Momentum’ Increases to 10% Below Year-Ago Level

But declining trend in planning activity for nonresidential construction has not yet impinged on actual construction spending year-to-date

A modular prototype on Skender's production floor.

Chicago Contractor Establishes Modular Building ‘Factory’

Developer bets modular can cut the cost of 700 affordable apartments the Windy City requires to offset real estate dedicated to high-end Lincoln Yards housing

Getty Images 172252016

Now Trump Won’t Deal on Infrastructure While Under Investigation

President continues to prioritize personal controversies above doing the hard work to overcome the politics of paying for the infrastructure everybody wants

Getty Images 916255366

Trump Adds 5G Cell Networks to China-Trade Bargaining Chips

FCC license auctions focus on different bandwidths than Chinese and European innovators of 5G network infrastructure depend on

U.S. GDP growth has slowed consistently since it spiked around tax time last year, taking construction spending with it.

What Last Week’s Real Threat of Recession Means for Construction

As the tax-cut sugar high fades, Fed downgrades 2019 GDP projection, bond yield curve inverts. How much economic slowing can construction afford?

Construction crews staged material needed for the Santa Teresa Border Wall Replacement project near the Santa Teresa Port of Entry. The staging area also showcases a scaled down example of what the bollard style wall will look like.

Wall-Funding Scramble Keeps Trump Construction Promise in Question

‘Reprogramming’ funds from Corps of Engineers flood control, disaster relief from CA and PR, and military infrastructure likely to draw ‘firestorm’ of legal challenges

JPMorgan recession-forecasting model puts the odds of impending recession at about 43% and a Federal Reserve Bank of New York model based on Treasury yields puts them at 22%.

Could America’s 2018 Home-Buying Slump Precede an Economic Storm?

Home-buying's Q4 2018 plunge has analysts pointing out that significant housing declines have foreshadowed nine of the 11 post-World War II US recessions

2019 Spending Growth

Slowing Residential Spending Expected to Stall 2019 US Construction Growth

Dodge Data forecasts virtually no growth in the value of US construction starts in 2019 at this mature segment of the recovery

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka's perspective on the administration's effect on labor and prospects for a NAFTA replacement sans Canada drew a Labor Day personal attack from Pres. Trump.

Trump Attacks Union Leader on Labor Day

President Trump took time from his annual celebration of US labor’s accomplishments to tweet a personal jab at AFL-CIO President Trumka

July Us Existing Home Sales

Existing Home Sales Slip for 4th Month to Slowest Pace in 2 Years

July sales were 1.5% less than in July 2017. Rising prices and limited inventory of affordable houses continue to sideline buyers

Months of supply for existing homes ticked up year-over-year in June for only the second time in three years. Given the number of existing homes for sale has been falling, the uptick in months of supply is likely attributable to a slower pace of sales.

Reasons to Suspect the US Housing Market is Starting to Cool

Low unemployment doesn’t ensure more Americans can afford a home, and rising home prices say more about target markets than the supply of motivated buyers

Home Building 3

Housing Starts Rose Solidly over the First Quarter of 2018

Digging into the housing numbers shows a solid growth trend and underscores opportunities and challenges in US regions

Revisions to the November and December data now show starts rising 3.0 percent in November and then falling 6.9 percent in December, before rebounding in January.

US Housing Starts Double Forecasts to Start 2018 Near Post-Recession High

Volatile housing numbers leap in the northeast, with added strength in the large south and west markets lifting national totals

Trump's infrastructure gambit suggest flipping the cost share of big infrastructure projects, expecting states and/or private industry to come up with 80% of funds. Thirty-three states face revenue shortfalls in fiscal 2017 and 2018. More states than at any time since the end of the recession reported midyear budget gaps in fiscal 2017.

Trump Infrastructure Gambit Elevates Business Elite over Rebuilding America

Administration’s $200B flier, ostensibly to attract $1.3 trillion more in non-federal infrastructure investment, is less serious policy than it is a pledge of allegiance

The value of all construction put in place in December managed a 0.7% rise to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.25 trillion on solid growth in both private and public spending.

2017 US Construction Spending Grew 3.8% Despite Declining Public Outlays

Analysis suggests construction growth gaining momentum in the second half of 2017, and proposes reasons to expect not just solid, but spectacular 2018 follow through

Construction spending was up 0.8% in November on broad-based strength. Both public and private spending increased for the third straight month.

US Construction Spending Beats Forecasts in November

Fourth month of growth in the value of construction put in place lead again by single-family residential strength, but there was a shakeup in nonresidential construction

Yellowmark

Caterpillar Rethinks Parts Value to Take on Aftermarket Competitors

Cat’s new Yellowmark parts are market priced to reach equipment users intent on optimizing shorter-term costs rather than the long-term ROI essential to traditional Cat value

Caterpillar's virtual demonstration of its Command system is essentially identical to a live demo of the autonomous mining system Cat shares with customers at its Tinaja Hills Training Center. Haul trucks are completely autonomous, and the D10 dozer is operated via remote control.

Caterpillar Autonomous Haul Trucks Point To Construction’s Future

Minestar Command intentionally pushes decision making to the computers onboard unmanned trucks to make their interactions on the site safer

Some Hard Realities Guard the US from Real Tax Reform

Raising the federal debt ceiling and passing a budget are Congressional priorities that will precede tax reform, an issue as politically challenging as health care reform

Houston Via Npr

Zoning Wouldn’t Have Saved Houston From Harvey; Less Sprawl Would Have Helped

Pro-business dis-regulation magnified Houston flood devastation for a third year in a row, and will again if Harris County won’t match development with flood control

The commerce department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis revised the last three years of GDP data to reflect slightly better U.S. economic performance. Average growth in this recovery, now the third longest in U.S. history, lifted annual gains to 2.2%, up from the previous estimate of 2.1%.

Second Quarter US GDP Bounce Back to Trend Despite Housing Shrinkage

Residential fixed investment fell steeply following impressive Q1 growth, but business investment in plant and equipment continues to grow as inventories stabilize

Fed Skips Rate Hike, Plans Balance-Sheet Selloff

July meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee signals confidence in US economy, but weak inflation despite job growth enforces wait-and-see posture

The percentage of survey respondents who say U.S. real estate market conditions are moderately or significantly better today than they were 12 months ago dropped four percentage points since the end of 2016 to 52%.

Survey: Trump Bump Fizzles, Real Estate Optimism Hanging On

Trump’s election rejuvenated real-estate-market enthusiasm in late 2016 but mid-year 2017 results suggest decoupling, with confidence in Trump plummeting and the market moderating only slightly

Seventy percent of contractors responding to the JBKnowledge 2016 Construction Technology Report survey spend 1% or less of annual sales volume on information technology.

How Contractors Can Adopt Technologies that Improve Construction Workflow

Adopting technology is essential to lift construction productivity and efficiency. Skanska USA offers a method for doing it that won’t break the bank