Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/790113
W EEKLY EDITION FEB 22, 2017 Post - Election Economic Projections and the Construction Industry …continued Part 3 of a series on trends affecting the portable sanitation industry this year While the PSAI does not have access to primary sources of information regarding trends in construction spending, we gather information fr om sources that do have access to such data. Unless otherwise stated, the following information is based on a ConstructConnect webinar that was broadcast on November 17, 2016, and it also includes perspectives from the Equipment Leasing and Finance Founda tion. The information was gathered into a report made available to the PSAI by Procore. The Overall Economy and Election Uncertainty Usually after a US election, forecasters can use the statements of the President - elect and the Congress to estimate what m ay happen economically in the next two years. This time, though, forecasters indicate the Trump administration's lack of definitive statements related to construction - related investments and uncertainty on Congressional direction are making it more challen ging to develop forecasts at the typical level of comfort. • Capital investment is hardly robust at present. The US Equipment Finance Market Study 2016 - 2017 cited "excess global capacity, low commodity prices, a strong dollar, sluggish export markets, and t he collapse in drilling for oil and natural gas as the main factors" holding back capital investment. • Major firms supporting construction already see a slowdown in construction demand. In late 2016 the heavy equipment manufacturing firm Caterpillar revise d down its revenue estimates. Caterpillar attributed the decline to lower demand from the construction industry, among others. Labor Force Issues Hinder Growth in Construction Inability to find skilled workers for construction is also constraining constru ction growth. Currently there are 1.6 million fewer people employed in the construction trades than there were before the recession even though construction employers are trying to hire workers. With overall unemployment so low (currently 4.8% in the US) it is going to be even more difficult to find the workers necessary for construction companies to expand or take on projects outside their current capacity. The Architectural Institute of America (AIA) reports around 33% of architectural firms already see fewer contractors bidding on jobs and the cost of the jobs going up due to labor shortages. P AGE 5 CONTINUED ON PAGE 6