It’s great to get some good news for a
change. After a year of recession and plummeting profits, the Associated
General Contractors of America
has reported that construction spending increased in
April.
Most of the gains in the construction industry came
from the residential private sector, which saw a 4.4 percent increase over the
previous month. Public construction projects for April were also up 2.4 percent
from March. Even the private nonresidential sector saw some modest growth, a
1.7 percent increase from March to April.
The only downside to the
good news is that most of the increases in spending are coming from stimulus
funds. Not a lot of companies and customers are spending their own money. But there is some
hope. It is possible that the stimulus funds will help keep contractors and
construction companies busy until the economy gets firmly back on its
feet.
Has anyone been working on any stimulus-funded
projects? And what is your prediction for the construction economy next
year?
