Marcum Commercial Construction Index Sees Construction Industry Surging Along with Economy

The Marcum Commercial Construction Index for the first quarter of 2019 reports the highest levels of private nonresidential construction spending ever recorded. The index is produced by Marcum’s National Construction Services group.

Bolstered by increasingly strong spending in manufacturing construction, private nonresidential construction spending reached $460 billion in March, on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. This represented a gain of 2.1% from a year earlier. Manufacturing construction spending was $70.3 billion for the month, up 10.3%.

Public construction spending in March increased 9 percent year-over-year, to $314.6 billion. Spending in the highway and street category expanded 13.4 percent, surpassing power as the largest nonresidential construction subsector.

Spending in all 16 nonresidential construction subsectors totaled $775.2 billion in March, up 4.8% from a year ago. The greatest percentage gains were in water supply (13.8%), conservation and development (13.5%), and highway and street (13.4%). Only three subsectors – commercial, religious, and communication – registered declines for March as compared to a year earlier.

Anirban Basu, the report’s author and Marcum’s chief construction economist, said, “With lengthy backlogs in hand and given the ongoing momentum apparent in the U.S. economy, contractors have little reason for concern regarding near-term demand for construction services. Accordingly, hiring activity continues to be robust even in the context of large-scale construction skills shortfalls.”

Nonresidential construction added 32,400 net new jobs in April and 163,000 year-over year. In parallel, the industry’s unemployment rate continued to fall, dropping 2.2 percentage points in April from the same month a year ago. The 4.7% unemployment rate in April was the lowest construction unemployment recorded for any April since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began reporting this statistic in 2000.

“Given both quantified and anecdotal information regarding the growing scarcity of workers, one might suspect that construction wages would be surging. But they are not. Average hourly earnings for construction employees increased 3.1 percent over the past calendar year, a tenth of a percentage point slower than the average for all industries,” the report says. Mr. Basu attributes the apparent discrepancy to a composition shift in the construction workforce, with older, better-compensated workers transitioning to retirement or less physically taxing jobs and a shortage of new skilled workers to replace them.

Looking Ahead

Mr. Basu puts the rosy picture for construction in the context of global economic uncertainty. “The probability of a full-blown trade war between the world’s two largest economies has expanded recently. Brexit continues to hang over financial markets and the global economy. Corporate debt is a problem, as America’s national debt recently surged past the $22 trillion mark. Another federal debt crisis ceiling is possible later this year. In nominal terms, consumer debt has never been higher, though monthly debt service payments remain manageable in the context of unusually low interest rates,” he wrote. “Then there are next year’s presidential elections. Elections help stimulate a psychology of uncertainty, which results in less spending and investment. If the global economy continues to slow, markets give back some of their gains, and inflation finally becomes apparent, 2020 could be the year of the next downturn.”

Marcum’s national construction leader, Joseph Natarelli, said, “Our first quarter commercial construction index is highly encouraging about the current state and near-term future of the construction industry. However, none of these promising data will translate to profits or success if there are not enough people to do the jobs. Based on what we’ve been seeing in our indices for quite a while, a future labor shortage is a real possibility, which always means higher wages. The good news is that the salary increases we’re seeing in the industry aren’t all that high right now — about 3%. To secure the future, we need to ask questions, today — Is there the bench depth to replace retiring workers? Are there the education and skill development programs up and running to nurture that next generation of tradespeople? It’s on us to know the answers and, whenever possible, to work with our communities and trade organizations to see that the answers to both questions are “Yes!”

Marcum Construction Services

One of the leading construction accounting firms in the U.S., Marcum LLP’s Construction group provides audit, consulting, and taxation services to clients ranging from start-ups to multi-billion-dollar enterprises. The group’s professionals, among the country’s foremost experts in construction accounting, are frequent industry authors and speakers and also serve as technical reviewers for the AICPA’s construction audit and taxation guides. In addition to the quarterly Marcum Commercial Construction Index, the group publishes the annual Marcum JOLT Survey Analysis, a discussion of employment trends in the construction industry. The annual Marcum Construction Summits, featuring Anirban Basu as keynote speaker, are a highlight of the annual construction industry calendar.

About Marcum LLP
Marcum LLP is one of the largest independent public accounting and advisory services firms in the nation, with offices in major business markets throughout the U.S., as well as Grand Cayman, China, and Ireland. Headquartered in New York City, Marcum provides a full spectrum of traditional tax, accounting, and assurance services; advisory, valuation, and litigation support; managed accounting services; and an extensive portfolio of specialty and niche industry practices. The Firm serves both privately held and publicly traded companies, as well as nonprofit and social sector entities, high net worth individuals, private equity funds, and hedge funds, with a focus on middle-market companies and closely held family businesses. Marcum is a member of the Marcum Group, an organization providing a comprehensive array of professional services.