Construction input prices expanded 0.7 percent in November and rose 5.6 percent on a yearly basis, the largest increase since November 2011, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) analysis of  Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Tuesday. Nonresidential construction materials prices also expanded 0.7 percent for the month and 5.4 percent for the year. Crude petroleum prices rose 11 percent in November and are 31 percent higher than this time last year. 

Providing more evidence of a strengthening economy, Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) Construction Backlog Indicator (CBI) set a record as it expanded to 9.45 months during the third quarter of 2017, up 9.8 percent from the second quarter to the longest backlog reading in the eight-year history of the series.  CBI is up by 0.8 months, or 9.2 percent, on a year-over-year basis.

The nation’s construction sector added 24,000 net new jobs in November, representing a 0.3 percent month-over-month increase, according to ABC’s analysis regarding the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ data. Nonresidential construction employment added 8,600 net new jobs in November, a figure that would have been substantially higher were it not for heavy and civil engineering, which lost 7,800 for the month.

The majority of commercial and industrial contractors are confident about sales growth, profits and staffing levels heading into 2018, according to the latest Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Construction Confidence Index (CCI). Despite rising construction labor and materials costs, 55 percent of contractors expect their profit margins to expand in the first half of 2018.

The U.S. Senate passed sweeping tax reform legislation on Dec. 2, overcoming a number of setbacks over the course of a long week.  The effort to win over holdouts and cobble together the necessary votes led to a number of late-breaking changes to the bill, culminating in what was essentially a party line vote, with Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) as the only dissenting Republican. 

Nonresidential construction spending rose 2.1 percent in October, totaling $717.6 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to ABC’s analysis of data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The level of spending, however, remains virtually unchanged from a year ago.

In its survey of Florida construction firms for the third quarter of 2017, Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) finds the confidence to fill open positions over the next six months remains low. Continued hurricane rebuilding efforts will likely exacerbate the challenge to find enough skilled labor in Florida to meet the level of project demand. Confidence in other areas of the survey remains high.