FMI's third quarter construction report

FMI reports slow growth for the construction industry and for the U.S. economy as a whole for the rest of 2011 and 2012.

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FMI has released their Construction Outlook: Third Quarter 2011 report. The forecast for growth in the construction industry is mixed. It is expected construction will grow 2% in 2011 and 6% to $886.2 billion in 2012. However, when counted for inflation against 2006 dollars, the “growth” in 2011 is actually a drop of 1% and only 3% growth in 2012.

Overall U.S. GDP growth for 2011 is only 1.3%. The economy’s slow tenuous growth continues in spite of economic and political gridlock in the United States and Europe over the debt crisis and potential defaults of several—notably Greece—European countries.

FMI reports that if more successful companies take their strong profit earnings and invest them into new technologies a construction boom might not be far behind. However, with the economy seemingly on the brink of another recession, the future remains murky.

- Edited by Chris Vavra, Consulting-Specifying Engineer, www.csemag.com