The document provides an overview of the construction industry, highlighting key indicators like contractor confidence, construction backlog, and material price changes. It details statistics for housing permits, starts, and nonresidential construction spending, indicating growth prospects and trends in 2017 and early 2018. The architecture billing index and employment statistics further reflect the overall health of the construction sector.

1. Construction Vital Statistics
(Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Overall Construction
10.0
8.0
4.0
2.0
6.0
0
70.0
60.0
Sales
Expectations
Profit Margin
Expectations
Staffing Level
Intentions
50.0
40.0
(Associated Builders & Contractors/1st Half of 2017)
Readings above 50 indicate growth
PreviousCurrent
Current 1 Yr. Earlier
CONTRACTOR
CONFIDENCE INDEX
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
CONSTRUCTION
BACKLOG INDICATOR
HOUSING PERMITS
AND STARTS
BY THE NUMBERS
change in
Nonresidential
Material Prices
(Producer Price Index)
change in
Nonresidential
Spending
(U.S. Census Bureau)
(U.S. Census Bureau & Dept. of Housing and Urban Dev.)
change in
Total Permits
Previous
Year
Year Over
Year
Previous
Year
Year Over
Year
Previous
Month
Previous
Month
Previous
Month
Previous
Month
change in
Total Starts
(Associated Builders & Contractors/3rd Quarter 2017)
Current 1 Yr. Earlier
$
4.1%
7.8%
4.7%
8.8%
66.4
62.4
66.1
59.7
56.0
59.5
-0.6%-5.7% 2.9%-7.0%
9.5 8.7
4.9%0.4% 2.4%-0.1%
February 2018 at a Glance

2. 1-800-ASK-CBIZ | www.cbiz.com/constructionMHM (Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C.) is an independent CPA firm that provides audit, review and attest services, and works closely with CBIZ, a business consulting,
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February 2018 at a Glance
1. Readings above 50 indicate growth, while readings below 50 are unfavorable.
2. Any Architecture Billing Index Score above 50 signifies growth - it is a leading economic indicator that provides an approximately nine to 12 month
glimpse into the future of nonresidential construction spending activity.
3. It is a monthly measure of the first (or initial) report for nonresidential building projects in planning, which has been shown to lead construction
spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year. Since reaching bottom in July 2011 at a level of 77.1 (2000=100), the index has been trending up.
4. Rates as of mid month.
Construction Backlog Indicator (Months)
Current Backlog 2nd Qtr. ‘17 8.6 3rd Qtr. ‘17 9.5
Backlog from a year ago 8.5 8.7
(Associated Builders & Contractors)
Construction Contractors Confidence Index1
Sales Expectations 1st 1/2 ‘17 66.4
Profit Margin Expectations 62.4
Staffing Level Intentions 66.1
(Associated Builders & Contractors)
National Unemployment Rate
Overall current month 4.2% 4.1% 4.1% 4.1% 4.1% 4.1%
Overall from twelve months earlier 5.0% 4.9% 4.6% 4.7% 4.8% 4.7%
Construction current month 4.7% 4.5% 5.0% 5.9% 7.3% 7.8%
Construction from twelve months earlier 5.2% 5.7% 5.7% 7.4% 9.4% 8.8%
(Bureau of Labor Statistics - BLS)
Housing Permits and Starts
National
Permits - Total -4.5% 5.9% -1.4% -0.1% 7.4% -5.7%
Permits - Total from twelve months earlier -4.3% 0.9% 3.4% 2.8% 7.4% -0.6%
1 - Family - change from previous month 2.4% 1.9% 1.4% 1.8% -1.7% -14.8%
1 - Family - change year over year 9.3% 7.7% 9.7% 6.1% 7.4% 6.5%
5 + Units - change from previous month -17.4% 13.4% -8.8% -4.3% 25.4% 4.6%
5 + Units - change year over year -25.3% -12.2% -7.7% -3.8% 3.0% 13.2%
Starts - Total -4.7% 13.7% 3.3% -8.2% 9.7% -7.0%
Starts - Total from twelve months earlier 6.1% -2.9% 12.9% -6.0% 7.3% 2.9%
1 - Family - change from previous month -4.6% 5.3% 5.3% -11.8% 3.7% -28.0%
1 - Family - change year over year 5.9% 0.7% 13.0% 3.5% 7.6% -4.0%
5 + Units - change from previous month -6.2% 37.4% 0.8% 2.6% 19.7% 2.9%
5 + Units - change year over year 7.9% -12.1% 11.1% -21.6% 3.1% -19.1%
(U.S. Census Bureau & Dept. of Housing and Urban Dev.)
Nonresidential Construction Material Prices
Current Month 0.8% 0.0% 0.7% -0.1% 1.0% 0.4%
Change year over year 4.3% 4.1% 5.4% 4.8% 4.7% 4.9%
(Producer Price Index - PPI)
Nonresidential Construction Spending
Previous Month 0.5% 0.5% 2.1% 0.6% 0.8% -0.1%
Change year over year -3.4% -2.9% 0.0% -1.3% 0.1% 2.4%
(U.S. Census Bureau)
AIA - Architecture Billing Index2
49.1 51.7 55.0 52.8 54.7 52.0
Dodge Momentum Index- Commercial Building3
122.3 141.4 169.7 157.5 155.1 150.4
Interest Rates4
I-Month LIBOR 1.2349% 1.2385% 1.2879% 1.4925% 1.5612% 1.6018%
WSJ Prime Rate 4.25% 4.25% 4.25% 4.50% 4.50% 4.50%
5 Year US Treasury Rate 1.81% 1.95% 2.04% 2.16% 2.36% 2.65%
10 Year US Treasury Rate 2.20% 2.30% 2.33% 2.35% 2.54% 2.90%
Sep. ‘17 Oct. ‘17 Nov. ’17 Dec. ‘17 Jan. ’18 Feb. ‘18