By Bill Conerly, Businomics [5], Conerly Consulting [6]
Non-residential construction has been a bright spot in the economy. It dipped last summer, but recovered in the past few months. The bad news, though, is that architectural activity suggests another round of declines for construction. After all, the architect works before the contractor starts his job. Here’s what the American Institute of Architects reports:
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This decline is associated with tight credit conditions for real estate development, so it’s not necessarily in addition to the credit crunch, but perhaps caused by the credit crunch. So pencil in gloomy numbers for construction for the rest of 2009.
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Bill Conerly is principal of Conerly Consulting LLC [8], chief economist of abcInvesting.com [9], and was previously Senior Vice President at First Interstate Bank. Bill Conerly writes up-to-date comments on the economy on his blog called “Businomics [5]” and produces a monthly audio magazine available on CD [10]. Conerly is author of “Businomics [11]™: From the Headlines to Your Bottom Line: How to Profit in Any Economic Cycle”, which connects the dots between the economic news and business decisions.
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