Construction spending increased from January to February and from a year ago, as private residential and public construction grew for the month and private-sector demand increased for the year, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said the February data indicates the need for Congress and the Trump administration to work together to reform dated tax codes and to boost investments in aging infrastructure to boost broader economic growth that will stimulate more demand for construction.
“While the overall market for construction continues to expand, public investments remain down for the year and private nonresidential activity could be much stronger,” said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. “Two factors that are clearly holding back construction demand are relatively high effective tax rates for many businesses and uncertainty about future demand for public infrastructure upgrades.”
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