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Posted February 10, 2015

CMD Provides 2014 Construction Starts Snapshot

Spearheaded by roadbuilding in the civil engineering sector, with its 9.6% expansion in 2014, total US construction starts grew by 5.9% last year to reach $490 billion, according to data compiled and reported by CMD. Find the full article here


Both residential and non-residential grew at a solid pace of 2.9% and 7% respectively. Macroeconomic factors played a role, CMD reports, with the labor market adding an average of 246,000 jobs per month and, at least toward the end of the year, showing early evidence of wage growth. 

The “polar vortex” at the start of the year played a role in a long, slow start in construction last year, with many starts delayed until weather conditions improved. The spring thaw saw a bounce-back in starts in Q2 & Q3 as pent-up demand from the winter period unleashed a new wave of construction.

By Q4, total construction starts were 4.4% ahead of 2013's fourth quarter. While the rest of the economy finally emerged from the the long-running affects of the recession, construction was more subdued, likely affected by tight credit, delays in household formation by the millennial generation, and slow wage growth. The organization believes wage growth will improve this year.

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