Archive

The Construction Economist — August 15, 2026

Backlog round-trips the whole 2026 run-up · The 8.0 average hides a 3.9-month split · July inflation eases for a second month · ERCOT sets a peak-demand record as generation lags · Jobs growth keeps outrunning volume

The Construction Economist — August 8, 2026

Senate stopgap lets the infrastructure law's advance appropriations lapse · Construction job openings reach 305,000 · $20B in climate grants unblocked · JLL sees escalation running through H2 · Texas adopts the 2024 I-Codes

The Construction Economist — July 31, 2026

Turner's cost index climbs 5.15% on labor · Q2 GDP slows to 1.5% · Congress moves to extend the IIJA · Data centers outbid home builders for land · Steel imports fall as the overcapacity fight sharpens

The Construction Economist — July 25, 2026

Alphabet's Tuesday capex hike pushes the Big Four toward ~$725B for 2026 · Data centers become construction's largest commercial segment · The billings pipeline stays frozen at 47.3 — a 41-month low · Tariffs push the commodity index to a 2026 high · The 500,000-worker gap meets ICE · Bouygues buys

The Construction Economist — July 17, 2026

The June cost "dip" was all oil — core materials kept rising · New York halts new large data centers · Micron pours at $100B fab · Water bills advance · Single-family permits soften

The Construction Economist — July 11, 2026

Job ads hit a 10-month high while hiring and quitting freeze · The trade deficit widens $23B · Payrolls add 57K as construction unemployment climbs · Steel ships higher, sawmills shrink · A Davis-Bacon ruling holds

The Construction Economist — July 6, 2026

Construction job openings hit a 10-month high · May spending inches up · USMCA heads to annual review · DOE pulls decades of energy-code findings · Digital Realty's $3.5B Virginia buy

The Construction Economist — June 26, 2026

Architecture billings sink to 44.5, the lowest since January · Microsoft and Chevron plan a 2GW West Texas data center · Trump blocks the Road to Housing Act · steel imports jump 11.2% · the Bills open a $2.1B stadium

The Construction Economist — June 19, 2026

Construction backlog hits a near three-year high as contractor confidence slips · Amazon plans a $10B Missouri data center campus · housing starts crater 15% · the Fed holds at 3.75% · Google.org puts $50M into the trades

The Construction Economist — June 12, 2026

The House votes to fast-track first union contracts · Meta bets $115M on construction craft labor · Microsoft proposes who pays for data center grid costs · Bechtel mobilizes at Micron's $100B megafab · inflation tops 4% and regulation adds $131K per new home

The Construction Economist — June 5, 2026

The help-wanted sign stays up — construction job openings rose 25,000 in April even as the billion-dollar awards keep landing. Plus a $3.5B California high-speed rail pick, a record $16B data center in Michigan, single-family building slips in every region, Brazil tariffs on the table, and a permitt

The Construction Economist — May 30, 2026

The data center boom continues to show up everywhere — Turner clears 10, billion-dollar jobs, ERCOT trims its summer demand forecast on the promise data centers will power down, and ENR warns the claims are piling up just as fast as the megawatts. Plus steel imports climb, the House moves on housing

The Construction Economist — May 23, 2026

Input costs post fastest start in three years · Switchgear lead times stall data centers · Architecture billings still under the growth line · USDOT maps a five-year freight strategy · ConTech startups raise $87M for AI tools

The Construction Economist

Material prices at a 3-year high · Backlog records mask a split market · Steel, aluminum, and diesel driving nonres cost surge · Data center pulling subs from commercial · AI displacement: not in the data yet

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