Marcum Commercial Construction Index

Fourth Quarter Construction Update: The Good, (The Strictly Okay), The Bad, and The Ugly
Issue 46 - Fourth Quarter 2023

Neither the construction industry nor the broader economy was projected to have a particularly good 2023. Those projections proved extraordinarily incorrect. Despite a majority of economists predicting a recession would occur at some point during the year, the economy grew at an impressive 2.3% annual rate, the unemployment rate remained below 4%, and inflation plummeted to a level just above the Fed’s 2% target rate. 

Despite severely elevated interest rates, construction activity accelerated in 2023, with infrastructure- and manufacturing-related projects leading the charge. The industry enters 2024 with ample momentum, yet headwinds remain in the form of elevated borrowing costs, labor shortages, and weakness in certain subsegments.