Construction spending for ’09: Bad news coming out of the woodwork
Construction Equipment magazine’s annual construction outlook report for 2009 is grim:
Construction spending will continue its three-year decline through the third quarter of 2009, down 9.5 percent in current dollars and more than 20 percent after adjustment for project-cost inflation. The precipitous spending declines in residential construction will finally reach bottom in 2009, albeit late in the year. Heavy construction and nonresidential construction spending, on the other hand, will drop sharply in 2009 after years of robust double-digit growth.
Construction equipment users and their suppliers will face subpar economic growth until late in 2010, which means better pricing and availability. Supply conditions loosened at the end of last summer when the world commodity price boom abruptly reversed. Materials, labor, equipment and design resources will be relatively more available and less expensive during the next two years.
Lots of charts and graphs with this report; most all of them pointing downward. Take a look through and ask yourself again how cheap Cat looks these days.